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Taufik races into second round in Macau
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 10/04/2007 3:55 PM
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia's men's singles shuttler Taufik Hidayat cruised to the second round of the US$120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament by outclassing Eric Go of the U.S. on Wednesday.
The world No. 10, who reached the finals in the previous two tournaments -- the Japan Super Series and the Taiwan Open Grand Prix -- needed only 28 minutes to beat the American 21-15, 21-13.
The withdrawal of world champions -- No. 1 Lin Dan of China, world No. 2 Lee Choong Wei of Malaysia and world No. 3 Chen Yu of China -- has thrown the title quest for the 2004 Athens Olympic gold medalist wide open.
His toughest contenders are now world No. 4 Bao Chunlai and world No. 5 Chen Hong, both of China.
Taufik reached the finals in Japan and Taipei but lost both to eventual winners Lee and compatriot Sony Dwi Kuncoro, respectively.
Sony is absent in Macau, preparing for the upcoming Denmark Super Series later this month, while Indonesia's No. 3 Simon Santoso is still nursing an injury.
Indonesia is fielding juniors Tommy Sugiarto, Dyonisius Hayom Rumbaka, Wisnu Haryo Putro, Andre Kurniawan Tedjono, Ari Yuli Hartanto, Alamsyah Yunus and Andreas Adityawarman.
From the pack, Tommy, Hayom and Haryo survived their first tests Wednesday.
Tommy, son of 1983 world champion Icuk Sugiarto, ousted Feng Chong Wei of Malaysia 21-15, 21-15 in 29 minutes.
Hayom beat local favorite Ip Tang Fai 21-13, 21-8 to face world No. 25 Mohd. Roslin Hashim of Malaysia in the second round.
Teammate Haryo outclassed Lim Fang Yang of Malaysia 21-13, 21-16.
Other Indonesian shuttlers competing in the men's singles lost their matches with Andre losing to Malaysia's Kay Bin Yeoh 18-21, 14-21, Ari bowing out to Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 10-21, 20-22, Alamsyah falling to Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia 14-21, 20-22 and Adityawarman succumbing to second seed Bao 14-21, 9-21.
Mixed doubles pair Devin Lahardi and Lita Nurlita of Indonesia managed to win over Hendra Wijaya and Yanmei Jiang of Singapore 21-16, 21-18.
They now face world No. 24 Kennevic Asuncion and Kennie Asuncion from the Philippines, who beat Malaysia's Tan Wee Kiong and Woong Khe Wei 21-19, 21-19, to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
