T

op seed Taufik Hidayat was defeated by Nguyen Tien Minh on Monday in the surprising second day of the 2011 Djarum Badminton Superleague.

The Vietnamese world number seven, who played for Tangkas Alfamart Jakarta, only needed 45 minutes to stop world number two Taufik, who played for SGS PLN Bandung, 21-15, 21-15.

Tangkas Alfamart manager Kurniahu said that the victory was a surprise, as he expected the team to gain points from Nova Widianto and Devin Lahardi’s match with Hendra A Gunawan-Flandi Limpele.

The presence of foreign players in club competition, Kurniahu said, might reflect the quality of the nation’s young players.

“Within the last two days we can see that the skills of our young players are getting better. They just need some improvement,” Kurniahu said.

“I believe that within three to four years they can replace their seniors,” he said, adding that it would also depend on the quality of the national training camp, which recently hired China’s Li Mao as coach.

“It’s all depends on the training,” Kurniahu said.

Nova and Devin were unexpectedly defeated by Hendra and Flandi 13-21, 18-21 in a 35-minute match where the Tangkas Alfamart duo were pushed to play fast. Devin’s skills looked below the other players as he frequently fell when returning the shuttlecock.

In the women’s division, world number 27 Maria Febe Kusumastuti of Djarum Kudus was defeated by world number 15 Cheng Shao Chieh of Mutiara Bandung 21-17, 17-21, 15-21.

“We have done all that we can. Maria has meet Cheng Shao once and she lost,” Djarum Kudus women’s team coach Haryono Mirana said .

After the second day, Tangkas Alfamart Jakarta is on the top of men’s league while Djarum Kudus is on the top of women’s league.