On-fire Sony stuns Taufik

On-fire qualifier and world No. 45 Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia continued his flawless performance on Thursday by ousting compatriot Taufik Hidayat 21-14, 21-18 in the men’s singles to secure a quarterfinal berth in the 2012 Djarum Indonesia Open badminton tournament.

In a 45 minute bout against Taufik, confident Sony managed to show his maturity in facing the world
No. 12 men’s singles shuttler.

Even though Sony failed to win the first point in each game, he managed to make up ground on his
opponent.

“I won yesterday [Wednesday, against third seed Peter Hoeg Gade of Denmark] and today [Thursday], but I’m not satisfied because this is not my peak. I’ve got to remain alert in each upcoming game and do my best,” said Sony, who beat world No. 2 Lin Dan of China to win the Thailand Open badminton tournament last week.

Sony added that he did not think the quality of each of his opponents mattered. “What’s important is acknowledging our own strength and quality, so that we can always self-evaluate in order to be better in the future.”

The 27-year-old said his main aim was to reach a better level of consistency. “I don’t want to be a shuttler who fails in first or second round of a tournament after winning a previous tournament.

“I want to maintain my performance and, hopefully, increase my ability in each tournament I’m in,” said the bronze medalist of the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Sony admitted that beating Lin and winning the Thailand Open gave him a huge morale boost. “Of course, it gave me so much confidence. Now I realize that opportunities do not come twice and I don’t want to waste them.”

Facing Taufik, the gold medalist of Athens Olympics, Sony relied mostly on his patience. “I decided not to play fast, as I used to do. Instead, I played along.”

“Taufik is good at the net. So, with my past year of preparation, I tagged along,” said Sony, adding that he was no longer interested in playing a physical game. “I’ve chosen to sharpen my shot placing and how to be accurate.”

When asked about Taufik’s decline in ability, Sony refused to evaluate his opponent. “It’s not about whether Taufik is up or down, it’s about me convincing myself. If you’re sure of your ability, it will shake your opponent’s self-confidence.”

Commenting on Sony’s win, Taufik said that he was relieved that the victory went to his compatriot.

“I really hope that he [Sony] maintains his performance to win the title,” said the 30-year-old.

In Friday’s quarterfinals, Sony will be up against China’s world No. 10 Pengyu Du, who beat Taiwan’s Jen Hao Hsu 21-19, 21-14.

The other quarterfinals in the men’s singles are India’s Kashyap Parupalli against Hans-Kristian Vittinghus; Indonesia’s Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka against compatriot Simon Santoso; and Hong Kong’s Yun Hu against Vietnam’s Tien Minh Nguyen.

In the men’s doubles quarterfinals, Malaysia’s Kien Keat Koo-Boon Heong Tan will meet either Thailand’s Patipat Chalardchalem-Nipitphon-Puangpuapech or Indonesia’s Ronald Alexander-Selvanus Geh; China’s Biao Chai-Zhendong Guo will face either Denmark’s Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen or Indonesia’s Ricky Karanda Suwardi-Muhammad Ulinnuha; Indonesia’s Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan will be up against compatriots Wijaya Rendra-Rian Sukmawan; and Malaysia’s Thien How Hoon-Wee Kiong Tan will meet South Korea’s Jae Sung Jung-Yong Dae Lee.

In the mixed doubles quarterfinals, Denmark’s Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinna Pederson will be up against South Korea’s Sung Hyun Ko-Hye Won Eom.

Later on Thursday, China’s Nan Zhang-Yunlei Zao were set to meet Hendra Setiawan-Vita Marissa for a quarterfinal spot; while Malaysia’s Peng Soon Chan-Liu Ying Goh was scheduled to face Thailand’s Sudket Prapakamol-Saralee Thoungthongkam; Indonesia’s Fadhilah Irfan-Anggraini Weni were set to meet compatriots Markis Kido-Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth; Thailand’s Maneepong Jongjit-Savitree Amitrapai were set to meet Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir; India’s Diju V.-Jwala Gutta were scheduled to face China’s Tao Jiaming-Xia Huan; and China’s Hanbin He-Yixin Bao were set to meet compatriots Chen Xu-Jin Ma.