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bout a month ahead of the Olympic Games, Indonesian favorite in the men’s singles, Taufik Hidayat, claimed that his poor result in the 2012 Djarum Indonesian Open badminton tournament in Jakarta was not a solid measure of his upcoming performance in London.

Taufik — who missed his shot at the quarterfinal round in a 48-minute loss 21-14, 21-18 against compatriot Sony Dwi Kuncoro on Thursday — said that his real preparation for the Olympics would start right after the Jakarta event.

“You can’t measure things based on today’s [Thursday] result. The real month-long preparations will start after the Indonesia Open,” said the world No. 12 and 2004 Athens Olympics gold medalist.

Besides an intense training schedule, the 30-year-old said that he was also interested in playing in the Singapore Open next week.

“I haven’t discussed it yet with my coach [Mulyo Handoyo], whether I should focus on Olympic preparations or participate in the Singapore Open. If I choose to go to Singapore, then I will only have three weeks before the Olympics,” he added.

Taufik, who plans to retire after the London Games, said that he wanted to end his career on a high note. “I definitely want to reach the top [in the Olympics]. But it will depend on my preparation. I really hope that it will go well.”

Losing to Sony for the second time in five meetings, Taufik failed to bring home what would have been his seventh Indonesian Open title.

“Sony is actually a fast-playing kind of shuttler. But he was very patient, I did not really like that,” said Taufik of the world No. 45 Sony.

Taufik’s previous match against Sony took place in the 2009 Indonesia Open, where he won the bout.

His recent loss against Sony was Taufik’s worst performance in his Indonesia Open career since 1999.

Taufik claimed the Indonesian Open title in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006.

— JP/Niken Prathivi