By Ami Afriatni
Taufik Hidayat has had such a stellar career that very rarely has he been forced to pull out victory as an overwhelming underdog. His quarterfinal match against world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei on Friday was one of those rare occasions.
Taufik, Indonesia’s top men’s singles shuttler and a former world champion, came away with a 21-15, 11-21, 21-12 victory over the Malaysian to advance to the semifinals at the World Badminton Championships in Paris.
Going into the match, Taufik’s head-to-head record against the top-ranked Lee was 9-5, and the fifth-seeded Indonesian built on that history of success as he dashed the Malaysian’s hopes.
In mixed doubles, there was no happy ending for Indonesia’s Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir.
The top-ranked pair in the world lost 21-19, 23-21 to Zheng Bo and Ma Jin of China, a defeat that not only ended the Indonesians’ run at the world championships but also nearly brought the curtain down on their storied partnership.
Nova and Liliyana entered the tournament hoping to complete a hat-trick of world titles following victories in 2005 and 2007.
But Nova had an off-day on Friday as he sprayed errors around the court at Pierre de Coubertin Stadium, helping the Chinese post a convincing win in 54 minutes.
“We had a chance to win the second game, but Nova’s mistakes were crucial. In the end, the Chinese were simply much better and stronger than us,” said the national mixed doubles coach, Richard Mainaky.
“Nova and Liliyana fought hard and they put a lot of effort into the match, but they just couldn’t convert that into a win.”
Zheng and Ma improved their head-to-head record against Nova and Liliyana to 3-0, as the eighth-seeded pair spoiled the Indonesians’ dreams of a perfect ending to their partnership.
Nova and Liliyana are due to split before the end of the season, and they were looking for a title in Paris to cap a stellar partnership that began in 2004.
The Indonesian pair has one more chance at a victorious send-off when they compete in the Asian Games in November.
“I hope they can do it there, I really do. We’ll train for the Asian Games as soon as we fly back home,” Richard said.
In other matches, defending mixed doubles champions Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark were also ousted in the quarterfinals, losing 21-19, 21-17 to No. 6 seeds He Hanbin and Yu Yang of China.
He and Yu will vie for a berth in the final when they battle Lee Sheng Mu and Chien Yu Chin of Taiwan.
Lee and Chien beat Tao Jiaming and Zhang Yawen of China 14-21, 21-18, 21-17 to advance.
In women’s singles, Tine Baun of Denmark clinched a spot in the semifinals after cruising to a 21-18, 21-13 victory over unseeded Cheng Shao Chieh of Taiwan.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com