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| March 09, 2008 | Sunday | Safar 30, 1429 |
Taufik makes shock exit
BIRMINGHAM (England), March 8: Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat was knocked out of the All England badminton championships in Friday’s quarter-finals, beaten by former world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 23-21, 21-17.
The Indonesian, whose form has been patchy, should have taken the first game but wasted three chances from 20-17 and another at 21-20.
Second seed Lee pounced on his first game point and from then on the Indonesian was fighting a losing battle.
Lee, winner of the Malaysian Open in January, is on top of his form. He now faces a semi-final on Saturday against Chinese fourth seed Chen Jin who overcame last year’s beaten world finalist Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 21-14, 21-12.
The other semi-final will feature holder Lin Dan, the world No 1, and Chinese compatriot Bao Chunlai, seeded three.
Lin ousted Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark 21-17, 21-11 and Bao beat another Dane, Joachim Persson, 21-11, 21-13.
In the women’s event, Tine Rasmussen made up for Danish reverses in the men’s tournament with a 20-22, 21-18, 21-18 victory over Chinese-born Frenchwoman Pi Hongyan.
In the semi-final, the Dane plays South Korea’s unseeded Hwang Hye-youn who ousted eighth-seeded Malaysian Wong Mew Choo 17-21, 21-10, 21-13.
In the mixed doubles, Olympic silver medallists Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms beat fellow Britons Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier 21-14, 21-16.
But there was disappointment for the home crowd when Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg lost 18-21, 21-14, 21-17 to the powerful Chinese pair of Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yewen.
Friday’s quarter-final results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Men’s singles:
4-Chen Jin (China) bt 6-Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Indonesia) 21-14, 21-12; 1-Lin Dan (China) beat 5-Kenneth Jonassen (Denmark) 21-17, 21-11; 3-Bao Chunlai (China) bt Joachim Persson (Denmark) 21-11, 21-13; 2-Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) bt 7-Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia) 23-21, 21-17.
Women’s singles:
7-Xu Huaiwen (Germany) bt Yu Hirayama (Japan) 18-21, 21-18, 21-16; Hwang Hye-youn (South Korea) bt 8-Wong Mew Choo (Malaysia) 17-21, 21-10, 21-13; Tine Rasmussen (Denmark) bt 6-Pi Hongyan (France) 20-22, 21-18, 21-18; 3-Lu Lan (China) bt 5-Chen Wang (Hong Kong) 21-18, 21-13.—Reuters
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