SINGAPORE, July 2: Taufik Hidayat showed the form that brought him gold at the Athens Olympics to overpower world number one Lin Dan of China in the semifinals of the US$170,000 Singapore Open on Saturday.

The Indonesian eighth seed won 15-12, 15-8 in 53 minutes to earn a place in the final against China’s Chen Hong, the reigning All-England champion who beat South Korea’s Lee Hyun-Il 15-8, 15-11 in the other semifinal.

In the women’s semifinals, eighth-seeded Zhou Mi of China had few problems against qualifier Jiang Yan Jiao.

Zhou, who beat world number one Xie Xingfang in the previous round, spent only 26 minutes on court to register a 11-4, 11-1 win against her countrywoman.

Zhou meets yet another Chinese in the final, Zhang Ning, the defending champion and world number two who received a walk-over on Saturday after Frenchwoman Pi Hongyan pulled out with a back injury.

In the match of the day, Hidayat, the 2002 All-England champion, was slow off the blocks as the Chinese top seed dictated the pace of the exchanges to run up a 9-2 lead.

But once the Indonesian found his rhythm, he clawed his way back to 9-12 and then reeled off six points in a row to take the game 15-12 in 29 minutes.

The second game found a confident Hidayat forging ahead 8-2 with some spectacular shots and he had little problems in wrapping up the semi-final 15-8 in another 24 minutes.

“When I was trailing in the first game, I remembered the trauma of losing the Sudirman Cup final,” Hidayat said in reference to last month’s straight-games loss to Lin in the final of the world mixed team championships.

“That inspired me to take it one step at a time and once I got the service at 9-12, I felt pretty much in control.”

Hidayat has a 6-1 win-loss record against Chen, but the Indonesian said his tougher path to the final could be a factor.

“I am feeling quite confident about the final, but I must add that fatigue will definitely be a factor because his matches have been much shorter,” Hidayat said.

Hidayat and Chen have both enjoyed success at the Singapore Open, Hidayat winning in 2001 and Chen taking the next two titles.

Semifinals results:

Men’s singles:

Taufik Hidayat (INA) bt Lin Dan (CHN) 15-12, 15-8;

Chen Hong (CHN) bt Lee Hyun-Il (KOR) 15-8, 15-11

Women’s singles:

Zhou Mi (CHN) bt Jiang Yan Jiao (CHN) 11-4, 11-1

Zhang Ning (CHN) bt Pi Hongyan (FRA) walkover

Men’s doubles:

Sigit Budiarto and Candra Wijaya (INA) bt Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard Hansen (DEN) 15-10, 15-4; Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen (DEN) bt Jung Jae-Sung and Lee Jae-Jin (KOR) 15-9, 15-13

Women’s doubles:

Gao Ling and Huang Sui (CHN) bt Yang Wei Zhang Jiewen (CHN) 15-10, 15-11; Zhang Dan and Zhang Yawen (CHN bt Jo Novita and Gresya Polii (INA) 15-5, 15-4

Mixed doubles:

Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam (THA) bt Chen Qiqiu and Zhao Tingting (CHN) 17-14, 17-16; Zhang Jun and Gao Ling (CHN) bt Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager (DEN) 0-15, 15-4, 15-5.—AFP