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KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17: Former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat was knocked out of Malaysian Open in a shock second round straight sets loss to fellow Indonesian Simon Santoso on Thursday.
The Athens 2004 Olympic gold medallist looked lost at times and made several errors against his younger and fitter teammate.
Taufik had no excuses for the 21-18, 21-16 drubbing, refusing to blame a back injury suffered prior to the Malaysian event.
“My back injury is no excuse for my bad performance today. I simply lost,” he said.
China’s world champion Zhu Lin was given an early scare before beating Hong Kong’s Zhou Mi 11-21, 21-17, 21-16 in the second round.
Zhu, who is the defending champion here, shocked the crowd with a somewhat hapless first set against Zhou but bounced back to book a spot in the quarter-finals.
Zhou, who won here in 2003, tried to rally in the third set for the upset but was outmanoeuvred by Zhu, who will play team-mate Lu Lan in the next round of the women’s singles competition.
Lu, the fourth seed, also got off to a rocky start before beating Germany’s Juliane Schenk 21-15, 21-8. The winner of last year’s Denmark Super Series was pressured in the first set as Schenk remained on her heels, forcing the Chinese player to make several errors.
However, Lu remained composed and brushed Schenk aside effortlessly in the second set.
Meanwhile, English pair Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms extended their stay in the Malaysian capital by defeating Russians Vitalij Durkin and Valeri Sorokina 21-19, 21-18 in the mixed doubles event.
Results:
Women’s singles (second round):
Lu Lan (CHN x4) bt Juliane Schenk (GER) 21-15, 21-8; Zhu Lin (CHN x3) bt Zhou Mi (HKG) 11-21, 21-17, 21-16.
Men’s singles (second round):
Taufik Hidayat (INA) bt Simon Santoso (INA) 21-18, 21-16
Men’s singles (first round):
Lee Chong Wei (MAS x1) bt Muhammad Hafiz Hashim (MAS) 21-17, 21-16; Taufik Hidayat (INA x6) bt Park Sung Hwan (KOR) 15-21, 22-20, 21-16; Simon Santoso (INA) bt Andrew Smith (ENG) 21-15, 21-7; Shon Seung Mo (KOR) bt Andrew Dabeka (CAN) 21-14, 21-23, 21-7; Sairul Amar Ayob (MAS) bt Muhammad Roslin Hashim (MAS) 11-21, 21-14, 21-16; Andre Kurniawan Tedjono (INA) bt Eric Pang (NED) 18-21, 22-20, 22-20; Chen Yu (CHN x8) bt Dicky Palyama (NED) 21-12, 21-17; Anup Sridhar (IND) bt Tan Chun Seang (MAS) 16-21, 21-18, 21-14; Kendrick Lee Yen Hui (SIN) bt Sho Sasaki (JPN) 21-19, 21-19; Lee Hyun Ii (KOR) bt Sony Dwi Kuncoro (INA) 12-21, 24-22, 21-16; Chen Jin (CHN x3) bt Yeoh Kay Bin (MAS) 21-15, 21-10; Wong Choong Hann (MAS) bt Chen Hong (CHN) 21-13, 21-8; Kenneth Jonassen (DEN x7) bt Shoji Sato (JPN) 21-15, 21-19; Ng Wei (HKG) bt Lee Tsuen Seng (MAS) 21-15, 19-21, 21-14; Bao Chunlai (CHN x2) bt Chan Yan Kit (HKG) 21-14, 21-13.
Women’s singles (first round):
Chehng Shao-Chieh (TPE) bt Xie Xingfang (CHN) – walkover; Eriko Hirose (JPN) bt Sara Persson (SWE) 21-10, 21-11; Wong Mew Choo (MAS x8) bt Julia Wong Pei Xian (MAS) 21-17, 21-13; Jeanine Cicognini (SUI) bt Li Li (SIN) 21-15, 23-25, 21-18; Zhou Mi (HKG) bt Kaori Mori (JPN) 21-8, 21-8; Zhun Lin (CHN x3) bt Yip Pui Yin (HKG) 21-19, 17-21, 21-18; Wang Chen (HKG x6) bt Judith Meulendijks (FRA) 16-21, 21-13, 21-14; Petya Nedelcheva (BUL) bt Anna Rice (CAN) 21-9, 21-12; Tine Rasmussen (SUI) bt Xu Huaiwen (GER) 17-21, 21-16, 21-8; Kanako Yonekura (JPN) bt Pia Zebadiah Bernadet (INA) 21-19, 21-14; Juliane Schenk (GER) bt Saina Nehwal (IND) 23-21, 21-9; Yao Jie (NED) bt Anita Kaur Raj (MAS) 25-23, 21-12; Lu Lan (CHN x4) bt Tracey Hallam (ENG) 21-8, 21-12; Pi Hongyan (FRA) bt Lydia Cheah Li Ya (MAS) 21-17, 21-13; Yu Hirayama (JPN) bt Diehl Ella (RUS) 21-17, 21-11; Hwang Hye Youn (KOR) bt Zhang Ning (CHN x2) 21-14, 21-17.—AFP
