 Champs bundled out
By Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-12 08:54
Defending men's singles champion Taufik Hidayat was sensationally dumped out of the event, after losing to Malaysian veteran Wong Choong Hann 19-21, 16-21 in his first match yesterday. The controversial Indonesian, apparently not in his best form as he had just recovered from dengue fever, never found his array of precision shots and drops on the court of Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium. He finally yielded the victory to his old rival Wong, whom he defeated at the Athens Olympics four years ago, in 44 minutes. "I really didn't play good today, while Choong Hann exerted his 100 percent strength," said the 7th seed, denying that the dengue fever had affected his fitness. The Indonesian had been written off for the title, but has insisted since last week that it was too early to do so. However, with this crushing loss, it could very well be his last Olympic match. Taufik, who just celebrated his 27th birthday on Sunday, also said that he hopes so, albeit with different reasons. "I hope junior players could catch up and replace me," he said. The draw that pitted Taufik and Wong head-to-head in the second round was regarded as tough for the unseeded Malaysian. However, Wong does not think so, saying: "It was not that bad, as I wasn't pitted against Lin Dan." With his confidence boosted after the win, Wong is targeting a medal in the Games, no matter what color it is. In the next round, he is expected to meet Nguyen Tien Minh from Vietnam. "It will be a tough match," said the Malaysian who is very popular among the spectators in the gym. Taufik was not the only defending champion to be knocked out yesterday. World No 1 and defending women's doubles champions Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen were also eliminated in what could be their last Olympic journey. The Japanese pair Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna beat them 8-21, 23-21, 21-14 to spoil China's plan of booking three of the four semi-final slots. "We tried our best," said Zhang, whose final shot found the net. "We just lost our morale. We found it very hard to play at our best," said Yang, the two-time Olympic champion. "Today, our levels were just so-so. They were simply better than us. "It's a pity for us." The Chinese pair started well, winning the first game quickly, and continuing to be aggressive in the second game. Suddenly, they became too impatient as they tried to wrap up the match. Zhang's shot went wide to hand the Japanese duo the second game, and from then on, the Chinese cracked. They could barely block the smashes from the Japanese girls in the third game, and succumbed in 18 minutes. Said Maeda, 22: "In the first game, we were not able to adapt to their style, but in the second we decided we didn't want our competition to finish like that. "It is the biggest win of our career. I don't know how it happened." China still has two more women's pairs in the other half of the competition. If they advance tonight, they will face off in the semifinals. Xinhua contributes to the story (China Daily 08/12/2008 page14) |
