TheStar SINGAPORE: Forty-eight minutes was all Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat (pic, above) of Indonesia needed to pack off China’s Chen Hong in the men’s singles final of the Singapore Open badminton championships at the Singapore Indoor Stadium yesterday. The 15-9, 15-3 win brought Taufik, who is ranked eighth in the world, his first international title since taking the gold medal at the Athens Olympics last August. His efforts yesterday was worth US$13,600 while Chen Hong, who is ranked seventh in the world, pocketed US$6,800. The 28-year-old Chen Hong, who had eliminated defending champion Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark in the quarter-finals, had no answer to the relentless onslaught of the 24-year-old Indonesian. And Taufik said at the post-match press conference that he was playing at “only 70%” as he prepares himself for the World Championships in California next month. He will be in action in this week’s Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur. “I am on track in my preparations. Before coming to Singapore, I had set myself a target of winning either in Singapore or Malaysia. Now that I have won here, I am all geared up for the Malaysian Open,” he said. “I want to be the world champion. I hope to gain enough ranking points to get among the top four seeds for the world championships.” Indonesia won another title through the men’s doubles combination of Sigit Budiarto-Candra Wijaya. They defeated Danes Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen 8-15, 15-8, 15-7 in the final to pocket US$12,240. In the women’s singles final, second seed Zhang Ning won her fourth Singapore Open title and it was again Zhou Mi whom she beat to take home US$11,730. “Singapore is a happy hunting ground for me and I will be back for my fifth title,” said the 30-year-old Zhang Ning.
Wow, Hidayat really is cocky, "only 70%" lol. I wonder what he would have said if he lost to chen hong.
good thing i didnt bet any money ( i had guessed LD to win). I think taufik and his coach had done their homework and preparation, and maybe found a weak crack in the great wall of china.
Taufik beat Gade 15-13 17-15 in Quarter Taufik beat Lin Dan 15-12 15-8 in Semis Taufik beat Chen 15-9 15-3 in Finals
If you read carefully, he said he is 70% ready for the world cup. It doesn't mean he was 70% when he beated ChenHong
IMO, the only "player" that can beat Taufik is himself...Technique, stroke and footwork wise, he has the "most balanced"..In the recent SC, he lost the match vs. LD after leading and almost closed out the 1st set..Eventhough he lost the 2nd set quite quickly, overall throughout the game i thought Taufik really had control of LinDan.. Again, like i mentioned few times before, it's just his lackadaisical or arrogant or what-have-you mental attitude which most often cause him to fail... Right now, *if* all the top 6-8 MS players are "in-form", personally i would rank it: 1. Taufik 2. LinDan 3. Peter Gade 4. Chen Hong 5. Kenneth Jonassen 6. BaoCL 7. Hafiz Hashim 8. LeeCW
"And Taufik said at the post-match press conference that he was playing at “only 70%” as he prepares himself for the World Championships in California next month. He will be in action in this week’s Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur." Well, I guess overall, he said he was only playing 70% during the Spore open to prepare himself for the upcoming WC.
I would say that Taufit has better all round technique and stroke repertoire than anyone, including Lin Dan. Just look at Taufit's backhand stroke repertoire: clears, cross and straight drops, smashes down the line and cross court, plus drives down the line and diagonally! His baseline is so strong that he stands literally next to the net for his trademark kill: exquisite net shots followed by his stinging killer smashes.
I tend to agree, while I still give Peter Gade great credit although he can't always translate his skills into results. maybe it's also mental issue with him. being such a nice guy he cannot give that extra mental toughness needed on close matches and tend to lose in that cases. I think I suffer same problem because I am not so afraid of loosing (of course I only play in the gym with friends). otherwise, he is great player with amazing shots accuracy and control, maybe he needs to be a but more aggressive on court in order to win. I really wish to see him grab some title while he is still able to do it ...
C'mon guys, Taufik was not cocky. Did you guys watch the match. I did. Chen Hong was not playing at the capacity as a world class player. He made a lot of errors, especially at the net, the errors that world class player should not have made. This gave a lot of advantanges to Taufik. I think Chen Hong was fearful with Taufik reputation. So, he got carried away before or during the match. Just look at how he played from the start, like a child. So, Taufik nicely manipulated this. I tend to have that feeling as well when playing with someone I was never able to beat. And, yes Taufik was correct to say that he was playing at 70% of his capability. That is how I see it anyway.
Absolutely agree!! I was at AVIVA Open to catch his performance. He's simply all-rounded! Juz look at his net-play, sharp smashes, backhand plays (esp his back-hand smashes....) I was so amazed !! I salute Taufik! Well done n keep it up!!
hey, you are absolutly right i don't think taufik is cocky either ! maybe last time in the sudiman cup when he player against lin dan he was a little , but this time he was really concentrated just in the game and that made him the most powerful
