2012 Macau Open: Taufik Hidayat kneels down in front of Gao Huan in pre quarter-final round
Indonesia’s veteran Men’s Singles campaigner Taufik Hidayat had to face a woeful exit from Kumpoo Macau Open Badminton Grand Prix Gold after losing to Gao Huan on November 29, 2012.
Former World and Olympic champion Taufik looked off colour throughout this 63-minute encounter as he finished this pre quarter-final match with an unfortunate result of 13-21, 21-11 and 10-21.
On the other hand, the young Chinese shuttler prevailed in the opening and ending segments of this showdown and locked the honour to be in the round of eight.
The battle heated up straight away in the first set as Gao Huan launched a brisk attack and confounded his higher ranked opponent.
World Number 13 Taufik could not withstand this intensive attack and remained at the lower end in most part of the game.
Though, he showed some spark just before the interval but it was not enough to counter-balance the situation.
Meanwhile, Gao Huan continued with his top form and piled up a mountainous total of 11. He made best out of this initial advantage after the mid-game break and widened the gap with 18-10 margin.
This eight-point deficit proved too much for Taufik and he lost the first set with 13-21 score on the board.
However, he managed to save his honour to some extent by claiming the second match point with distinction.
This time the Indonesian maestro employed all of his brilliance and experience in the game to avoid a straight-set defeat.
He made his intentions clear by prevailing in nine uninterrupted rallies and then mounted pressure by putting an indomitable figure of 11 before interval.
Taufik lost his grip for a short span of time but a few back-to-back points helped him to reinstate his dominance. He played with great control in the final stage and won this crucial game with 21-11 margin.
Third set was expected to be a nerve-racking contest as both contenders were just one step away from the round of eight.
Unexpectedly, the decider turned into a one-sided affair as Gao Huan outclassed Taufik Hidayat in all areas of the game. The Chinese shuttler sealed a splendid victory with an impressive result of 21-10.
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