Bad luck haunts Taufik Hidayat, Simon Santoso in London Olympics – Badminton Feature
Indonesia was declared “Dark Horse” in Men’s Singles event of the London Olympics but its shuttlers did not live up to their billing and could not even make it into quarter-final round of the mega event.
What went wrong? This is probably the hot topic of discussion these days in national badminton circles as they were optimistic to receive at least a medal either through veteran campaigner Taufik Hidayat or the spirited shuttler Simon Santoso.
Taufik and Santoso, who are World Number 12 and 6 respectively, were their country’s biggest bet in London Games but both players failed to lift the burden of expectations on their shoulders.
Despite having a dream draw and then a perfect start, they could not clear pre quarter-final rounds and bid adieu to London Games.
Taufik faced defending champion Lin Dan while the talented but inexperienced Simon fell prey to top seeded Lee Chong Wei.
Both Indonesian campaigners had all what is needed to be an Olympic champion but probably they did not bring luck and found themselves in an unfavourable situation in elimination rounds.
Earlier, former World and Olympic champion Taufik was placed in Group O and he hardly faced any trouble to clear the preliminary round as group winner.
The 30-year-old player started his last Olympic campaign in perfect manner as he overshadowed a lower ranked Czech shuttler Petr Koukal with a splendid straight-set victory.
He laid foundation of this win by clinching first set with an indomitable lead of 13 points in 21-8 margin. He made best out of this initial advantage and smacked his rival in second set with a staggering knock of 21-8.
This win pit him against unseeded Spanish player Pablo Abian and he continued with his top form to register another straight-set victory.
Taufik Hidayat employed all of his brilliance and experience in the game and secured a spot in his group by putting decisive margin of 22-20 and 21-11.
However, things were not that easy in the knock-out stage as he was up against the Chinese maestro Lin Dan in his next encounter.
The eleventh seeded player of event could not rise against the higher ranked opponent and faced a woeful exit by losing tamely with 9-21 and 12-21 score on the board.
This was the end of road for Taufik and his desire to make a long lasting impact in his last Olympic outing remained unfulfilled.
Similarly, the top Indonesian shuttler Simon Santoso also had a perfect start but bad luck haunted him all the way and he had to bid farewell to the mega event.
The 27-year-old Simon was slotted in Group B of Men’s Singles event and he opened his marathon by surpassing Raul Must of Estonia.
He served notice of his supremacy by wrapping the match in just two games and moved forward with a remarkable 21-12 and 21-8 win.
Michael Lahnsteiner of Austria was his next challenger in this group stage and Simon sent him to packing by clinching pre quarter-final seat with 21-11 and 21-7 margin.
However, this proved his last success in London Games as he met top seeded Lee Chong Wei in pre quarter-finals and got pale in front of the Malaysian ace.
The ill-fated Simon let the opening game slip from his hands with 21-12 and then surrendered after reading 21-8 score on the board.
Both Indonesian campaigners’ splendid start and woeful ending clearly shows that difference between the other successful shuttlers as it was just luck as none of them had to face contenders like Lin Dan and Chong Wei straight away in the beginning of the
knock out stage.
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