Taufik Hidayat hammers Wang Zhengming in Men’s Singles quarter-final: Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold
World Number Five ranked shuttler, Taufik Hidayat, who is the most successful shuttler in the history of Indonesia, finally found his missing form as he hammered China’s Wang Zhengming in the Men’s Singles quarter-final of the 2011 Indonesia Open Grand Prix
Gold, in Indonesia, on Friday, September 30.
The former World and Olympic Champion, Taufik, took only 36 minutes to oust the World Number 17, Zhengming in straight games.
In the first game, Zhengming was playing aggressive badminton against the all-time best Indonesian shuttler. Both players remained close until 9-9 when the Chinese scored two successive points to set up a two-point lead of 11-9 in the first-half.
After the break, Taufik changed his plan and started to dominate the game at the net. He levelled the score by playing fast badminton. The better play of the local hero earned him a strong position in the opening set when he reached 17-14. He continued his
killing run and finished the first set by the score of 21-17 in 17 minutes.
Both experienced shuttlers opened the second game in a positive way by playing with precision. They progressed at the same pace in front of the huge Indonesia crowd that turned out to watch Taufik in action. The score was 5-5 when the Indonesian occupied
the driving seat and played incredible badminton to establish a wonderful 11-5 lead in the first part.
Taufik continued his roller-coaster run after the break and stretched his lead to make it 17-9. His fabulous jumping smashes coupled with magical back-hand strokes spared no room for the Chinese to make a comeback in the match.
Zhengming found his flow and scored five consecutive points but it was too late. Taufik finished his job in impressive style by winning the second set with the score of 21-15 in 19 minutes. The concluding result of this 36-minute Men’s Singles quarter-final
battle was 21-17 and 21-16.
In the semi-final contest, Taufik will face his compatriot, Tommy Sugiarto, who crushed Malaysia’s Chan Kwong Beng in the top-8 stage.
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