Taufik Hidayat powers his way into quarter-final of the 2011 Indonesia Open Premier Super Series
Indonesia’s top shuttler, Taufik Hidayat, powered into the Men’s Singles quarter-final after he brushed aside China’s Bao Chunlai, in the round-of-16 of the 2011 Indonesia Open Premier Super Series. The encounter was held in Indonesia, on Thursday, June
23, 2011.
World Number Three, Taufik, who is the former World and Olympic Champion, ended the event for the Chinese in a thrilling straight-game match, which lasted for 49 minutes.
Right from the start of the encounter, Taufik played at his highest speed against the tall Chinese, who was dominating the game at the net. Both shuttlers put up a wonderful show by playing attacking badminton in front of a packed crowd, which came to the
indoor stadium in Jakarta to support their local hero, Taufik.
The score was close until the second-half of the first set, when Taufik played better badminton and created a three-point gap of 15-12. The left-handed Chinese increased his speed at the net and executed wonderful spinning net shots, which pushed him to
a two-point lead of 19-17.
In a stunning turnaround, Taufik then scored four consecutive points to finish the set by a tight score of 21-19, in 22 minutes.
The following game was again a thriller, as both shuttlers, who are considered among the most experienced players in the Men’s Singles category, dug deep into their reserves to produce fascinating strokes. At the interval, Chunlai was the leader of the set
by reaching at 11-9.
After the interval, Taufik levelled the score by scoring two successive points. The crowd could not have asked for a more thrilling fight, as both shuttlers progressed closely until the score reached at 23-23.
At this decisive stage of the second set, Taufik scored two points in a row and won the game by a 25-23 margin, in 27 minutes. This wonderful match ended with a margin of 21-19 and 25-23, in 49 minutes.
In the Men’s Singles quarter-final, Taufik will play against Peter Hoeg Gade of Denmark or Wan Ho Shon of Korea.
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