Taufik Hidayat works extra hard to beat Yogendran Khrishnan in first round: Indonesia Open GP Gold
Taufik Hidayat, the most successful shuttler in Indonesia, worked extra hard to get rid of Malaysia’s Yogendran Khrishnan in the Men’s Singles first round of the 2011 Indonesia Open GP Gold, in Indonesia, on Wednesday, September 28.
The former Olympic and World Champion, Taufik had been struggling hard to find winning form for the last nine months. In recent events, he suffered defeats from lower ranked opponents in the opening rounds.
In his first-round match against the Malaysian at the Indonesia Open, the World Number Five Taufik lost the first game before coming back to win the remaining two sets.
In the first game, the Indonesian took a slow start as compared to his lower ranked rival, who was quicker in all areas of the court. Taufik failed to utilise his net skills effectively as his challenger was taking the bird from the tape of the net. Until
the break, the Indonesian was trailing behind the Malaysian at 8-11.
After the break, Khrishnan continued his wonderful play against the local hero by playing at his maximum speed. The Indonesian played many wrong shots and threw away many points, and eventually lost the set with a difference of 17-21 in 19 minutes.
Stung with the opening set’s loss, Taufik came back in a thrilling way as he severely punished the Malaysian by playing at his maximum speed. He showed no mercy to his opponent in the second set and won it without facing any trouble with a remarkable margin
of 21-7 in just 12 minutes.
In the third set, the Indonesian continued his dominating game by keeping the pace at the highest level. His powerful smashes landed in the gaps frequently as he was taking the bird early. Taufik continued his attacking play throughout the final set and
his rival completely failed to respond effectively.
The Indonesian won the final game with a comprehensive margin of 21-13 by taking just 14 minutes. This 45-minute three-set contest finished-off with a 17-21, 21-7 and 21-13 score on the board.
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