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Taufik knocked out of All England Championship
The Indonesian, whose form has been patchy, should have taken the first game, but wasted three chances from 20-17 and another at 21-20.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:02 March 9, 2008
Birmingham: Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat was knocked out of the All England Championships in Friday's quarterfinals, beaten by former world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 23-21, 21-17.
The Indonesian, whose form has been patchy, should have taken the first game, but wasted three chances from 20-17 and another at 21-20.
Second seed Lee pounced on his first game point and from then on the Indonesian was fighting a losing battle.
Lee, winner of the Malaysian Open in January, is on top of his form. He faced a semi-final on Saturday against Chinese fourth seed Chen Jin who overcame last year's beaten world finalist Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 21-14 21-12.
The other semifinal will feature holder Lin Dan, the world number one, and Chinese compatriot Bao Chunlai, seeded three.
Lin ousted Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark 21-17 21-11 and Bao beat another Dane, Joachim Persson, 21-11 21-13.
Lin, seeking a fifth All England final appearance in succession, told reporters: "It went smoothly even though he is a good player. I want to play Bao. It is good for the Chinese spirit ahead of the Olympics to have more players through to the later stages."
Bao said: "I lost in the semifinal to Lin Dan last year but I think I have a 50-50 chance. I am ready for it and I am more confident because it went well today."
In the women's event, Tine Rasmussen made up for Danish reverses in the men's tournament with a 20-22 21-18 21-18 victory over Chinese-born Frenchwoman Pi Hongyan.
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