Athens Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat put an end to fellow Indonesian Simon Santoso’s giant-killing run yesterday to set up a final against China’s Bao Chunlai in the Japan Open badminton tournament.
Hidayat, who had to save two match points against South Korea’s Park Sung-hwan on Friday, was stretched again before scoring 13-21, 21-12, 21-18 in the all-Indonesian men’s singles semi-finals.
Earlier, Santoso eliminated world No. 1 Lee Chong-wei of Malaysia and his teammate and defending champion Soni Dwi Kuncoro on his way to the semi-finals.
Unseeded Bao, the winner over two-time Japan champion Peter Gade of Denmark on Friday, coasted to a straightforward 21-15, 21-16 victory over eighth seed Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam.
“I don’t like to play my teammate, but I could not reach the final unless I beat him, so I really wanted to win,” said Hidayat, who reached the final here in 2006 and 2007, losing to Lin Dan and Lee Chong-wei.
“I reached the final twice and I couldn’t win. I really want to win the title tomorrow. It’s a big chance for me [to bury my jinx]. I think Lin Dan is the best player in the world, better than Bao Chunlai and Lee Chong-wei. But Bao also defeated Peter this week, so I think he is in his top form,” Hidayat said.
Bao, who also reached the final in 2004 here, said he was forced to miss the first half of the season because of injuries and still needs to get used to the competition.
“It was difficult, because he [Nguyen] ran around really well, especially ... in the second game. I just tried to keep my rhythm in the first game. He is a tough player,” Bao said.
In the women’s section, defending champion Wang Yihan came back from behind to beat Japan’s Eriko Hirose 18-21, 21-12, 21-9 to set up an all-Chinese final against Wang Xin.
Wang Xin, ranked 72nd in the world, became the only qualifier to reach the final after beating fellow Chinese and world No. 2 Wang Lin 21-15, 21-17.
“I thought nothing but to play my best before the match,” said Wang Xin, who avenged her loss to her teammate in the China Masters semi-finals to draw even 1-1 in their record. “I joined the national team in February. Last year, I never expected to join. For me, I will just try to do my 100 percent [against Wang Yihan] tomorrow.”
Wang Yihan, this year’s All England champion, said she did not know how Hirose would play, despite defeating the Japanese here last year.
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