Taufik Hidayat Bounced out on His Birthday

LONDON, KOMPAS.com - Former winner Taufik Hidayat was unceremoniously ousted from the world championships in the second round on Wednesday, beaten 21-17 21-14 by unseeded Zi Liang Derek Wong from Singapore.

It was an unwelcome 30th birthday present for the Indonesian who reached last year’s final in Paris but played some way below his best at a modestly-attended Wembley Arena. Wong, 22, thoroughly deserved his victory, his agility round the court and heavy cross-court smashes confounding the 2005 champion.

Hidayat managed to pull back a little from 11-7 down in the second game but Wong swiftly accelerated away to claim a third round place against unseeded Dane Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.

World ranked 49, a thrilled Wong told reporters: “ He’s by far my biggest scalp. This morning I did not think I could beat him but I wanted to give him a real hard game today.”

In their only previous meeting two years ago Hidayat came out on top in a close game. Wembley was different.

Wong said: “I came in focused and well prepared to run for everything he gave me and also play faster than him.”

No scares

Defending champion Chen Jin and three-times title holder Lin Dan suffered no scares. Chen, seeded six, beat Dicky Palyama of the Netherlands 21-13 21-17 and Lin overcame Ireland’s Scott Evans 21-15 21-16.

Top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia breezed past Finland’s Ville Lang 21-10 21-11 and will now meet South Korean ninth seed Park Sung-hwan, the man who put out Lin in the quarter-finals in Paris in 2010.

Chong Wei told reporters: “I am quite confident because I played him in the Sudirman Cup recently and beat him.” Guatemalan giant-killer Kevin Cordon marched into the third round with a 21-19 21-17 victory over Sweden’s Henri Hurskainen.

Hard on the heels of his stunning first round success over fifth-seed Chen Long of China, Cordon led for most of the match, helped by some powerful cross-court smashing to confound the Swede. Cordon, world-ranked 36, was named after Kevin Keegan who was a favourite soccer player of Cordon’s father.

He said: “It’s great to be still alive in the world championships. I was still tired yesterday after the match with Chen Long but I kept my focus and tried to play my best again.”

Since March, Cordon has been playing with the Spanish national team in Madrid. He explained: “It’s easier to practise in Europe, it’s easier to travel and there are more tournaments every week.”