London, July 31 (IANS) Indonesian ace shuttler Taufik Hidayat didn’t wait too long before joining his old foes defending champion Lin Dan of China and World No.1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the Round of 16, after his victory Tuesday in the men’s singles at the Olympics.
The 31-year-old veteran shuttler’s opponent was Pablo Abian from Spain at the Wembley Arena.
In the first game, the two were tied from 4-4 to 20-20. It ended as Hidayat forced his rival to hit the shuttlecock across the side line and won 22-20.
He was more sharp in the second game, living up to his potential and played full to his talent of handling net shots and controlling the tempo so as to score from errors of the opponent.
The 27-year-old Spaniard, who had failed to enter the Round of 16 in Beijing Olympics, became impatient. A shot blocked by the net also terminated his pursuit for further progress as the second game score read 21-11.
Hidayat will next face Lin in the next match. He has met Lin 15 times, winning only thrice of which the last victory came in 2005.
“The next match with Lin will be good,” said Hidayat. “We will see. I don’t know who is winning, but I will try my best.”
