MALAYSIA OPEN 2011 QF – Taufik and Chong Wei march on

After Lin Dan walked out of the tournament citing injury, the two main favourites are now Taufik Hidayat (photo) and Lee Chong Wei, who both secured their semi-final tickets on Friday.

By Adrian Kok, Badzine Correspondent live in Kuala Lumpur. Photos: Yves Lacroix for Badmintonphoto (live)

The backhand magician Taufik Hidayat played a breathtaking game against Kenichi Tago of Japan. Both players were neck-and-neck in the start of the match. Taufik was in all sorts of problems, but thanks to his excellent backhand, he escaped from trouble and amazed the crowd. Kenichi took the lead at the first mid-game interval. Taufik executed a few cross court smashes and one straight smash to catch up. The crowd went wild when Taufik won a long rally with a cross-court smash. After that another long rally followed with Kenichi losing at the net. Realizing Kenichi’s poor backhand defense, Taufik capitalized on it with numerous cross-court smashes to close the first game 21-15.

The second game was filled with long rallies with Taufik having the edge.  The young Japanese tried to keep up to the Indonesian’s pace but was struggling most of the time.  Taufik repeatedly smashed into Kenichi’s backhand corner and closed the match in a symmetrical way, with both games won 21-15. The former Olympic champion will face his fellow countryman Simon Santoso in Saturday’s semi-final. Simon won in straight sets against another Indonesian Alamsyah Yunus.

Lee rolls on

The match of the day that every Malaysian was eager to watch was the match between the world number one Lee Chong Wei and Nguyen Tien Minh. The first game started with Nguyen taking the lead and all the way to the mid-game interval. The slow movements on Lee’s side proved he had not got the engine rolling yet.  A surprise sprung up as Lee’s coach Misbun Sidek did not approach to give him any advice during the first interval. However, the game after the mid-game interval turned 180 degrees, with Lee taking charge. He took the lead at 13-12, and from then on,  he powered on with smashes, deceptive drops and tight net play to close out the first game 21-15.

A few words from Misbun turned him into an even more aggressive player. The second game saw Lee make Nguyen run all over the court to retrieve Lee’s shots. As Nguyen game depends on power play and stamina, the Vietnamese didn’t find any solution.  A few long rallies were played, ending mostly in the favour of the Malaysian. This made the whole stadium’s atmosphere come alive. Lee won in straight games 21- 15 and 21-16.

Lee will face Chen Long (pictured here in the stands) tomorrow as the latter enjoyed a walkover from the Olympic champion Lin Dan. The Chinese cited an injury and had a doctor check his abdominal muscles before hinting it was better for Lin to rest  (see more detail here).

“I am aware that Chen Long is an aggressive player as is Lin Dan, anyhow I will be ready for tomorrow’s match,” said Lee Chong Wei.

Results HERE