Taufik Hidayat failed to live up to his Olympic standards and bowed to China’s giant left-hander Bao Chunlai in the quarter-final of the Wilson Swiss Open. Bao will face teammate Lin Dan in the semis, while Poland’s Wacha takes on Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, easy winner over Kenneth Jonassen.
Raphaël Sachetat. Photos: Thierry Jayet, Shi Tang/Badmintonphoto (Live)
Lin Dan and Bao Chunlai will play in another semi-final of a Super Series on Saturday, as both cleared their path to the last four thanks to some impressive play. It didn’t take long for Lin Dan to beat KLRC’ s Ayob, but Bao Chunlai had to wait for the court change midway through the third game to get the winning gear. After losing the first game 20-22, the tall Chinese held on to his pace and secured the second 21-16, and it was only at 11-9 in the third that he felt Taufik (photo) was not at his best anymore.
“He was very patient in the game until then, which made it very difficult for me, but then, towards the end, he was losing patience and attacking more, committing more unforced errors,” stated Bao after his final 21-12 victory.
The other semi-final will see Lee Chong Wei, Malaysia’s cool-tempered jewel, take on a shuttler no one expected at that stage : Poland’s Wacha, who was simply astonishing with his high jump smashes. The East European got his way around Ronald Susilo, obviously lacking match practice after a long time on the injured list. In advancing one stage further than last year, however, Susilo had already earned some important points towards his Olympic qualification berth.

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