Misbun: Taufik still packs lethal punch
Posted by valsus on February 25, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesian Taufik Hidayat will be extra motivated to chase down his first All-England title in Birmingham next week now that he is out of the national squad.
Taufik left the national training centre in Cipayung early this month. He has been based there for more than a decade.
The 27-year-old Taufik may now be on his own but Malaysian singles coach Misbun Sidek has not discounted the chances of the former Olympic and world champion in the All-England.
“He is still one dangerous player and his best badminton years are not over yet. How Taufik plays in the preliminary rounds will determine his fitness,” said Misbun.
“The All-England is the only big title he has not won and if he can beat Peter-Gade Christensen in the last eight, he is capable of claiming it.”
Taufik won the Olympic title in Athens in 2004 as an unseeded player and he bagged the world title in Anaheim the following year. His best efforts in the All-England were runner-up finishes in 1999 and 2000
