China's Chen Hong returns the ball in his victory over reigning titlist Taufik Hidayat. Sept. 22 - Chinese veteran shuttler Chen Hong displayed daunting prowess on Thursday when he beat the odds to upset reigning titlist Taufik Hidayat in the men's singles third round of World Badminton Championships.
The seventh seed, who lost seven times and won only once against Taufik in their previous encounters, staged a spectacular comeback to win the thrilling epic 14-21, 21-18, 21-19.
Chen waved his clenched fist yelling when his unseeded Indonesian rival netted a return to end the 51-minute clash.
After losing the first game, the 26-year-old Chen changed his tactics managing to frustrate Taufik with more net play and ensued powerful smash.
"It's a confidence booster," said the elated Chen. "Though I lost to him more times before, that did not affect me. I was confident that I can beat him now. I think I was much more confident than him in the last two games.
"There was some air turbulence blowing from the side in the first game, and it disrupted my game as I had to play cautiously, maybe too cautiously, thus giving him some chances," he said.
Taufik, who seemed distraught, cleared out after the game snubbing all media interview requests. In the quarterfinals, Chen will play Denmark veteran Peter Gade who beat Shoji Sato 21-14, 21-13.
"The win over Taufik buoyed up my confidence quite a lot, so I am now sure that I will play another good match tomorrow," Chen said.
Chen cleared a big hurdle in Taufik for his teammates Lin Dan,
Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin, who all reached the final eight, in their way to win the title.
Second-seeded Lin Dan met no trouble in brushing aside South Korean Park Sung Hwan 21-16, 21-12, while the third seed Chen Jin toiled for 57 minutes to beat Kuan Beng Hong of Malaysia 21-18, 18-21, 21-18.
The seventh seed Bao, who beat Kuncoro Sony Dwi of Indonesia 21-14, 21-19, will face top seed Lee Chongwei in the quarterfinals with a lopsided head-to-head records.
According to the statistics provided by the international badminton governing body IBF, Bao lost all his past six meetings with the 23-year-old Malaysian player.
"The statistics are skewed. Though I lost on more occasions, I also beat him some times," Bao said.
"Both my mental and physical conditions are good now, I have done anything possible to prepare for the match. I will go all out to play him," Bao said.
Lee dispatched Joachim Persson of Denmark 21-16, 21-12 and found himself in a comfortable position against Bao.
"I think I have beaten him seven times in a row, so that will give me a psychological edge in tomorrow's match," he said.