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Taufik gets revenge; Lu, Xie tumble in England

FORMER Olympic gold medalist Taufik Hidayat gained belated revenge over Dane Peter Gade with a 21-17, 21-18 quarterfinal victory at the All England Championships in Birmingham on Friday.

Ten years ago as a raw 17-year-old Taufik lost in the final to Gade, five years his senior, and in 2004 he also suffered a semifinal defeat to the Dane.

The seventh-seeded Indonesian still awaits his first All England title but in a tough and tactical high-class match with Gade he served notice this could at long last be his year.

Fourth seed Gade, 32, who is set to retire next year, told reporters: "It was like a game of chess, you have to make the right decisions."

Taufik, whose career has not always run smoothly, said: "I am more motivated now and the power comes from within."

His opponent in the semifinals is world No. 1 and top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who brushed aside unseeded Finnish player Ville Lang 21-9, 21-9.

Holder Chen Jin of China, seeded three, advanced but only after a very tough battle with unseeded Sho Sasaki of Japan that eventually ended with a 14-21, 21-13, 21-19 victory.

There was a controversial finish when Sosaki appeared to have saved match point but was penalized for touching the net. The Japanese, reluctant to accept the decision, at first refused to shake hands but later relented.

World and Olympic champion Lin Dan, in ominously good form, thrashed sixth-seeded Dane Joachim Persson 21-13, 21-6. The second seed now plays compatriot Chen in a repeat of the 2008 final which he surprisingly lost.

In the women's singles, third seed Lu Lan of China, runner-up in 2008, was ousted 18-21, 20-22 by unseeded compatriot Jiang Yanjiao, the world No. 29.

In another upset, former world No. 1 and fifth seed Xie Xingfang lost to unseeded Chinese compatriot Wang Yihan 9-21, 13-21.

Top seed, holder and world No. 1 Tine Rasmussen of Denmark clinched a semifinal slot on her seventh match point, edging past unseeded Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong, China, 21-17, 18-21, 21-16.

Dane Nanna Brosolat Jensen completed the semifinal line-up after easing past Wong Julia Pei Xian of Malaysia 21-16, 21-16.



 

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