Hafiz ends title drought

[ants]

TheStar

BASEL: Malaysia’s Mohd Hafiz Hashim stunned top seed Peter Gade-Christensen of Denmark to win the men’s singles title in the US$80,000 Swiss Open badminton championships here yesterday.

After a runner-up finish at the German Open two weeks ago and losing in the All-England third round to Japanese Shoji Sato last week, the 23-year-old Hafiz finally got it right this time. The second seed outclassed Gade-Christensen 17-14, 15-10 in 54 minutes to win Malaysia’s first title in the World Grand Prix Circuit this season.

Earlier in the semi-finals on Saturday, Hafiz slogged to beat South Korean Jang Young-soo 12-15, 15-11, 15-7 while Gade-Christensen struggled to a 15-9, 4-15, 15-7 win over Lee Hyun-il of South Korea.

Yesterday’s title was Hafiz’s first triumph in two years. His last title came at the All-England in 2003.

Hafiz, the world number 11, thus joined his brother Roslin in the Swiss Open record books. Roslin became the first Malaysian to win the title in 2001.

For the 29-year-old Gade-Christensen, the defeat to Hafiz came as a big blow. Just a week ago, Gade-Christensen’s All-England dream was ended by Roslin in the third round at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

Coach Misbun Sidek was pleased with Hafiz’s breakthrough after two years in the wilderness.

“The personalised training that we started five weeks ago has certainly helped Hafiz and I am happy for him,” said Misbun.

“Now, he is more determined but he must continue to improve if he wants to match the top players from China. This is a good start though.”

Misbun said he hoped the win would boost Hafiz’s morale.

“My job now is to help maintain his morale, keep motivating him to achieve bigger success,” said Misbun, who will now prepare Hafiz for the Japan Open from April 5-10.

n RESULTS

Men’s singles

Semi-finals: Peter Gade-Christensen (Den) bt Lee Hyun-il (Kor) 15-9, 4-15, 15-7; Mohd Hafiz Hashim (Mas) bt Jang Young-soo (Kor) 12-15, 15-11, 15-7.

Final: Hafiz bt Gade-Christensen 17-14, 15-10.

Men’s doubles

Semi-finals: Candra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto (Ina) bt Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto (Ina) 6-15, 15-12, 15-8; Flandi Limpele-Eng Hian (Ina) bt Jonas Rasmussen-Lars Paaske (Den) 15-11, 15-5.

Women’s singles

Semi-finals: Pi Hongyan (Fra) bt Wang Chen (Hkg) 11-5, 11-4; Xu Huaiwen (Ger) bt Yao Jie (Ned) 11-3, 11-6

Women’s doubles

Semi-finals: Chien Yu-chin-Cheng Wen-hsing (Tpe) bt Greysia Polii-Heni Budiman (Ina) 15-7, 15-3; Lee Kyung-won-Lee Hyo-jung (Kor) bt Ella Tripp-Joanne Wright (Eng) 15-1, 15-9.

Final: Kyung-won-Hyo-jung (Kor) bt Yu-chin-Wen-hsing 15-8, 15-12

Mixed doubles

Semi-finals: Nathan Robertson-Gail Emms (Eng) bt Carsten Mogensen-Rikke Olsen (Den) 15-2, 15-7; Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) bt Lee Jae-jin-Lee Hyo-jung (Kor) 15-10, 15-6.

Final: Robertson-Emms bt Nova-Lilyana 17-14, 15-6.

[Loh]

I'm really happy for Hafiz and Misbun and hope that Hafiz will continue trying hard under the latter to achieve greater glory for Malaysian badminton.

[Mag]

Congratulations to Hafiz!

But... how exactly do you "outclass" somebody by 17-14, 15-10 in 54 minutes? Sounds pretty even to me.

[aiyuuw]

Congratulations to Hafiz!

But... how exactly do you "outclass" somebody by 17-14, 15-10 in 54 minutes? Sounds pretty even to me.

ehh, by winning it?

[Mag]

"Outclass" and "win" don't really mean the same thing, do they? Doesn't the term "outclass" imply a a very uneven match, due to class difference between the players?

[Anatolii]

"Outclass" and "win" don't really mean the same thing, do they? Doesn't the term "outclass" imply a a very uneven match, due to class difference between the players?

"outclass" (according to the Oxford Dict-o) means to surpass with quality. the definition seems to suit the situation fine . ANYway, the news' from a m'sian newspaper so one can udnetrstand if it's blown up a little bit to our m'sian's advantage

[wl2172]

"Outclass" and "win" don't really mean the same thing, do they? Doesn't the term "outclass" imply a a very uneven match, due to class difference between the players?

I saw the match, Peter was pretty much outgunned and outclassed in fitness and sheer power. He seemed to have used up all his determination against Hyun Il.

[ants]

Its really unfortunate that Peter Gade didnt win that match. But thumbs up to Hafiz. This Swiss open is an easy tourney overall for the players since the most chinese players are not in it.

[Anatolii]

Its really unfortunate that Peter Gade didnt win that match. But thumbs up to Hafiz.

at least it didn't give yet another chance for us to criticise badminton as becoming a bore for being 'predictable'.

[happy go lucky]

I dont want to sound so negative about Hafiz; i hope his past history wont repeat Malaysia boleh to the power of infinity Watch out China In Misbun we trust. Misbun pun boleh

[wl2172]

Hafiz is young, only 22. He has so much potential, but we saw what happened to him after he won the All England. He just nosedived.

I think he is one of the few players the Chinese really fears, as he can actually beat them quite convincingly if he wants to. I hope he realises what he is capable of and be more disciplined, and don't throw it all away. He sould learn from Lee Chong Wei, whose dedication and discipline is unquestionable. Apparently CW trains 6 days a week (not just physical, but other aspects as well) - I got this info from Jalani Sidek, who is currently the director of Nusa Mahsuri, where Hafiz and Roslin trains.