Taufik 'will play at All England' By Mark Barden Hidayat is no stranger to controversy All England Championships organisers say they expect Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat to play in Birmingham despite media reports that he has withdrawn. The Indonesian star is due to play Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia in the first round at the National Indoor Arena when the tournament begins on Wednesday. Reports claimed he had pulled out after a row with his national association. But tournament director Darren Parks told BBC Sport: "To date, we have had no withdrawal from Taufik." Parks said: "After seeing the news reports we contacted the Indonesian Badminton Association for confirmation, but they came back and said 'We don't know why you are asking'. "So officially Taufik is still in the tournament." The Associated Press in Jakarta claimed Taufik had opted not to travel to the UK after disputing the eligibility of Indonesian players in the men's doubles event. "It's a shame because I have prepared well," the 25-year-old was quoted as saying by Antara news agency. Taufik, twice an All England finalist and a former world champion, has clashed with his badminton officials in Indonesia on numerous occasions. Unseeded in Birmingham, he has suffered a slump in form recently and crashed out of last month's Malaysian Open in the first round. Last October, Taufik lost the Japan Open final to China's Lin Dan after his form and confidence collapsed in the final game. In August, he was docked ranking points after storming out of a match against Lin at the Hong Kong Open in protest at a line call. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/badminton/6412117.stm
haih, one minute he says he wanna pull out, nex they say he's still innit... i want him 2 play coz i wanna see him win the AE, but i also dun wanna see him play coz i dun like him, and hafiz gets a free ride... haha.... looks like im on d fence for this one!
Bear in mind that he (taufik) does not say he will play in the article and niether do PBSI. It simply states that the Tournament director asked INA Badminton if he was playing or not (with respect to the rumours) and they did not give an answer, so the Director has to assume on the entries that he is.
Isn't it strange how Taufik always does something silly before a tournament which he really "wants" to win??? Before AG 06, he would 1. car accident(which he said he didn't hit and run) 2. intentionally lost the Japan open final round 3. The famous HK open walkout Before Indo open 06, he would get into a silly situation of being accused of an affair in the past + father of a child... Now, before AE 07... he is putting a question in people's minds as to whether he will be part of the tournament or not. Tournaments(from last year to now) which he participated without any controversy prior... he lost all of them...
well well well, the prodigal son returns eh? it's a bit unfair to say that he crashed out of the MO in the first round, faced against LD, most players would have 'crashed out'.
There must be something we aren't being told here... . Perhaps it's all part of BWF's big plan to raise the popularity of Badminton! That article lol... "He has suffered a slump in form", then they go on to list all these tournaments except the AG >_>. And like JamesD20 said, there wasn't any proof in that article at all (I don't think that was the point of course... what was the point?). All it really says is that technically he is still in the tournament. I guess it gives a tiny bit of hope but I'll wait until the tournament starts and we finally get an answer.
I don't know what I would find more stupid...him not playing, or him swallowing his words and playing...even íf he wins, what a stain...
better he play in AE ... at least we can watch some good matches.... lindan beat taufik, then beat peter gade n beat chen jin/lee chong wei ... hehehe
Hmmm, is Taufik playing tricks again??.. (rest of report snipped for brevity).. ..jamesd20, thanks for the report...Hmm, i think the AE organizer is still keeping hope and crossing his fingers that Taufik will show up and play...All the reports the last few days have indicated that Taufik is not going..However, from your report, apparently the AE organizer hasn't received any "confirmation" from PBSI themselves... Is Taufik playing mind games with us and the rest of competition, again??.. It would be funny if, come next week, Taufik shows up and then says to the media & everone "Haha, fooled you all" (with a big and a and a )..hehehe
All I know is that the AE would be a better tournament with Taufik in it. So I'm hoping this report is true.
I don't think taufik is doing anything, he says he isn't going, so he isn't going. The report (which is a bit of a non-story IMHO but the headline sounds good!) doesn't say anything. The jist is that the Organizer asked them (PBSI) "are the rumours true?" and they niether confirmed or denied it. I bet if the organizer asked Taufik he woud say "no" Time will tell however...........4 days to go.
a lady hunch I think pbsi is playing coy so any bad outcome is taufik's fault. Of course pbsi won't cancel taufik's room and ticket. Seem like no one is gonna blink so it may go to a stalemate. advice to taufik: since ur not going, sell your plane tickets and hotel room reservation on ebay or give them to your fren.(i'm sure indra like to go to AE)
If that happens, we will hear Indra screaming his lungs out just like that Chinese kid did during last year's All England.
