Taufik Hidayat

In a way I feel let down because the naysayers and haters will hold his anti-climactic exit as a trump card against him. I wish he could have done well in this tournament to shut them up but I guess he just doesn't care about that sort of stuff. I mean, why should he? He has those amazing medals in his cabinet and a decade-and-a-half of top class badminton to look back on. I do hope that fans will do something bigger as his leaving gift. He didn't receive the send off he deserved after his match today.

His career has been good enough that even after the lacklustre ending, it hasn't affected his status at all. Anyone who is a fan of badminton knows his name and what he has achieved. It is sad to think I won't be able to watch any more matches but hopefully his efforts to train youngsters will bring forward new talents, maybe even some who will be as good as he was.

 

Don't worry, I doubt the haters will surface in this instance 'cos if they do, they'll only expose themselves for the losers they are.

 

Nicely written!

 

Regardless of any achievements or losses, the guy has been a total legend.

His crazy backhands, his insane forehand smashes in the past, his on court style, being a child prodigy and a complete natural talent have inspired many, many players and spectators. He had his own set of rules, played the game like no one else ever has and could beat them all, for that he gets ultimate respect.

 

This guy also writes articles and reports for BWF webite.

 

[video=youtube;l-fxgv-BaF0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-fxgv-BaF0[/video]

This was submitted earlier in the thread by another user but just wanted to show the best of him again.
It's always a sad thing in any sport when a legend and frontrunner of the sport ceases to show his/her talents ever. If there ever was someone born to be legendary that was probably Taufik. All the best man, thanks for dazzling us for nearly half of your lifetime.

 

I remember TH in 2005 WC in Anaheim. It was evening and TH, Amy and Amy's mother were wondering in the lobby when I bumped into them. I asked for a picture and Amy's mother said why don't I take a picture of you and TH together. I can tell you TH is a fan's player, he is so easy to oblige with a smile, he signed an autograph for me. Great guy...and I saw that backhand he did on LCW in the SF, classic. That WC final was absolutely TH at his best...like LCW had no chance playing LD in OLY08, likewise LD had no chance playing TH that night in Anaheim.

 

Oh man ... till this time I still can't believe that Taufik would not be playing pro badminton anymore.

I've been lucky enough following his career since my childhood. I still remember my friends and I were watching on TV Taufik vs Ji Xinpeng in the final of Thomas Cup 2000. I was still in elementary school at that time btw. And that match was an epic one. Taufik won dramatically after deuce. He also showed some unusual stroke in that match. After that we thought we've got new badminton idol who could inspire us. He was still very young, handsome, and the most important parts: very skillful and always be cool on the court.

Thanks Taufik for all the great inspirations! We are very thankful to have you with us!

 

just finished watching that match... 15-3, 15-7 ... that was a master class... exquisite net play and control

 

Good bye TH

 

I still couldn't believe TH was able to beat LD with that significant point gaps in that game, outstanding performance by TH indeed...

 

At WC05, we were at the stadium from morning till night, I think 5 nights straights, never missed a match, and my backside hurt like heck. There were many great matches from TH, I think it was QF TH played Johanssen, that smash right towards Johanssen you can hear the smack echo through the stadium. The final between LD-TH, we were anticipating a great match, it turned out to be a fizzle, I think TH was leading by a huge margin in game 1, and before our butt was warmed up, it was over. TH owned LD that night and it carried over to AG06. You have to be there to see how TH played when he was at his very best, I am so glad we went and I treasured the photo I took with him. Perhaps the best baddy game I had seen live (P.N. LD/LCW played great but I did not have the opportunity to see they played live, so I leave it at that).

 

Thank you Taufik Hidayat! Enjoy your new life.

 

I haven't seen the match so I should reserve my opinion, but if PG's final exhibition match with LD was anything to go by I think it's probably the gentleman in LD not to steal the limelight from TH. I don't even remember the last time TH beat LD in competition.

 

Yeah WC is exactly the same as an exhibition match. Think it is time for you to get back on whatever mental health medicine you are prescribed.

 

i think r20190 thinks that TH played LD in the indonesian ssp which is not right since LD pulled out

 

If he thinks TH beat LD 15-3 15-7 in this years Indonesian ssp then still, medicine time.

 

It's refreshing when you come across people that are so polite and affable on the forum, which I'm sure reflects in their on court attitude too!

As I'm at work, there is a lot I cannot see on the forum including the videos and some of the posts (if they contain certain words etc). The pages also load quite strangely on our browsers, hence why for some reason I posted 3 times above!
Anyway, not reading all the posts, I assumed that this was a "fairwell" exhibition match that TH played against LD recently (like PG's exhibition match) and may have used the old scoring system to reminisce those old days...

I don't follow the international badminton competitions very closely so didn't even know he was playing in the Indo Open until now.

Thank you for the kind words though, I'm sure if I remember to take the medicine, I'll remember how amicable craigandy of glasgow is.

 

Both LD and TH have their own best game performances...IMHO, OLY08 I would say LD prolly played his best game ever, flawless...TH would be WC05 and I was priviledged to see live at courtside, flawless...both performances you can feel LD/TH confidence, focus, everything worked that night...except TH took a sabatical, he even skipped AE at his prime (I wonder if TH regret that move today) and as we know TH never recover his WC05 form again.
OLY04, some forumers once said TH won because his opponents were weak, in WC05 that was a different story, from Johanssen, LCW and LD, every game TH played at his best form, his opponents are high seedings. So as we remember ZJH in AE90, LD in OLY08, then TH would be WC05...each player's best moment, their best performance ever...