We all can only guess, the true answer has to be from Taufik and Soni which you will never get from them anyway. Why even question? We are not the one who's going to lose the valuable ranking point, Taufik will face the consequence if he doesn't do well in Hong Kong Open.
TH made a wise decision. Better to do well in HKO alone than to do badly by playing in both CO and HKO.Imagine LD got knocked out in R1 and TH in QF, LD's gonna be fresher than TH for HKO.With proper rest for a week, TH is gonna be as fresh as he can be and maybe at least hungry as well.
LD have just play one game in CO & will have a good rest ahead of HKO next week. TH seems pretty confidence that LD will be able to win the CO thus will give him added advantages over the World No. 1. But I guess, he is also be surprised as many of us that LD eventually lost in the first round ..
If Sony win over LCW today in CO QF, then he might be able to overtake TH position in WR.. Both will still grab the Olympics Spots, if by MAY Next Year(?), they are remain inside top 16 .. Unless there is a dramtically drop of form from either one of them or other players can earn more points than them by creating upsets here & there in SS.
Maybe it's true...ha...ha.. Anyway it has been mentioned a number of times by LD that when he and TH play, they somehow bring the game to a higher level (except for final set JO '06 - my view). And I think that's something positive for the game, players and us fans.