Taufik Hidayat
Taufik Hidayat is an Indonesian retired badminton player who is the current Deputy Minister for Youth and Sport of Indonesia. He is a former World Championships|World] champion, Olympic gold medalist, two time Asian Games|Asian Games] gold medalist, and three time Asian champion. He is a 6 time Indonesia Open winner. He is the youngest player to have reached the world number one ranking in the men's single. Known as 'Mr Backhand', he is considered one of the greats in men's singles badminton.
Career summary
When he was young, he joined the SGS club, a badminton club in Bandung, where he trained under Iie Sumirat.At age 17, he won the Brunei Open and reached the semifinals of the 1998 Asian Championships and the Indonesia Open (badminton)|Indonesia Open]. In 1999, Hidayat won his first 1999 [Indonesia Open (badminton)|Indonesian Open] title. In the same year he also reached the final of the All England Open Badminton Championships|All England] and the Singapore Open but lost the finals to his great rival, Peter Gade and his senior in the national team Hariyanto Arbi respectively. In 2000, Hidayat, at just 19 years old, achieved the world number one ranking after winning the Malaysia Open, Asian Championships, and Indonesia Open. He also, once again, came runner-up at the All England Open Badminton Championships|All England Open] as he was defeated by Chinese player, Xia Xuanze.
1997 Asian Junior Badminton Championship
Just at 15, Hidayat won the boy's single event by defeating his future rival, Chen Hong in the final.2000 Sydney Olympics
Hidayat participated in the men's singles competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's singles|2000 Summer Olympics] in Sydney. In his first Olympics, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Ji Xinpeng of China.| Round | Opponent | Score | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round of 64 | – | – | Bye | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round of 32 |  2004 Athens OlympicsHidayat won the men's singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's singles|2004 Summer Olympics] defeating Hidetaka Yamada of Japan and Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia in the first two rounds. Hidayat defeated Peter Gade of Denmark 15–12, 15–12 in the quarter final and Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 15–9, 15–2 in the semifinal. Playing in the gold medal match, He defeated Korean Shon Seung-mo 15–8, 15–7 in the final to win the gold medal.In the same year, Hidayat successfully retained his Indonesia Open title by defeating Chen Hong 15–9, 15–3 in the final and won his second Asian Championships title. 2005: World ChampionshipsIn August 2005, he won the men's singles title at the World Championships defeating world number one Lin Dan of China 15–3, 15–7 in the final. With this title, he became the first men's singles player to hold the Olympic and World Championships title in consecutive years.2006–2007: Second Asian and SEA Games goldHidayat won the men's singles gold medal at the Asian Games in 2002 Asian Games|2002 Busan] and 2006 Asian Games|2006 Doha]. He also won the 2007 Asian Championship, and two men's singles gold medals at the SEA Games in 1999 Bandar Seri Begawan and 2007 SEA Games|2007 Nakhon Ratchasima].2008 Beijing OlympicsHidayat competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's singles|2008 Summer Olympics] but he was eliminated in the second round by Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia.
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