Taufik Hidayat

Taufik Hidayat (born August 10, 1981, Bandung, Jawa Barat, Indonesia) is an Indonesian badminton player and his height is 176 cm. He is a former world champion and the current Olympic champion in the men's singles. He also won the Indonesian Open six times (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006).

When he was young, he joined the SGS Club, a badminton club in Bandung. Having been trained by Iie Sumirat, Taufik learned his characteristic confusing and tricky net play.

Hidayat played badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in men' singles, defeating Hidetaka Yamada of Japan and Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia in the first two rounds. In the quarterfinals, Hidayat defeated Peter Gade of Denmark 15-12, 15-12. Hidayat advanced to the semifinals, in which he beat Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 15-9, 15-2. Playing in the gold medal match, he defeated Korean Shon Seung-mo 15-8, 15-7 to win the gold medal. In August 2005, he defeated world number one Lin Dan of China, 15-3, 15-7 in the men's singles final of the IBF World Championships.
Player Attributes

Hidayat's qualities are his backhand, forehand drop shot (reverse slice in particular) and net-play.[citation needed] He has weaknesses in is his reluctance to kill from high forehand clears, his impatience with loud crowds and his penchant for returning a net shot with a net shot, even when the opponent is dangerously close to the net.[citation needed] His style mirrors Zhao Jianhua to some reviewers.[citation needed] Hidayat is known for his relaxed smooth playing style. His lack of consistency and mental fortitude are often points of criticism.

On top of this amazing players profile, he also has a terrific record. He was the number 1 seed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, at the age of 19. he also won his first Indonesia Open title when he was just 18. He had got the All England final when he was 17. But among the countless things he has done,the most remarkable is that of Asian Junior championship title. When Taufik was 17, he became the best player in the world, after retaining the world no.1 spot for several months he won the Asian Junior championship title after.

Taufik was defeated three times by Lin Dan in 2006, at the Thomas Cup semi-final tie, Japan Open final and the Hong Kong Open where Taufik forfeited the match after what he thought was a bad line call at 4-1 to Lin in the first game. Taufik defeated Lin Dan in the final of the 2006 Asian Games individual event on December 9 after losing twice to him in three days in the team event preliminaries and semi-finals. Taufik has an 8-4 losing record at present against Lin Dan, his ultimate rival.)

To date, Taufik is the only badminton player in the world ever to win the Olympics (2004) and the World Badminton Championship that took place in the following year (2005).