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14th August, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR: Muhd Hafiz Hashim, the 2003 All England champion cleared the first hurdle easily beating minnow Stuart Gomez of Australia in the men’s singles match of the 16th World Badminton Championship at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil, here yesterday.
The struggling Malaysian, the world No. 16 and seeded 13th for the championship, took only 20 minutes to beat the Australian 21-8, 21-7.
Hafiz who was married in May next meets unheralded Scott Evans of Ireland in the second round on Wednesday.
His real challenge will come in the third round on Thursday when he will face-off against arch-rival Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, the Athens Olympic champion.
Their head-to-head record reads 3:0, in favour for the Indonesian ace, the world number 10, who was also the champion of the 2005 World Championships in Anaheim, United States when beating world No. 1 Lin Dan of China.
Hafiz said his opponent gave little resistance in the first round but he expected a tougher match in the next round.
“Today’s match seemed easy for me but I had to be extra careful not to fall to an unknown shuttler. Should I make the third round, I will meet Taufik. It will be a great battle for us,” he said.
Taufik also eased into the second round after beating Jose Antonio Crespo of Spain, 21-13, 21-7.
In other men’s singles matches, former national shuttler, Lee Tsuen Seng now playing under the Kuala Lumpur Racquet Club (KLRC) banner also moved into the second round beating Petr Koukal of Republic of Czech, 21-16, 21-8.
Tsuen Seng, the world No. 20, will face world No. 5, Bao Chunlai of China, in the second round.
In the women’s single match, Lydia Cheah was shown an early exit after losing to Tracey Hallam of England 21-16, 19-21, 21-11.
Malaysian pair Chan Peng Soon/Haw Chiou Hwee also moved into the second round after beating Wouter Claes/Nathalie Descamps of Holland 21-18, 21-17 in the mixed doubles.
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