SINGAPORE: Top men's seed Taufik Hidayat crashed out and women's world champion Wang Lin departed in tears in a day of carnage at the Singapore Open badminton tournament Thursday. Hidayat, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist and a two-time Singapore winner, led a parade of seeds out of the men's draw when he was shocked by China's up-and-coming Wang Zhengming, 21. World junior champion Viktor Axelsen stunned his hero, China's Bao Chunlai, while South Korea's Lee Hyun-Il sent third seed Chen Long packing and eighth seed Park Sung-Hwan was humbled by China's Chen Jin. Hidayat fought back from a set down against Wang but his defense proved unable to cope with the heavy-hitting Chinese, who ran away with the decider to take it 21-16, 20-22, 21-13. The upset ends a stormy tournament for the volatile Hidayat, who had slammed Indonesian media coverage after he did not attend a pre-tournament press conference. “Today I played very badly,” he said afterwards. “I think tomorrow I'll go back to Indonesia and prepare for (next week's) Indonesian Super Series.” Later, Indian fourth seed Saina Nehwal became the biggest women's casualty when she fell in three sets to world number 10 Cheng Shao-Chieh of Taiwan. Nehwal, whose successes have boosted badminton in her giant home country, looked to have Cheng's number when she romped to a one-set lead. But the Taiwanese reeled off 13 consecutive points in the second before closing it out 8-21, 21-10, 21-19. However, the day's worst heartache was reserved for Wang Lin, whose Olympic dream may be over after a recurrence of a serious knee injury that had kept her sidelined for seven months. Wang, who was on the comeback trail after anterior cruciate surgery, was 12-8 down to top-seeded compatriot Wang Shixian in the tournament's second round when she abruptly pulled out. Singapore Open officials said Wang had aggravated her damaged left knee and requested hospital treatment. If the knee has broken down, it almost certainly puts paid to her hopes of reaching next year's London Games. In other results, Chinese great Lin Dan cruised into the quarterfinals, meaning he is assured of leading the standings in this year's Super Series — the only major honour to elude him. The admired ‘Super Dan' will next play Indonesia's Simon Santoso ahead of a likely semifinal against long-time rival Peter Gade of Denmark. Singapore is the fifth stop on the 12-leg Super Series tour, with the top eight men, women and doubles pairs reaching the finals in December.
