Taufik Hidayat

Taufik Hidayat (born August 10, 1981, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia) is an Indonesian badminton player. He is a former world champion and a former Olympic champion in men's singles. He has 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. Trained by Iie Sumirat, Taufik learned his characteristic confusing and tricky net play there.

Hidayat played badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in men's 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 a rare gold medal for Indonesia at the Olympics. 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.

Hidayat's qualities are his backhand (Taufik is most famous for his backhand smash, which has been recorded at over 200 km/h), forehand drop shot (reverse slice in particular), forehand jump smash, net-play, smooth footwork and occasional deceptive shots (such as his fake smash and fake drive, both of which he plays as drop shots). He has weaknesses in is his propensity to make errors, 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. His style mirrors Zhao Jianhua to some reviewers. Hidayat is known for his relaxed smooth playing style. His lack of consistency and mental fortitude are often points of criticism.

On top of his amazing profile, he also has an impressive 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 to the All England final when he was 17.

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 male badminton player in the world ever to win the Olympics (2004) and the World Badminton Championship that took place in the following year (2005).

Hidayat has a wife, Ami Gumelar. She is the daughter of Agum Gumelar, who was KONI's former President, former PSSI's President and former minister of the Indonesian government. They married on 4 February 2006 and have a daughter, born in August 2007. His hobbies include swimming,watching movies, sleeping, loitering and also playing rugby. The name of Hidayat's parents are Abu Harmee (his father) and Enak (his mother). Generally people call him Taufik.

Source: en.wikipedia.org