Taufik is flustered by heavy security cover

Published>Wed, Apr 14 10 08:19 PM

New Delhi, April 14 (IANS) Indonesian great Taufik Hidayat finds the unprecedented security at the Badminton Asia Championships here 'disturbing.'

The tournament, which is a test event for the October 3-14 Commonwealth Games, has players from 21 countries participating.

Taufik, who was in Hyderabad last year for the World Championships, said he has never seen such a security cover before and the players are not used to it.

'There is too much of security around. It is more than the Olympics and the Asian Games and it is a bit disturbing for the players. Players do not want to see so many security men around, it affects us psychologically,' he said.

Japanese head coach and former South Korean doubles exponent Park Joo-bong had also expressed similar views Tuesday.

Taufik, Olympic champion and three times World Champion, has happy memories of India, having won the singles title at the Indian Open last year.

He looked in good touch as he breezed through to the third round here Wednesday, demolishing Nepal's Indra Mehta 21-6, 21-9 in the first round and then outclassed Vietnam's Ha Anh Le 21-10, 21-16, in the second.

'In India, I get a lot of crowd support. I won the Indian Open last year, but now I am taking one game at a time as there are some very good players in the draw,' said Taufik, six-time winner of the Indonesian Open.

'I was a bit casual in my second match and he pushed me to a fair distance. But I came back strongly, which is a good thing.'

The 28-year-old is happy with the facilities at the Siri Fort stadium.

'The facility here is good, the best I have seen in India and that includes Hyderabad. It is a little dusty though and you also have to be conscious of the inconsistent draught.'

Some of the big names are missing from the Championships, but Taufik said the tournament is still very competitive with a number of quality players capable of beating anyone on a given day.

'Though some of the players have not come, it is still a strong field with Lin Dan, Long Chen and a couple of other good players in the draw,' he said.

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