World badminton: Lin Dan is too good, says Kuncoro

Updated on: 16 August,2009 09:12 AM IST |
Sanjay Sharma | sports@mid-day.com

Losing semi-finalist Sony Dwi hails World No 1; Hidayat loses to World No 2 Chen in second semi

Losing semi-finalist Sony Dwi hails World No 1; Hidayat loses to World No 2 Chen in second semi

Finally, Sony Dwi Kuncoro could not gift his wife what he had promised. Married just two months ago, the Indonesian shuttler had told his wife that if there was one player he wanted to beat, it was World No 1 Lin Dan and assured her he would do so at the World Badminton Championship here. However, on Saturday Kuncoro lost in the semi-finals to the Chinese ace 14-21, 21-13, 15-21 to make it six defeats in the six meetings the duo have had in the recent past.

China's Lin Dan celebrates after beating Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the semi-finals of the World Badminton Championship in Hyderabad on Saturday. pic/afp

"I've lost to him five times before this, including the last World Championship final. I had trained really hard and was confident but somehow, could not penetrate his defence in the third game. He's simply the best and deserves his third World title," Kuncoro said.

The men's singles final on Sunday will be an all-Chinese affair, after second seed Jin Chen took just 32 minutes to beat Indonesia's former World and Olympic champion Taufiq Hidayat 21-16, 21-6 in in the second semi-final.

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