Olympic badminton champ Hidayat earns 1st-round bye

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Now that he’s out of the hospital and in recovery from a serious fever, defending champion Taufik Hidayat can start focusing on his opening match of the Olympic badminton tournament. Like all the top-seeded players, Indonesia’s Taufik received a first-round bye but will face veteran shuttler Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia in the second round of the Olympic badminton tournament, which starts August 9 at Beijing University of Technology. Taufik, who has struggled to find his form this year, was admitted to Pondok Indah Hospital in Jakarta last week with a high temperature, but was discharged Saturday. “He’s already back to training," his trainer, Christian Hadinata said Monday. “He will definitely go to the Olympics." Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, No. 2 in the world rankings, will face Singapore’s Ronald Susilo in the second round. Lee is Malaysia’s best hope for a gold medal in Beijing. World No. 1 Lin Dan of China is the tournament’s top-seeded player and will face unseeded Ng Wei of Hong Kong in the second round. China won three out of five gold medals in the badminton tournament at the Athens Olympics and will be out to at least match that tally on home soil. In women’s singles, world No. 1 Xie Xingfang is the top-seeded player and will face Taiwan’s Cheng Shao-chieh in the second round. Defending Olympic champion Zhang Ning of China takes on Thailand’s Ponsana Salakjit. In men’s doubles, the Indonesia pair of Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan is top-seeded but faces a tough opening match against the Chinese pair of Guo Zhengdong and Xie Zhongbo. China has the top three seeded pairs in women’s doubles. Defending Olympic champions Zhang Ziewen and Yang Wei face Indonesian pair of Liliyana Natsir and Vita Marissa in their first match. Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms of Britain won the silver medal in mixed doubles at the Athens Games but face an uphill battle in Beijing, where they will face second-seeded Zheng Bo and Gao Ling of China in their first match. The Beijing Olympic tournament will feature teams from 50 countries or regions, a record high number since 1992, when badminton became an official event at the Olympic Games. – AP