Badminton superstar shows signs of pressure

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Sydney: Young Indonesian badminton superstar Taufik Hidayat showed early signs of pressure on Monday at his first Olympics appearance as he struggled to shut out the low-ranked Hidetaka Yamada of Japan.

But the 19-year-old, who carries the hopes of millions of Indonesians for a gold medal, was later relaxed about his performance, saying he never did well in the first game of a tournament.

"The Olympic Games are the greatest sporting competition in the world," he said after finally wresting a 15-5, 14-17, 15-8 win over the 74th ranked Yamada. "I felt somewhat tense and nervous."

Hidayat surged this year to the top of world rankings to be top seed at Sydney, where he named former world champion Peter Gade of Denmark, China's Ji Xinpeng, and Malaysia's Ong Ewe Hock as his biggest threats.

With back-to-back titles at his home Grand Prix in July and the Malaysia Open in August, coach Mulyo Handoyo says Hidayat's rapid career rise is not just due to his natural physical abilities on the court.

"It's also because of his ability to analyse games very quickly. That has given him the edge on everyone else," Handoyo told reporters on Monday.

Hidayat's country is crazy about badminton. It has won three gold medals at the Olympics since the sport was introduced at the Games in 1992 -- its only source to date of Olympic gold.

Hidayat's popularity has risen as rapidly as his ranking and the teenager who appears regularly on magazine covers is granted almost pop star status.

He plays down the hero-worship, but admits he sometimes worries that he might buckle one day under the heavy expectations for him to win the big tournaments.

"I've always felt the pressure and I often think that if I am too conscious about it then I won't play as well, but then I also have my own personal goals to rely on," he said.

Indonesia's top-ranked doubles team of Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan know all about the pressure.

"The Olympics are a very big event for us," Gunawan told Reuters after the pair moved on Monday into the semi-finals against world champions Ha Tae-Kwon and Kim Dong-Moon from South Korea.

"Indonesian people expect to win medals from their singles and doubles."



(c) Reuters Limited.