Taufik Hidayat

Taufik Hidayat (born 10 August 1981) is an Indonesian retired badminton player. He is a former World, Olympic, two time Asian Games, and three time Asian champion, and the youngest world number one in the men's singles. Hidayat has won the Indonesia Open six times (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006). He is considered one of the great men's single players in badminton history and has earned the nickname "Mr. Backhand".

Career summary
When he was young, he joined the SGS club, a badminton club in Bandung, where he trained under Iie Sumirat.

At age 17, he won the Brunei Open and reached the semifinals of the 1998 Asian Championships and the Indonesia Open. In 1999, Hidayat won his first Indonesian Open title. In the same year he also reached the final of the All England and the Singapore Open but lost the finals to his great rival, Peter Gade and his senior in the national team Heryanto Arbi respectively. In 2000, Hidayat, at just 19 years old, achieved the world number ranking for winning the Malaysia Open, Asian Championships, and Indonesia Open. He also, once again, came runner-up at the All England Open as he was defeated by Chinese player, Xia Xuanze.

1997 Asian Junior Badminton Championship
Just at 15, Hidayat won the boy's single event by defeating his future rival, Chen Hong in the final.

2000 Sydney Olympics
Hidayat participated in the men's singles competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In his first Olympics, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Ji Xinpeng of China.

2004 Athens Olympics
Hidayat won the men's singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics defeating Hidetaka Yamada of Japan and Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia in the first two rounds. Hidayat defeated Peter Gade of Denmark 15–12, 15–12 in the quarter final and Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 15–9, 15–2 in the semifinal. Playing in the gold medal match, He defeated Korean Shon Seung-mo 15–8, 15–7 in the final to win the gold medal.

In the same year, Hidayat successfully retained his Indonesia Open title by defeating Chen Hong 15–9, 15–3 in the final and won his second Asian Championships title.

2005: World Championships
In August 2005, he won the men's singles title at the World Championships defeating world number one Lin Dan of China 15–3, 15–7 in the final. With this title, he became the first men's singles player to hold the Olympic and World Championships title in consecutive years.

2006–2007: Second Asian and SEA Games gold
Hidayat won the men's singles gold medal at the Asian Games in 2002 Busan and 2006 Doha. He also won the 2007 Asian Championship, and two men's singles gold medals at the SEA Games in 1999 Bandar Seri Begawan and 2007 Nakhon Ratchasima.

2008 Beijing Olympics
Hidayat competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics but he was eliminated in the second round by Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia.

2012 London Olympics
For the fourth time, Hidayat participated in the Summer Olympics. Hidayat competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics but he was eliminated in the round of 16 by Lin Dan of China.

Popular media has at times focused on the perceived rivalry between Hidayat and Chinese player Lin Dan, referring to the two as "arch rivals". This was the last time that Hidayat participated in the Summer Olympics.

Personal life
He married the daughter of Agum Gumelar, Ami Gumelar, on 4 February 2006. They had a daughter in early August 2008, named Natarina Alika Hidayat. She was born shortly before he had to leave for the World Championships.

In December 2012, Hidayat officially opened a badminton training center named the Taufik Hidayat Arena (THA), located at Ciracas, East Jakarta. This "house of badminton" is both named and owned by Taufik.

Player attributes
Hidayat's shot-making strengths were his backhand (as he is perhaps most famous for his backhand smash, revered for its unusually high generation of power), forehand jump smash, drop shot (reverse slice in particular), smooth footwork and deceiving net play. Hidayat's forehand jump smash in the 2006 World Championships was once the fastest smash recorded in singles competition; he recorded 305 km/h in a match against Ng Wei. This power on both his forehand and backhand, combined with his tenacity at the net and scope for deceptive shots, provided him with an extremely diverse weaponry on court, making him one of the most difficult players to face on the open circuit. Criticisms were aimed at his occasional lack of fitness, impatience with loud crowds, and his propensity to return a net shot with another net shot even when his opponent was dangerously close to the net.

Participation in the Indonesian team

 * 6 times at Sudirman Cup (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011)
 * 7 times at Thomas Cup (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012)
 * 4 times at Summer Olympics at individual event (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)

Olympic Games
Men's singles

World Championships
Men's singles

World Cup
Men's singles

Asian Games
Men's singles

Asian Championships
Men's singles

SEA Games
Men's singles

Asian Junior Championships
Boys' singles

BWF Superseries (1 title, 9 runners-up)
The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries has two level such as Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the BWF Superseries Finals held at the year end.

Men's singles
 * Superseries Finals tournament
 * Superseries Premier tournament
 * Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (17 titles, 7 runners-up)
The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983.

Men's singles
 * BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
 * BWF/IBF Grand Prix tournament

IBF Junior International (1 title)
Boys' singles

National team

 * Junior level


 * Senior level

Individual competitions

 * Junior level


 * Senior level

Record against selected opponents
Record against Superseries finalists, World Championships semifinalists and Olympic quarterfinalists.


 * 🇨🇳 Bao Chunlai 5–9
 * 🇨🇳 Chen Hong 9–2
 * 🇨🇳 Chen Jin 2–4
 * 🇨🇳 Chen Long 2–4
 * 🇨🇳 Chen Yu 7–0
 * 🇨🇳 Du Pengyu 5–1
 * 🇨🇳 Ji Xinpeng 0-2
 * 🇨🇳 Lin Dan 4–13
 * 🇨🇳 Xia Xuanze 2–2
 * Viktor Axelsen 0–1
 * Peter Gade 10–8
 * Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen 1–1
 * Jan Ø. Jørgensen 2–2
 * Kevin Cordón 1–0
 * Hariyanto Arbi 0–1
 * Hendrawan 2–1
 * Sony Dwi Kuncoro 3–3
 * Tommy Sugiarto 2–1
 * 🇯🇵 Sho Sasaki 1–3
 * 🇰🇷 Lee Hyun-il 2–4
 * 🇰🇷 Park Sung-hwan 11–2
 * 🇰🇷 Son Wan-ho 3–0
 * Lee Chong Wei 8–15
 * Liew Daren 2–1
 * Wong Choong Hann 4–6
 * Ronald Susilo 3–1
 * 🇹🇭 Boonsak Ponsana 10–1