Indonesia’s former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat admitted countryman Anthony Ginting did not possess a big game aura in his Tokyo Olympics semi-final clash against Chen Long after he faltered in straight games.
Chen Long was imperious in that match to win 21-15, 21-15 and set-up a final clash against Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, which he went on to lose in straight games.
Taufik, in a virtual session with former national shuttlers Tan Boon Heong and Sairul Amar Ayob, said the Olympics was a completely different ball game in comparison with any other events.
“Ginting for me played really well in the quarter-finals, but he just didn’t show up against Chen Long. At the Olympics, you need to have a strong mindset. Having physical and technical strength is not good enough.
“It’s the same as Indonesia’s men’s doubles Kevin Sanjaya-Marcus Gideon. They had always won many tournaments on the World Tour but they were not good enough at the Olympics,” he said.
The 2004 Olympics gold medalist also shared his two cents on Japan’s world number one Kento Momota, whom he thought “was too slow”.
Momota crashed out in the group stage of the tournament after losing in straight games to South Korea’s Heo Kwang-hee.
Taufik was also full of praise of Kevin Cordon, the unfancied Guatemalan who did well to reach the semi-finals before being ousted by Ginting in the bronze medal match.
