Badminton fans can look forward to the presence of Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat in the World Badminton Championships, which will be held at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Aug 13-19.

The poser over whether Taufik will be in or out of the championships has been laid to rest with the confirmation of his attendance in the final list of players released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) two days ago.

Taufik: ‘I want to play because there is no world championships next year.’
Taufik indicated during the Asian Badminton Championships in Johor Baru in April that he might skip the event because his wife will be delivering their first child just days before the championships.

However, Taufik has changed his mind. And he has also expressed his intention to compete in an interview with Indonesian daily Jakarta Post.

He was quoted as saying that it would be his last shot at winning a second world title because he intends to retire after the Beijing Olympics next year.

The world championships, which stated as a biennial event, became a annual affair after 2005 but will not be held during the Olympic year. “I want to play because there is no world championships next year. Another big aim is also to defend my Olympic title next year,” said Taufik. His absence from the championships, which Malaysia will host for the first time, would have been a big letdown for the badminton fans, considering his appeal and his reputation as the most naturally talented player in the modern era. Taufik, ranked 10th in the world, and former Asian champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro are the two Indonesian representatives in the men's singles event. Malaysian coach Misbun Sidek has huge respect for Taufik even though the Indonesian star was beaten by unheralded Nguyen Thien Minh of Vietnam in the second round of the Philippines Open recently. He feels that it was just Taufik's way to psychologically trick his rivals ahead of a major event.

Taufik lifted his first world title by beating Lin Dan in Anaheim in 2005. It was Lin Dan's turn to be crowned world champion in Madrid last year.

“Regardless of where Taufik is going to be placed in the draw, he will be dangerous and I rate him as one of the strong contenders for the title,” said Misbun.

“He may say he is not fit but I think he is going to be very tough to beat if he is sets his mind on doing well in any particular event. It will be interesting to see whether Taufik drawn in the same half as Lin Dan or Chong Wei.”

Lin Dan is the current world number one ahead of Malaysian Lee Chong Wei. The seedings for the world meet will be released today and the draw will be made the following day.

Copyright © 2007 Star Online.