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Taufik Hidayat hopes to retain gold in Beijing
Xinhua
Updated: 2008-08-06 00:54
BEIJING - Defending Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia said here on Tuesday that he hoped to retain the men's singles title of the badminton tournament at the upcoming Beijing Games and it would be the last Olympiad for him.
Indonesian's badminton player Taufik Hidayat holds the Olympic "Fuwa" mascot upon his arrival at Beijing's airport ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, August 4, 2008. [Agencies] |
"I hope to win the gold, and this will be the last time for me to play in Olympic Games," said Taufik who will celebrate his 27th birthday on Sunday.
"Lin Dan, Lee Chongwei, Peter Gade and myself all have the chances to win the gold, and it depends on how we play on the court," Taufik said.
Taufik was hospitalized two weeks ago over dengue fever. He said Tuesday on the sidelines of the training court in the Beijing University of Technology that he had resumed normal training.
Hendrawan, coach of the Indonesian team and the men's singles silver medalist at the Sydney Games, said Taufik had the chance to retain gold if he had the motivation, "it is Olympics and everybody has the chance to win."
The team set the target of one gold medal at the Beijing Games, and the gold was likely in the men's singles or doubles or mixed doubles, according to Hendrawan.