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.
1998
At age 17 he won the Brunei Open and reached the semifinals of the 1998 Asian Championships and the Indonesia Open.
1999
Hidayat has won the Indonesia Open six times (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006).
He is considered to be one of the greats men's single players in badminton history and has earned the nickname "Mr. Backhand".
When he was young, he joined the SGS club, a badminton club in Bandung, where he trained under Iie Sumirat.
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.
2000
Hidayat achieved the world number one ranking when he was still 19 years old in 2000 after winning the Malaysia Open, Asian Championships, Indonesia Open and was once again runner-up at the All England Open where he was defeated by Chinese player Xia Xuanze.
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.
2002
Hidayat won the men's singles gold medal at the Asian Games in 2002 Busan and 2006 Doha.
2004
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
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
He married the daughter of Agum Gumelar, Ami Gumelar, on 4 February 2006.
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.
Men's singles
Men's singles
Men's singles
Men's singles
Men's singles
Men's singles
Boys' singles
2007
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
Hidayat competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics but he was eliminated in the second round by Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia.
For the fourth time, Hidayat participated in the Summer Olympics.
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.
2012
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.
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.
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.
