After the shocking defeats of Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso, Indonesian back-up shuttler Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka is ready to score the biggest upset in the World Championships.
The 25-year-old has set his sights on ousting world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei in Wednesday’s second round.
Hayom created a stir in last month’s Indonesian Open when he pushed Chong Wei to all corners before going down fighting 17-21, 14-21 in the semi-finals. His feisty display even earned praises from Chong Wei.
Hayom, who won the India and Indonesian Opens Grand Prix Gold in 2010, admitted that Chong Wei would start as the favourite but warned fans not to write him off – just yet.
“Chong Wei is more experienced and there is great quality in his game. I played against him recently and I aim to push him even further,” said Hayom.
“Do not rule out the possibility of me pulling off a big surprise,” added the lanky shuttler with a smile.
On paper, Chong Wei is the favourite to go through but, if Hayom’s determination is anything to go by, the match could go down to the wire.
Meanwhile, national singles coach Rashid Sidek is confident that Chong Wei and China’s Lin Dan will continue to dominate the second round proceedings.
“I’ve assessed the performances of all the players on the first day and it looks like Chong Wei and Lin Dan are still a class above the rest,” said Rashid.
“Chen Long is the danger man and probably be the next closest challenger for the title. China’s Du Pengyu and Wang Zhengming are no pushovers, either.
“However, it’ll be a folly to underestimate any of the lower ranked players as some of them have showed that they can turn the tables on the big names.”
