Birmingham, March 13: Indonesian wonderkid Taufik Hidayat, 17, created a slice of badminton history today when he became the youngest player to reach the men's singles final at the All-England championships.Hidayat routed Olympic champion Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen 15-13 15-7 in another sensational performance after his elimination yesterday of second seed Fung Permadi in the quarter-finals.He trailed 6-0 in the first game and 4-0 in the second but smashed his way back into contention to oust the veteran Dane, now 33 but still a formidable proposition.Hidayat's opponent in tomorrow's final will be world number one and top seed Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark. The Dane was not unduly troubled by top-rated Indonesian Budi Santoso, triumphing 15-11 15-5.Although little-known, Hidayat was seeded joint ninth on the strength of some encouraging performances in the last eight months which include a victory over Dong Jiong of China. The teenager said: ``I am very proud to be in the final here.'' Hidayat hadapparently reacted to local press comment suggesting he is too young at present for the big time. He insisted: ``Age does not matter.''
