Looks like LCW has good fortune with people with the surname Teh. Got his sweetest victory with a young Teh sitting on courtside. LCW of course owes it to old Teh, Li Mao. Misbun, and present Teh, I dunno much abt Rasid though.
Did you people notice this Danish lady 23 years old and playing Ladies Doubles, well Marie Roepke (the tall one ) is Lene Koppen's daughter (1979,80 AE champion, a contemporary of Yoshiko Yonekura). She is actually quite skillfull. Also the mixed doubles final was exciting if you had watched it. It's no longer lady at the net and big guy at the back, most of the time (more than ever)they were playing side by side like in Men's doubles.If this carries on the mixed will be dominated by China with their Amazons.
Was happy for KKK/TBH for reaching the final given their recent form. However, after getting this far and with a healthy lead in the final game, it felt a bit disappointing that they lost it. Yes, I think they lost it rather than MB/CM winning it.
yeah i do agree what u say.. but if u watch the game and concentrate on lin dan, he does not smash much and he don really smash even when he havthe chance and would normally take that chance and smash.. nevertheless, as a malaysian, i will always support malaysia players..
Welcoming hyin21 to BadmintonCentral !!! . Welcome to BadmintonCentral hyin21. Yes, I agree... KKK/TBH played with wrong tactics. But credit must be given to MB/CM for playing well. .
Thanks chris for the warm welcome. Actually at 16-11 in the final game, I was quiety confident that they had it in the bag. I mean how often do you see players at that level squandering such a lead so late in the match....
All England Badminton 2011: Lee Chong Wei gets a prime-time call after retaining title in Birmingham The Telegraph Monday 14 March 2011 Lee Chong Wei took a call from Malaysia’s prime minister after successfully defending his All England Championships crown in Birmingham on Sunday. National hero: Lee Chong Wei holds aloft his trophy in Birmingham on Sunday Photo: PA Delight: Lee Chong Wei dropped to the floor after landing second title Photo: ALAN SPINK / ACTIONPHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK On the cusp: Lin Dan (bottom) couldn't compete with Lee Chong Wei Photo: ALAN SPINK / ACTIONPHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK Familiar feeling: Lee Chong Wei defended his All England crown in Birmingham Photo: ALAN SPINK / ACTIONPHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK By Rod Gilmour 8:57PM GMT 13 Mar 2011 Rod's Twitter “Good job,” Najib Tun Razak told Lee for the second year running. His words - midnight time in Kuala Lumpur - came minutes after Lee had beaten China’s Lin Dan 21-17, 21-17 in a pulsating final at a raucous National Indoor Arena on Sunday. That’s how much badminton and the All England, one of five top-tier events on the world badminton tour, means to many people in Asia. Especially when the opponent is Lin, the sport’s Olympic champion. Lin was one victory from becoming the first player of the open era to win five singles titles at the All England and had lost only six of his last 24 encounters with Lee. The Malaysian’s win, achieved with clever lifts and precision drops, has now intensified the rivalry between the pair, shouldered with deep respect. "This All England title is something special to me after I won it last year for the first time," said Lee. There is every likelihood that Lin and Lee, 27 and 28 respectively, will feature in the world and Olympic finals, with Britain benefiting from hosting both events over the next 500 days. It should be some end considering that Lee will retire after the Olympics (Can it be true that LD lost only 6 of the last 24 encounters with LCW???)
Malaysian Chong Wei Retains All England Crown Dave Thompson | March 14, 2011 Birmingham, England. A safety-first approach paid off handsomely for world number one Lee Chong Wei when the Malaysian downed old foe Lin Dan of China 21-17 21-17 to retain his All England badminton title on Sunday. Third seed Lin was seeking a fifth success at the prestigious tournament but Chong Wei had too much in the locker. The pair are the outstanding duo of the last decade but Lin has generally outperformed his rival at global level and the head-to-head before Sunday stood at 15-7 to the Chinese. Chong Wei, cheered to the rafters by a sizeable Malaysian contingent in the crowd, emerged top dog this time to claim his second All England crown. “It’s very satisfying,” the winner told reporters. “I played safe this time, from point to point.” (???) For the second year running Chong Wei fielded a call from Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. “He said, ‘good job’. It’s midnight in Malaysia but he always seems to support me,” said the top seed. The 28-year-old is now looking forward to the world championships at Wembley in August. “I hope all my supporters can be in London and help me there,” he added. After an even start the Malaysian stretched into a 15-10 lead in the first game when Lin looked unsettled by a line call. Amid rallies of the highest quality, Chong Wei led 16-13 in the second and battled on grittily to land the spoils, falling on his knees at the end in delight and relief. It was sweet revenge after he lost in the final to Lin in 2009 when the Chinese claimed his fourth All England title. Lin, Olympic gold medallist and former world champion, said: “Things didn’t work for me quite as well as I hoped. I was making more errors than usual.” China still emerged from the tournament with three of the five titles after successes in the women’s singles and doubles and the mixed doubles. Reuters
think the japanese pair could also be affected by the disaster back home therefore playing very poorly. i was watching and i have to agree that its horrendous
Wow! Lene Koppen was also World Champion in 1977 in both WS and XD, one of only 7 players to become World Champion in more than one category.
Or coach part time, let Ah Teh accompany LCW to tournaments. I am rather surprised that all this while Teh SB has been very humble. Teh always says he's in close contact with Misbun, often discussing LCW's training prog, strategies,making it sound like he's just the messenger/caretaker, not assistant coach.
Finals Day In transit at Changi now, waiting for the last flight out to KLIA around midnight You guys seem to forget that I am not a Malaysian fan. I celebrate badminton for what it is, whether a Malaysian wins or Malaysia is represented doesn't matter. And if Malaysians don't deserve to win (like Koo and Tan), it is then better for them not to win. Finals day saw a massive supporter battle between Malaysian students and the Chinese supporters. Arena is around 70% full. The Malaysians of course, had the upper hand of, err, experience with gongs, drums, whistles, uniforms and the like. But on court, the Chinese still rule overall. First on court was cute Hirose against a not-bad-looking Wang Shixian. It was a battle royale all the way, with both girls competing for the title of "who could arch her back the best while still being in control of the shot". There were groans everywhere when you see those gals at it, we felt the pain of their spines ....... But despite the best efforts of Hirose with Malaysian and neutral crowd backing, Wang Shixian took the first title deservedly on her better deception and control. The Men's Doubles final came out next, and the in form and in control Koo Kien Kiat and Tan Boon Heong made light work of Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe in game 1. In Game 2, both Mogensen and Boe pressed forward a little closer to the net to pounce, and this brought parity to the game until the closing stages. From then onwards, a series of flick serves from the Danes continued to confuse the Malaysians, and they rode their luck out to win a close 2nd game. Now, I have never seen the Malaysians being so easily confused and slow in reacting to flick serves. In 2007 when they won the title, Koo and Tan were only beaten once on the flick. In the decider, the Malaysians started out strongly for an 11-6 lead at the break. The Danes tried to close in to 11-13, thanks to strategic gamesmanship. From then onwards, a series of lack of composure, first from Mathias Boe and then infecting Tan Boon Heong, saw the scores go from 16-11 in the Malaysians favour to 16-16, 17-17, 18-18. But the Malaysians were the most affected by nerves at this point as on a number of occasions, Koo and Tan went for the shuttle and got into each other's way. Thus in the end, Mogensen and Boe justified their World No 1 ranking and took their first major title. Next up, was the Massacre. The Japanese probably used the wrong pair against such a powerful lineup of Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang. Defensively, Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa were nothing compared to their defeated teammates Shizuka Matsuo and Mami Naito. Wang Xiaoli brought her heaviest guns and missiles, there was just no escaping the inevitable. Probably the most one sided All-England Final ever in history, and compares well with Zhao Jianhua's demolition of Joko Suprianto 21 years ago at Wembley Arena. But hey, didn't Joko Suprianto go on to become World Champion? Maybe Fujii and Kakiiwa are World Champ material. Err, perhaps not ...... The Thais came out next against Ma Jin and Xu Chen. This was the best I have seen Xu Chen play all week, supporting Ma Jin's clever placements. The Thais were only competitive at the start of the first 5 pts in game 1 ....... But what I don't quite like to see in this match was Ma Jin bossing Xu Chen around each time he made an error. Too much, as if she is miles better than Xu Chen. Well, actually she is ..... but should have been more tactful at it. Then came the clash of the titans, between LCW and Lin Dan. And both sets of supporters were at their highest pitch and the Mexican wave enveloped the arena. It was a great match-up where techniques you don't regularly see in their other matches against less powerful opposition, are shown in full force. Lin Dan was the more accurate of the two at the lines and the net. However, LCW had it balanced by clever variations of his diagonal shots that Lin Dan was not too comfortable at. LCW was also the faster player on court, which allowed him to recover from difficult situations. The better player on the day won after a 50 minute battle, but as usual, in most matches between these two, the loser could still stand tall ........ And not a moment too soon too. As soon as the prize presentation ceremony was over, off I went for a long walk to the train station, to catch the 8:25 pm flight back to Dubai, Singapore and KL. Imagine, if it had gone to 3 games, I would have missed that.
Nice report there, abedeng...........But I am sure you wouldn't mind to missed the flight if the "clash of the titans" went into 3rd set, and ended up in tight deuce, would you...........
