I feel crazy seeing people criticizing a World Rank 2 player for her loss to a player who is not "much lower ranked" in BWF ranking list. Lol. I can tell them that the top two WS players in the list has not got their first title yet in this 2013 ... And i observed one thing for sure.. Those who has beaten Saina as well as Li xuerui in any tournaments could not pass on to the next level and won the title they played. That means, they simply has beaten these ladies and that's all. There would be somebody to overcome them in the next rounds. Just an observation.
Well, I don't mean to boost anyone's hope, but the fact is that May hasn't recovered from injuries yet. She decided to play despite the doctor's advice (to rest and refrain from jumping!). According to the news, she got inflamed right foot tendon, sore ankle and painful left thigh. Don't know if her condition is better or worse at the moment but believe she's on pain medication. Many people just don't agree with her decision to participate in this tournament.
Thammasin Sitthikom, another Thai upstart showing good potential moving into the SF after getting the better of Hsu Jen Hao who seemed to be in fine form too (his R1 demolition of Riichi Takeshita was remarkable). His SF opponent is equally impressive, K Srikanth, who overcame an established player, Shon Wan Ho, in two straight sets. But somehow I feel that none of the SF contestants are in the same league as the redoubtable Boonsak Ponsana.
Thammasin Sitthikom is Thailand's rising star and the one to watch. He is no.5th in Junior Ranking. Just turned 18 two months ago. He won Li-Ning Singapore International Series 2012. Btw, Boonsak said recently that he's happier nowadays because his mom who suffered from stroke has gradually recovered though still not being able to walk. His mom's improved condition has given him more concentration on games. Congratulations to Boonsak and his mom!
Looking at the way how the top 3 players are loosing, especially SN, it seems like the Olympic preparation has taken its toll physically and more so mentally. Last 2 years we have seen these players win matches even when they were plagued with injuries but now it seems like they removed the foot of the pedal. That hunger to win at any cost is gone now that they have won medals. I stood speechless when I read that SN hurt her toe and kept quite about it, I mean being a badminton player how could she be so careless. Getting hurt is not a wrong but not taking care of it, is. Its testing time for LXR, WYH and SN coz the juniors and the lower ranked players are fast catching up and some of them already have. SN has to at least reach semis or finals if not win the next two tournaments at any cost or else she will be knocked out of top 5 pretty soon.
Thais do have same first names but rarely same family names. Thai's 'John' probably is 'Somchai' (=manly). Thai names may come from combination of different meaning words or just a standalone word that has a unique meaning. For example, Porntip comes from Porn (=blessing) + Tip (=celestial) so the word means 'celestial blessing'. Thus, there are a great varieties of names depending on the combination of words. Btw, it's weird but can't find the meaning of 'Ratchanok' in the dictionary!
I'm afraid I can't agree with you as far as energy-sapping matches are concerned. Gu Juan had as hard a time against Saina in three sets in 53 mins as Busanan had with Porntip in 1 hr, also in 3 sets. Besides, for any player worthy of being in the top 10 or even 20, lack of fitness or stamina is a bad excuse for losing a match or losing the advantage, if any. Especially when you consider practically all professional players train on average 8 hrs daily for six days a week. If you lose on skills, that's understandable, but if you lose on fitness, then it's your duty to train harder. To me, all the top or elite players should and must be supreme athletes.
Hope Intanon, I mean May, is well enough, i.e. her injury isn't affecting her significantly when medication can take care of it assuming the doctor allows her to carry on competing on a play-safe or borderline case, so that she can handle Pai Hsiao Ma tomorrow and be ready for the final too. Wish May all the best.I'm sure she wants to do her nation proud in front of her home crowd.
Thanks for this info and for much of the similar info you've been providing us with! The Thai team is really becoming one of the top teams in the world, and it becomes more important for us as fans to be able to know the facts about what is happening there, instead of relying on gossip and hearsay. Your efforts are much appreciated, [MENTION=104918]Anatta[/MENTION]
What else can anyone do other than "gossip and hearsay" when they live thousands of miles away and don't speak or understand the local languages where the tournaments are held. We have to rely on our friends like Anatta. BTW, thank you [MENTION=104918]Anatta[/MENTION] for the valuable information , I was not aware that Inthanon was injured.
And she will be playing 2 matches tomorrow as well, as a result! I just checked, and in all she has already played 15 games in this tournament, in 3 days! Porntip has actually gone one better -she has played 16 games so far, in singles and doubles (with Busanan as partner) but she'll be playing only the doubles tomorrow (Busanan beat her in the singles today)
As I wrote earlier, Vito has been plagued by injury and personal issues since late last year. The personal issue was more serious and I am not really sure whether he has coped with it up to this moment.
She is much younger than GJ and should have fully recovered by then. Yes, players are expected to be fit and ready if they take to the courts. If they are not ready then they should not commit to more than one event and hope to win. Above all she plays at home and will get immense support from partisan crowds. GJ needs to be at her best to beat Busanan. I hope she will take the match seriously and not lose focus and limit her number of unforced errors. Good Luck Gu ... go, go, go ...
