I think it's good for Simon Santoso to change direction as he was not appreciated. In my view, SS has still a few good years of badminton left and if he does well he can still garner big bucks. Good luck to you, SS.
I think so far his performance at the Malaysia GPG is quite impressive. Hopefully he can prove himself by winning this tournament so PBSI would call him to join the Thomas Cup team. I'm quite sure the team will benefit by having him as MS-3.
I salute Rexy for "forcing" Simon to leave pelatnas. Simon is getting better as professional player. Better than the last time he was in pelatnas. And also salute Rexy for agreeing to nominate Simon to Thomas Cup squad. That means PBSI is doing their best for Thomas Cup.
I'm not so sure whether SS is better than before. His opponents in the current Malaysia Open are not of the highest quality that one usually finds in Super Series tournaments. With his background, experience and current form SS should advance to the finals and win the title. Unfortunately for INA's MS, apart from TS, the others are not performing to expectation. Thus SS may have to be recalled for the TC.
I think Simon is still not at his best at the moment but he performed very bad in 2013 and in early 2014 while he was still in pelatnas. Now he is playing better than the past 1 year. As for Thomas Cup, I don't think Simon should play if the junior can already achieve better result than him. However, the result so far shows that they are not and if PBSI did not nominate him, then there is something not right. Anyway, INA Thomas cup squad is not finalized and Simon is 1 of probably 8 MS considered for the 4 MS spot.
Besides Tommy and maybe Hayom, who could possibly beat Simon right now in INA MS list? Has Sonny recover enough to perform yet?
Simon still looked sluggish at times, esp against the fit Sourabh Varma. If not for his vast experience, he would have lost the match in MAS GPG Final. Varma was easily ahead in terms of attacks and defense.....only in the very late stage did Simon's attacks bore pts for him. Earlier on, they were all repelled by Varma. Nevertheless, a morale boosting victory for Simon (and he needs it badly especially after turning independent). In terms of titles, he's also among one of the few INA MS players who has won at least one title each year (except for 2011): 2008 - Chinese Taipei Open GPG 2009 - Denmark SS 2010 - Chinese Taipei Open GPG 2012 - Indonesia SSP (his biggest title so far) 2013 - Indonesia GPG 2014 - Malaysia GPG Admittedly, he will still have a chance of winning titles at GP/GPG level tourneys. But at SS, I am a bit skeptical.
Congratulations, Simon Santoso, on your first win as an independent player. Hopefully, this will be the start of more titles for you.
Welcome back SS, beating LCW in the final of the singapore open 21-15, 21-10 I'm very glad that I was able to witness such a performance!
Welcome back Simon, very, very sharp attacking today except for a slight lapse in the second game. Very pleased to see such a convincing thumping of Lee Chong Wei.
Well, I am happy that Simon proves me wrong by winning another SS today by beating Du Pengyu and Lee Chong Wei enroute to the title. This is also perhaps his most productive years in terms of titles, having already won 2 so far.
he's not eligible yet i think, he's 4th ranked among Indonesian players.. also I m not sure he can play since he has gone independent...
btw I like his new found confidence. I always think he has all the skills, its his mentality tts lacking
Simon is better than hayom and tommy. Hayom is like wzm, too much hope placed on them and virtually 0 results. Tommy is like du pengyu who will try their hardest everytime but lacks something in the end unless they play 100%
I just watch Simon santoso game vs chong wei ,, his rackets and wears doesn't seen from Yonex, he is sponsor by who /.?
Never hear before, now heard of two unknown brand in today's Spore open final . Astec and Flypower. Currently not nown in Spore !