Correct, and those were powerhouses at their time of doing it. While Japan has been steadily and visibly improving in their womens team, their men's result was totally out of left field. Bravo!
I should have trusted spicy food and his wacky Friday theory more. He knew what he was talking about. Now what for Japan, it's not Friday anymore. So does that mean...
Tan Boon Heong looks a changed man. Out of the shadow of KKK, he seemed more vocal and was clearly guiding the pair. It didn't hurt that him and HTH had played together before, albeit it was 8 years ago. But they felt comfortable yesterday and were certainly helped by an extraordinary number of shots by the INA pair into the net. His uber-extraordinary between the legs save at match point had a bucketful of luck attached to it but as they say, you have to be good to be lucky. The Indonesians never recovered after that miracle shot.
Agree with what you said at the top parts except this one: it's up to each country to make their best decision... no party incl world's association should be the big brother or busy body to interfere into such [tactical] arrangement! It's just a small, legit advantage for host country, if any, and nowadays, becoming a host is a costly affair!! And to think further, who will actually buy the tickets and take all the efforts to come over to the stadium to cheer all over and make the atmosphere alive if not the host country supporters... definitely not those behind the flat screens and monitors can't imagine if the stadium is deadly silent as if a classical music show
You are completely missing the point. Order of play should be maintained. Normal order: WS1 then WD1 then WS2 then WD2 then WS3. What India did: WS1 then WS2 then WD1 then WS3 then WD2. India made the singles players Nehwal and Sindhu team up for women doubles 2, even though they have extra players to make WD2 (ie. Sikki Reddy and Pranya Gadre plays WD2, yet they sit on the bench). If two singles players are later paired for doubles, a rest time is necessary, so the order of play must be changed. India intentionally did so, because if they can win their first two match (ie WS1 then WS2), then the psychological burden on their opponent for WD1 match will be much greater. This is why the Indonesian pair lost in the quarterfinal, even though they are more highly ranked. Of course, if India loses WD1, then they will lose the rest of the match, that's how Japan won. India made a bet, a risky one and paid off in the quarter final, not the semi.
I don't think there is or should be a rule on disallowing player from playing 2 events, regardless of whether they have other players to field or not. a team should be allowed to play their strongest lineup. it is their choice to risk the player being fatigue.
i too notice that, china top singles players are more adapt to play lcw than others players. when they play lcw, they can come out with lot of strategies but against others, they seems need to think and not as fluid in their tactics.
Well this kind of tactical advantage can be abused. Let's say a China has the top 3 singles players in the world (and for argument sake, lets say Lee Chong Wei is in China team) and one doubles players only play Thomas Cup.. So the team would be: Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, Chen Long, and Fu Hai Feng, no one else . Because of the required rest time, you can't have the normal order of MS1 then MD1, then MS2, then MD2, etc... Instead, the order would be MS1 Lin Dan, then MS2 Lee Chong Wei, then MS3 Chen Long, then MD1 Lin Dan and Fu Haifeng, then MD2 Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long. With that kind of team, you will win the first 3 match, so there is no point in playing doubles. The psychological burden of MS3 will be completely different when your team is leading 2-0, then when instead you should be be playing the rubber match with 2-2 all.
All this while, CHN targets LCW and thinking if their players can beat LCW, they can beat the rest but they didn't realize other nations' players have improved too.
IND listed 5 players...in your over stretched illustration you just listed 4 players, that's why no double is staged there and it's a totally different setup!
^ Maybe because they're just children? Maybe they need a spanking? On a more serious -and thoughtful- note.... The China TC debacle got me thinking. I look at the TC team, and then at the UC team, and I notice that the bosses have taken some bold steps to introduce new blood. Obviously this is a good thing, because it tells the new blood, "You are our future stars, and we believe in you. Go and do what you have to do." Which is why LD is #3, and the bosses didn't twist his arm to begin his climb up the rankings earlier. Which is maybe why Ma Jin isn't to be seen, or TYT either -the most promising new partnership that was climbing the ranks so quickly. But I think LYB may have missed a huge trick here. Wang Zhengming. Whatever his mental issues and attitude issues be, can't overlook the fact that he is an immensely talented and powerful player. Here was the best opportunity to get him off his lazy butt. "Look, we believe in you, notwithstanding your goofiness. We are going to trust our TC fortunes with you. Now, go and do what we know you can do. Murder the opposition, bring back no prisoners. It's what you were born for." WZM has 5 gears, plus turbocharger. so what do they do? Do they dare? No. They go for safe, reliable and highly seeded DPY. Who has 2 gears. Playing at #2, while the most successful player in history watches and winces.
