LOL.... MAS MD are weaklings worst than INDIA's because INDIA at least admit it instead of bragging about it.
He didnt destroy the Thai opponents in GroupStae though but yeah if its 1-0 to INA when he plays, thats where it gets exciting. Certainly today he doesnt care if its 1-0 or 0-1. He just plays with his hearts.
I think KM will come out ahead based on his form and calmness. VA was struggling against SWH and LCW especially. I saw some of his impatiencess/tantrum in his match against LCW. That is not good when playing someone calm, cool, and collected like KM. Regardless of the outcome, hope both of them play at their best and give us an exciting game that we are anticipating.
A silver medal (or 3) is a lifetime accomplishment for any professional athlete. Some harsh comments on the Malaysian team performances here. They played well but stumbled on better players during this edition but that’s ok.
UC SF Predictions: THA v CHN THA have huge potential to upset and the key is WS1. I’m shocked to see that RI has never notched a victory against CYF and doing so (against a shaky CYF) would give her team the boost it needs. If THA could win WS1 and WS2/WD2, it will be a thrilling decider and Busanan showed she can handle such matters last night. Not calling this but I’m rooting for the underdog Thais! JPN v KOR JPN lost against KOR 2 years ago when we also expected JPN to reach the finals. KOR team can’t be written off. I think the key for JPN would be to finish it in 4 (or 3!) matches. Hard to put it on the shoulders of Sayaka Takahashi against a buoyant and energetic and nothing-to-lose An Se Young. AY and especially NO (who hasn’t won against Lee Jang Mi) need to up their game. As well as FukuHiro who lost to this Shin/Kim scratch pairing in a friendly tournament in recent weeks.
No, definition of a choke is if you win at first or the first game and then lose -- MAS (other than LCW) lost to INA after losing at first, coming back, and losing 3rd game... That just means MAS is good (you can't just destroyed them in straight games) but not good enough -- with various reasons (MD1 clearly not faster or stronger than INA, MS2 & MD2 clearly more inexperienced, etc.) -- simple minded fan-analysis like this is what led to frequent & disruptive changes in leadership/coaching set-up in MAS. No wonder MAS players have no confidence (in their coaches) or stability if they are told to train/play differently after every so-called "choke" -- you see this in CHN as well...
is GohVShem playing boxing? What does it mean going to the net playing with his racket. He is taking XuChen skill to the next level. If he hadnt done it, Malaysia wouldnt have choked after having 15-8 lead in G1.
Thomas and Uber Cup top contenders march into semifinal as expected, there's no twisting plot or major upset that occured two years ago. Regular women's team powerhouses Japan, China and Korea grab semifinal berth with same scoreline, 3-1 and similar fashion too how they drop opening tie oppose their respective opponents. World number one Tai Tzu Ying is too hot to handle for Japan starlet Akane Yamaguchi, the Taiwanese ace understands well her younger opponent style of play as both them often facing each other in BWF top-tier tournaments recently. 0-1 deficit, Japan team briefly take command to win three consecutive matches through Fukushima/Hirota, world champion Nozomi Okuhara and the Olympic Champion Matsutomo/Takahashi in convincing way. China stunged to lose opening match, Chen Yufei couldn't play normal, nervous and sluggish while Mia Blichfeldt on contrary was capable to cope high pressure and kept focus to dictate her more fancied opponent and bring DEN leading 1-0. But Gao Fangjie, Chen QC/Jia YF and Li Xuerui pull China on winning track to outclass Line Kjaersfeldt, Fruergaard/Thygesen and Natalia Koch Rohde respectively. Korea also struggled to pick up first point, Sung Ji Hyun ran out of idea to balance the in-form MIchelle Li in their first meeting. The Canadian leading lady has excellent feat along this event, only losing once to Nozomi Okuhara in group-stage and won three matches including downed Indian high-profile player Saina Nehwal. Two Korean WS, Lee Jang Mi and An Se Young were forced into rubber games by their rivals, one more point for Korea was coming from WD2, reigning WJC Baek HN/Lee YR powered past Choi/Tong, 21-10 / 21-7. The most entertaining Uber Cup quarterfinal clash arrived on second session when host Thailand met Indonesia. Former world champion Ratchanok Intanon exhibited her mastery skill to destroy and frustrate Fitriani in two quick games, 21-8 / 21-7. World number 6 Polii/Rahayu bounced back to level the scoreline, 1-1. Then current WJC Gregoria Mariska Tunjung sparked bright prospect to INA camp after overcame Nitchaon Jindapol, 21-10 / 22-20. Tunjung is showing steel determination, never say die attitude and outstanding performance here how she deals with big pressure. Then former world top ten pair Supajirakul/Taerattanachai knocked out INA second pair Haris/Pradipta who couldn't maintain their concentration in opening game and faltered rapidly in second set. In deciding tie, highly-spirited Busanan Ongbamrungphan demolished Ruselli Hartawan, 21-9 / 21-12. Thailand women's team celebrated their semifinal berth, a result repetition of 2012 edition. UBER Cup SEMIFINALS (12.00pm) - JPN v KOR (court 2) : https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/...057097B-20D5-4CF4-8E22-7138EE7565DC&match=145 WS1, Akane Yamaguchi v Sung Ji Hyun WD1, Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota v Kim So Yeong/Shin Seung Chan WS2, Nozomi Okuhara v Lee Jang Mi WD2, Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi v Baek Ha Na/Lee Yu Rim WS3, Sayaka Takahashii v An Se Young *It's tall order for Korea to topple their more balanced opponent, possibly 3-0 for Japan to grab final ticket. - THA v CHN (court 1) : https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/...057097B-20D5-4CF4-8E22-7138EE7565DC&match=146 WS1, Ratchanok Intanon v Chen Yufei WD1, Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai v Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan WS2, Nitchaon Jindapol v Gao Fangjie WD2, Putitta Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai v Huang Yaqiong/Tang Jinhua WS3, Busanan Ongbamrungphan v Li Xuerui *A projected close contest, China still has slight advantage particularly in doubles categories. Intanon has negative head-tohead stats against Chen Yufei, 4-0 favours to Chinese, maybe it's time to make amends as Chen looks struggling in this team event. Badminton enthusiats will witness Thomas Cup classic rivalry, CHN-INA showdown. Last time these two badminton giants faced off in 2012 Thomas Cup group-stage when China blanked Indonesia, 5-0. China Thomas team never drop any matches along this tournament including yesterday's victory over Chinese Taipei, 3-0. The Olympic Champion involved in gruelling 84 minutes battle to tame Chou Tien Chen, following next two consecutive points that scored by Liu C/Zhang N defeated Lee Y/Lee JH, 21-18 / 21-18 and Shi Yuqi edged out Wang Tzu Wei, 21-18 / 21-19. Later on, Indonesia needed longer duration in court as Malaysia led 1-0 earlier through their hero Lee Chong Wei who beat Anthony Ginting, 21-19 / 21-16. Gideon/Sukamuljo, Jonatan Christie and Alfian/Ardianto contributed three winning points for INA camp. On paper scenario, China has advantage in three singles unless Chen Long and Shi Yuqi couldn't handle their mental block against mentally stronger and nothing to lose Indonesians, Ginting & Christie. If the tie would down to the wire, China is favoured to book final berth through their trump card Lin Dan. Another mouth-watering duel will be served at court 1 on 06.00pm, DEN versus JPN, the last two editions of Thomas Cup winner. Two rising stars of new generation, Asian Champion Kento Momota against World & European Champion Viktor Axelsen. These two players had built up their rivalry since their early career and certainly will engage badminton fans to see who's better this time. Axelsen passed very stern test to eliminate Korean ace Son Wan Ho in 70 minutes of play that ended with 22-20 at deciding game. Conrad/Kolding made Denmark led 2-0 then Hans Kristian Vittinghus secured semifinal spot, knocked out the stubborn Lee Dong Keun in three games. At adjacent court, Japan trounced France 3-1, Lucas Corvee played superbly to delay Japan winning, tackled Kazumasa Sakai, 21-17 / 21-19.
All sides in the UC Semi-Finals taking it very seriously by fielding their "top" line-up (including Li Xuerui, who was always expected to play despite being "ranked as WS4"). More interested to see CHN's Thomas Cup Semi-Final line-up -- will they field a relatively shaky Liu/Zhang (who didn't "dominate" lower ranked opponents as expected) and "sacrifice" them to the clowns so that the CHN 2 towers can take down INA MD2? Or try to pit the somewhat improved/stable 2 towers against the clowns to try and finish the tie early? And JPN had better choose their MS2 & MS3 more carefully, though none of them is a sure bet against the veterans Vittinghus & Jorgensen -- I don't expect Antonsen to play barring illness/injury like in the last Thomas Cup, and I think JPN would rather let Endo "carry" Watanabe than field Kaneko/Inoue in MD2 When all things are about equal, experience under pressure might start to count.
I believe he was mimicking Kevin's style at the net. That was exactly how Kevin usually plays in front of the net by swinging his racket all over like swatting the flies (shuttles) down. I thought he was having quite of fun too despite the loss. Felt like some friendly exhibition match actually.
A copycat then. You can swing your racket all you want as long as the shuttle is still in the air. Not after the point, in front of the net lol. Was hilarious seeing kevin rush to the net to take the shuttle and then run back to the service line. Didnt expect that, I thought he is going to punch the Malaysia players lol. nothing wrong with that, he can always introduce something funny. Makes badminton match so much more exciting.
Actually i am not so sure if Japan will win UberCup. AY and NO is not 100% and looks like one bad day away from losing and i remember WD1 was quite a tight affair when they met the Thai pair last time if im not wrong. Agile busanan can put SS/AT to the sword at the last match. I can say Japan actually prefers meeting China more than Thailand in the Final, something unthinkable years ago.
I think THA have a very good chance to win this, they key would be in the 2nd double Putita/Sapsire. or even 3 WS can win it all Intanton, Nichaon and Busanan.
Well, Kevin Sanjaya might be so rude on the court but you don't know how cute and how kind he is when he's off the court. This is just a strategy and i laugh so hard when he started doing his little magic moves. He made this games funnier. lol Check out what Markus' opinion about Kevin's antics in the last match.
I thought GVS/TWK did reasonably well against the minions...they just need better tactics next time. They seem to just fall back on passively lifting everything once they run out of ideas. Still no reason to keep condemning them, thats not gonna help lol.