Goh/Tan so close for greatness at WC and OG, only to burn away when it counts. Pathetic, really, which is sad.
I think Goh/Tan is not the only one that burn away when it counts, long time ago, Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim hock, Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah and Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong also having this kind of situation...
it was a good performance yesterday against kevin/gideon for asian games yesterday. Not the best but better than most of the recent games they played. Tan seems to be more active at the court. But the fast flat exchange from the INA pair was too good for them, causing mistakes.
I don't think it's really right to measure Goh/Tan using the yardstick of their Thomas Cup debut in 2014 or the second half of 2016 (Olympic Silver, Denmark Open + Super Series Masters Finals). That was them at their top form. If we consider how they have played in between that period and 2017 onward, they are pretty much a decent pair that has the ability to trouble the top pairs but always fall short of beating them. And they should be measured using that yardstick instead of saying how poorly they play every single time they lose.
This MD pair, Goh/Tan, seems to have lost quite a bit of their confidence and self-belief, not playing with full speed, their forte, and wild abandon, unable to let themselves go, a bit too restrained. Not their style, somewhat uncharacteristic of them, in my opinion. Hope to see them regain their touch , renew their zest and gung-ho spirit, otherwise they will just fade away. For that they would need a morale-boosting victory as soon as possible, preferably just before the Olympic cycle begins, or else they may be split again and have to start from scratch with a new partner each. By the way, I would also like to see them, Goh V Shem,esp, kick some of their previous on-court antics with their opponents and just concentrate on playing their best badminton.
Do people still consider them a top pair? They haven't won anything for a long time. Their best achievement so far was runner up in Malaysia on January.
Well deserve. This year has been disappointing, like last year. Where's the spirit to win? Play so half-assedly like always.