After watching the ABC MS final, I found out that Chen Hong was not as good as he was during Sept06-Jan07 when he was still training with the Chinese national team. In the MS final, especailly the 1st game, Chen relied hardly on his deceptive shots. His smashes were not as deadly as before. Compare his two recent matches(WC 06, World cup 06) against Taufik with this match, Chen's smashes were mostly saved by Taufik:crying:. However, at the same time, Chen has more deceptive net shots + drop shot... at one point he had Taufik flat-footed with a cross court drop(it was fast but definitely not close enough to the net though) Now against someone as experienced as Taufik, nobody can beat him with a bunch of deceptive shots from the beginning of the match all the way to the end. So later, in the 2nd game, most of Chen's points were won by Taufik's errors... but at the same time, Chen made a lot of errors as well due to his footwork being not as good as before(for some reasons). There was a moment when he launch to save a shot(close to the net), he had trouble backing up to his base because his left leg was way off the ground (that's bad!!!). He defense was not as good if compare to top players' level during the ABC final.:crying: I was expecting Chen Hong to be attacking more and winning with smashes after smashes, but obviously, that was not the case. Unless we believe Taufik improved his defense against Chen's smashes, I will have to say that Chen is somewhat losing his touch a bit, and when your footwork is somewhat slowed down, it will affect your smashes because the timing is a bit affected to say the least. In my opinion, Taufik was not playing at his best(well, I am comparing to his performance during 04-05), and he still match up and beat Chen Hong... that's not very good for Chen Hong at all. Hopefully Chen Hong can get back to his form and play better, or else I can't see him winning any super series event if all the top players particiate as well. Last thing, I just hope CH's smashes being not as powerful has nothing to do with the WILSON rackets...
He has Wilson rackets? I can't believe that... He is sponsored by victor, why should he use Wilson racktets? Does Wilson have badminton racktes at all?
it was victor rackets i would chalk this up as rough around the edge since CH didn't played much after he decided to retire. I'm sure TH still trains when he skipped AE.
I didn't watch any of his game during ABC. But speaking from his path to the final, many of the games took him 3 sets to finish, even those players are much lower rank than him.
I found CH lost quite a few points through unforced errors and being unable to return routine and easy-to-reach smashes from TH, like the one he tried to return between his legs and missed. Considering the level they play at, those should have been returned.
CH Likely to be rusty, as Cooler says. Players tend to play more deceptive strokes as they get older (crafty old folks!). Not seen the game so cannot comment beyond that. CH must be at his best to beat TH anyway IMO. TH style not suited to CH play.
Nod. I am giving CH the benefit of the doubt for now. If CH still have the ability, he should get back to his old form soon.
hmm, CH has an injury, no wonder he look rusty. --------------------------------------------- Monday April 16, 2007 Badminton: Taufik is simply too strong for injured Chen Hong JOHOR BARU: Reigning Olympic and Asian Games champion Taufik Hidayat walked away with the Asian Badminton Championships title for the third time with an easy 21-18, 21-19 win over an injured Chen Hong of China in the men’s singles final yesterday. Richer by US$10,000 from the victory, the Indonesian ace has set his sights on the Singapore Open (May 1-6) and his home tournament (May 7-13). He had skipped the All-England and the Swiss Open last month after a dispute with the All-Indonesian Badminton Federation (PBSI). On the podium: Men’s singles champion Taufik Hidayat and runner-up Chen Hong posing with their medals and mock cheques yesterday. – ABDUL RAHMAN EMBONG / The Star “I am very happy to win the title again. It is good to win it three times. The ABC title is just the right tonic for me to gear up for the next two tournaments,” said Taufik. “I don’t think Chen Hong was at his best. He told me he injured his leg and this affected his play. But still, a win is a win. Things are shaping up nicely for me. “I have two weeks to prepare for the Singapore Open. I am somewhat short on my fitness and I have to work on improving it because the next two tournaments will be much, much tougher than the ABC.” For Chen Hong, who is making a return to competition after announcing his retirement from the game recently, his efforts yesterday were worth US$4,000.
All that effort for a cheque of $4,000... that really sucks for a running-up prize money... At least CH gets to keep it all, and I guess an air ticket to Malaysia ain't that expensive, and the hotel cost should not be a problem IF he gets to share the room with his wive.
Ah, that is where I think you are not that smart. A win or runners-up spot can bring in the sponsors and this can be a few tens of thousands. Chen Hong is looking at Chen Hong Enterprise now, not China Enterprise ! Notice he had a coach at the ABC -- private coach maybe, and if so, he must have paid his trip too.
Dude, the article that I was referring to(provided by Cooler) only mentioned about the runner-up cheque that Chen Hong earned from the tournament, and it did not mention anything else other than that one $4,000 cheque. So, any other figure you can come up with is only your assumption and not a fact. My point in the previous post is that a runner-up only earns $4,000 US. is very sad for a professional sport perspective. These athletes work so hard physically and have to be so mentally tough to get to where they are today only to earn so little... my business make way more than Chen Hong's $4,000 US./month, and I don't have to work as hard as Chen Hong from a physical and mental point of view. Another thing is since the runner-up only makes $4,000US, one can only imagine how much less the other players make from this tournament... How are they suppose to live without the financial support of sponsors or their badminton association...
Are you referring to CH's coach in ABC??.. ..if so, you can try in this thread, should be in the 1st post: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42704 Btw, i saw the MS Final and IMO, i would have to say, it was a pretty close match. Overall, both players were still finding their grooves and rhythms esp. after being inactive for a while. I think with a fewer less unforced erros in that game, CH could've force a rubber set or even won it...Anyways, he can try his luck again in the upcoming SO & IO..
Yes... ..he is & his name is Li Zhifeng(as mentioned also in this thread http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42704&page=2 post#35)..You should also see his face more clearly if you've downloaded & watched the ABC's MS Final video in the Video Sharing sub-forum..
Thanks again. This should answer X-Ball's queries about his coach in Post #12, and I don't think he will be paying the CHN national team for his services. It would seem thefore that there is less animosity between him, LYB or the rest of the CHN team as we think, or at least seem to be inferring in the other thread. BTW: tell me to do a search.......and I am technologically illiterate, I cannot download from those files
A bit off topic-Gotta be serious.. ..jamesd20, really?!?! ..It's a pretty good & entertaining match..Hmm, well, just follow the links provided in the thread and you should be good to go...Of course, it might take a bit of time to download them..
About the coach issue, I don't think it's xiong guo bao...it's the same man who coaches for all other chinese MS (his name is Li...something), Zhong Bo's replacement or so it seems. BTW where did Zhong Bo go? Havent seen him in the sidelines for a while now
