I can't believe some of you are actually harking the death of China's men's team. Chinese men consist 3 of the 4 semifinalists in the Indonesian Open, and they have title-winning juniors coming up right behind them. It is hard to deny Taufik on his own turf, yet Lin Dan stretched him fully and Chen Hong did not do too bad against him. Who knows what would have happened if Bao Chunlai were to face him? Indonesia has Taufik and an inconsistent Sony and one or two unproven juniors. Denmark has a couple of ageing stars and no apparent juniors. Malaysia has two players who are just merely showing potential. As for Korea, who knows what's happening in there now. It's a different story with doubles, but China has always won the Thomas Cup with the strength of singles, with some reliable doubles sometimes.
thanks Sandy! for all the awesome effort and time put in! muahahhaha... taufik.... i think the home support has a large role to play in the results. when u r in an intimidating atmosphere, it's hard for the visitor to soak up the pressure and perform well leh.... it's always good to see other countries competing up to the task too. aiyah, win lose never mind... as long as we see good exciting matches... (the prob is i don't get to watch it live...!!!)
Saw something interesting during the prize giving ceremony today: 1. Lin Dan was standing among the journalists, recording Xie's glorious moment on the podium... 2. Taufik Hidayat was given an opportunity to express his gratitude/feeling, etc after he received his cheque... I can't hear a single word he said although he was using a microphone!!The crowd's cheers were deafening!! Taufik is indeed treated as though he is David Beckham... How come Alven/Luluk doesn't gets this sort of opportunity?
So good to hear that badminton stars do get treated well in some countries. Does this also happen in the streets in Indonesia?
Someone said it was a mismatch? Dead on. Any one of the other Chinese pairs would have beaten Blair/Munt on track record, but they got there and then it all came out in the wash. Glad it panned out as scheduled.
faisal, may be and may be not people threw susi susanti + alan budikusima's car with stone sometimes in 1995 ... and they have to get out and run from the car to safety. with 2 coaches for himself + marleve as sparing partner ... taufik must win hopefully under PBSI new management, Indonesia badminton will rise again
I agree about being nice to the loser, but its Xie's turn to have a place in the sun. Did you emphatize with her when she went down again and again to the big 3? Say nice things to comfort her in all these 2.3 years? Basically, Hirose was a surprise and not in the same league. Let it be said. Let it be done. But we only talk about it and have no role in doing it.
Agree with you Agree with u hcyong!If Indonesia players are keeping this type of performance then I will say only Taufik and Luluk/Alven can give some threat to other teams in the year 2006 TC.Taufik is good thats one thing we cannot deny but I think he is still a "homeground champion",when he goes out he is still struggling to get to the top form.As for Luluk and Alven they too struggle when not playing at home.I still think China are very invincible...and I have a strong feeling if CWLee,Hafiz and Koo/Chan of Msia are keeping up with good performance,Malaysia too may win the TC again in 2006.Even there are a few very young junior pairs in Msia now are showing very impressive progress(if you still remember last month Singapore Open QF)....So stay tune all badminton maniacs for next year circuit...we will see which countrys have their players improving the most...
china is huge, lolx.... there's this time where i was watching this MD match between china and korea, and i was wondering... what if china is being divided up according to their provinces? will they still be a superpower in badminton and other sports? because so many of their players come from all the provinces, so maybe their strength will be dispersed if china breaks up. but the chinese (china nationals) are better athletes, generally speaking. their tough training schedule is soooo infamous that i think it's not for those who can't bear hardship... yep, Soni is really inconsistent. will perspire if you see him play. but i think badminton overall need to have some revamp to make the competition among all countries stronger.
mmm....a bit like the olympics with 3 chinese golds in the womens and mixed, although they did contest the other two golds as well Time for a well earned rest
There is nothing wrong with Taufik except that he wasted 6 years during which he could have won everything. But he is his own enemy and a sourpuss - sulks all the time. Has he ever looked friendly and smiling happy? Kuncorro is young and he has partly the same problem as BCL - they are too tall for the optimal bandminton height. Look at them going down for the short corners -like giraffes. LD just needs a few lessons in humility; he is very unpleasent to watch when he plas or when he talks. As for the MD, Cai/Fu seem to have reached a plateau and Sang/Zheng are stale and not performing.Apart from the China Open, the Chinese youngsters in all disciplines have not been given a chance and those who have a chance are awestruck or maybe not good enough. I wait for the curtain to rise or a sign that I misread everything - would that it were true.
I thought it's 1996...?? Thank God they managed to run and escape. It was really dangerous. her priceless hand got injured because she blocked the club (or pipe)? used to destroy the car's fiberglass..... or maybe because of the broken fiberglass itself.....
Yea, I wonder why.... Like in the umm TC 2004.... They lost directly straight sets in the final from Danish pair. I thought it's a big chance for them to win in Indonesia, but they lost again. Actually even bigger possibility for China to cleansweep all titles if only Bao advanced to final.
