I'm really glad that both the Aviva Open Singapore 2005 and the Proton Malaysian Open 2005 have proven that no player is invincible, not even the Chinese, not even Lin Dan. The players who won both these two IBF events were Sigit & Candra in MD and Zhang Ning in WS, but they are by no means invincible either having been beaten previously in other IBF tournaments or lost at least a game in their recent matches. A great deal has been spoken about the fearful Chinese armada and Lin Dan. But recent results have shown that only their women players remained more consistent rather than their men. Many Lin Dan admirers were rightly sad about his failure so early in the Athens Olympics as the hands of seemingly no-hoper Ronald Susilo. They expected Lin to take the Olympic crown as he has been World No.1 for so long. Adherents of Lin Dan argued that his loss in the hands of Ronald was just a fluke and Lin will certainly bounce back after that inauspicious defeat. Unfortunately, his recent matches proved otherwise. Some said it is not his superior speed or power which are lacking, rather they remain his strong points, but his mental strength or lack of it. Justifications are only natural to defend one's idol. But the truth is that his rivals were better when it counted most on court. Taufik Hidayat had demonstrated this at the Aviva Singapore Open and homegrown Lee Chong Wei proved that his defeat by Lee Hyun Il in Singapore just only made him work harder to nip Lin Dan for the Proton Malaysian Open crown. So Lin Dan came out simply short when it counted most. He is not invincible, neither are the rest of his male teammates. So close now to the World Championships in Anahiem in August, the MS, MD and XD titles seem to be thrown open to all and sundry. Lin Dan, Taufik, Peter Gade, Lee Chong Wei, Bao Chunlai, Chen Hong (now worse still with reported back injury) in MS; the Indonesians, Danes and Chinese in MD and in the XD not even Robertson & Emms nor Olympic Champions Zhang Jun & Gao Ling can safely say they will win, for they have all been beaten recently. After the full dress rehearsals in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, it will certainly be a ferocious outing at the World Championships and therefore a very interesting event to watch indeed! Hopefully we can still view the live proceedings in the wee hours in this part of Asia.
I dont think anyone ever said Lin Dan or anyone in the Chinese squad was invincible and seriously meant it...obviously they have all lost matches before. But can you deny the fact that he was consistantly on a good level, good enough to win I dont know how many tournaments during the later part of 2003 through mid 2004? He crashed at the Olympics, indeed an incredible dissapointment for himself and his country...but with the his help, China now has in possesion the Thomas Cup and Sudirman Cup! Granted they are perhaps considered less 'prized" than the OG but I think its no small feat. He defeated his opponents in those events under some intense pressure. In this, I agree with you that Lin Dan did not deliver when it was most crucial...ie the Olympics. but I dont understand why you say the Aviva and Proton events are most important?
I don't know, I still think Lin Dan is in very good form. I agree that his mentality didn't back him up a lot of the times though, such as in the third game with Lee CW he froze when he got 9 points...it was still pretty close. May be its a seasonal thing lol every summer Lin Dan's game collapses (like last year during Olympics)On the other hand, what happened to taufik?! he got beaten by Lee CW 15-5,15-0!
Well word has it that he hurt his back or something like that from playing too much badminton within a period of time. Like all things, everyone has a time during which they excel and other time they are not performing as well or simply, YOU WIN SOME YOU LOSE SOME!
I agree, even so he did not win any these events, but at least he managed to made to the semi and finals, which is enough to proven his consistency and toughess. Not to mention all of the top 10 MS players has entered.
I agree with LOH, it is not good for the sport when there is one person or one country dominance. And probably he will not be called as Super Dan anymore.
to me he is still SUPER DAN - in my view only taufik at maximum can beat him but taufik is nowhere near as consistent - on the neutral territory lin is still the fastest ,fittest and has the most devastating attack - i would not bet against him at WC however for the sake of the sport it is good he cannot win every match
Singapore is nuetral territory, and taufik beat him. England is nuetral territory, and Chen Hong beat him. Athens was nuetral and Susilo beat him. Bao has beaten him on nuetral ground numerous occasions. Chen Hong is fitter than Lin, and has better techniques, but lin has more speed. Taufik has better strokework, similar speed, but less stamina. Susilo may have got lucky, since lin had a bad day. Bao has greater speed and accuracy but mush weaker mind. On their day either of taufik/chen can beat lin if all are performing well. other players have to rely on him having a bad day. IMHO!
Well the Singapore and Malaysia open weren't that far apart from each other. So Lin Dan's game may not have come back after he lost in the Singapore open. And of course, nobody can win every game. As stated before, you win some you lose some.
Lin Dan has been beaten 2 times in a row and the funny thing is that the WC is the next tournament which amazes to no end that a player who has been beten just once after the olympics is entering a bad patch[by his standards] just before the WC. But both Lee and Taufik have mentioned that Lin was not playing his natural game.Now like everyone has mentioned the MS event has suddenly become really open. Contenders are Lin,Taufik,Peter,Lee,Chen and maybe Hafiz/Kenneth/Bao Dark horses are Wong choong hann,Ronald Susilo,Boonsak Ponsana[Will be a Fairytale if one of them clinch the title] For the MS all i can say is It Does n't Get Bigger Than This
It seems that Taufik had a slight injury. Just lets say Lee Chong Wei was fortunate to win Taufik. I'm not saying that LCW doesnt play well. HE indeed played the game of his lifetime and its proven during his match vs BaoCL and LinDan.
ok i have not seen any evidence that chen hong is any fitter than lin i am sure that,for whatever reason, lin was not playing at his best in the all-england final against chen hong in the last 2 sets -if they meet in WC and internal politics does not intrude i believe lin will win lin has beaten bao 6 of the last 7 times -bao`s 3 previous wins in international competition were in the 5x7 format my point was that taufik`s indonesian open win and lee chong wei`s malaysian open win were both on home ground which was A factor in the result IMO only taufik can beat lin at his best JMHO
Yea I guess so...but still, get one point for your reputation's sake Taufik!! So that Lee CW won't have braggin' rights!
Taufik was injured earlier in the competition, pulled muscle. He was sportsman enough not to use that as an excuse, so let's follow in his example. -dave
I wouldnt count LD out that fast. I think his 'poor' results at SG and MAL is a plus. He wont be too cocky and would work on his kinks before the WC. Let the limelight shine on others, LD has less pressure now, less distraction. Remember that LCW was beaten by Ken J. of DEN before, and Ken just got beaten by a chinese jr. You MAL fans better hope chen jin doesnt beat LCW So, anything goes come WC, on neutral ground.
So if you are injured keep playing for the fans sake and not think of yourself and how the injury could hurt you?? I just dont understand the logic. Not everyone is going to be a pleaser all their life and do what everyone else wants. An injury that can become worsened is a risk many top pros will not take if it means their career is in danger or if the injury can get worse. Why dont fans be less selfish at times and realise the players do things that are right for themselves. In taufiks cause he felt he could go on and play LCW but still lost probably because of the injury. I surely wouldnt want to see a game where CH is too hurt to even return the shuttle form a dropshot. Fans are selfish, I mean i would want to see every scheduled match too, but there are times when we as the fans give the players the benefit of the doubt and see the players have a reason for what they do. jus my 2 cents
