And in India, the day ends with one of the awesomest games of IPL (cricket) one could ever witness! The newspapers will be full of IPL news and Badminton coverage would be relatively eclipsed. Sad really. Hope it doesn't happen so. Nonetheless, the week has been a massive entertaining and learning experience.
Very entertaining semifinals and finals overall for TC. No one could have predicted this outcome 1 week ago. China and Indonesia out, with Japan winning over Malaysia, and by what, 4 points difference in the deciding game in the third men's singles, to settle the 2-2 tie ?!?!?! Now that is pressure!! Now that is tight! Congrats to Japan team! As many others including Morten Frost stated, they absolutely deserved it, and this is coming from an ex-Malaysian now living in Canada. Japan worked so hard for so many years, and the width and depth of this team is just too strong for Malaysia. This is also the best outcome for Malaysia, unfortunately, because something is needed to trigger some seriously deep reflection by the Malaysian team, in addition to a very necessary change at the top for Malaysia. If Malaysia won, the status quo would've been even more ingrained, and nothing would ever change. Having said that, however, Malaysia really had a good chance at winning this TC in the MD1. But unfortunately for, and again this is so often the case for TBH and his previous partner KKK and especially now HTH, their fitness and stamina levels let them down completely. They came out firing all cylinders in G1, took a slight rest in G2, and in G3, from there on went downhill with so many countless unforced errors. And from what I could see, this is due to them losing steam in speed, power, mental game plan... they were just plain being outlasted by Endo/Hayakawa who managed to smartly conserve their energy for all three games. Anyways, all in all, very entertaining and exciting overall. And congratulations to both Japan and Malaysia for finally ending the domination by China and Indonesia.
I would say this is the best TC I've ever watched. That's because China is not in it. Japan gave a good result by destroying China in the semis. Indeed, very tight Finals with both M'sia and Japan can be Champion. After Japan won the MD1, the sky looks brighter for Japan to clinch the title. I hope, after this TC, more and more people in Japan will participate in Badminton and one day will be a national sport. For M'sia, need to work hard to groom new good players. Don't think LCW will join the next TC.
It was such a great team match!! Perfect final. Full distance. Quality matches, three-setters, excitment, long rallies, good atmosphere. And even f youtube livestream is blocked in Germany, I could watch it in good quality live. So much better than watching the replays. Something completly different to cheer with the players. Jap won by a small margine. I was impressed by Kento Momota over the whole tournament as well as with Tago most of the time. Second MD also promising. LCW is just a wall. Would have loved to see him playing CL or LD (theoretically) in the knockout stage TBH showed he is one of the best MD player imho. They really need to find the right combination. Hoon is good for one set, but well... The scratch pair of Goh and Tan played a nice MD as well. Hope they will be put together in other tournaments. This was a very, very good T&U Cup. Many upsets, and a new Thomas Cup Champion. Well still have to watch the deciding MS3, but it is up on bw.tv
this year Thomas Cup final match is the best and most exciting match in the score of '3-2' since 2002 edition...
Reversal of Lineup Had they been able to reverse the fieldings, I think we would likely have won, viz : Chong Wei Feng, who has beaten Kenichi Tago before, in the first singles. Lee Chong Wei in the second singles, who would probably have beaten Kento Momota without too much difficulty. Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong, who was the far more confident pair, in the first doubles. Hoon Thien How/Tan Boon Biong, in the second doubles. (Hoon kept hitting the net.) Goh Soon Huat in the third singles. Liew Daren was offform and shaky througout the tournament, apart from his superb comback in the second set in this last match. I think they should also have brought along Misbun Ramdan, Zulkadii Zulkiffi or one of the backup players like Tan Chun Saeng or Iskandar Zulkarnain, instead of Liew Daren.
Yes, I had overlooked him. Good player, though a bit inconsistent. Edited my first post to include him.
Congrats to both teams for probably the closest ever Thomas Cup final in history, ever. Congrats to Japan for finally nailing it. Congrats to Malaysia for playing above their actual ability to get this far. Congrats to BC for not going down ..... wakakakaka. Player of the final - LCW, who showed Tago who's the boss, by doing that 10 point run from 10-15 to 20-15. Young talent of the final - Kento Momota, maybe a Japanese Lin Dan in the making. Redemption of the final - Liew Daren, for coming back off a bad start to force Ueda into a nail biting finish. Though I must say both players were playing with nerves - similar to Malaysia and Indonesia's 2nd Men's Doubles in Malaysia's last victory in 1992. Really enjoyable final!!!
on paper japan win 3-2 or mas win 3-1... MD1 is turning point...i really hope 2nd set tan and hoon just attack like 1st set...just forget ur gas...haha...
This is one of the best TC in many years. Except Youtube didn't show the 5th and most exciting match. Not even replay!!!
Stop day dreaming, Malaysia might not even be playing Japan in the final but China instead if the coaches could field whatever lineup they wanted. BWF rankings determine the order you can field the players. If LYB could day dream like you, he would have fielded Lin Dan against LCW and Chen Long against Momota. And then for the finals, LYB would have fielded Lin Dan against LCW and Chen Long against CWF or Darren Liew. Then China would be Thomas Cup winners again - but that's for day dreamers.
What a thrilling TC final, the winner was separated by narrow margin as Liew Daren lost to Ueda 17-21 in decider! Credit to both JPN and MAS to present very exciting final clash Welcome to the club for JPN, 4th country who win Thomas Cup. The regular winners like CHN & INA must watch out to this dangerous team. Kento Momota is absolutely JPN future star with his talent and full ambition. Silver medalist MAS team, too bad they can't repeat 1992 success and must waiting more time to bring back TC. Another impressive performance by Lee CW to dispose full confidence Tago and Goh/Tan as well to overcome their huge pressure at 1-2 position. Bronze medalists CHN & INA, far from expected performance here despite they have Olympic Champion, World Champion in the squad. Interesting to see how both of them will bounce back in next men's team event, the closest one is Asian Games. Congrats to all medalists
MAS proved many wrong I think MAS has chosen the right line-up for the Finals and it boils down to form and pressure to decided who's the winner. But JPN has been impressive throughout and deserves to add their name to the exclusive list of TC winners. Congrats to JPN (including their UC team for making the finals) and MAS for a spirited display, when very few dared to predict their outcome from the beginning of the tournament. Many thought MAS was condemned to lose right from the start against the other superpowers.
