Sept 21 '05 TheStar PETALING JAYA: The spotlight will be on Olympic and world champion Taufik Hidayat in the Indonesian Open badminton championships, which begin today at Istora Senayan in Jakarta. But the Malaysians, led by national number one Lee Chong Wei, will do well not to under-estimate the other Indonesians, including the new faces, if they meet them in the early rounds. Besides five-time champion Taufik, who is seeded third in the tournament, Indonesia also have Asian champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso in the fray. They also have an array of youngsters who will be out to give giant-killing acts. National coach Misbun Sidek said that Chong Wei and his teammates should be wary of the challenges from the unheralded Indonesian players. Indonesia, similarly with China, have a large pool of players and with quality in them too. The Malaysian youngsters, in comparison, are of a lower standard. Misbun pointed to former Indonesian stars, including Icuk Sugiarto and Hariyanto Arbi, as those who succeeded in using the Indonesian Open as their launching part to the top flight. Due to financial constraints, Indonesia seldom send their young players overseas for international tournaments. “The youngsters, especially those from clubs, need to draw the attention of their national selectors by scalping the much fancied players and our top players, including Chong Wei, is among them,” said Misbun. Malaysian Open champion Chong Wei has been seeded second behind Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark. Chong Wei is expected to play against the winner of the match between Indonesian youngster Andre Kurniawan and Malaysian James Chua in the second round. Icuk's 17-year-old son Tommy will be looking at sending Malaysian veteran Mohd Roslin Hashim packing in the second round while Sakti Kusuma has Malaysian number four Kuan Beng Hong as his first-round opponent. Singapore satellite champion Jeffer Rosobin plays against K. Yogendran in the opening round. Wong Choong Hann and Yeoh Kay Bin also have young Indonesians in their path. Lee Tsuen Seng will take on Indonesian-born Wiempie Mahardi, who now wears Singapore colours, in the first round. Malaysia's men doubles pairs are also down to be tested by several unheralded Indonesian combinations. World number nine Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat, Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock, Gan Teik Chai-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif, Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui, Hoon Thien How-Tan Boon Heong, Choong Hann-Chew Choon Eng and Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah will play against either a new or senior Indonesian pairs in their first match. Top seeds and World Championships runners-up Candra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto will be the home favourite for the men's doubles title.
I just don't get the seeding, it's obviously based on the players' overall ranking from www.worldbadminton.net. To me this doesn't make sense for 3 reasons: 1) Taufik just won the WCs crushing both Jonassen (15-2, 15-4) and LCW (15-3, 15-12) with relative ease. 2) Taufik is playing to the Indo home crowd, a significant advantage. 3) Taufik is a 5-time champion of the Indo Open. So to me, based on common sense, the seeding is asinine. Of course I bet Taufik to win in his own "backyard".
hehe, i think he will win too, forget about the seeding, it won't change a thing, taufik will win anyway
So what? If we don't use the world ranking, then by what other means do we seed the players? Some arbitrary method? On "common sense"?
The total no. of points earned will still be the basis but seeding must put the total no. of tournaments played by the player as a factor. e.g., total no. of points / no. of tournaments played With this formula, I wonder who emerges as the top seed
So, if I play in one tournament and win it, then I shall be the top seed for the next tournaments? There is a reason why sports organisations (not just badminton) calculate rankings using criteria that requires a certain minimum number of tournaments, so that freak rankings are less likely to occur.
Yes, we should use some arbitray method like draw straws. I didn't say I had a solution for the overall seeding. I'm just saying Taufik should be seeded # 1 for the above referenced reasons. That is all.
S4MadMan, I agree with your opinion... If we go back the basic definition of seeding; "A graded list of the best players entering a tournament", I will rate Taufik as the top seed... There is definitely something wrong with the way the "graded list" or the overall seed was formulated...I really think that the number of tournaments played should be a factor...This is just my opinion and is subject to criticism by some freak people
Rankings IMO must be done in the way they currently are. If you allow each individual body to decide their seedings you are open to corruption. Obviously there are flaws which allow "lesser" players to be seeded above perhaps "better" players (eg. by playing and winning many small tournaments) but if they are "lesser" players, then they will lose anyway. and the "better" player will win if he is the "best", whether ranked 250 or 25.
Of course, Taufik beat Jonassen firmly in the second two games at Worlds. Kenneth won the first game convincingly. I dont imagine Taufik really cares if he's seeded first at the Indonesia Open, he's experienced enough to know how the seedings work based on world rankings.
Wasnt taufik in trouble in his quarter against KJ. I remember him winning 3-15 15-11 15-7 or something... All credits to Taufik his the greatest right now but I think no one can beat KJ 15-2 15-3....
ya, i see they always went to the rubber set in their previous encounters so it looks like a scenario
My bad, I was looking at the Tournament Software results and misread. KJ beat Aamir Ghaffar 2 and 4 no Taufik beat KJ. Like you said, I doubt anyone can be KJ that easily. Thanks for the correct.
Yeah it finished in rubber set. I remember I stopped watching the game for a few min when Taufik was getting trashed 15-3 and trailing 8-3 or something in the second round. Poor Kenneth, losing in tight games (considering he was dominating first half Vs Taufik) to WC winners twice in a row. As I can see, Kenneth made huge improvement and probably in better shape than Gade. I think he will be able to maintain his top seed level for this tournament. I want a rematch between Kenneth Vs Taufik again because they always create an exciting atmosphere. Sad to say but the Danes almost always end up in quarters or semis but almost never win anything
You are right he won it but let me say it again: ''Sad to say but the Danes almost always end up in quarters or semis but almost never win anything'' Kenneth 2005: WC: QF MO: 1/16 SO: QF JO: Semi's TO: Final (lost) AE: 1/32 KO: Final (lost) So you see, Kenneth did overall pretty well but he hasn't win anything this year yet. His last win was in November 2004. I think Kenneth is facing the same dilemna as Lin Dan. Kenneth case is even worst as he is ranked #2 but hasn't win anything while Lin wants to win the big ones. I'm sure if we ask him if he prefers to win tournament Vs having a slightly lower rank (Taufik case), he would choose to win tournaments. I think the seeding is only important for the player in order to have a good draw. Strategic seeding can be very advantageous but their priority is to win tournaments, especially the big ones. Kenneth is hungry, go go Kenneth!
to hcyong hahaha and to Brave_Turtle, Kenneth is so energetic , must be a very tiring opponent for taufik
