I create this thread as a repository of every fun facts and statistics from the 2019 tournaments. I will only look for the high tier tournaments. If you can think up of the fun facts and statistics, please post it here. I myself can't possibly think about every fun facts and statistics. I need your help to make this thread more complete.
List of players/pairs that have a chance to create hattrick or more in one WT500+ tournament. Indonesia Masters : Kevin (he won with different partner in 2016 and 2018, 2017 is cancelled) All England : TTY, Minions India Open : Minions (already won hattrick in 2016-2018) Malaysia Open : TTY, ZSW (he won with different partner in 2017 and 2018) BAC : TTY, Li/Liu Indonesia Open : Ahmad/Natsir (if Natsir retires for real, she can't win hattrick) Japan Open : CM, Minions Thailand Open : Greysia/Apriyani China Open : Zheng/Huang Hongkong Open : Minions Additional fun facts for Minions. - They have been unbeatable in Istora GBK, Jakarta. Their winning streak there is 17 wins. - They have created hattrick in Fuzhou, starting from 2016-2018. Their winning streak there is 15 wins.
Fun Facts in Thailand Masters. LKY is the first SGP MS to win GPG/WT300. LKY beat 5 CHN MS on his way to victory, all in straight sets. Fitriani wins the GPG/WT300 title for INA WS after a long wait for more than 4 years. Goh/Tan end their title drought after spending 2 years without title. Puttita/Sapsiree also end their title drought. The last time they won a title is in Thailand Open 2016. Chan/Goh are the only ones who defend their title. Malaysia is the overall winners. Both of the winners are professional players.
What's the difference between professional and independent player? I am struggling to find the differences.
The most obvious differences : Professional players (Non-independent) are usually a part of the National team and have all their expenses, salary and everything else paid by the Association. And usually they have their winning cut by the NA for something like commission. Independent players are those who are not under any National Association and more or less self-financing their expenses for training or participating in Tournaments etc., and they will get all their winning prizes. Anyhow, although Independent players paying everything themselves, they will still need to register (ask for permission) to enter the tournaments via their National Association and it is up to the NA to say yes or no. So the main difference between professional (non independent) players and Independent players are whether they are self-financed (not a part of the national team) or they are "owned" by the national team (expenses paid but the association have the control over the players timetable etc).
Below are the 2019 BWF World Tour performances by country. Only countries who have won a title are listed: #ThailandMastersSuper300 ASEAN RULES!
So, the club players can be considered as professionals? How do you describe the JPN players in this case?
If they are making their living by playing badminton full-time for the club (getting salaries, paying taxes) then yes, they are considered professionals. If they have another full time day job and only play badminton occasionally then they are not considered professional players. JPN players are professionals, they are officially employed by their club (company). So independent players could be professionals (if their main income is from playing badminton) or non professionals (have another full time job). Independent just means they are not relying on any team (in this case National team) to cover their expenses. They have to either get a sponsorship or use their own money.
Statistics in Malaysia Masters. There are total 180 matches played, including 4 retired matches. DL vs SWH match ended up in WO. 57 matches ended up in rubber games (31.67%). There are 13 same country matches in this tournament. TTY vs CNY match in R1 is the fastest match with 24 minutes long, not counting the retired matches. The longest match is the R2 match between Inoue/Kaneko and Wahyu/Ade, which lasted for 85 minutes. There are 2 easiest matches, not counting the retired matches. One is FukuHiro vs RUS pair in R1 with the scoreline 21-7 21-11. The other one is Chang/Jung vs Stoeva sisters in R2 with the scoreline 21-12 21-6. The hardest match is between Inoue/Kaneko vs Wahyu/Ade in R2 with the scoreline 19-21 30-29 21-18. Fun facts in Malaysia Masters. GJW, Chia/Soh, Tabeling/Piek (as a pair) reached their first SS/WT500+ semifinal. It is the second for Piek. Ong/Teo reached their first SS/WT500+ final. Not counting the WTF 2018, SWH has won 3 consecutive regular tournaments. RI is the only one who defend the title. She is also the only one who didn't drop a single game. RI ended her one year title drought. By winning this tournament, minions have collected 19 SS/WT500+ titles. This makes them surpassing Jung/Lee's record as the MD pair that won SS/WT500+ titles the most since SS era. Except RI, 4 other winners are also the Hongkong Open 2018's winners. RI was the runner up in that tournament. Japan is the overall winner in this tournament.
Statistics in Indonesia Masters. There are total 183 matches played, including 2 retired matches. 58 matches ended up in rubber games (31.69%). There are 21 same country matches in this tournament. There are 2 fastest matches, not counting the retired matches. One is the all Taiwanese XD match in Qualification. The other one is Ahsan/Hendra vs Chia/Soh match. The matches took just 22 minutes. There are 2 longest matches. One is Greysia/Apriyani vs THA pair in QF. The other one is Greysia/Apriyani vs TakaMatsu match. The matches lasted for 81 minutes. Sony vs Vicky match in Qualifier is the easiest match with the scoreline 21-9 21-7, not counting the retired matches. The hardest match is between Praveen/Melati vs He/Du in R1 with the scoreline 21-19 21-23 23-21. Fun facts in Indonesia Masters. Kim/Kong as a pair reached their first SS/WT500+ final. It is the second for Kong. Antonsen won his first SS/WT500+ title in his first SS/WT500+ final. Antonsen is the first European player to win Indonesia Masters. Minions, TakaMatsu, Zheng/Huang successfully defend their title. SN won the title after 2.5 years title drought. Kevin won his hattrick title. His first title is in 2016 with Wahyu. Minions are unbeaten in Istora with 22 consecutive wins. They also won 4 consecutive titles in Istora. Minions and TakaMatsu have equaled Ahmad/Natsir's most titles in Indonesia Masters with 3 titles. Minions as a pair won two titles. Both Marcus and Kevin won their first Indonesia Masters title with different partner. Indonesia is the overall winner in this tournament. The titles are evenly spread, but Indonesia has more representatives in Final.
Did you mean in Indonesia Masters? Btw wasn't Marcus's first Indonesia Masters title was after winning over Kevin with former partner in the final?
****, I totally forgot to change. Yes, you are correct. Marcus first won with Kido in 2014. Kevin got his first Indonesia Masters title in 2016 while he temporarily paired with Wahyu.
That temporarily partnership with Wahyu, I noticed that he started to "express" his antics more expressively there and after Maybe it was just me
Professional- engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation rather than as an amateur. By this definition, all players we discussing here are professional. However, only some are independent
Update my post about fun facts in Indonesia Masters. Can't believe that I forgot about minions' record in Istora.
Fun fact: Istora plays the Chinese patriotic song "Ode to Motherland" at some semifinal and final matches ( I am still intrigued why they did this lol)
Perhaps you implied this by mentioning Kong separately but it was also Kim So Yeong's first such final period, not just in this pairing. Also, Saina's title drought was only in ranking events, as she won Commonwealth Games gold.
