My vote - (MS) Taufik vs Jonassen - 3 set thriller others of note that I liked (didnt watch them all) MS gade vs Lin Dan all the Mixed doubles with the Thai team playin
There were so many but here are a few Men's double US Vs Denmark and US Vs Indo in the final Mix Thailand Vs China in quarter final Kenneth Vs Taufik in quarter final
IMO, many very good games Here are a few that comes to my mind and would like to see them again on video or DVD.. For MS - hmm, Taufik vs. Boonsak, maybe the only time that anyone really challenged Taufik in the WC...Then Taufik vs. KJ, but Taufik didn't really show up in the 1st set.. For WS - The ones that Cheng Shao Chieh played in.. For WD - hmmmmmm.... For XD - didn't see much of them..I guess with the loss of Nathan/Gail, it didn't spurred much interest..Then Gao/Zhang lost.. For MD - i guess everyone's favorite, the Finals.?!?!..
MS. Taufik was just great to watch. The rematch of Olympic Semifinal was a good one. WS. Chris, I will definitely let my compatriot, Shao-chieh, know that she got a fan, haha. I also enjoy watching her matches especially the ones vs Wang Chen and Xie Xinfang very much. so amazed by her fighting spirit and quick footwork. Finally we get some one who can shake the great wall. MD: Some matches were great: Sigit/Candra played Jonas/Lars and the finals games. I am also biased for Tony G. His matches upset Chew/Choong, Eriksen/Lunggard, Luluk/Alven were all fatastic. Unbelivable performance and control of the games by him. WD: not too into it. the second game of Chien/Cheng(TPE) vs Yang/Zhang (CHN) was great. Very fast and great rallies. XD: Nova/Lilyana vs Sudket/Saralee.
Sean, well, I'm sure i'm not the only *fan* of Ms. Cheng Shao Chieh. Probably all the people watching her, for the very first time, became instant fans of her. As a matter of fact, if i'm not mistaken, during the award ceremony of the WS, didn't she get the "loudest" cheer??Or was it someone else??I was in the Press Media room, just about to walk out when i heard her name and heard all the loud cheers for her...If so, WOW... I've heard names of Ardy Wiranata, Susy Susanti, Hendrawan, to name a few, linking their names to her.. Isn't that great??..And she's only 19 yrs. young??..And roughly the same age as Taufik, when he played in his first ever WC, 6 yrs. ago.. BTW, just wondering, do you know if she'll be coming to the U.S. International later this Nov., just to check what she can accomplish here??.. She's definitely one to watch out for in the WS, esp. with the "dawning" of Zhang Ning. Perhaps if she could concentrate more on her single event(i noticed she played WD also in this WC??and she played XD in the recent World Junior Championship??)...WOW...
well, i just watched all taufik's matches and all finals so my vote goes to taufik vs jonassen and md final, very excellent but i heard of taufik thought the toughest one to him is with boonsak which hasnt got recording yet...
not a broadcasted match, but Sudket/Saralee vs. Lilyana/Nova was a great mixed match. i was yelling "Thailand" but unfortunately they fell apart in the 3rd game...
You are absolutely correct about the loudest cheer. My observation is that she always entertain the request for photos and signatures. From the forum of her fan club in Taiwan, she has the following words (tranlated from Chinese), "This bronze medal belongs to you (supporters/fans) all, not just myself; it is not the end of the journey, but the beginning of more challenges." She has a very mature character on the court, hard to believe that she is only 19 years of age; Shao-chieh, off the court, is just like the girl next door. She definitely gets the potential. According to the new world ranking, she is now ranked 17th. I don't know if she will come to this OCBC international since it is only a IBF grade A tournament, not even a "starred" open; therefore, I might guess it is not likely. She played WS and XD in 2004 WJC. The surprising thing was the total matches that she was in: 22 matches. Her partner in WD of this WC was her sister; they did not team up for too long but have shown progress so far. It would be great if Shao-chieh Cheng would become another Susi Susanti or female Hendrawan. She definitely has the spirit similar to Hendrawan, "If better is possible, good is not enough". -SC
Definitely, the match Lin Dan against Peter Gade Lin Dan showing his full potential and Peter Gade never givng up the match till the end.
Shao-chieh I loved her get up - the different hairdo and the Wilson racquet in a Yonex world - did she make a statement or what??? Also another cheer to the girl from hong kong who took zhang ning to 3 sets (kip ???) too lazy to look up the draw she had the crowd going for her too but this was a quarter final or prequarter not that many people around
while i was talking to Xie after she defeated Cheng in the semi-final, i asked if she have studied Cheng's game like they do with other strong opponents. her reply was that no she didn't. she mentioned that in prior matches against Cheng, she only had to do routines shots like drops and clears and smashes and she was able to get points after points from Cheng. But this time she totally has to think while on court to figure out how to win rallies from Cheng. i asked Xie if she will be studying Cheng's game in the future, and she gave a smile and said "yes." that i think is a sort of recognition especially since it comes from the mouth of the brand new world champion!
china vs malaysia Really surprised to learn no one mentioned china vs malaysia until this point. I thought it was one of the msot spirited fight by the malaysians after loosing the first set. I mean the mens doubles game.
there r so many good matches...hard to say which one is the best...and we should enjoy all the matches.... what about the match between ..yip pui yin ( HK ) vs yanekura kanako ( japan) ..that was a very close 3 set match...and it was very excited match.. yip got whole stadium stand up for her after she was diving to save a shot and back on the court......unfortunally ..she lost to zhang ning in third round in three set if she didn't hv to to play zhang ning in third round...could she be another cheng shao-chieh
Yeah, I noticed that too. When I was watching the game between Rebecca Bellingham and Tracey Hallam, Zhou Mi was at my right recording and Xie was in several rows front of me watching her next game opponent. So I checked the crowd carefully when Cheng Shao-Chieh beat Wang Chen, but no one was there. Not even someone recording the game. Hehe, I think they must learn a lesson from this: " Never underestimate your opponent, even you beat her before!!"
