Finally, after a long 12 years waiting China has again brought home the much contested Thomas Cup... Lin Dan, being the Chinese 1st single has definitely proven his worth and status as the best player in the world. Apart from winning all his matches in straight games, what interest me most is his mental strength. Against Sony DK, he was down 14-16 but won the game 17-16 (against 7000 spectators cheering against him!!). In the Q-final, he was down 11-13 to Shoji Sato bt won 15-13. Against Lee Hyun Il, he won after trailing 2-9 in the 1st set. And most impressive is his win against Peter Gade in the final, trailing 9-13. I believe many good players could have failed and succumbed to pressure but not Lin Dan. I rank him as the player of the TC 2004. Bao Cunlai on the other was doing exactly the opposite, squandering big lead (both commentators frm China and Indonesia used the same word, 'clueless') but maybe he ws better prepared (mentally) or maybe luck ws on his side that he was able to finish the game in his advantage. Against Taufik, he threw 7 points in a row (leading 14-6) and could have lost the game (match) if not for Taufik's half hearted performance. I believed Taufik didn't play his best (no urgency as it was a group match, further China was in comfortable 2-0 lead and would win the match anyway). I was a little worried after knowing Bao's appointment as the 2nd single for the final, i thought Chen Hong would have been a better choice. No doubt Bao has performed impressively against Shon SM (and some said against Taufik as well) bt that was in a situation where China was leading. What IF, the pressure is there?? Can't forget the way he lost to Hafiz in the 2002 edition? When the match started, Kenneth Jonassen, against all odds played the best badminton I have ever seen from him.. Honestly, the 1st game should have gone to Bao bt again, as usual, a 11-6 quickly turned into 12-15 lost. I am surprised (and elated) Bao has finally proven me wrong, for once, wrapping up the game winning. And for Kenneth, you have impressed me and well, sorry for thinking you won't go far.... In the doubles, China has surely come in contention with Cai/Fu and Sang/Zheng. Cai/Fu are super fast and extremely powerful. Any pair contesting them in speed and power would most probably in the losing side (ahh.. Kim Dong Moon) bt playing smart (way to go JR/LP)???? Had a good 10 days of watching and talking badminton.. kudos to all players/teams......
Huh??? didnt i say he (bao) performed impressively against Shon SM??? Ooppss... you are referring to the table?? yeah, it shd have been Bao...
sorry....... yah i was refering to the table.... i tot i went to watch semi.... but i don remember seeing chen hong play hehehe.....
yah CHN won 5-0 or 3-0 in all the matches except finals.... n they won most in 2 straight games..... btw wat is 4/42 rubber???
I think 4/42 rubber means 4/42 sets. The Chinese men dropped only 4 sets out of the 42 they played the entire tournament: 2 sets when cai/fu lost to lars/jr, 1 set lost by bao to kenneth and another set lost by zheng/sang against the indonesians
HongHong is right. China won all the MATCHES except in the Final against Denmark when they won 3 matches to one, their MD1 pair of Cai/Fu having lost their MATCH to JR/LP in straight GAMES of 16-17, 6-15. In that Final too, Bao beat KJ by two GAMES to one, 12-15, 17-15 and 15-12. Therefore KJ won a GAME from Bao. The only other time that China has lost a GAME was in their match against Indonesia when Sang/Zheng won in 3 GAMES, one of which was lost to Candra/Trikus. Hope this is not TOO CONFUSING! Matches, Games and Sets.
Even though China won the title, only Lin Dan displayed true champion potential. The two doubles pairs are still not stable enough against mature opponents (Cai/Fu lost against the Danes badly). Sang Yang/Zheng Bo were lucky their opponents were rattled towards the end of 1st set. Come to think of it, why the heck did Eriksen/Lundgaard played so out of character? Totally different from their mental stability in the All-England final against Choong/Lee. As for Bao, he almost didn't make it. Mental strength is still suspect. Better make way for Chen Hong then, in the Olympics. Still, China won on merit, and that's what counts. However, the gap between the Chinese men's team and the rest of the world isn't as great as what Li Yongbo thinks. Denmark could have won the final as well. Come to think of it, so could Malaysia, had it come this far. But definitely not Indonesia (inconsistent doubles + weak 3rd singles) or Korea (off-form singles).
china's thomas cup team has alredi waited for so long (if i am not wrong,i guess is 14 years) for the cup to return back to their country...i guess they must put in lots of efforts to train this team of youngsters who are all world class players.....good work china...jia you...
yup.... only Lin Dan won all the matches in 2 games.... Cai / Fu won the 1st few in 2 games too.... but they lost during the final....
one question here, how come its comes down to three matches beginning semi finals? (new to thomas cup, so dont kno much about the system) zhang ting and zhou mi are both 2nd singles? btw...i think the women's team uniform look too girly, too pink it would have been better if it's some cooler looking shirts!!
Group Matches are played to 5 (play all ties) because if the group is tied, then individual games count. In knock out stages it doesnt matter, so whoever gets to three first wins.(3-0, 3-1, or 3-2)
how come during those uber cup matches all those singles players will play 1st before the doubles players go onto the court??...as for the thomas cup matches,it is 1st singles,1st doubles,2nd singles,2nd doubles and then 3rd singles...how come this year uber cup matches are played like that??
Notice that for the thomas cup group stages they did that too because some countries (example: USA) only sent 5 players, so some of their singles players have to play for doubles as well... They want to give an equal chance to the countries, so by using this format, the singles players can rest during other singles matches before they play doubles...
Also they dont do that in the knockout rounds. The teams can agree on what order to play in in the group matches, since all games have to be played anyway.