Koboduck,
Wow, really a very educative post. I am learning more things here which is great.
Players burn-out
About Xia, though a great player - great determination but feel that his footwork miss something. Powerful but not 'agile' (?) quick but not relaxed - had a feeling that he is priveleging strength over technique. Hard to explain and also have a feeling that he does not change the pattern whether (I mean moving towards the shuttle) in attacking or defending situations. When you don't dominate the all-around skills, it will be harder to deal with young and faster players. Also compare Ye Zhaoying and Gong Zhichao. Yeh is in my opinion technically much better overall player - can't really find her weakness other than the psychological aspect, and would be able to hold her place in the team. Gong on the other hand relied more on retrieving and would be more difficult for her to keep working that hard in the long run. Training like that, injuries are more likely to occur, but not training enough there is fear of losing the place to another player. Please feel free to correct my opinions as I would also like to learn.
Developing players
In China, one of the problems they are facing now is Pedagogy - they have good coaches, very knowledgeable in badminton but probably not the best when dealing with developing players. The idea of always having a replacement is not that easy now. Nowadays not every parent wish their kids to be in a national sports team. Today's kids especially the ones in the cities are much pampered and probably would not have the same determination as say a kid from the countryside to overcome the hardships of training. The cities still have the majority of the population but talent is getting scarcer and harder to find.
I think China needs to make a greater effort to keep its best players and potentially coaches. After Wong Wenjiao, Chen Fushou and Hou Jiachang's retirement China badminton went down and only Tang Xianfu return brought it back again to its feet. Now Tang Xianfu also retired and you see the immediate consequence in mens doubles - well might be coincidence?? Also coincidence that after Tang left Indonesia, their level also went down.
As for prosperity, I believe there are more opportunities in China for a person to choose from. For many sports used to be the only way out (like football in some countries, you certainly heard about Cruyff, Zidane, etc stories) but not anymore. Heard that some IT specialists earn around 30,000 yearly which not bad in Chinese standards. Not sure how much a professional player earns nowadays but my coach said he used to earn around 100/month.
Players of the past
I love to watch Tang Xianfu play. Can't see nowadays any player performing his exquisite footwork. Zhao Jianhua is another player that impresses and makes me want to watch more.
About Hadinata, also heard my coach comment that he was an excellent singles player - not weaker than in doubles. Whether he is better than Hartono I don't know as I never seen Hadinata play. And you're right that Indonesia wanted to keep Hartono's invincible image - to the point of preventing Hartono to play either Tang or Hou.
Tang Xianfu spoke highly of Sumirat and Wahudi (spelling?). I believe he sees them among the best players of their time. Tang did indeed lose to Sumirat in a tournament in Indonesia (1976??) and can't say at that time he was in his prime. Taking into consideration the training they (Tang and Hou) had in the 60's and 70's is not hard to guess that they may not be in the greatest of shape after 35.
Your post is really great. Learn a lot there and really hope you will continue to post. Very educative and thank you.
PS. As wood_22_chuck suggested, please do let us know should you come to visit us in Vancouver. We'll be glad to listen about your wonderful experiences.
