I don't see why that's so strange. It happens. No one can be 100% every time. That's why we play the game.
That's correct, anything can happen in the tournament, especially a big one like this. I have to admit that TH is still a great MS player in the world today, but just because he defeated Lin Dan today doesn't mean he's better than Lin, didn't they meet 3 times in two weeks? Lin won the first 2, and lost in the 3? After their first 2 encounters, TH started to know more about Lin's current forms & styles and really did prepare well for it!! He deserved this victory, Lin on the other side, I won't say it's his nerves, it's probably just he's so confident after the last 2 meetings with TH, also after an easy win over LHI yesterday, and all of the sudden TH played so well today...that really crashed him...anyway, Congrat to TH, both players are my super idols, like them both!
If you watched the game...LD had been playing TH's game....he could not smash and TH played a lot of perfect netting....
It seems to me that LD also tried to challenge TH at the net. Instead of avoiding net play, lots of TH net play were returned again by LD at the net, that's why TH got easy kill (maybe no choice or worry to lift the shuttle?). Even the commentator said, if LD wants to turn around this match he has to avoid play at the net with TH. I am not sure, was it instructed by the coach, like CH in World Champ, where he challenged TH at the net and he succeeded, but this time it didn't work for LD. I noticed also in that match TH didn't smash a lot, was it because LD didn't lift the shuttle very often, or maybe TH wants to play patient game rather than power game? hardly i saw 'powerful' smash from TH (like he used to do), most of TH smashes can be returned by LD. When i saw the medal presentation ceremony, it's like a repeat of World Championship in 2005, but this time Lee Hyun Ill has taken Peter Gade's place for bronze hehe. However, congrats to Taufik, this victory is so 'sweet' for him. He proved me wrong, as I predicted that Taufik will not take the Gold due to stamina, but he showed that his skill, strategy and determination overcome his 'lack' of stamina.
With this victory,TH cleaned up the obsession from LD throughout the pass times. Taufik and his fan, Please accept my congratulations.
Actually its kinda foolish to challenge TH on the net, obviously LD's netskills is no where near CH. Even guys like LCW try hard to avoid TH's netplay.
IMO, it's the most "efficient" way to neutralize LD.. ..IMO, i think that's probably the most "efficient" way Taufik can "neutralize" LinDan's gameplan, esp. from his deadly jumpsmashes..LinDan probably wasn't expecting Taufik to do a lot of net play today(whatever happened to LD, his anticipation just wasn't there, just body language seemed "lazed")..It was a risky plan but at the same time a very smart strategy by Taufik, because : 1. It forced LinDan to come to the net, which limited LD's ability to execute his gameplan, and probably threw his rhythm off... 2. Eventhough LinDan was able to read Taufik's netplay better in recent encounters, by sticking & doing a lot of net play, Taufik was able to "conserve" his energy, as he didn't have to do a lot of jumpsmashes nor running... 3. Taufik's lack of jumpsmashes in the Final was probably planned out. He probably wanted to conserve as much energy, *just in case*, there's a 3rd set. Imagine if he had to exert a lot of energy by jumpsmashing or running in the first couple of sets, who knows, we could be seeing a repeat of the JO Final.. Again it was a risky plan but it paid off as Taufik was able to control the tempo of the match, most of the time, and made LinDan dictate his game instead..
Speaking of this, check this out guys.. ...Taufik has actually won 3 major titles *3 yrs in a row*..Yup, let's count 'em: - 2004 Olympics Gold, - 2005 World Championship Gold. - 2006 Asian Games Championship Gold ...hmm, what's next??... - 2007 All-England??... - 2007 Super Series Grand Prix Finale??(do they offer medal prizes or just reg. pay-cheque or both??)... - 2008 Olympic Gold?? (again).....ok,ok, no need to go that far, but ehhehehe, we shall see.. Btw guys, remember back in August (during the World Championships), imagine if IBF/BWF *HAD NOT* given Taufik a chance to defend his AG title this yr. ..Who knows if we would've seen this history being made...
Congratulation to Taufik! He lost all the games in major tournameants in this year but had won the most important one! For me Taufik is still the best badminton single player!
It's amazing to see that Taufik won the final without doing many jumping smashes. He is a master or probably a legend in this era, can dictate the tempo so well and force the opponents follow his game plan. When I watched the game he played against Bao Cun Lai, it's sympathetic to see Bao running four corners to chase the shuttles. The feeling Taufik always give me is, once he is on the court, the opponent has to stick to the Taufik's law and follow his ryhthm. Powerful jumping smash (Lin Dan's weapon) is not the necessary. To continue the sucess, Taufik has to recover faster from the back injury and also to improve his stamina, at least 90% of Lin Dan's tank.
hmmm damn, i missed the ms final, yesterday, becos (like kemana) i was on bussiness travel for 2 days thank god, i had my girlfriend to videotape the ms final, i've just watched the game... wow taufik was superb, LD got 'trapped' into taufik's gameplan, TH's game plan was not giving LD a space to make a jumping smash,TH did rally back and forward combining with net play, and lin dan looked 'frustation', he always looked to LYB after doing a unforce error. i hope Taufik will be 'tempted' to make a history , to be the first MS (or maybe athlete ) who can win (individual) gold medal in 3 AG in a row ... and that will make him not to retire in next AG 2010 taufik loves making a history
Great job, TAUFIK!!! U and your country really deserve it! Lin Dan was definitely not feeling confident, even at 20-17. Even his phenomenal speed was only seen briefly when he went from 5-9 to 14-11 midway in 2nd game. Still, as consolation, no shame in the defeat, Lin Dan (and LCW in semis) fought hard to the final point but just couldn't get around the excellent tight netplay. And great show of sportsmanship too at the end of the game. We need more of these quality matches under the new 21 pts format .....
I think you are correct. Maybe the victory in team event changed LD's mind. During those games, he's avoiding face2face net play with TH. Then he won both. I think LD's thinking of winning the game in a different style yesterday. But as indicated by ZJH many times, his net play needs to be improved compared to a master player like TH. In the 2nd set, he nearly made it. As most BCer agreed, rubber set belongs to LD. But 3 consecutive bad net return gave the victory to TH. Anyway, congratulations to TH as a Chinese, he deserves the gold medal with his serious and consistent perfromance in Doha. Also, add oil to LD.
Uh-huh...His seriousness, taking care of business.. ...there's an Indonesian term/word which probably fits that description : 'ngotot'(serious or very into it)..cos most likely this is his final AG appearance and of course he wants to follow thru with his words that he wants to win this for his father-in-law.. tis is the most glaring thing i noticed w/him in yesterday's match (probably in his 3 prior matches before the Final as well)...
Taufik Well done Taufik! Good strategy. Lindan made quite a number of mistakes. The story ends happily ever after. We'll hope to see more of such rivalry to get entertained. rgds
my feeling.... 2007 all england? i dun think so...maybe for super series indo open only hehe 2007 super series grandprix finale? ah..maybe 2008 olympic? not sure if he still wants to compete until next OG although he said so, but who knows in between he decides to retire (hope not) so..I only can keep guessing when he will be at peak again
yay finally taufik puts in effort and it paid off, I always admired his style of play and he has not disappointed me
