ok. it is official. Sudket and Sarelee are my favorite mixed doubles pair. the game of mixed to me is a game of brain, placement and formation. and they have it all. never will they hit a shot without passing it through their head first. when you think they will do a big jumpsmash, you may get a cross court block or a big attacking clear to the only place where you are not defending. or if you think Saralee would lift, straight, instead she twists her wrist and give you a cross court net. all shots response are calculated and creative. their formation is also very fluid and constantly chaing and not dead and fixed. add together the excellent defensive control by Saralee, great calmness and composure when she is defending the hardest of smashes from Jens. and the sheer emotional jumpsmashes from Sudket who will never wait for a lift to drop and instead leaps up in the air to meet it. a contrast from the clinical Chinese style. what a refreshing pair to watch.
it's nice to see new tactic and form from an upcoming badminton country like Thailand. Historically, thai sports and martial arts are extremely fast and quick, their badminton shown by this pair is another reflection of their way of play and fight. Being shorter has it advantage tool as demonstrated by this thai pair, as long as u can keep up the fast pace, twist and turn fast, it can overcome the advantage of height, especially in doubles. thai guy using 800 OF as he is definitely playing offensively. the danish gal was using ns7000
nice to see the thai pair coming back and winning the final they lost last year. 2004 yonex open was the first time I watched this pair and I agree they are an exciting pair to watch.
the best part about the Thai's are their creativeness. i keep on wondering what reply they are going to give on each shot. what holes they have found on the other end of the court. it gives badminton a higher degree of unpredictability, making it so much more enjoyable to watch. it just tells us that power and speed is not everything in badminton. brilliant
lol. Kwun, The Thais were really great. It was hard to keep up with them and they do things really unconventionally like when they place the shuttle they place it at the backcorners instead of the usual smash against the body or drop down the middle. Sudket prolly demonstrated he has the best jmp smash in the world. The way he poises himself is really fantastic and he could easily do a drop with his kind of positioning and you wouldn't even know it!!
Agree with you completly. Watched a bit here but somehow I could only see about 15 sec and wait for another 15 sec, watch again 15 secs... One return by the Thai player, saw him sending Erikssen the wrong way. To be able to do this, just speed and power are not enough. Would like to be able to watch the whole game without interruptions.
although i had emphasized speed alot but speed isnt has to be solely physical. Often we debated about power vs speed vs technique/stroke skills but they are all lower form when compare to mental. When asked about the ultimate question, i've said mental but did not elaborate. http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21378&page=1&highlight=mental mental component can be divided into these important sub-components - fast thinking (when one process thoughts fast, more alternatives can be selected for the best choice, eg best chess players can set his/her game plan many many moves ahead in the head, eg hyperthreading) - reaction and anticipation or reading of opponents - mental toughness, ie staying focus in time of chaos or desperation. I have no prob. finding B player that can move faster than pros, or a player that can nail a shuttle harder than a pro, and many coaches possess better technique than a pro but a pro has better mental components than any of the above type of players. moving fast without thinking fast has its limit. (look at ben johnson, fastest human, physically, but not very bright, coz 100m is a very simple task) However, it goes without saying that players that can move fast usually think fast too. (ex. anyone can hope on an indy race car and go 220 mph on track but not all can last very long)
now im taking back my statement about being grateful that there was no broadcast here, becos i'd pass out etc., i would love to c him
agree. it depends on the turf. mixed doubles is a game of the mind, as i said. bring some amazing finger speed to play chess but left the brain at home, and you will get no where.
by having mental speed first, then one know which skills to master and not wasting training energy on techniques that has less reward/effort ratio yes, XD is very mental based mainly because: 1. lady and man physical abilities are so different, more room to exploit 2. lady and man thinks differently, like mars vs venus which u do know by now
yeah, the men are thinking about trucks and the women about housework..... just kidding. how were you watching the game kwun?
NEWS: (sourced from xinhuanet.com/english/) that's right. Zhang Ning, Lin Dan win women's singles at Japan Open Badminton www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-10 15:37:31 TOKYO, Apr. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- China's Olympic and world champion Zhang Ning was crowned in the women's singles event at the Japan Open badminton tournament here on Sunday as she ended the winning streak of fellow Chinese Xie Xingfang with an 11-7, 11-8 victory in the final. Later in the men's final, Lin Dan captured the singles title in another all-Chinese final againstthird-seeded compatriot Chen Hong, who was trailing 15-4, 2-0 before retiring due to fever. Top seed Zhang, who surrendered her world number one ranking to Xie this week, used effective drops to Xie's backhand front to seal upthe 37-minute match. "I reached the final in Japan for the first time and went on to win the title. I'm really happy about it," said Zhang. *The 29-year-old veteran moved Xie from the baseline to the front with an array of soft-touched shots combined with smashes and disguised overhead drops. "In the beginning, I felt she was very tired, she didn't move as quickly as she usually does, so I didn't change my tactics. I just played my usual game to beat her today," added Zhang. It was Zhang's first title since winning the Singapore Open in November, while Xie had previously won six straight Grand Prix titles including the most prestigious All England last month, and 34 straight matches. In the men's doubles events, top seeds Danish duo of Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard Hansen beat Indonesia's Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto 15-10, 15-3 in the final, and Wang Wei and Zhang Jiewen won over fellow Chinese Wei Yili and Zhao Tingting 15-12, 15-2. Enditem
Sudket/Saralee r now my fav XD players too Sudket's jumpsmashes r powerful n Saralee defends well n is able to deliver surprising attacks. Juz a couple of service faults though ... Their actions really make up for the loss in MS... ...
Speed and power are still QUITE a big part of badminton though. The pair was pretty fast nonetheless.
Zhang Ning the Queen The roles changed. Unlike the All England, Zhang Ning was decidedly different in yesterday's Japan Open Finals. Zhang Ning looks magnificent in her apple green one-piece suit, trimmed in black with matching hair clip on her long pony-tail, which is at least three times the length of her much younger and model-like opponent. In contrast, Xie Xing-fang wears a two-piece black and white attire but still looks elegant in her 'willowy' figure. The 'high' Chinese collar on both the ladies' shirts is a welcome change from the 'flat' ones that used to be the norm. There is a certain spark on Zhang's face that I have grown accustomed to after seeing her in action these many years, quite unlike the one that I saw of her during the AE Finals. Her attire is short enough to show off her relatively 'strong' legs and well-toned arms. Xie seems a little taller of these two tall Chinese girls and her black outfit contrasted well with her fairer skin and long limbs. But once the battle begins, one could tell that Zhang is not the same. She must have trained harder during the interim period as she moves about the court much more faster than before, yet she maintained good balance and posture. Xie is always a mite slower and thus has no chance to take the initiative and to mount attacks. Zhang is stronger in most departments, be it at the net or back of the court and controls the proceedings rather efficiently to Xie's chagrin. Her powerful smash often meets with no reply, a sliced net cross followed by a swift round-the-head smash is all it takes to finish the rally. And Zhang does that consistently. And so the match ends in two straight games with Zhang taking full revenge of their previous encounter. By the looks of things, this 29-year old Olympic Champion will not relent. Woe betides those confronting her at the forthcoming World Championships.
the pics are posted in the "Japan open 05 pics" thread. but a good source of them would be from www.gettyimages.com. they're in the EDITORIAL section. the pics that ants puts up are good too. but i don't know where he obtains them however. .. ask him.
