That's for us to find out too It's unfortunate that the Malaysian pair happened to be the only remaining achiles heel, especially when the Japanese and Chinese-Taipei pairs have been beating Koo/Tan in the past few tourneys
Great reviews and unbiased analysis on the MD pairs. I'd say the THREE Heavenly KINGS (Fu/Chai, KKK/TBH, Hendra/Markis) are among the best and who will take up the last slot to complete the FOUR HEAVENLY KINGS? Any potential candidates? I hope Candra/Tony will make it
Well, they can start by being more competitive, most of the matches esp the last two were terribly one sided, with MAS playing only at 70% potential ..... Now Hendra has enough skills to hold his own against Koo at the net, though Koo probably does a lot more unexpected shots (could also be his achilles heel when those don't work). But Markis might want to do a lot more work on his accuracy. MAS have much better defence than CHN, and are just as good at flat fast drives, so it is up to Hendra to give Markis better openings for the kill.
When most of us rated the "3 HEAVENLY KING" -- LD/TH/LCW in MS to be a title contender for WC07; only one of them get into the semis & LD eventually won it. Hopes the "HEAVENLY KING " title won't jinx the top 3 pairs in Beijing 2008
Good analysis. In front of the net, Koo Kien Keat DOES have more variety in his shots and Hendra probably is slightly nervous facing him Relying of flat fast drives will be okay if u want to beat Fu/Cai, but, not against Koo/Tan, especially since Rexy is the coach Kido typically was troubled by lots of unforced errors and more so if his smashes can't kill the opponents.
Relazzzzz..... I still remember when the badminton world started to term the FOUR HEAVENLY KINGS (YangYang, ZhaoJH, MortenFrost and Icuk) in the 90s. They were great players, esp YY and ZJH with those very deceptive shots
You got to say based on current form, Kido/Hendra have the vote. Like KKK-TBH, they had a litte dip earlier but seemed to have raised their bar again. When you look at the doubles players these year, it has been a 'yoyo' year for everyone. Anyone predicting anything for Olympics is just speculating at most but why not for the fun of it.
What is Koo/Tan problem in their partnership? I heard that Koo has also partnership problem when he's still play with Chan Cong Ming
Don't worry. Remember how many times Yang Yang bt Icuk Sugiarto before finally Icuk managed to bt him? When i saw them play for the first time (final Indonesia Open 05), I was also sure that this pair is capable of winnning something big like the World Champ. I also believe that they have highest chance to win in Beijing 08. Hopefully.
it will be their one month 'phenomenal' achievement if they get gold medal in sea games.. 4 tournaments in a row 1 is runnerup and the rest are champion
Sorry, I didnt make myself clearer . I meant lower rank/lesser known pairs like the Japanese & Taiwanese pairs. Japanese - With Park JB in the helm, they are rising up. Remember during WC, nobody paid much attention to them. Then all of a sudden, they upset KKK/TBH. Then, Tony/Chandra, being the experienced veterans they are, trashed them in Japan Open. Taiwanese - they have improved lots. You've seen their matches more than those of us who watch on tv. So between now and Aug 2008, they could find ways to beat top pairs - Kido/Setiawan are in the list of pairs to beat.
The lesser-known players can cause upsets here and there, but winning a big tournament will be exceptionally hard for them. It will usually go to a major pair who avoids an upset and beat the other major pairs.
i think they will...as mas top pairs wil not take part....they will only face opponents from..Thai..Sin...and INA only....great chance...
