I feel the game was spoilt by the decision of the umpire in the finals match between Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard vs Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah. Not sure about the exact rules but the umpire letting the Danish pair take the point when Wan Wah was not ready basically handed the game to the Danish. After that incident it was all downhill for the Malaysian pair. Tan Fook looked to be making lots of mistakes before that point and was interesting to see if his performance would be the reason for the pair loosing the game. But then that incident happen. With the unfairness that Wan wah feels I don't see how he can play on after that. ....arrrghh!!! I feel cheated of a good game. Be it if Malaysia wins or looses even though I'm a Malaysian. Sigh.....!!! Now that i've got that off my chest.... I better sleep
Gah, I agree that it should have been a let but WW shouldn't have argued with the ref & gotten that Yellow card. Then his performance in the 3rd set was just atrocious. TF was still trying his best but WW just couldn't let the decision go & lost them the game. Either way the malaysian pair should have put both games away as they built up such a good lead & only needing 3-4 points to seal it. For the Danes to claw back from 1-11 & 5-12 down shows their fighting spirit & They never once gave up. i was hoping for a bit of a comback for the malaysian pair to show their strength of character but it never materialised. Damnit, the malaysians aren't going to have a chance like that for a while. To do all that hard work to get to the finals. They beat all the top pairs to reach that far & throw it away because of temperament is such a shame.
Although Tan Fook made some mistakes near the end of the 2nd set is becos Wan Wah wasnt even helping! he made the majority of the mistakes and was playing horribly while Tan Fook was in form and on fire! But I honestly dont think it was Tan Fook's fault as it was clear (in my opinion) that he was the one scoring, killing the shuttle and placing the shuttle in the whole match. While Wan Wah was perhaps extremely nervous and made unforced errors. Besides that point though, the Msia doubles should not have lost their composure (Wan Wah that is) even after that stupid call from the umpire. He shouldnt have argued with the umpire as well and as a result he got a yellow card which probably made his performance go down even more. What a waste for both CTF/LWW..
Sorry If I appear to single out any particular person for winning/losing a match. Din't mean to do that. I believe in a match there's ups and downs. At certain times u start to make mistakes and certain times u make all the right shots. It's part of the game. Din't mean to fault Tan Fook at all. I'm just trying to say that at that exciting moment before the incident the Danes seem to be on top of things and could have pulled thru to win the 2nd set without the 'help' from the umpire. And then we would have an interesting fight on the rubber set. It doesn't matter who wins (it does a bit ... but not THAt much) but that'll be a good badminton game to watch after that. Instead we have the intervention by the umpire. And totally took the excitement out of the game. It's like watching a movie at the climax then somebody stands up and yells 'the butler did it' After that I just sat there and watched quietly. B4 that It was with 'Ooohs and Ahhhs' for both sides.. The umpire was unfair to the audience as well (ie me.)
This is one of the best performances by Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah for a while now - perhaps they will build towards Athens and be very strong contenders there. Would be nice to see for a pair that have been in the game for so long now gregory
Actually, Tan Fook was excellent throughout the match. On the night, I believe he is the best among the four players out there. Wan Wah was shaky, although I would prefer him to be shaky rather than Tan Fook. If Wan Wah was himself yesterday, the Malaysians would have won the title without much fuss, as the Danes never really settled in until the incredible comeback in the closing stages of the 2nd set. The protest and yellow card was not the sole reason why the Malaysian pair collapsed. The point given to the Danes and the yellow card were very unfair I believe, but Wan Wah should have recovered his composure, at least for the 3rd set. Anyway, the Danes also played very strongly towards the end of the 2nd set (because they had nothing to lose) and that rattled the Malaysians. This factor also contributed to their collapse. Small factors like net cords which went the other way at decisive points were crucial yesterday.
If If If and If's. If Lee din't argue with umpire, If Lee could have just retained his composure.. Yes they don't have nerves of steel and are not as confident as players from certain countries. But they shouldn't have been put in that position in the first place. As I see it all the "If's" just shift the blame from the umpire to the players. I don't follow badminton tournaments all that much. So I don't know if this is a norm. Some posts seems to indicate this happens quite often. A 'tit for a tat' sorta situation. If so it's a sad situation for the sport. No wonder some players just bite their lip and play on.
They could have, but they didn't.. Umpires and other officials shouldn't be a factor in deciding the game, it's when the players let them that they become one. Chong/Lee got no-one to blame but themselves. They proved that they are not yet ready to win if they have to resort to petty psychological tricks to foul up their opponents. They got almost all the ingredients of a championship team except where it counts the most.
It is in these situations where I lookup to the players from China. They know they're good and have the confidence, strength and know the patience it requires to be a winner. Being a winner is not just winning one tournament. It's winnning it again and again. With this mentality unjust decisions are just ignored.
