Mohd Ahsan / Hendra Setiawan

[Nine Tailed Fox]

I appreciate the dad joke pun...and maintain that the brits are probably in the top 3 of flukiest OG medalists of all time. I haven't actually seen, or at least can't remember off the top of my head, a bigger fluke tbh. They only got out of groups because of the really stupid system imop - I'm still very much against that group system, it has only led to disappointments and one-off results. Admit the failure and get rid of it, BWF.

The '16 MD was a bit cursed overall though, none of the favorites delivering on their ranking and promise, and I'm personally still rankled that Korea chose to send Kim/Kim when they were quite obviously long past having a chance of winning big events. Shin/Ko were more up and down, but you don't want to get a reliable QF finish in such a big event - you want a chance at a medal (given their propensity for nerves I have the suspicion they would have dropped out in groups though).

Kim Gi Jung / Kim Sa Rang choked on a 8/9 points lead in the decider against Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan. Looks ridiculous in the hindsight.

 

[Nine Tailed Fox]

what does that say about the skills gap between the current olympic bronze medalists/#22 ranked md pair and the #2 ranked md pair?

apparently having a leg up wasn't enough for the brits. heh heh.

What's your opinion about this new English pair - Mendy/Lendy/Vardy and his partner..something like that

 

[Nine Tailed Fox]

That was pretty incredible that the English pair wasn't able to capitalize on Ahsan's injury. Just like AE 2019 final when the MAS pair wasn't able to capitalize on Setiawan's injury.

Re Ahsan and LYD injuries, how the heck do they get injured when there were practically no major competitive events over the past half a year...

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I have always wondered how LYD / Ahsan would fare together as a pair

 

[Dangho]

Kim Gi Jung / Kim Sa Rang choked on a 8/9 points lead in the decider against Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan. Looks ridiculous in the hindsight.

Ah yes I recall, KGJ literally missed every single shot. Maybe for the better, they would've faced the brits in the semis and the koreans had a 0-3 record against them (including in the group stage in Rio). Maybe the choke was a blessing in disguise for the integrity of the olympics

 

[j4ckie]

Honestly 2012 and later aren't worth quite the same as until 2008 imop. Full K.O. or double elim K.O. >>> round robin with possible ties. Thankfully all except the WS category got spared huge upsets in 2012, probably partly due to the sheer dominance of the top players at that time. If LD and LCW were both in the tournament (and healthy), odds were they'd contest the final. Same with Jung/Lee & Cai/Fu. Chinese WS was insane, having to leave a Top4 player at home.
I'm not entirely sure we'll see that kind of dominance again anytime soon (and probably never again as far as the Chinese rule over WS is concerned) - it was a special time in badminton, imop. Or maybe that's my rose-colored glasses looking back at my early years in the sport with nostalgia

 

[samkool]

What's your opinion about this new English pair - Mendy/Lendy/Vardy and his partner..something like that

nothing i've seen from their potential leads me to believe they'll ever crack the top 15. they don't seems to be above avg. in any particular area: racket skills, power, speed, defense, court vision, shot making. i'd forecast a career spent in the 16-25 ranking range.

 

[j4ckie]

nothing i've seen from their potential leads me to believe they'll ever crack the top 15. they don't seems to be above avg. in any particular area: racket skills, power, speed, defense, court vision, shot making. i'd forecast a career spent in the 16-25 ranking range.

If that, once a more regular tournament schedule picks back up...Lane has some big technical flaws and holes in his defense

 

[Nine Tailed Fox]

What happened to Hendra Setiawan today. Colossal errors at the crucial moments.

Any older Setiawan/INA fan here? Has his serve always been a weakness or is it just an aftermath of age? The amount of time he hits it short now is ridiculous.

 

[indrg]

They should have handled the Taipei's pair in first 5 shots normally

 

[lodoss]

What happened to Hendra Setiawan today. Colossal errors at the crucial moments.

Any older Setiawan/INA fan here? Has his serve always been a weakness or is it just an aftermath of age? The amount of time he hits it short now is ridiculous.

ageing i think, as his serve quality has dropped over the last 2 years. i only started watching (and playing) badminton in 2014, so i guess older fans will give a more accurate answer.

 

[Yoji]

Cheap points given by short serve.. and the funny thing is its usually(95%) short,, it rarely hits the nets. I'd rather it hits the nets. 20-20, 80-90% of the time they won before pandemic as its just a 50-50 ballgame. They had the highest rate , the win against OuXY/ZhangNan, HokiKoba and LeeWang, its pivotal to just name a few. None bigger than the one against HokiKoba

 

[j4ckie]

Cheap points given by short serve.. and the funny thing is its usually(95%) short,, it rarely hits the nets. I'd rather it hits the nets. 20-20, 80-90% of the time they won before pandemic as its just a 50-50 ballgame. They had the highest rate , the win against OuXY/ZhangNan, HokiKoba and LeeWang, its pivotal to just name a few. None bigger than the one against HokiKoba

Now you're just making up random numbers

 

[BojepJoe]

ageing i think, as his serve quality has dropped over the last 2 years. i only started watching (and playing) badminton in 2014, so i guess older fans will give a more accurate answer.

2 years ago (or maybe 3) he re-united with Ahsan, and since then they have climbed the rank all the way to #2 and won multiple major titles; 3 SS titles, BWF tour Finals and are a reigning World Champion. Maybe his serve quality has dropped compare to his younger days, but it's still good enough to win titles. I wish I could say that he just had one of those bad days at the office moment. But I think it's age catching up.

I do believe this postponement of Olympics is a disadvantage for INA camp esp for MD sector. Setiawan will be 37 y.o by the end of Tokyo 2021, both him and Ahsan are prone to injuries and as some people said they play like a grandpa.

For the other INA pair, Gideon has also regressed (imo) in the last couple tournaments. This is happened even before he reach 30.

 

[Yoji]

2 years ago (or maybe 3) he re-united with Ahsan, and since then they have climbed the rank all the way to #2 and won multiple major titles; 3 SS titles, BWF tour Finals and are a reigning World Champion. Maybe his serve quality has dropped compare to his younger days, but it's still good enough to win titles. I wish I could say that he just had one of those bad days at the office moment. But I think it's age catching up.

I do believe this postponement of Olympics is a disadvantage for INA camp esp for MD sector. Setiawan will be 37 y.o by the end of Tokyo 2021, both him and Ahsan are prone to injuries and as some people said they play like a grandpa.

For the other INA pair, Gideon has also regressed (imo) in the last couple tournaments. This is happened even before he reach 30.

then lets hope there is no Olympics ^_* . People being success just because of 1 title is silly anyway and not in these conditions. I know its not beneficial for AhsanHendra because its just like 2018 when they started again and there arent many titles and now they are 3 years older.

Plus if they win it, they ll probably retire, just like other pair did.. whats the point.

 

[j4ckie]

Would be a crowning achievement to their careers, and a much better end to it than the likes of LD's or Taufik's...going out with a bang in the limelight rather than a whimper in the dark. Honestly don't believe they can do it but I didn't believe they could win as much as they have since the reunion either.

Also, no matter how much you want to deny it, the Olympic Games are the most important tournament in badminton rn. You'll probably say the same if the minions manage to win it, unless you remember this post by then...which I wouldn't bet on

 

[Yoji]

Would be a crowning achievement to their careers, and a much better end to it than the likes of LD's or Taufik's...going out with a bang in the limelight rather than a whimper in the dark. Honestly don't believe they can do it but I didn't believe they could win as much as they have since the reunion either.

Also, no matter how much you want to deny it, the Olympic Games are the most important tournament in badminton rn. You'll probably say the same if the minions manage to win it, unless you remember this post by then...which I wouldn't bet on

nah im more thinking in the states the world is in, theres no point having olympics. no one will care about the players achievements in this situation.

Do you think Japan want to put quarantine for all the athletes for 2 weeks? and after that.. just a substandard tournament and Olympic as a whole.

of course Taufik and LD or Boe end is sad but very few will have ending like Natsir at the top in front of the fans. But if one retires after winning Olympic it will be sad in certain way too.

 

[lodoss]

ya, didn't expect them to have such a good run in 2019. although they are not as fast as in their prime, their shot quality and experience are still there. i think they want another shot at the Olympics because of the disappointment in Rio, exiting at group stage as one of the hot favourite beside LYD/YYS. no matter how well they fare in Tokyo (if the Olympics is not cancel), their names will be up there as one of the top MD in history.

 

[j4ckie]

nah im more thinking in the states the world is in, theres no point having olympics. no one will care about the players achievements in this situation.

Do you think Japan want to put quarantine for all the athletes for 2 weeks? and after that.. just a substandard tournament and Olympic as a whole.

of course Taufik and LD or Boe end is sad but very few will have ending like Natsir at the top in front of the fans. But if one retires after winning Olympic it will be sad in certain way too.

Yeah that's exacty what I'm thinking - they'll have to employ a 'bubble' concept, similar to this Thailand Open/WTF one or more like the NBA playoff bubble. The Olympic Games always had player villages, now you have to control more strictly who goes in and out and also use mandatory contact tracing for all participants for when someone tests positive.
I'm sure there'll be entire countries that won't participate, and other that might be forbidden from sending athletes due to their huge infection numbers, and all the political shenanigans surrounding it may very well diminish the status of these Games in particular, but afaik, right now Japanese authorities plan to have the Games take place. I'm also guessing there will be some preferential treatment for some of the participating athletes in terms of vaccinations (weirdly enough rich and famous people tend to jump these kinds of queues from time to time).
Anyhow, I wouldn't see a retirement after the Games as a sad thing, much better than them limping on for another 2-3 years with more and more injuries and excuses as well as further and further diminishing results.

 

[j4ckie]

ya, didn't expect them to have such a good run in 2019. although they are not as fast as in their prime, their shot quality and experience are still there. i think they want another shot at the Olympics because of the disappointment in Rio, exiting at group stage as one of the hot favourite beside LYD/YYS. no matter how well they fare in Tokyo (if the Olympics is not cancel), their names will be up there as one of the top MD in history.

Agree with your guess as to their motivations, I also think that might be one of their driving motivations. I'm not so sure where I'd put them on an all-time list as a combination, but Hendra alone is certainly in the discussion for best individual doubles player of all time (and for my money he probably is). Basically had two separate successful careers which eclipse many other player's lifetime achievements. Second Olympic Gold would be a crowning achievement and basically make it indisputable, similar to LD's.

 

[wade]

Agree with your guess as to their motivations, I also think that might be one of their driving motivations. I'm not so sure where I'd put them on an all-time list as a combination, but Hendra alone is certainly in the discussion for best individual doubles player of all time (and for my money he probably is). Basically had two separate successful careers which eclipse many other player's lifetime achievements. Second Olympic Gold would be a crowning achievement and basically make it indisputable, similar to LD's.

So you're not putting FHF ahead of him anymore