The Straits Times Interactive Sorry, I let you all down again Another Susilo apology after losing to Chen in repeat of last year's final By Peh Shing Huei SORRY, I let everyone down once more. Again, Singapore's top badminton player Ronald Susilo was ripped apart by world No 1 and defending champion Chen Hong at the Yonex-Sunrise Singapore Open, and once again, he apologised. The sixth seed was dismantled 9-15, 1-15 by the Chinese top seed in the quarter-finals last night, in a repeat of the humiliating 4-15, 1-15 thrashing he received from Chen in last year's final. He apologised profusely after last year's 28-minute collapse. He did slightly better this time - 45 minutes. But the same words came out of the affable 24-year-old Singaporean: 'The fans' support was really fantastic. But I'm sorry I let them down again.' For 30 minutes last night, as he traded punches with Chen in the first game, it seemed like he could script a different post-match speech for the 6,000-strong crowd. He started confidently and traded smashes with a lightning-fast Chen. While the Chinese player's sharp killers gave him a 3-0 lead, Susilo's flat smashes straight to Chen's body allowed him to close the gap to 2-3. Susilo continued to take the game to Chen and led for the first time at 6-5 when Chen's smash went narrowly wide. The crowd, who included Environment Minister Lim Swee Say and Defence Minister Rear-Admiral (NS) Teo Chee Hean, went wild. But a series of unforced errors from Susilo allowed Chen to draw level and then lead 12-8. Then, the match seemingly turned in the Singaporean's favour. After a long rally, a well-disguised push had Chen floored, and his feeble half-court return was swiftly and stylishly met by Susilo's stinging, leaping smash. Chen refused to get up. The 24-year-old Chinese stayed down for another 10 seconds as he looked forlornly at the dead shuttle. Sensing a possible break, the crowd were ecstatic. But that was the last time Chen was down. They exchanged service six times at 12-9, with Susilo unable to do much about Chen's quick smashes to his backhand. Chen broke the deadlock and sealed the game after punishing Susilo for a couple of half-hearted pushes. And that was the end of Susilo's resistance. It was deja vu as Chen lost service only four times and overwhelmed Susilo 15-1 in the second game. Said Chen: 'I always felt in control. He got more points this time right?' International Badminton Federation vice-president Datuk Punch Gunalan agreed that Chen mastered Susilo's game in the second game. He said: 'Chen knew what Susilo was doing. Susilo does not have enough variety and depth in his game. But I can see that he tried very hard.' But not enough to trouble Chen. As he himself admitted: 'I tried but was outclassed in the second game. Sorry.'
A very amusing read, i enjoyed the commentary. Staying down 10 extra seconds is probably chen's deceptive tactic and a wake up call for him, and put a pause on susilo's rising momentum. Let susilo eat up the applause and distract his focus at hand. Sneaky
the reason why susilo can get more points on the first set, because Chen does not attack him repeatedly ... on the second set, Chen was gearing up and started attacking Susilo ... most of the time Chen will smash into Susilo's body ... it's very clear that Susilo is still 1 level below Chen ...
-swijaya0101 The above was exactly correct. Chen Hong was only stroking the shuttles in the first set. I guessed he did not want to embarass Susilo in front of the home crowd (& the 2 ministers, who incidentally were late and hold up the match).
LOL, that's funny. Being a gentlemen i guess, don't want to embarass susilo too much, give susilo a few more points than last year. That is being in control Like... chen owns him.
To be fair to Susilo, he earned his points well in the first game. Chen was actually caught flat-footed in one rally, fell and lost his composure for a while. Unfortunately Susilo was unable to capitalize on this incident as his smashes were somehow less effective. Don't believe that Chen was so generous as to give away points freely. To be able to beat Shon of Korea on his way to the Quarter Finals, Susilo is no push-over as Shon had beaten Chen at the WC. But Susilo somehow seemed to suffer from a mental block whenever he meets Chen. He appeared to be slower and less confident, unlike his encounter with Shon. Unless he is able to eradicate this from his mind, Susilo will find it extremely difficult to even take a game off Chen. Therefore Susilo's worst enemy is himself!
<quote>To be able to beat Shon of Korea on his way to the Quarter Finals, Susilo is no push-over as Shon had beaten Chen at the WC. </quote> I believe the crowd should help susilo to beat WCH and Shon (2003), Hendrawan, Gopichan, WCH (2002). I think he is doing quite well only at singapore open ... I believe Susilo worst enemy is lack of sparing partner.
I think swijaya0101 got some facts wrong. Susilo did not meet WCH at all this year. He only beat Shon (Shon could still be carrying the injury he picked up from WC2003). To be fair, I think Susilo played quite well this time. But one thing I've noticed is that he does not perform as well outside Singapore. You are right about one thing, he definitiely needs more quality sparring, and unfortunately no one can give him that in Singapore.
