Wed 1. I arrived too late to understand how GL/ZB lost except that GL was not her smiling self. Team TPE have always played here so maybe they are comfortable with the court conditions. However, as they are still at the 'improving ' stage, they are always dangerous because it's hard to tell what else they pack at each new meeting. 2. LD was lucky he got away because NTM did not have enough weapons against him.NTM has excellent court coverage, defence, netplay but his offence wasn't strong enough to capitalise on numerous opportunities.NTM looked puny;reminds me of LCW 2 years ago before he muscled up. The crowd (a section anyway) was behind NTM. It's clear LD wasn't popular here; he's laughed at when he made silly mistakes ,maybe his recent adverse publicity has affected his image. 3. LCW was in unconvincing form.ZWL played superb and could have won if the MAS crowd had been stoned silent like in WBC07.For a rookie, ZWL seemed to know LCW's game so well whereas LCW had no clue on ZWL.I have a feeling that with no opportunity to prepare, CHN MS only prepare for one.Maybe they all each sleep with 5 manuals on LCW.Poor LCW. NO 1 CHN MS target. 4. BP looks like getting back to his SO07 winning form.Would he be able to take advantage of a LCW who seems not in peak condition? It's gonna be a hot match tomorrow. 5. I'm especially excited about the young guns.India's Kashyap, JPN's Tago,THA's Tanongsak. Tanongsak's especially great to watch;LCW, known for his defence, had no answer when Tanongsak unleashed his blistering smash winners.I hope THA sends Tanongsak for more opportunities to build up his experience and physical conditioning;he 's gonna create upsets along the way. 6. The most beautiful match must be the one between JPN's Eriko and THA's Salajit Ponsana.Both wore well-designed ladies gear, enhancing their movement into a splendid visual delight.(Yes, they can easily upstage the tennis girls here).Salajit has the face, the figure and the poise of a model.Maybe Gosen wear helps.Just like her brother, Boonsak wears tastefully designed Gosen gear.I wish Gosen could sponsor more players. It'll be great if others can add on their observations.
Thanks for a well-written first-hand account and the comments. There must be some BCers to meet, like fastdrop (?), and soon more to come.
GL was not her smiling self Does that mean you saw GL had a sullen face after losing? Also, how come LCW won 21:6 in the 3rd game if he played so bad?
I do not think LCW's game being known is too surprising, he is No.2 in the world, so every professional player will know his game, especially China's coaches, whose job it is to find out LCW's weaknesses. LCW cannot be expected to know every lower ranked players game style, his superior ability is supposed to bring him through these games (as it did), but this is ofcourse how upsets can happen. BP is a big tournament player, it wouldn't surprise me if he peaked for OG, it is his best chance to raise the profile of badminton in THA and get himself exposure for sponsors.
thanks for sharing pjswift do you know or can you find out the reason why abbas abdulrahman (iraq) was disqualified in the first round?
Hmm.. ..too bad neither players are from Korea. If they are, then i can 110% guarantee, our madbad will be....will be....will be.... ..yeah, where are the pics??..George, maybe you should go down there and accompany our pjswift and take some pics for us??..You haven't done so in BC, right??.. *Btw, thanks a bunch for the mini-report, pjswift!..Enjoy the rest of the matches!
No doubt Boonsak is a world class player but I do not see how he could tumble LCW in ABC where it's held in MSIA It would be a hella achievement for Boonsak if the game goes down the wire, which I dont see it happening Based on their face-to-face record, LCW has been unbeaten and I dont expect him to flop in the eve of TC and OG08 But well... oh well... mircale does happen, doesnt it?
Well, GL gave ZB the motherhen look as usual when things don't go well except this time she's sullen during and after the match, unbroken by even a smile. Scores don't tell the whole story. Unlike LD who was never really at risk of losing because of his opponent's current limitation, LCW was in real danger of losing G2 and hence the match.ZWL played like in CY or CJ 's class, not a rookie at all.ZWL can take pride that he withstood the crowd pressure well;LD would have folded under.G3 score is a reflection of what LCW can produce when he's full of confidence. When is LCW going to realise that when LD had to win SWO by the strategy of drawing unforced errors from him, it means CHN recognise LCW's superiority over its MS? That means LCW should feel fully confident when playing CHN MS.
According to The Star Online, seems CHN's Zhu Weilun actually isn't a rookie. Badminton: Top seeds Lin Dan and Chong Wei struggle for wins By RAJES PAUL ----- Chong Wei attributed his poor start to his inability to read Weilun’s game. The two last met during the Asian Junior Championships in Japan eight years ago. “I was 18 years old when I last played against him. He is hardly sent out for international tournaments. “Now, his game has changed a lot. I knew it would be tough but he certainly surprised me with his improved performance,” said the 26-year-old Chong Wei. -----
According to ChinaPress.com, ZB and GL are still being bothered by his waist injuiry and her "old injuiry". Their objective on this ABC is obvious i.e. to "assist" XZB/ZYW to qualify for OG. According to ChinaPress.com and The Star, LCW last met ZWL was 8 years old as mentioned by CLELY!
That sounded like "excuses"... If ZB is really bothered by the injury, GL would not had sullen face during the match since she would not expect much from ZB. From pjswift's and badMania's descriptions, it is obvious that GL/ZB expected to win this one easily.
I checked today. It seemed he did not have his name on his shirt so he was disqualified in accordance with the rules.
It seems miracles do happen! In all seriousness though, Boonsak is a tough player to play against, he is very fast and pretty consistent with good net play, his offence isn't so good, but his other attributes make him a tough opponent. Unfortunately if he is slightly injured, or hasn't trained so much (I believe he is a\or has finished studying to be a lwayer) then the speed will not bethere, so can appear to not be so good. I will certainly be keeping an eye out for him in OG.
MS matches:THU I can't tell you how terrific the matches were.It's even better than SS. 1.Hafiz is awesome. Must tell you a story. Well, in G1, Hafiz had gamepoint and he just remembered maybe he should give BCL a discount, and BCL was never shy, so he took it and won G1.This gave hafiz the opportunity to show he can come back and win in 3. Which he did, in great style.Let me see, Hafiz himself had a discount in R1 so he should still have enough for Sony.I noticed Hafiz played no-frills badminton, hardly any trickshots but he was in intimidating form and great to watch. He didn't quite move like a maglev(because of his size) but he was moving like in AE03(?).Welcome back, Hafiz.Maybe just in time for TC.Syabas!!! 2. WCH is awesome. I believe this is the first tournament WCH forgot to play his usual 3G match. All his matches so far have been straight. So he should be fresh for CJ.WCH played unbelievable and he took CY apart in G2.Great to see WCH drop his bad 3G habit.Congratulations,Wong!!! 3. LCW has completed his match quota for 2 months and deserves a well earned break.He will have some time for his good friend BCL tomorrow,then I would expect WMC to join him for a zero-badminton weekend.LCW will be mentally refreshed for TC. 4. After 2 gruelling matches against opponents who don't have enough arsenal against him,LD's QF opponent, LHI is of a different class..... 5. My wish came true. Yes! Boonsak defeated LCW for the first time.It was such a wonderful match between two of the best MS.On the way out,I met Boonsak relaxing after the match, congratulated him and wished him all the best for the title. This is turning out to be such a fantastic tournament. (And the teh tarik in the cafe also turns out to be part of the treat.It's the best Teh Tarik I've tasted this year.)
Nice to see Hafiz is back together with WCH. Hopefully it would provide a good headstart for them gearing towards TC. It would take off some burden for LCW.
I'll just add in some points from highlights : 1) WCH IN intv, WCH said he was confident after winning 1st game, he was able to control 2nd game totally. He was happy with his performance. 2) LCW He's not too sad he lost to Boonsak, will concentrate on TC next.
