Badminton: Taufik out to rule ABC By RIZAL ABDULLAH JOHOR BARU: Indonesian star Taufik Hidayat is ready to throw in a strong challenge in the US$125,000 Yonex-Sunrise Asian Badminton Championships (ABC), which began at the Indoor Stadium here with the qualifying round yesterday. The reigning Olympic and world champion surprised the badminton world last month when he pulled out of the All-England and Swiss Open championships. He skipped the two tournaments after the All-Indonesian Badminton (PBSI) did not take action against seven players for having competed in a non-sanctioned tournament in Papua New Guinea after having issued a warning that they would be punished if they did so. “I am here to get a good result,” said Taufik after a training session at the Johor Badminton Association Hall in Larkin yesterday. “The ABC is part of my preparations for the Singapore Open (May 1-6) but my target is to win the Indonesian Open (May 7-13). I have not played in a tournament since I lost to Lin Dan in the first round in the Malaysian Open.” Taufik is now ranked 20th in the world and is seeded fifth-eighth in the ABC. Defending champion Lee Chong Wei is the top seed ahead of China's Chen Hong, who is making a quick return to competitive badminton after announcing his retirement from the game recently. Barring any upsets, Chong Wei is tipped to play against Taufik in the quarter-finals. Taufik has won his last two matches against the Malaysian number one – the latest was in the semi-finals of the Doha Asian Games last December. “Because of my poor ranking, we will cross paths in the quarter-finals. It is not going to be easy playing against Chong Wei, who has the advantage of home crowd support,” said Taufik, who took the gold medal in the Doha Asiad. “Chong Wei is a good player but sometimes he lacks the mental strength. But I cannot dwell on my past results. “When I did not go to the All-England and Swiss Open, I just enjoyed my training and spent time with my wife. I am not thinking of the World Championships in August because my wife is also expecting our first child at that time.” However, Taufik, who opens his campaign against Saeki Koichi of Japan, was also quick to point out that he has to be wary of his other opponents. He also has in his quarter Malaysian Sairul Amar Ayob, who won the Dutch Open last year. The ABC is the last tournament for the players to pick up ranking points for the qualification for the World Championships, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur in August. The Olympic qualifying period begins on May 1 and the Asian badminton powerhouses have chosen to keep their top players at home to prepare for the Open tournaments in Singapore and Indonesian. Meanwhile, the only Malaysian involved in the qualifying round yesterday, Vivian Hoo Kah Mun, failed to make the main draw of the women's singles competition. She was beaten 9-21, 14-21 by Japan's Fujii Mizuki.
Yeah... Taufik is here to prove the good results in the ABC'S after he lost to Lin Dan in the 1st round in the Malaysian Open this year. He's going to play against Lee Chong Wei in the quarter-finals, but i wish Chong Wei will win against Taufik.It is not easy to win over each other. But if Taufik didn't make it to the W.C because of his poor ranking 20th in the world , a bit disappointed for me because i can't see him to compete in the world championships which are held in Kuala Lumpur this year. :crying: I hope both will make it to the W.C. Taufik said that his target is to win the Indonesian Open (May7-13). I hope Taufik will not skip anymore tournaments in this year because he needs to qualify for the next year 2008 Beijing Olympics although he had said that he's not thinking of the world championships this year because his wife is expecting their 1st child together. I wish all the Malaysian shuttler can prove their achievement in the ABC's and in the upcoming tournaments. I wish they can bring back the glory that they had achieved in the last year's 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
"Hey Taufik, you are right about LCW, this kid lacks mental strength. On the other hand, you are damn wrong about him, he lacks the strength 24x7, not sometimes"
Agree with you that LCW mental strength and confidence are down presently. But lacking mental strength 24/7, well, that is quite harsh...he did come from behind to win MO06, and that video I consider as one of my favorites...the other two are ZJH/JS at AE90 and LCW/LD at AE06. Won't you agree????
I do not think it has anything to do with his mental strength. If it was, he would not have beaten so many top guys. The guy is just error prone -- sometimes if the opposition is putting you on pressure with a faster pace your rhythm is upset and you tend to make errors. LCW has to balance that -- get his rhythm going fluently when under attack (especially when someone changes the pace). Somehow under Li Mao's training, he lost that. This is what he is trying to get back by going back to his former master, Misbun. For all the people criticising his move back to Misbun, you have got no clue what you are talking, nor would you know what I am talking about. You got to have 'Rhythm' to win !
Taufik doesn't look sharp at all this time. Is coaching that important? Many Chinese players, like Pi Hong Yan, Xu HW, were not good enough in the national team. So they moved to Europe, as Yao Jie once said, she can only training with her boyfriend. But they can still beat those China national starters, even though they are better from the beginning and under the best coaching also. I always believe in players themselves.
If you are talking about pressure, then obviously mental strength is involved. I think every sports event involves mental strength.
The curse of Li Mao has completely turned LCW into the next Mr. Quarter-finalist after LHI. Out of 5 tournaments that LCW entered this year, he earned 4 quarter-final spots, HOW can you be more consistent than that? MALAYSIA BOLEH
Lee Chong Wei's current position can be described as "I am hanging in there...." Hafiz's current position can be described as "I barely survived...."
Unless there's something really wrong with LCW's attitude in everything from training to actual playing in tournaments, he should and will improve. But if he was too proud before, thinking that he was the best already.... then it's tough to pick up from there..... CW, don't give up !
X Ball you owe me a meal. LCW's mistakes is everywhere, even when TH's rhythm was upset. So i think you might be wrong again. LCW has a very troubled mind and performance lately.....and plus Misbun....hahaa.....will get even worse. I've said from the 1st round that if he continues to be a stroke player, he will lose to TH again which he did. LCW is lucky that he can even reach QF. If the Korean youngster has the stamina to continue on his attacking play, LCW will be long gone. LCW cant even see some of the smashes of that young player. Advise for LCW. 1) Stay away from Misbun, if noone can help u, dun find sum1 that can even make it worse. I've just watched Misbun's games when i went back pg that day from my dad's collection. not good. his play was very similar to HH.....one word to describe-LAZY. 2)Keep all his double motion shots back in his pocket. Keep his net shot to the simplest it can be. Only use double motion shot once in a while (now he uses almost half of all his front net shots). They can be used to trick inexperience player but never the top ones. Double motion shots are time consuming and will give time for the opponents to recover (from an under pressure position) during that particular rally. Another thing is double motion shots are very hard to get them done precisely or perfectly and will give chance for the opponents to put extra pressure back on you on that rally. 3)Play Single more like double. Minimise the lifting of shuttle for the opponents. Yes, he can dive here and there to save those amazing cant-be-saved smashes; yes, it is very very entertaining, the crowds loved it. but thing is, he can save 3 or 4 smashes, but can he saves all 30 or 50 of them? the answer is NO. So if he cant save all, better try to minimise those shots that can enable the opponents to pose this threat against him and that will be the best solution to this issue. 4)Be proactive in his play. Stop being a maid and running around for the opponents. Be the boss and control the rally which also mean to put on a series of shots to put pressure on the opponents, thus createing an opportunity for him to deliver his killer shots. 5)Work on his net play. His delicate touch of net play isnt there anymore (not talking about double motion net play). Every good master planning of a rally needs a good net shot to start with or to end with.
If you analyze properly, all the opponents that LCW lost to for the last one year has excelled in the tournament that they won LCW. The only exception: Ronald Susilo whom failed to advance after winning LCW. LCW's mental strength is poor because he put too much pressure on himself when he was in top form. He has transformed fan's expectation to his pressure which is absolutely unnecessary.
OUCH! For someone to point out his lack of mental strength publically, coupled with his already low (non-existent?) level of confidence will do LCW even less good. Talk about kicking a guy when he's down. Poor chap, he must have so much doubt about his abilities right now.
Yeah the minute when i saw that article, i know it will do more harm than good to already troubled LCW. maybe it was part of TH's plan to crumble LCW's confidence. or he might have done it accidentally?
In fact, he is the most consistent MAS singles player. Excellent mental strength will eventually turn him into a great player instead of good player. Therefore, Misbun is right in emphasizing this issue to him.
Don't worry, LCW's confidence is in recovery state. Read what he told BERNAMA after the tournament. "I must admit he controlled the game. I made a few unforced errrors too and they affected my confidence. Still, I am happy with my performance as I could match him at times," said Chong Wei.
