after digesting the results of the semi-final. i have came to the conclusion that the most crucial tie of the Sudirman Cup was the Men's Singles. in the match between Denmark and Korea, Denmark was expected to lost from losing the XD, MD and WD. however, with the lost of the MD, Lee came to the rescue and grabbed the MS point from Denmark. gaining them the place to the final. in the final match, China was expected to win the WS and WD, while Korea was expected to win MD and XD (well, almost). so the Championship was effectively decided from the MS event. and Lee Hyun Il has delivered in both occasions. despite facing the venerable Peter Gade in the semi, and the world number 1 single Chen Hong in the final. so on behalf of BadmintonForum.com, i am going to award the BadmintonForum.com Sudirman Cup 2003 MVP to Lee Hyun Il of Korea. ps. ironically, perhaps the real MVP (most valued person as opposed to most valued player) really should be going to Li Mao. for those who doesn't know, Li Mao is an ex-Chinese MS coach who brought to light players like Dong Jiong and Sun Jun. after an argument with the head coach Li YongBo, Li Mao was kicked out of the Chinese Team and went to coach the Korean team and brought the Korean MS from nothing to the top of the world. with the significance of the MS event in this SC, and that LiM was the key person behind the strength of the Korea MS players. perhaps LiMao has finally gotten his revenge on Li YongBo.
In early 90's Korea realised their weaknesses in Singles( they were already a powerhouse in doubles and still are) and engaged ex-AE champion Luan Jin to coach and came up with beaters like current singles coach Kim Hak Kyun and Park Sung Woo.After Luan Jin it was Li Mao the tactician. Maybe having a Chinese coach allows Koreans to know their rival's game better. Crediting Li Mao is like crediting Yang Yang and Han Jian for winning the Thomas Cup in 1992 for Malaysia.Maybe he'll receive a ban from travelling to China. I believe the Chinese men's singles game has stagneted. There are no innovations like when Zhao burst on the scene in 1985 or Dong Jiong in 1996 and Xia and Ji in 2000. I think their future lies in Bao Chun Lai and Cai Yun/Fu hai feng, Lu Rong etc.
Cool that Lee Hyun Il won the BF MVP I liked the second part of the post where Mao got his vengeance Shows em mess with him! LOL.
Bbn, did Yang Yang and Han Jian got a travel ban? i agree with what you said, if you look at the style of Chen Hong, and also to a extend all the new women's singles players. they feel very mechanical for me. and i think that's a reason why sometimes other players can exploit the very stiff playing pattern of the Chinese. on another note, we should also be aware of the rise of the ladies players from Korea. Jung Jae Yun was really impressive against Gong Ruina during the finals. Gong had to really fight to grab that one point. the outlook of the game was grim indeed for China, at one point, i thought China may have to concede the WS point also looking at the form of the Korean. further though, Korea has always been relying on their senior players to support the team, Kim/Ra/Ha are not getting any younger, and the up and rising doubles players are few. either that or they have been shadowed by their seniors. Korea will be able to hold the singles from LeeHI, Jung and Kim Kyeung Ran. but they will have a hard time finding another KimDM or Ra.
more thoughts. the top players from the late 90s, players like Dong Jiong, Sun Jun, Ye ZhaoYing, Dai Yun, Gong ZhiChao are all products of the pre-Li YongBo era coaches, namely Li Mao and Li LingWei. after LiYB took over, he pretty much drove these coaches out. i wonder how much does the absense affected the development of Chinese singles.
Iwas on leave and managed to watch some vcd's from China of 90,s. I daresay there is no ladies player today with the skill of Ye Zhao ying, let alone Li Ling Wei. As for men's Zhao is a rare talent indeed, most Msians see people like Xia and Chen Hong with limited racquet skills, their range of shots are severely limited, it is possible to guesss what they are going to do.Like I said Taufik is a rare talent with many racquet skills, he used to be poor in endurance but has now overcome it, that's why he is very confident of beating Chen and Xia.I think Bao and LinDan have more talent but are short on experience. Many people suspect morale in China's team is not good and could be linked to money.
