I am totally disgusted with Choong and Lee's performance so far...does not look good ahead of the World Champs in Birmingham. Maybe the coaches should consider upgrading Koo Kien Keat, Jack Koh, Ong Soon Hock...soon. These two are not serious any more.
Except for Group 1, It looks like the following are the final results for the rest of the groups for this year's Sudirman Cup and the next Sudirman Cup will be done differently. Group 2 1. Hong Kong 2. Malaysia 3. Japan 4. Netherlands 5. Chinese Taipei 6. Germany 7. Ukraine 8. Scotland Group 3 1. Russia 2. India 3. Finland 4. Bulgaria 5. Wales 6. USA 7. Austria 8. Norway Group 4 1. Poland 2. France 3. Spain 4. Australia 5. Iceland 6. Switzerland 7. Belgium 8. Czech Repulic Group 5 1. Portugal 2. Slovenia 3. Kazakhstan 4. S. Africa 5. Peru 6. Estonia 7. Slovakia 8. Israel Group 6 1. Hungary 2. Lithuania 3. Cyprus 4. Luxembourg 5. Greece 6. Greenland 7. Latvia 8. Gibraltar Group 7 1. Jamaica 2. Turkey 3. Suriname 4. Faroe Islands
I really don't see why you are so unsatisfied with Lee's performance. He played great matches, and won all of his singles. Against Taiwan he got serious opposition but managed to stay focused and win the game. Today he won clearly in streight games against Haryanto, not the least player in group 2!! The women are not strong enough for Malaysia to achieve promotion, but maybe next time. Wong Miew Choo made good progress nevertheless, compliments. The chances for promotion laid in the mix event against Hong Kong. That one was close and decided the tie.
Lee AH that could be that case. "Lee" is quite AMBIGUOUS in badminton world, you know!!! And he'd better mean something else, because Lee is one of my favorite players!!!
Re: Lee When the name Lee is used along with Choong, my first impression is that Lee Wan Wah is being referred. Which Lee is your favourite player? Lee Tsuen Seng or Lee Wan Wah? Or maybe even Lee Chong Wei?
Maybe the Japanese are better than given credit for. Well, HK are through. I am a bit surprised Koon Wai Chee played the Mxd. Maybe it was a tactic for her to get used to the conditions and warm up for the ladies doubles. Then again, she played mixed before.
I too was surprised that it was she, and not Wang Chen who played mixed. Nevertheless, that turned out to be a smart decision made by HK . But HK's lineup was full of surprises. Eg. Why not field their best doubles team of Liu/Njoto? Why have Ling Wan Ting sit out in the finals?
Though the Malaysian men have been far from impressive in the SC, nevertheless, they still consistently delivered 2 points in all the matches. Rather disappointed with the WD pair of Chin/Wong, whom actually expected to deliver with the guidance of ever-serious Cheah Soon Kit. The duo does not seems to be in the same league as the 4 players - Lim PS, Ang LP, Chor HY and Joanne Quay - who all retired over the last 2 years. The future of Malaysia's WD looks bleak.... on the other hand, Wong Miew Choo did rather well... hope she is on the way to greater heights. With better guidance, she is in with a realistic chance to win the SEA Games, since Indonesia is no longer as strong as before in WS.
Sorry ZAX, I meant Lee Wan Wah and not Lee Tsuen Seng. Lee TS is also one of my favourite players, as he has the right attitude and spirit. He is so damn skillful, I like his deft touches and sudden changes in attacking angles, very impressive. As for the men's doubles, it seems to me that Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah likes to underestimate opponents. In a position when you really need to win to keep the team alive, don't fool around when you are 12-4 up(against Japs) or 9-1 up(against HK), just finish it off. My eyes nearly popped out when they lost to the Japs in that second set when they were 12-4 up. On the contrary, Lee TS was 9-2 down against Agus in the 2nd set, a lot of people would have thought that Agus will be winning that set, but instead Lee TS never gave up. He clawed back point by point to eventually win it, that's what I meant when I said this guy has the right attitude. You can always count on Lee TS to give his very best even when the chips are down or his current form is not so good. The ladies department, although they lost at the crucial sets, did prove that given the right guidance and exposure, Malaysian women can become as strong as their more illustrious men. Also, I feel the girls are still very young, all of them are below 20 if I am correct. They just have to be given more time to train their physical and mental strength. Attitude wise, I have a feeling they always give 100%, unlike some highly paid Malaysian Men's doubles(their salaries are reported to run into 5 figures Ringgit per month excluding sponsors). To summarise, Malaysia tried her best(in 4 out of 5 matches)but Hong Kong has better overall strength, so congratulations to Hong Kong, they deserved to go through. Players like Khoo Kien Keat, Wong Miew Choo, Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Ty are the future, more attention should be diverted to them now, instead of "flogging the dead horse" and paying them lots of money.
Hong Kong promotes to top group 21/3/2003 : For a while it looked like an upset in the tie between Malaysia and Hong Kong in group 2. Hong Kong took a 2-0 lead by winning the Mixed Doubles and the Women’s Singles... That changed in Men’s Singles when Tsuen Seng Lee beat Agus Haryanto in 2 games and brought down the score to 2-1. The best match of the tie was no doubt the Men’s Doubles. There was plenty of action from the first hit, the pace was incredible and specifically the Malaysian players looked like the had fun. They won the first game 15-5 and it looked like an early equaliser when they took the lead 9-0 as fast as a wink with the eye in the second game. But Hong Kong gave them a bit of a fright by climbing up the score to 9-9 and 13-13 before Malaysia won the game 15-13. The last match of the tie, the Women’s Doubles was now to be the decider. The Hong Kong women were a bit stronger and won the Women’s Doubles. Hong Kong won 3-2 and got promotion to group 1. Hong Kong have had a severe import of players from mainland China in recent years, especially since The United Kingdom handed over the control of Hong Kong to China in 1997. Former Malaysian National Coach, Morten Frost (now National Coach for South Africa) were watching the Malaysia-Hong Kong tie. He still sees the Malaysian women as the weakest link but he is very impressed with their improvement and climbing up the ladder in recent years. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This article is from http://www.topbadminton.nl/sudirmancup/index_eng.html I am sure Morten Frost will be pleased to see his student Lee Tsuen Seng doing so well. Don't forget it was the great dane that unearthed this raw talent in LeeTS in the first place.
