Agree. Actually, I believe Indra's the one who made that statement and he 's not wrong to claim that about his idol. Let me clarify what Indra means if I read him correctly. It is to do with TH's motivation. You see, TH is one of a kind. While all other players are motivated to win, TH has shown that he can turn up in a tournament to lose or not play, so that he can maybe go shopping or whatever. In the few times at SPO AVIVA Open here, I remember he turned up; lost once in the 1st round to some unknown, skipped play another year, citing injury and left last year without sweating because the Singapore media was trying to be clever and wrote some juicy story about his personal life. (I hope the media here have learned their lesson if they want to see TH play.) He got motivated to play in SPO05 because LD was competing. What Indra meant is "when TH is motivated to win, he can". So it depends on whether he's willing to put in the hard work to shore up his fitness. When not 100% fit, he has taken out LD (AG06). When fully fit, where would LD be? However, luck's on LD 's side. I doubt TH will ever be fully fit.He's just too lazy. Also TH needs a strong INA crowd to help him win cos they energise him, boosting his limited stamina. He's unlikely to play in Europe because of that but I may be wrong.(And what's there to shop in England if he had gone to the AE?!)
I believe NO ONE can just "win when they feel like it". Unless you're some kind of badminton god with complete control over the game then you just can't do that. As long as luck plays a part in the sport (and it does, as well as other unpredictable factors), you will never be able to perfectly predict the outcome of a game. In Taufik's case and most players I'd say, they do play a lot better when they have that motivation to win. They can't be 100% sure that they will win but they definitely have a higher chance than if they don't. May I ask when exactly did Taufik state that he can "win anything when he wants to"? Proof would be nice also if possible. If it was just a one off promise to his country or whatever (eg. saying that he will win the olympic gold), then that's not quite the same thing. Many players make such promises.
2cents, Your poor command of English is only exceeded by your bad manners. People who suffer from Bush syndrome just can't help themselves.
u are defintely well biased...its ok for taufik to show up whenever he wants...hes still fresh while LD battles it out throught out the year...and also wot so lucky abt LD? hes achieved hes position by playin most tournaments...and every player gets adavantage playin in the home crowd...dun get me wrong TH is a great talent n very naturally gifted i wouldnt say hes beeter than LD..i just cant stand die hardd TH supporters makin excuses for him everytime when things go's wrong
.(And what's there to shop in England if he had gone to the AE?!) pjswift pls do not embarass urself with dumbass comments
Although I am a die-hard ZJH fan, I have to disagree with your comment. ZJH lost many games which he really wanted to win. For example, 1987 WC semifinal against Frost, 1992 Olympics against Hermawan, etc. The truth is, if ZJH feels good, he can just demolish anyone, no matter how good their forms are. But he has not much control over his form, even if he really wanted to win, it is still very possible that he would not be in the best form when playing. Finally, I agree that Taufik at his very best is still miles away from ZJH at his very best. But I do think others are even further behind.
So you're saying the 100% superfit Taufik will beat 100% superfit Lin Dan? The funny thing is each time when Taufik lost then the excuse is because he's not really fit ... The only active player that come close to claim that "statement" should be Lin Dan which I had crowned him 2006 Man of the year !!!
Actually I think 100% fit TH - 100% fit LD about 52:48. When ppl say "Taufik not fit", usually the fact is quite obvious. For example, slow movement (not because opponent using deceptive shot etc.), inability to jump smash, etc. Because we have seen how a "fit" Taufik played in 04 and 05, so we can easily tell that in 06, Taufik was far from fit. Of course, whether Taufik can be "fit" again, is another question.
What happened is: SInce Taufik suffered from a very serious waist injury in 2006 (remember prior to TC 2006), he has very often lost not only to LD, but also to other "weak" players...Sustaining injury for a long period of time certainly has deprived himself regular practices and as a result this condition has very significantly affected his performance. However, since Japan Open, TH has shown improvement as to his injury recovery, yet I have to admit that he has not recovered to a 100% fit condition...We can see that he has tried to avoid as much as he can to smash or chase the shuttlecock if he thinks that will only hurt him .... Despite his seldom doing smashes, he has still managed to control his opponents due to his super wrist-talent and skills in placing the birdy, LCW, PG, Bao. WIth all these limitations, TH is still hard to defeat even by a player of Lin Dan calibre...if we look at the recent matches between them, it is clear that the matches were actually 50:50...Yet, if we look at Final AG, with his strong determination despite his previous 2 consecutive losses, he managed to defeat LD in straight sets... Before TH was injured, LD was just like Chen Hong when meeting TH...He was down before coming to court.... Look at what happened in SIngapore Open 2005 SF..., look at the Final WC 2005 ...TH was the king....that's before he was injured.
Swiss open is a perfect opportunity for Taufik to verify "he will win if he wants to". Taufik will meet Chen Jin in semi if both of them can get there. I hope Taufik win so that his claim becoming making sense.
i bet ALL the top pros have some sort injuries, not only TH. So, if TH was king in 2005 and before, how many weeks was he ranked as #1?
u should know that all the circumstances leading up to 06 AG. TH created commotion and disruption to throw LD off; hko walkout, play half hazardly in the Opens he entered so LD or chinese coaches can't read his form, fold his rubber game at JO, starting media chaos by leaking comment about LD being arrogant, etc. If u watch the 06 AG, LD wasn't really in rhythm. TH won it (and 05 WC) because LD was mentally off balance or unfocused. If u watch all the LD wins against TH matches, LD won them on physical skills (speed, power, tactic). LD alway has a hessitant form when playing against TH. U can count TH persona as talent too but since as an audience myself, TH presence doesn't influence my judgement on that guy. That's why i can see into TH's off court shenanigans. remember that in OG and AG, not all the chineses are fielded. If LD can't do TH in, good chance CJ & CY can finish TH. Unfortunately, OG, AG are high status event, they are perceived highly than Opens although it is much harder to take titles from an Open. Yes, TH had won many INA Opens but again, the best chinese MS stay home for that event.
You are absolutely right. OG, AG are much less competitive than regular opens because 1) less high ranked players, for example, Lin Dan was world number one 6 years ago, but didn't compete in the AG; 2) less entries; 3) even small entry, there are quite number of people from underdeveloped badminton countries, like some players even playing in hijab last time in Doha. All these made OG, AG much less competitive and like highly random gambles.
I think you're missing the huge amount of preparation the players must go through before a tournament as important as the OG. Not to mention the huge motivation they will all have to win a medal. It's a once or twice in a lifetime opportunity, no player in the whole tournament is going to give it any less than their absolute all. If you ask me you're not looking much further than the obvious numbers as to why tournaments like the OG are held in such high regard. Theres a lot more to it than number of players . All of your "3 points" say exactly the same thing slightly reworded.
When is LD not ever 100% superfit? He's not called Super Dan for nothing. He's a living rechargeable battery. The boy's born to work otherwise his pretty XXF won't be able to keep up with him.
No active professional athletes are 100% fit. LD just don't whine about it like TH. If LD is truly less injured than TH(even when LD plays more tournaments than TH) , then doesn't this imply that LD is a better player than TH since LD beating his opponents with less injury, meaning better footwork and overall skills?
