nauknip
09-13-2003, 02:14 PM
Sorry, just being nostalgic.
I must've been too pampered with badminton every weekend for the past three weeks (yes, now i have come to appreciate RTM for those live broadcasts of the Opens), it felt really empty not to have any today. So heck the readings and tutorials, after watching 2hrs of WC 2003 highlights on Starsports, i dug out the WC 2001 tape and watched through the MD, MS and XD finals non-stop.
It felt great, simply wonderful, to watch those matches again after not touching them for over a year. But how much things have changed in two years. Tony's gone... to the US. Indonesian MD's golden era is over. Kim Dong Moon is THE player at the moment. Both the MS finalists of 2001 had to vie for the one and only wildcard to qualify this year, only for the one who qualified to be knocked out in the first round. Hendrawan now has to contend with the qualifiers in Opens, and Peter Gade is struggling to make a comeback. China has extended their dominance to the men's events...
Even the kind of badminton they play felt different - maybe it's just the sentimental factor. Men's doubles felt different. Men's singles even more so. Tony was such an inspirational figure. Who else could've handed Kim/Ha a 15-0 in such a tournament? Hendrawan's deception probably can't be matched up till this day. It's absolutely amazing how he managed to wrong-foot Gade again and again. Despite watching the matches for the millionth time, I was watching them as though they were 'live'. Hendrawan's total dedication and all his moans and groans still stirred the emotions in me. Both the MS and XD champions won their final games by the score of 17-16. How painful it must have been for their opponents to have been so near yet so far, especially for the XD match, when everything rested on that single point. A total contrast from the final this year. I was all tensed up when Kim/Ra held matchpoint at 16-14 hoping they could take the match as though I could turn back time.
Kim/Ra and Zhang/Gao remain the top two pairs in the world - something that didn't change. Zhang/Gao still look more or less the same, but not Kim and Ra. Does charisma come with age? :p
After the olympics next year, these players might be gone altogether. Such is the reality (and cruelty) of pro sports.
I must've been too pampered with badminton every weekend for the past three weeks (yes, now i have come to appreciate RTM for those live broadcasts of the Opens), it felt really empty not to have any today. So heck the readings and tutorials, after watching 2hrs of WC 2003 highlights on Starsports, i dug out the WC 2001 tape and watched through the MD, MS and XD finals non-stop.
It felt great, simply wonderful, to watch those matches again after not touching them for over a year. But how much things have changed in two years. Tony's gone... to the US. Indonesian MD's golden era is over. Kim Dong Moon is THE player at the moment. Both the MS finalists of 2001 had to vie for the one and only wildcard to qualify this year, only for the one who qualified to be knocked out in the first round. Hendrawan now has to contend with the qualifiers in Opens, and Peter Gade is struggling to make a comeback. China has extended their dominance to the men's events...
Even the kind of badminton they play felt different - maybe it's just the sentimental factor. Men's doubles felt different. Men's singles even more so. Tony was such an inspirational figure. Who else could've handed Kim/Ha a 15-0 in such a tournament? Hendrawan's deception probably can't be matched up till this day. It's absolutely amazing how he managed to wrong-foot Gade again and again. Despite watching the matches for the millionth time, I was watching them as though they were 'live'. Hendrawan's total dedication and all his moans and groans still stirred the emotions in me. Both the MS and XD champions won their final games by the score of 17-16. How painful it must have been for their opponents to have been so near yet so far, especially for the XD match, when everything rested on that single point. A total contrast from the final this year. I was all tensed up when Kim/Ra held matchpoint at 16-14 hoping they could take the match as though I could turn back time.
Kim/Ra and Zhang/Gao remain the top two pairs in the world - something that didn't change. Zhang/Gao still look more or less the same, but not Kim and Ra. Does charisma come with age? :p
After the olympics next year, these players might be gone altogether. Such is the reality (and cruelty) of pro sports.