as reported by many, Camilla has withdrawn from the China Open. a Chinese news paper said the reason given was that she is now "afraid to fly" due to the tragic incidence in the US.

perhaps we will never see her on any international events from now on!

Maybe also afraid to loose...maybe

Fear of flying is nothing to joke about. It is a real problem for those who suffer from it.

Mag,

Yah, true ... Its like any phobia which may affect our daily lives. It may, in the extreme case be praralysing in our social outlook...

Wong,

guess you're implying that its just an 'excuse' not to make her way there ? As she would most probably not do well at all ? I suspect so too. But I guess she deserves the benefit of doubt as you never know that it may be true !

Come on guys. She's an athlete. This is her life. Why would she NOT enter a tournament for fear of losing? It just doesn't make sense. It's like you if wouldn't go to work because you think maybe today somebody will give you a task you can't manage...

If anything I think it's politics. The Chinese have dropped out of Danish Open, so she does the same to them.

In any case, a tournament without Camilla in the WS isn't complete.

Come on Mag, like it or not, even if Camilla is there, she wouldn't be able to make an impact. I am not surprise if she is beaten in the first round by a Chn 2nd or 3rd stringer. It make sense for her to skip or we will be seeing her dropping out of top 10 in no time.

Politics? Sure, then I believe the whole Danish team should have pulled out. Maybe she is really afraid to fly, who knows...

I think neither does Dennis Bergkamp(the footlball player) flies.I guess we should try to understand such problems!

Whether or not it is an excuse is a different issue! But let us not take the ability war too much adn hey we should remember that not many plp are like susi Susanti remain at the top for long!

The sport is such that!

So i guess we shall not deamnd too much abt it!

perhaps it is a few factors together:

1. breaking up / bumpy relationship with Peter
2. fear of flying
3. fear of losing

and of the above, the only one that can be publicized is 2.

I'm with you Mag.

Seeing that the 2nd seeded Danish mens double also have withdrawn seems to indicate that it may be about politics (the issue of the chinese withdrawal from the Danish Open)...

Isn't it funny that as soon as somebody mentions Camilla it fuels an argument...

:)

The sad fact, in my perspective, is that China Open will have no coverage here in Europe without Gade and Camilla. And THAT's not good for the sport.

that's why CM should not have withdrawn!
but let's face it ,she is past her prime.and for all we know she wud hardly get past the QF in a truly international meet from now on.
& soon she wud not generate so much 'argument'...

"for all we know she wud hardly get past the QF in a truly international meet from now on"

You gotta be joking!

It's frustrating to see our sole hope being driven out of contention. But that's life. It's painful, but fact is fact. On the bright side, we have never done well in the women sector until CM.

I salute Mag for your bravery (being CM's best defender, right or wrong?). I wish I could but we have to face the reality. I guess that's the reason why Mag's comments always fuels arguments...:) For one, I do agree with Al that even with CM in Chn Open, she won't be able to make an impact. Call me an ostrich, I am kinda glad there will be no Chn in Danish Open. At least, greater chance for CM to win.

hey Mag,
in the last four meets viz the Japan Open, the WC, the WGPF & the S'pore Open she did not get past the QF stage losing to Zhang Ning, Dai Yun ,Dai Yun,& ZN again respectively.
The next truly international meet wud prob. be the AE 2002, the WGPF 2001 & some others in which all the world's top players congregate.
If she gets into most of the SFs , then i wud be truly joking. El.

Good idea for some of stronger nations to skip some tours.

It's probably because it is too expensive to send them but

mainly because at this time of the year players are exhausted.

Look at China Open results-Chen H, Gongs etc. At least

players elsewhere can get the opportunity to win some money

and continue to be interested.

Good idea for some of stronger nations to skip some tours.

It's probably because it is too expensive to send them but

mainly because at this time of the year players are exhausted.

Look at China Open results-Chen H, Gongs etc. At least

players elsewhere can get the opportunity to win some money

and continue to be interested.

She will play in the Danish Open and with the withdrawal of the chinese players i think she has a fair chance of making it past the QF =]

U don't seem to think the Danish Open an international event, but it is the biggest tournament around (******). So just because one nation don't participate is hardly enough reason not to call it international.

without the chinese it cannot be regarded as TRULY international as far as the women's event is concerned as they are the TOP nation in that category...... regardless of how many stars that have been conferred upon that tournament.
of course without the chinese ladies, she has every chance of getting past the QF:-)

Although I don't count myself as a major CM fan, in this forum it doesn't take much to become her "best defender".

I just know how much her and Gade's precense at the top of the world rankings has meant to promote badminton in Europe and to inspire youngsters to take up the sport. And seeing that there are no real up-comers from Europe to generate the needed media attention here, the sport is facing an uncertain future... From my perspective, it would be sad and bad for the sport if badminton became an all-Asian affair.

And besides, I still believe she's got a few good years of playing left in her! :)

I am with you, Mag. I believe she can still perform if she could overcome her mental aspect. Most of the time, when is drawn to meet a few Chn girls, she probably had lost before in going to the battle. That's bad. And I hope her hiccup with Peter is not for real.

As I have said, Europe has never done well in the women sector since the early 80s, for that we should give CM credit for bringing us hope. But we also have to face the fact that it's tough to place to high a hope on her.

Absolutely. It's not fair to pin everything on her... It's just that it makes me a bit worried that there seems to be so few Danish juniors that have the potential to become world players. The German juniors look more promising, if you go by the World Junior Championships results...

And since you mention the 80's: that was a different ball game (!). Throughout the 70's and 80's Europe produced ranks of world-class players... Even Sweden (where I come from) was a no-nonsense badminton nation then!

"Although I don't count myself as a major CM fan, in this forum it doesn't take much to become her "best defender". "

I'm with you as well Mag. Thank you for giving us a different perspective. =)

i quite agree. otherwise, we might become one voice, one soul, even when not everybody agrees. tis a pity ur not online, or we haf sth to tok abt.

HEY MAY!!!!!!!!

How have ya been? Okay, Kwun's going to kill me for chatting but for once, I DON'T CARE!!!!!!!!!! =P

Adel

Camilla afraid of flying? Since when? Since the American bombings? Pehraps, Perhaps also a good excuse.
As to no tournament being not worth watching without Camilla - what balderdash. She won;t face it, nor will her fans, but she's just a wee bit over the hill. I expect that we'll see less and less of here in the quarters and semis and almost no more appearance in the finals.
Politics- tit-for-tat because the Chinese are snubbing the Danish Open? Childish one-line thinking. The Chinese are also not sending any team to the Hongkong Open this week. The real reason is they are preparing for the All China National Games in November. So we need a fuller picture of things to decide of motives and reasons. Euripides

i bet yonex wouldn't like an all asian affair either. Sponsorship with peter and camilla is the only major presence yonex has in european badminton scene.

i'm with U,Euripides.
i was at the S'pore Open & she was the one who pissed me off...making loud incoherent noises when she lost a no. of points to Zhang Ning.her body language reflected her utter frustration.
Who is to blame if badminton becomes an almost( invariably there would be a few westeners eg. Kelly Morgan, Julia Mann etc.) All-Asian affair?
Is it the Asians' duty to ensure equality of standard,or roughly so, throughout the entire world?.....to make it an equal, world- wide sport?...so that ,at times,they could be beaten by them?
The Chinese & perhaps the Indonesians or even the Malaysians etc. eat, breathe & sleep with badminton...such is their complete devotion to the game.Can't other countries in other parts of the world do the same?...if they can't, whose fault is it?
The same could be said of other games/sports like say tennis,soccer etc...some other countries dominate.Do the Asians express frustration for their inability to do well and be on par with them.No, they just accept it as a matter of course/fact.
In short, what we are talking about is a completely level playing field of human beings/endeavour , regardless of race ,colour ,language or religion so that there is justice , equality & happiness throughout the world...if you dominate a particular sport & i dominate another sport... so be it .No hard feelings:-)

Martin is only "through" and "over the hill" if her mental game has deteriorated to the point that she cannot regain her confidence or her will to work harder and more cleverly. Wasn't there some guy older than CM who surprised many people by winning this year after all the experts stated that he was too old to be competitive anymore? A fellow by the name of Hendrawan, perhaps?

Like them or not, emotional players add some variety and excitement to the game. While Connors and McEnroe did not contribute anything worthwhile to tennis etiquette and sportsmanship, they were able to produce many, many exciting matches. While I don't approve of Camilla's reported rude behavior (refusing to send a shuttle to the other side of the net for her opponent), I would rather see a player like her show some emotional reactions than a player who keeps the same emotionless face regardless if he/she is winning 6-1, losing 1-6 or in a tight match at 5-5.*

You are right that no Asian country should throw matches deliberately to affect an artificial degree of competitiveness in players fielded by non-Asian countries. However, to contend that Asians have no interest in the development of internationally competitive non-Asian badminton players is short-sighted. The more countries that become involved in badminton at the international level, the more truly worldwide tournaments there will be, the more sponsorship money there will be and the more the sport will grow. Let's face it - Asian badminton can benefit from a healthy badminton scene in Europe. I don't know the dates of the Danish Open and I guess the China Open just concluded, but any claim that a particular team can't make it to a tournament because they have to train for another tournament four to six weeks in the future sounds rather hollow to me.

* Assuming that I ever do get a chance to view any world class badminton on TV or video, which is not easy in the U.S..

Brett,
Ever heard of peaking at the right time? You summarily dismiss the suggestion that China is keeping her players home to prepare for the China Games. Well think what you like and pooh, pooh as you like she's is not sending a team to Copenhagen or to HK and that is fact. Coco-nuts.

I can't think of any sports other than perhaps marathon and ultra distance running, in which athletes need to take six weeks off between competitions to train, during their sport's season. In fact, in most sports I am aware of, coaches and athletes do not like to take off that much time between competitions, as they will get stale and rusty. Why would it be any different with badminton? Three weeks between tournaments should be ample time for any badminton player to recuperate (assuming no injuries) and train on improving his/her weaknesses.

He did not 'contend'---he merely said it is not the 'duty' of Asians to ensure equality of standard throughout the world.Brato

There is so much violence in this column. I agree that the more countries participate in badminton, the better it would be for the game. So where's Camila and Peter and the whole gang of Danish stars ?
A propos : Do you think or suspect that the Indonesians sent only a token force to Ningbo to punish the Chinese for withdrawing from the Indo Open last month? Are they also going to punish the Danes for doing likewise? Pacifier.

Someone in this or another column - can't remember whom - said something like Rule No.1 "Brett is always right' Rule No. 2 'If in doubt, refer to Rule No.1."
So, Brato, you make a fine semantic point, but you have to shut up on such fine points, because Brett has spoken authoritatively about all the sports and the kind of rest and preparation they need. People or countries who do otherwise, must have ulterior motives. Pacifier.

What do you people think?

There are many players not from China or ina who are very entertataining to watch. The first I can think of is Mia Audina
who plays with the strokes of Rudy Hartono. Then there are entertaining and elegant players like Ra Kyu Min and Kim Dong Moon and the Korean doubles. Also good players like Boesen and the Ukranian,the only diff is that these people tend to lose out on commitment and fitness.Some tours without Ina and Chine can provide us opportunity to see them on Tv as TV only
shows games in advanced stages.

You mean we have 2 tier tournaments - like different leagues? I think even if you have 2 leagues, people like Audina, Boesen etc will still be in League A so they will still get ousted in 3/4 Rd. Doesn't help. Think of another system - only short people or long-armed or one-eyed or maybe a tournament or tournaments for people who have won less than 2 tournaments, or have never won. That's it. Put it to the people. Paficier.

What?--'semantics','shut up', 'ulterior motives'??? Seow-a.

ignore this,it was inadvertently posted.

I have found that the less tenable someone's position is, the more likely they are to make some sort of childish, insulting comment about the other person, rather than address the merits of their statements and opinions. I've said this many times before: I'm not perfect and I welcome people to show me my errors, which helps me acquire new knowledge. Honestly, I would greatly appreciate if if several of the posters on this forum could be "right" more often, as it would mean they have actually taken the time to acquire knowledge on a topic, utilize a rational thought process to analyze that knowlege, and arrive at a conclusion based on logic and reason rather than sophomoric bias. If you don't like my opinions, don't call me names or make snide remarks - make a better counter-argument based on the particular facts at issue, not some other incident or situation that is not relevant to the discussion. Honestly, it won't hurt you to use your brains once in a while - intellectual discourse is fun, provided that it remains both intellectual and courteous.