KLRC NZ Open

[noluckjim]

‘KL RACKET CLUB’ NEW ZEALAND OPEN (Grand Prix)
Auckland, New Zealand (obviously)
$US 50000 (how many stars is this again?)

Tue 15 May - Sun 20 May


Have you guys heard about this? I was checking the events calendar at Badminton New Zealand, and it does not look like Equinox is there :confused:

[phaarix]

Oh cool sponsored by KLRC? If that's what it says on the events calendar (and it does), then I'd say that's what's happening. I think it was US$50000 last year as well so must be 2* again.

Also seems that the World Junior Champs are in NZ :). I emailed Badminton NZ to be sure and they said it was.

[noluckjim]

World juniors are being held in the Waitakeres (that's in Auckland fyi)... fortunately, it's at the end of the year so I should be free to take a look. Unfortunately, I'll have to find directions :rolleyes:.

[Simp84]

This is the website! www.klrcnzopen.com (http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/)
It is also an Olympic qualifying tournament!
And the venue is Gillies Avenue as usual...

[huangkwokhau]

Entry list is there...Indo and jarum sent many players...many good players this year than last year

[Cannot_smash]

Hmm interesting that Pi Hongyan actually takes part in this comp

[Dimplex]

Looks like 4/5 Malaysian mens singles players are through to round 3, with Lee Tsuen Seng to play tonight. Good luck to him.

Didnt look like John Moody was much of a match for Wong Choon Hann (21-13 21-13) and looks like he'll be up against Jeff Tho, the number one junior from australia. It will be interesting to see how Jeff goes but to be honest, I think wch is gonna be in a league of his own.

As for Roslin, he is yet to play a single point because of a first round bye and then a walkover in the 2nd round.

I hope to see ccm/hth win this tournament since they are the only malaysian representitives and need to improve on their world ranking. They blew away a nz pair 21-5 21-5 and are in the same half of the draw as the 2nd seeds from Australia, Ashley Brehaut/Aji Basuki Sindoro, who are up against an unknown Indonesian pair tomorrow.

[hcyong]

Looks like 4/5 Malaysian mens singles players are through to round 3, with Lee Tsuen Seng to play tonight. Good luck to him.

Didnt look like John Moody was much of a match for Wong Choon Hann (21-13 21-13) and looks like he'll be up against Jeff Tho, the number one junior from australia. It will be interesting to see how Jeff goes but to be honest, I think wch is gonna be in a league of his own.

As for Roslin, he is yet to play a single point because of a first round bye and then a walkover in the 2nd round.

I hope to see ccm/hth win this tournament since they are the only malaysian representitives and need to improve on their world ranking. They blew away a nz pair 21-5 21-5 and are in the same half of the draw as the 2nd seeds from Australia, Ashley Brehaut/Aji Basuki Sindoro, who are up against an unknown Indonesian pair tomorrow.

Roslin ... denied entry to Singapore and Indonesia Opens, and now even denied the first two rounds. He is itching to play.

I think Chan/Hoon's biggest obstacle to the title is the top seed Njoto/Wiratama.

[Dimplex]

Roslin ... denied entry to Singapore and Indonesia Opens, and now even denied the first two rounds. He is itching to play.

I think Chan/Hoon's biggest obstacle to the title is the top seed Njoto/Wiratama.

yeh i agree about the MD

roslin surely must be out to win this small tournament

[Dreamzz]

hmmm, we might see an all MAS semifinal for the MS, that would be quite a sight, don't think that's happened for a while, if ever.

[Cannot_smash]

I think Chan/Hoon's biggest obstacle to the title is the top seed Njoto/Wiratama.

What about Devin/Anggun? Don't count them out :D

[hcyong]

What about Devin/Anggun? Don't count them out :D

Njoto/Wiratama is a bigger obstacle than them.

[tjl_vanguard]

Njoto/Wiratama is a bigger obstacle than them.
haha i think it'll be ok for them cuz chan/hoon even beaten jaejin/jaesung in ina open.. so if they can win the mighty koreans why not this HK pair from ina?? :D :D :D :D :D

[Krisna]

Meiliana-Shendy just beat the number 1 seed from Malaysia. They are in the quarterfinals and the only Indonesian WD left... :p

Andre Kurniawan Tedjono vs. Ng Wei today

[huangkwokhau]

Devin/nugroho beat 2nd seed from Australia.....not bad...

[tjl_vanguard]

ANDRE KURNIAWAN TEDJONO will WIN!!! he will continue his giant-killing run to top up my PAW points... come on boy!!!! :D

[Dimplex]

yeh i think andre is going in on good form against ng wei

i predict he'll come out the winner

[huangkwokhau]

Alamsyah yunus beat Ayub in 3 sets...good performance as so far Yunus has not shown any progress in the last couple tournaments

[badMania]

Andre Kurniawan Tedjono did it again!
He defeated Ng Wei in straight sets 21-15, 21-4 :eek:
He definitely has a good chance against Mohd Roslin Hashim for a place in the last 4.

At this rate, PBSI will probably have to "beg" him to rejoin Pelatnas :cool:

[huangkwokhau]

Rosaria managed to stretch Zhou Min in 3 sets......not bad for INA WS

[badMania]

With the top seed, Daniel Shirley/Joanna Quay Swee Ling, losing surprisingly today, INA has a good chance of grabbing a title in the XD. Devin Lahardi/Lita Nurlita overcame a tricky opponent in Hoon Thien How/Goh Liu Ying tonight and will entertain the 3/4 seed Glenn Warfe/Susan Dobson. If they win, they are likely to enter the Final.

In the other half, Anggun Nugroho/Nitya Krishinda will have their first tough test tomorrow, in a match against Tan Wee Kiong/Woon Khe Wei, MAS's promising XD pair. If they can win tomorrow, they should play against the second seed Svetoslav Stoyanov/Elodie Eymard for a place in the Final. Hopefully, it will be an all-Indonesian Final.

In the WD, Lita Nurlita/Nitya Krishinda lost unexpectedly to a JAP pair in three gruelling sets that lasted 70 mins, the second longest match in the tournament so far :eek: So, only the Djarum pair, Meiliana Jauhari/Shendy Puspa manage to enter the quarter-final after a good win over the top seed Lim Pek Siah/Joanna Quay Swee Ling. Looks like Joanna had a bad day today :cool: Their opponent tomorrow is Michelle Chan/Rachel Hindley, a match that they ought to win!

In the MD, there was no surprise as Bona Septano/Mohd Ahsan breezed through their match to set up an interesting match against the top-seed Albertus Susanto Njoto/Yohan Wiratama Hadikusumo tomorrow. Meanwhile, Anggun Nugroho/Devin Lahardi managed to beat the second-seed Ashley Brehaut/Aji Basuki Sindoro in rubber-sets. They will face an easier opponent in Joe Wu/Kevin Dennerly-Minturn tomorrow. As expected, the junior pair Fernando Kurniawan/Subakti lost to Chan Chong Ming/Hoon Thien How. The expected match-up between Anggun Nugroho/Devin Lahardi and the MAS pair should be an explosive encounter.

In the WS, Maria Elfira Christina is the sole survivor after she toppled the 5/8 seed Rachel Hindley in two tight sets 22-20, 23-21. A quarter-final result here is good enough for her, considering that she faces Pi Hongyan tomorrow. Pia Zebadiah, Aprillia Yuswandari and Rosaria Yusfin Pungkasari all lost today.

In the MS, Andre Kurniawan Tedjono continues his good form as he beat Ng Wei in two straight sets. He has a good chance against Mohd Roslin Hashim tomorrow. Alamsyah Yunus also performed well today as he managed to squeeze through to the quarter-final, beating Sairul Amar Ayob with the score 22-20 in the rubber set :cool: He will face another tough match against Wong Choong Hann tomorrow.

[badMania]

Anggun Nugroho/Devin Lahardi are through to the Semi-Final after an easy victory today.

[tjl_vanguard]

badmania... can put up the latest results here?? i can go into tournamentsoftware.com website!! :(

[badMania]

It's a tight match between Albertus Susanto Njoto/Yohan Wiratama Hadikusumo and Bona Septano/Mohd Ahsan with the Indo-born HKG pair taking the match 26-24, 22-20.

Chan Chong Ming/Hoon Thien How will be engaged in an exciting SF match against Anggun Nugroho/Devin Lahardi tomorrow after the MAS pair strolled to a victory today.

Zhou Mi is through to the SF after a victory over Jun Jae Yun. The same thing goes for Chie Umezu.

[tjl_vanguard]

thanks badmania.. haha i won a lot of my paw bets today!!! hihihi... how did u get the result? tournamentsoftware??

[hcyong]

Dude, if you can come to badmintoncental, why can't you go to tournamentsoftware?

http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=14813

[tehsham]

Where did u get the result, having been trying to get into tournement software without success since the morning

[markchan]

Latest result - Yeoh KB beat Andrew Smith straight games, 21-11, 21-5.
Next match, Roslin vs Andre the giant killer.

[tjl_vanguard]

Dude, if you can come to badmintoncental, why can't you go to tournamentsoftware?

http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=14813
Dude, frankly, i have no idea!!! DANG!!!!! i tried the link u gave me... i still cant go to that page~~!!!! :mad::mad::mad::mad:

BTW, thx for sharing the link although it cant work... :(

[tehsham]

Dude, if you can come to badmintoncental, why can't you go to tournamentsoftware?

http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=14813

Good question, I cannot get into this link too.....maybe only we in KL face the problem

[tjl_vanguard]

tehsham, ur on the same boat as i am now!!!!! glad to have a partner!!! haha

[markchan]

I am i Kl and I have no problem to access tournament software..

[markchan]

Try it again
http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=14813

[tehsham]

Try it again
http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=14813
Just tried again....but failed (cannot find server)...maybe got to do with TMNet upgrading work today?????
So had to contend with the result post here

[Kelvin]

yeah tournament software working for me too...
You may want to shut down your browser, and restart it...

anywho.. I'm actually rather surprised/shocked to see Andy Smith taken out so easily!!

I think we could be in the midst of seeing an all Malaysian MS final!!! :D

Has this happened before?

NVM... I looked up a row, and saw Roslin lost :o

but then again Roslin has not exactl been playing in excellent shape as of late :( unfortunate to see.

[badMania]

Woow..woow...Andre Kurniawan Tedjono is the simply the man at the moment! He beat Mohd Roslin Hashim 21-17, 21-19. He will face Yeoh Kay Bin next for a place in the Final and he has a good chance.

[tehsham]

Woow..woow...Andre Kurniawan Tedjono is the simply the man at the moment! He beat Mohd Roslin Hashim 21-17, 21-19. He will face Yeoh Kay Bin next for a place in the Final and he has a good chance.
He demanded and get a place in the World Cup and here he lost to a junior player

[Kelvin]

He demanded and get a place in the World Cup and here he lost to a junior player
LOL

Just goes to show, anything can happen in this sport.
The delayed video feed starts in about an hour and a half for those of us who subscribed :o

I shouldn't watch the tournament software board... kind of spoils the outcome for me :o

[milolo]

Dude, frankly, i have no idea!!! DANG!!!!! i tried the link u gave me... i still cant go to that page~~!!!! :mad::mad::mad::mad:

BTW, thx for sharing the link although it cant work... :(

Me neither using streamyx. But when I switch to Jaring line, I can access the site.
I guess the non-accessible applies to TM streamyx line only.

[markchan]

Wong CH just won against Alamsyah by the skin of his teeth. Rubber games , last game 22-20.

[badMania]

Wong Choong Hann managed to scrape through after a 22-20 rubber-set victory over Alamsyah Yunus. Too bad for Alam...he won by the same margin yesterday...and lost today...

[badMania]

Anggun Nugroho/Nitya Krishinda sealed a spot in the SF after a 21-17, 21-15 victory over Tan Wee Kiong/Woon Khe Wei. They should face another tricky tie against Svetoslav Stoyanov/Elodie Eymard tomorrow. It's looking good for an all-INA Final on Sunday.

The Djarum pair Meiliana Jauhari/Shendy Puspa is also on course for a Final spot after they beat Michelle Chan/Rachel Hindley 21-11, 21-16. Their opponent will be a Japanese pair tomorrow.

[bocmark]

Oh no, MAS XD just lost 21-17 21-15

[bocmark]

Lee TS won Chan YK 21-13 21-17

[bocmark]

INA XD won 21-10 21-14

[jasonmarc]

He demanded and get a place in the World Cup and here he lost to a junior player

I also cant log on to tournament software..........:confused: and Roslin have to re-think to play in WC2007..as he just lost to a club level player:eek:....shame...:o

[Sammy]

I also cant log on to tournament software..........:confused: and Roslin have to re-think to play in WC2007..as he just lost to a club level player:eek:....shame...:o

I would say give Choon Han the wild card sport in WC2007 instead of Roslin. Dont see him go far or able to challenge better players. Even a club player managed to defeat him without much sweat.

[Jessica]

I think WCH or YKB deserve the wild card better than Roslin...Just look at Roslin performance in this New Zealand Open.I saw YKB play CH in ABC and he is quite good.

[jasonmarc]

Any NZOpen results? the tournamentsoftware seem still down....can not connect.....bad...

[Marc E]

and Roslin have to re-think to play in WC2007..as he just lost to a club level player:eek:....shame...:o
Don't forget Roslin is in a legal dispute with BAM over them failing to enter him for tournaments which has got to be affecting him mentally, especially as he think's it's blown his chances for the Olympics. And probably isn't tournament sharp as he missed the Singapore and Indonesian opens, whereas Tedjono is proving himself to be a bit of a handful at the moment to quite a few players, not just Roslin.

[Krisna]

Andre vs. Yeoh Kay Bin, I think Andre has a 55% - 45% chance of winning... :cool:

But if Andre goes to the finals and meet either Wong Choon Han or Lee Tsuen Seng, then it shall be 45%-55% for the Andre in favor of the experienced Malaysians... :p

I think Lee Tsuen Seng will go the finals. Wong Choon Han is old and will be very very tired by tomorrow. Alamsyah is not a fantastic player, but a very tiring one to play against... "Ulet euy!" :cool: After today's marathon match against Alamsyah, WCH might not have anything left for LTS tomorrow...

[phaarix]

I've just been watching the web stream and I have to say Andre Kurniawan is great to watch. He doesn't seem to have quite the fluidity or finesse of the more experienced players, but he certainly fights, and he's very aggressive (style-wise that is :)). Roslin made a nice comeback in the last set but it wasn't enough.

Meanwhile Yeoh Kay Bin hardly looked like he was trying against Andrew Smith. He just returned everything Andrew threw at him with ease (and Andrew didn't look to happy about it, I don't think he likes losing :p). Personally I think Yeoh is more likely to win tomorrow, but we'll see. Andre has surprised us all before. I'm sure it will be close either way.

I also saw the last part of the match between Wong Choong Hann and Alamsyah. Alamsyah got a bit too excited in the end I think. He was jumping up and down and shouting at 19-18, and 20-19, but I don't think he should have lost focus like that. He might have won it otherwise. Kind of makes me feel sorry for him considering his excitement but I guess it's his own fault in the end :(... Unfortunately my internet chose to cut out at match point 20-19 to Alamsyah so I didn't see exactly how WCH won it (I have to imagine instead).

The streaming is fairly good quality but it would have been nice if they could have zoomed in just a bit more to see the players themselves better. It also would have been nice if there was an option to increase the size of the window as it's quite small when you have your monitor set to a high resolution. Was definitely worth the small price though (in fact it's the first time I've spent money on any type of subscription on the internet :).

[alfa-2]

Andre vs. Yeoh Kay Bin, I think Andre has a 55% - 45% chance of winning... :cool:

But if Andre goes to the finals and meet either Wong Choon Han or Lee Tsuen Seng, then it shall be 45%-55% for the Andre in favor of the experienced Malaysians... :p

I think Lee Tsuen Seng will go the finals. Wong Choon Han is old and will be very very tired by tomorrow. Alamsyah is not a fantastic player, but a very tiring one to play against... "Ulet euy!" :cool: After today's marathon match against Alamsyah, WCH might not have anything left for LTS tomorrow...

45-55%, isnt that similar like say 50% of winning chance?? :D:D:D:D

[badMania]

I also saw the last part of the match between Wong Choong Hann and Alamsyah. Alamsyah got a bit too excited in the end I think. He was jumping up and down and shouting at 19-18, and 20-19, but I don't think he should have lost focus like that. He might have won it otherwise. Kind of makes me feel sorry for him considering his excitement but I guess it's his own fault in the end :(... Unfortunately my internet chose to cut out at match point 20-19 to Alamsyah so I didn't see exactly how WCH won it (I have to imagine instead).


Hmm....he lost it to his overexcitement and inexperience I believe....probably his first major win if he were to beat Wong Choong Hann today.

[Ethan]

I feel that the BAM chose to give the wildcard to Roslin to offset their mistake for not submiting his registration for the SO and IO. Wanting to please him so that the compensation will be negotiatable ??

[ants]

I hope YKB will win against the Indonesian. Hope to see an all Malaysian Singles final. Not forgetting CCM/HTH... go and win your first international title.

[phaarix]

Hmm....he lost it to his overexcitement and inexperience I believe....probably his first major win if he were to beat Wong Choong Hann today.

Yep, he should have left his celebration till he actually won :rolleyes:. Makes me feel sorry for him.

[badMania]

As expected, Chan Chong Ming/Hoon Thien How have beaten Anggun Nugroho/Devin Lahardi in rubber-sets 17-21, 21-11, 21-7. They will face the senior HK pair of Albertus Susanto Njoto/Yohan Wiratama Hadikusumo in the Final tomorrow.

In the WD, the Jap pair of Ikue Tatani/Aya Wakisaka have also beaten Frances Liu Fan/Yao Lei 21-15, 21-19. They could end up with a title here.

[badMania]

Meiliana Jauhari/Shendy Puspa repaid Djarum's trust in them by beating the Jap pair Seiko Yamada/Yu Wakita in straight-sets 21-19, 21-10. They will face another Jap pair Ikue Tatani/Aya Wakisaka in the Final tomorrow. If only Lita/Nitya could beat that Jap pair, we could well see an all-Indonesian Final :cool: Now, can Meiliana/Shendy beat the Jap pair tomorrow? Expect a tough match...

[badMania]

Two veteran players, Wong Choong Hann and Zhou Mi are through to the Finals tomorrow after gruelling rubber-sets victories over Lee Tsuen Tseng and Pi Hongyan respectively.

[badMania]

Unbelievable...Andre Kurniawan Tedjono once again proves that he's the man! He beat Yeoh Kay Bin in straight-sets 21-18, 21-15! Sigh...that goes my PAW :mad: He will meet Wong Choong Hann in the Final tomorrow. It will mark a real wonderful fortnight if he's to win the title tomorrow!

Remarkably, all his matches are in straight-sets and lasted for at most 40 mins. On the other hand, Wong Choong Hann has had 2 exhausting back-to-back matches...

[badMania]

I hope YKB will win against the Indonesian. Hope to see an all Malaysian Singles final. Not forgetting CCM/HTH... go and win your first international title.

Unfortunately, it won't be an all-Malaysian Singles Final :D

[tehsham]

Meeting of 2 unseeded in the final and Andre had been slaying the seeded in 2 sets so far.....while WCH had to struggle since the QF

[badMania]

Andre's ranking will rise to 50-ish next week, from the current 70. Unbelievable progress...

[badMania]

Devin Lahardi/Lita Nurlita are on course for their first GP title as they trounced Alroy Tanama Putra/Chau Hoi Wah 21-9, 21-15. They should face their compatriot Anggun Nugroho/Nitya Krishinda who have yet to finish their match today.

[ants]

Andre might be Indo hidden secret weapon. heheh... he played well and convincingly in beating YKB. And he has beaten alot of Msians enroute the Final showdown. Will he win his 1st international title here? That we will have to know tomorrow. WCH wont be a walk in the park. He would also want to earn his 1st title after coming off from Injury.

My full Support for the Japanese WD's! Nippon #1. Go Japan.

It will be a hard match against the HK pair for CCM/HTH. I've seen the HK pair play and they are quick when they play thier best. This will also put CCM's experience to the test. Hope HTH will play his best for their 1st international title.

[Sandy]

quote of BAM's site
interesting comment from Roslin & YKB


Rising Indonesian star Andre sends Roslin out in Auckland
19/05/07, 11:02:26

By NG WEI LOON

AUCKLAND: Indonesia’s rising star Andre Kurniawan Tedjono is threatening to ruin the Malaysian party in the men’s singles event of the KLRC New Zealand Open at the Auckland Badminton Hall.

Yesterday, he packed off Nusa Mahsuri’s Mohd Roslin Hashim 21-17, 21-19 in the quarter-finals to set up a match against another Malaysian, Yeoh Kay Bin, for a place in the final.

Kay Bin advanced to the semi-finals with a convincing 21-11, 21-5 win in 29 minutes over top seed Andrew Smith of England.

The other semi-final in the bottom half of the draw is an all-Malaysian affair between defending champion Lee Tsuen Seng of KLRC Bhd and veteran Wong Choong Hann, who is representing the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).

Tsuen Seng, seeded second, registered a commanding 21-13, 21-17 win in 37 minutes over joint fifth-eighth seed Chan Yan Kit of Hong Kong while world number 35 Choong Hann struggled to beat Indonesia’s fourth ranked player Alamsyah Yunus 16-21, 21-13, 22-20 in a nail-biting encounter.

Judging by Andre’s performance thus far, the 21-year-old Indonesian, who trains under former BAM Project 88-90 coach Fang Kaixiang at the Djarum Club, has established himself as the favourite for the title.

“I knew that he was going to play it tight at the net to set up his attack. I tried to avoid him at the net but some of my returns failed to clear him,” said Roslin, who has secured a wild card entry to the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 13-19.

“I am not that upset over the loss because I played according to my game plan,” added Roslin, who is ranked 20th in the world.

A day earlier, Andre showed his class by beating joint fifth-eighth seed Ng Wei of Hong Kong 21-15, 21-4 in the third round.

The Indonesian will certainly be a tough hurdle for Kay Bin today.

“Physically, I am in good shape. I felt very comfortable with my movement,” said Kay Bin.

“For tomorrow’s match, I need to be careful of him (Andre) at the net. I am confident of matching his attacks,” said Kay Bin.


Courtesy of The Star

[badMania]

All the semi-final matches have been completed, with Team Pelatnas securing an all-Indonesian Final in the XD as anticipated. Anggun Nugroho/Nitya Krishinda beat the second-seed Svetoslav Stoyanov/Elodie Eymard 21-17, 21-14 in less than half an hour, for a showdown against Devin Lahardi/Lita Nurlita. Both pairs are gunning for their first GP title.

Djarum has a chance to win two titles as well with Andre Kurniawan Tedjono and Meiliana Jauhari/Shendy Puspa in the Finals. Tomorrow's matches will start at 11am Auckland time or 7am HKG/MAS time :eek:

Match-up for tomorrow:

MEN'S SINGLES
Andre Kurniawan Tedjono vs Wong Choong Hann (MATCH OF THE FINAL) -- no question about it...Andre's form is hot...and he could beat the tired Wong Choong Hann if he plays smartly.

MEN'S DOUBLES
Albertus Susanto Njoto/Yohan Wiratama Hadikusumo vs Chan Chong Ming/Hoon Thien How -- all eyes are on the MAS pair as they continue their good form from the INA Open. They should win their first title here.

WOMEN'S SINGLES
Zhou Mi vs Chie Umezu -- no doubt...Zhou Mi to win and continues her rise up the ranking tables with 5000 points earned here. She could make the top 10 by end of the year.

WOMEN'S DOUBLES
Meiliana Jauhardi/Shendy Puspa vs Ikue Tatani/Aya Wakisaka -- a tough match for the Djarum pair...and the Jap definitely has an edge.

MIXED DOUBLES
Devin Lahardi/Lita Nurlita vs Anggun Nugroho/Nitya Krishinda -- phew...a solitary title for Team Pelatnas. We shall see if both pairs can rise high enough to make it to the main team..but they are reasonable back-up pairs. Devin/Lita to win!

[badMania]

Schedule for tomorrow:
11am WS
11:45am MS
12:30pm WD
1:15pm XD
2pm MD

Hopefully they will finish the WD before I go to church tomorrow :cool:

[Krisna]

45-55%, isnt that similar like say 50% of winning chance?? :D:D:D:D

Aaah, I think I wrote it in an unclear fashion. Sorry. I mean: Andre has a 45% chance of winning, Wong Choon Hann has 55% chance of winning. [WCH has an edge]

WCH surprised me today by beating the younger LTS with another mega marathon rubber sets. Will WCH have enough gas to play Andre with enough firepower tomorrow... we shall see... :D

[sysoh]

I've just been watching the web stream and I have to say Andre Kurniawan is great to watch. He doesn't seem to have quite the fluidity or finesse of the more experienced players, but he certainly fights, and he's very aggressive (style-wise that is :)). Roslin made a nice comeback in the last set but it wasn't enough.

Meanwhile Yeoh Kay Bin hardly looked like he was trying against Andrew Smith. He just returned everything Andrew threw at him with ease (and Andrew didn't look to happy about it, I don't think he likes losing :p). Personally I think Yeoh is more likely to win tomorrow, but we'll see. Andre has surprised us all before. I'm sure it will be close either way.

I also saw the last part of the match between Wong Choong Hann and Alamsyah. Alamsyah got a bit too excited in the end I think. He was jumping up and down and shouting at 19-18, and 20-19, but I don't think he should have lost focus like that. He might have won it otherwise. Kind of makes me feel sorry for him considering his excitement but I guess it's his own fault in the end :(... Unfortunately my internet chose to cut out at match point 20-19 to Alamsyah so I didn't see exactly how WCH won it (I have to imagine instead).

The streaming is fairly good quality but it would have been nice if they could have zoomed in just a bit more to see the players themselves better. It also would have been nice if there was an option to increase the size of the window as it's quite small when you have your monitor set to a high resolution. Was definitely worth the small price though (in fact it's the first time I've spent money on any type of subscription on the internet :).
Are you using wireless router? I can't stream. Do I need to set the port forwarding? The brand of my router is Linksys.

[sysoh]

Are you using wireless router? I can't stream. Do I need to set the port forwarding? The brand of my router is Linksys.
It should work now as they have not started broadcasting just now. However, it need to upgrade to QuickTime 7 in order to have video playback. (H.264 codec is not included in QuickTime 6)

[Dimplex]

i'll be rooting for WCH tomorrow in the finals, although I think Andre has the better chance of winning the title.
My reasons:

1) Andre is in very good form right now...he's beaten all his opponents so far in straight sets (only exception is kenneth from the indonesian open)

2) WCH's last 2 games have been 3 setters so he might be a little worn...ALTHOUGH he said: “I was playing Alamsyah for the first time and although the score looked close, I’m not really tired. I should not have problems against Tsuen Seng,” said Choong Hann.

anyways...hope WCH can pull off a win tomorrow...oh yeh and ccm/hth ehehe :)

[Sandy]

11:00 AM WS Mi ZHOU [HKG] - [JPN] Chie UMEZU [3/4] 21-13 21-10 0:38
11:45 AM MS Andre Kurniawan TEDJONO [INA] - [MAS] Choong Hann WONG 13-21 21-18 21-14 1:10


good job Andre :)

[abedeng]

Great job for Andre to claw back from 1st game defeat, but kudos too for WCH for making a battle out of it, 70 minutes in total is unheard of in 21-pts system.

Suggest Djarum send Andre to a lot more tournaments (incl Super Series), he has what it takes to mount a challenge and will only be better off in future.

[badMania]

What a result...good job by Andre Kurniawan Tedjono. Djarum certainly has unearthed a prospect in him.

[sysoh]

He is only 21 years old. Bright future for him and Indo MS.

[badMania]

Djarum team returns home with only a solitary title as well as Meiliana Jauhari/Shendy Puspa lost to the Jap pair Ikue Tatani/Aya Wakisaka in three-sets 17-21, 21-15, 16-21.

[sysoh]

You know what I heard personally from Zhou Mi during SO? She said one day 3 matches, definitely nobody is able to cope with it. Both Zhou Mi and WCH are old, their days in Badminton Arena might be another 1 or 2 years, yet BWF let them suffer by playing qualifying round in Super Series. Based on my own yardstick, Zhou Mi current strength should be ranked 15 or less while WCH should be ranked 20 or less. Why do they need to suffer from BWF poor/lousy system?

BWF 1 to 8 seeding rule is definitely a wrong approach.
(1) If a player with actual strength from 9~16 meets a player within 1~8 ranking in the first round, he/she will only get 2200 ranking points if they lose. If this is the case, the World Ranking will not be able to reflect the actual strength of the player. Therefore, they should change back to 1~16 seeding rule.
(2) Their initial intention is to attract spectators for early round, but what happened is: QF, SF and final matches are losing their attraction because good players are eliminated in the early rounds.

[phaarix]

Are you using wireless router? I can't stream. Do I need to set the port forwarding? The brand of my router is Linksys.

Sorry I really have no idea about routers and stuff, though I can say I'm using a D-Link DSL-G604T and that's all I know :o.

[asriwn]

I think WCH or YKB deserve the wild card better than Roslin...Just look at Roslin performance in this New Zealand Open.I saw YKB play CH in ABC and he is quite good.

Andre proved that you're wrong............he also beat YKB in semi and WCH in final. haha

[Jessica]

Andre proved that you're wrong............he also beat YKB in semi and WCH in final. hahaSigh...:(Ya...All Mas players lose to the Indo player...Mas really need more new blood...:rolleyes:

[Dimplex]

congrats to andre !:)

and CCM/HTH :D

[kennethkoc]

i think judging Zhou Mi current performance, she could match the level Zhang Ning and Xie Xangfang play. She could be the biggest threat for the CHN Team for now and the years to come. Zhou Mi is 27 yrs. old. She could play for at 5-6 years if she wants to like Zhang Ning who is now 32 yrs. old but still in the top peak form of her badminton career. I think Zhou Mi would play a major role for HK if given chance to play on the UBER CUP next year. Considering already have Wang Chen and Yip. They could even pose a threat for CHN team if Zhou Mi and Wang Chen outplay Zhang Ning and Xie Xanfang. And Zhou Mi already have big experience in Major Tournaments like that. She already won Asian Games Gold back in 2002, World Silver Medalist 2003, Olympic Bronze Medalist 2004, Uber Cup Champion 2003. That's already a big list for a player. Im just wondering if LYB would allow Zhou Mi to represent HK on 2008 Beijing Olympic if Zhou Mi would be the major favorites for Gold in the Women Singles Event. I think ever player if qualified and well-deserve the spot should be given the chance the play, Li yongbo should put the interest for CHN team set aside to make the competition in the Women Singles Event more entertaining for the viewer and the Champion truely deserve the title. She truely help Wang Chen to uplift her game in Indonesian Open where Wang Chen win the women singles event.

[badMania]

Devin Lahardi/Lita Nurlita win their first title as a pair after a straight set victory over their compatriots Anggun Nugroho/Nitya Krishinda 21-16, 21-15. They should rise up the ranking tables to 50ish with the additional 5000 points here.

Their next tournament will be the Thailand and Phillipines Gold Grand Prix. Semi-final placings in both tourneys will see them inside the top 25.

Meanwhile, Chan Chong Ming/Hoon Thien How have also won their first title as they beat Albertus Susanto Njoto/Yohan Wiratama Hadikusumo in rubber-sets 21-14, 20-22, 21-11 in a match that lasted almost an hour. They will be in the top 25 by next week. Once again, Rexy's mixing and matching have slowly begun to bear fruits. PBSI should be daring enough to break up underperforming pairs!

[Joe P]

Andre's ranking will rise to 50-ish next week, from the current 70. Unbelievable progress...

I saw the final between Andre and Wong live today, and I really think he's a player for the future. There's an x-factor about him, and the way he composed himself and controlled the rallies was very impressive for a player his age, especially against an experienced campaigner such as Wong.

I'll be watching his progress closely from now on.

Oh, and Zhou Mi may be getting old, but she played very well today. And for those lucky enough to watch the game live today, you can see that she can do the splits rather well ;)

A very nice girl too. :)

Joe P.

[saugusli]

Hi Man,

PBSI sent the yunior players (not Senior Players).

Malaysia sent a few senior players such as: Wong Chun Han, M Roslin Hashim, Lee Tsuen Sheng, Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif, Mohd Fairuzizuan, Chan Chong Ming, Thien How Hoon.

But a lot of malaysia senior players lost to indonesia player. So very bad performances for malaysia.

Good performance for Indonesia, Sent yunior and take 2 golds and 1 silver.

Very fantastic to Andre beat malaysia MAN Single senior players..hhaaa


Devin Lahardi/Lita Nurlita win their first title as a pair after a straight set victory over their compatriots Anggun Nugroho/Nitya Krishinda 21-16, 21-15. They should rise up the ranking tables to 50ish with the additional 5000 points here.

Their next tournament will be the Thailand and Phillipines Gold Grand Prix. Semi-final placings in both tourneys will see them inside the top 25.

Meanwhile, Chan Chong Ming/Hoon Thien How have also won their first title as they beat Albertus Susanto Njoto/Yohan Wiratama Hadikusumo in rubber-sets 21-14, 20-22, 21-11 in a match that lasted almost an hour. They will be in the top 25 by next week. Once again, Rexy's mixing and matching have slowly begun to bear fruits. PBSI should be daring enough to break up underperforming pairs!

[s1nn3r]

Hi Man,

PBSI sent the yunior players (not Senior Players).

Malaysia sent a few senior players such as: Wong Chun Han, M Roslin Hashim, Lee Tsuen Sheng, Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif, Mohd Fairuzizuan, Chan Chong Ming, Thien How Hoon.

But a lot of malaysia senior players lost to indonesia player. So very bad performances for malaysia.

Good performance for Indonesia, Sent yunior and take 2 golds and 1 silver.

Very fantastic to Andre beat malaysia MAN Single senior players..hhaaa

Agreed that Msia has a bad campaign... sending so much senior in the men single.. I am expecting them to win it. Msia really need more YOUNG GUNS in the MS section!

There is always a circle going on The badminton scene between china, iNa & msia. Maybe is INA turn now?

[hcyong]

You know what I heard personally from Zhou Mi during SO? She said one day 3 matches, definitely nobody is able to cope with it. Both Zhou Mi and WCH are old, their days in Badminton Arena might be another 1 or 2 years, yet BWF let them suffer by playing qualifying round in Super Series. Based on my own yardstick, Zhou Mi current strength should be ranked 15 or less while WCH should be ranked 20 or less. Why do they need to suffer from BWF poor/lousy system?


Agreed. Qualifying should be played over two days. Should be maximum number of 2 rounds per day for every event.

In most people's hearts, ZM and WCH should be ranked higher. However, the ranking system cannot be emotional in this matter. If the system start ranking people according to its whim, the arguments will never end. People will start arguing that Boonsak should be ranked higher than Lin Dan and that Andre Kurniawan should now be in the top 10.

Please let the players work for their own ranking.



BWF 1 to 8 seeding rule is definitely a wrong approach.
(1) If a player with actual strength from 9~16 meets a player within 1~8 ranking in the first round, he/she will only get 2200 ranking points if they lose. If this is the case, the World Ranking will not be able to reflect the actual strength of the player. Therefore, they should change back to 1~16 seeding rule.
(2) Their initial intention is to attract spectators for early round, but what happened is: QF, SF and final matches are losing their attraction because good players are eliminated in the early rounds.

In a 32-draw, a top-16 seeding is as good as seeding all 32 players, because those who are officially unseeded will virtually be seeded 17-32. It does not make sense. Draws must have an element of luck involved to make it exciting. Also, seeding to 16 does not guarantee that good players do not get knocked off early. There are many dangerous floaters outside the top 20. In addition, if all the time we only see the "good" players in the final stages, what does it say about the competitiveness of badminton.

[hcyong]

i think judging Zhou Mi current performance, she could match the level Zhang Ning and Xie Xangfang play. She could be the biggest threat for the CHN Team for now and the years to come. Zhou Mi is 27 yrs. old. She could play for at 5-6 years if she wants to like Zhang Ning who is now 32 yrs. old but still in the top peak form of her badminton career. I think Zhou Mi would play a major role for HK if given chance to play on the UBER CUP next year. Considering already have Wang Chen and Yip. They could even pose a threat for CHN team if Zhou Mi and Wang Chen outplay Zhang Ning and Xie Xanfang. And Zhou Mi already have big experience in Major Tournaments like that. She already won Asian Games Gold back in 2002, World Silver Medalist 2003, Olympic Bronze Medalist 2004, Uber Cup Champion 2003. That's already a big list for a player. Im just wondering if LYB would allow Zhou Mi to represent HK on 2008 Beijing Olympic if Zhou Mi would be the major favorites for Gold in the Women Singles Event. I think ever player if qualified and well-deserve the spot should be given the chance the play, Li yongbo should put the interest for CHN team set aside to make the competition in the Women Singles Event more entertaining for the viewer and the Champion truely deserve the title. She truely help Wang Chen to uplift her game in Indonesian Open where Wang Chen win the women singles event.

Against any other team, China can safely take both the doubles matches. So, they only need to win one singles match to take the tie. With Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang spearheading the singles team and a good number of players who can take the 3rd-singles role, it's extremely difficult to imagine them losing to anybody. Even the rest-of-the-world team would be hard-pressed.

[hcyong]

Agreed that Msia has a bad campaign... sending so much senior in the men single.. I am expecting them to win it. Msia really need more YOUNG GUNS in the MS section!

There is always a circle going on The badminton scene between china, iNa & msia. Maybe is INA turn now?

The Malaysian MS squad was practically derailed by a single person, which was unexpected, even though Andre came off a good campaign in the Indonesian Open.

In the MD, Malaysia used a single pair to derail the entire draw, but it was expected.

Malaysia had top seeds in WD and XD, but I never expected them to win. I never expected them to lose so early either, so it was a bit disappointing.

[badMania]

Hi Man,

PBSI sent the yunior players (not Senior Players).

Malaysia sent a few senior players such as: Wong Chun Han, M Roslin Hashim, Lee Tsuen Sheng, Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif, Mohd Fairuzizuan, Chan Chong Ming, Thien How Hoon.

But a lot of malaysia senior players lost to indonesia player. So very bad performances for malaysia.

Errr...not exactly....Anggun Nurgroho, Lita Nurlita, Devin Lahardi can't be considered junior anymore (esp Anggun). Lita and Devin are 24 yo while Anggun is 25. The fact that they are not in the main team doesn't mean they are junior players.

[badMania]

The Malaysian MS squad was practically derailed by a single person, which was unexpected, even though Andre came off a good campaign in the Indonesian Open.

In the MD, Malaysia used a single pair to derail the entire draw, but it was expected.

Malaysia had top seeds in WD and XD, but I never expected them to win. I never expected them to lose so early either, so it was a bit disappointing.

The seeding at NZ Open is practically a joke. We all know that Chan/Hoon's only obstacle is the HK and INA pairs. What I didn't expect is Joanna Quay to crumble so badly at the first round in both her events...despite being top seed. That was really a shocker.

[badMania]

Oh...and Andre Kurniawan isn't Pelatnas player. We should be grateful for Djarum for their constant support of the junior players. We will definitely see more of them in the Vietnam Satellite next week.

[hcyong]

The seeding at NZ Open is practically a joke. We all know that Chan/Hoon's only obstacle is the HK and INA pairs. What I didn't expect is Joanna Quay to crumble so badly at the first round in both her events...despite being top seed. That was really a shocker.

The seeding is based on the world ranking, so to improve the seedings, you must first improve the world ranking.

The most direct improvement (my humble opinion only) I can think of is for the doubles ranking to rank each player seperately, instead of ranking two players as a pair. That way, when pairs are split, each player still retains his/her points that was earned with the previous partner(s). Very straightforward. Chan/Hoon would have been top-seeded in the NZ Open this way. The current ranking/seeding for doubles is too convulated, what with notional rankings etc. etc.

In fact, when I have the time, I would like to create a seperate thread with my proposal and then invite people in this forum to attack my proposal.

[Inky2000]

You know what I heard personally from Zhou Mi during SO? She said one day 3 matches, definitely nobody is able to cope with it. Both Zhou Mi and WCH are old, their days in Badminton Arena might be another 1 or 2 years, yet BWF let them suffer by playing qualifying round in Super Series. Based on my own yardstick, Zhou Mi current strength should be ranked 15 or less while WCH should be ranked 20 or less. Why do they need to suffer from BWF poor/lousy system?

BWF 1 to 8 seeding rule is definitely a wrong approach.
(1) If a player with actual strength from 9~16 meets a player within 1~8 ranking in the first round, he/she will only get 2200 ranking points if they lose. If this is the case, the World Ranking will not be able to reflect the actual strength of the player. Therefore, they should change back to 1~16 seeding rule.
(2) Their initial intention is to attract spectators for early round, but what happened is: QF, SF and final matches are losing their attraction because good players are eliminated in the early rounds.

Both 1-8 seeding and 1-16 seeding approaches have their pros and cons, so I remain neutral here.

Re. WCH's case - WCH was afterall on MC most of the time in the last year and therefore was caught up by many younger players who we assume are inferior to him. As he just came back from injury, I thought he could have been more patient by avoiding SS at the early stage (thus not to wear himself out) and instead focussing on GP Gold events to pick up WR points. Afterall, the champion of a GP Gold event will earn 7000 points, only 2200 points less than a SS winner. Now with his runner-up effort in NZ Open, he will earn 5950 points which is only 470 points less than a SS semi-finalist but 910 points more than a SS qf loser. Isn't it a much better deal than not being able to get through the qualifying rounds in SS?

Anyway, the 5950 points will bring WCH back to top-25 by coming Thursday.

[phaarix]

The most direct improvement (my humble opinion only) I can think of is for the doubles ranking to rank each player seperately, instead of ranking two players as a pair. That way, when pairs are split, each player still retains his/her points that was earned with the previous partner(s). Very straightforward. Chan/Hoon would have been top-seeded in the NZ Open this way. The current ranking/seeding for doubles is too convulated, what with notional rankings etc. etc.

Hmm, yeah that sounds good to me. I think players should at least retain something if they're split.

[Inky2000]

The seeding is based on the world ranking, so to improve the seedings, you must first improve the world ranking.

The most direct improvement (my humble opinion only) I can think of is for the doubles ranking to rank each player seperately, instead of ranking two players as a pair. That way, when pairs are split, each player still retains his/her points that was earned with the previous partner(s). Very straightforward. Chan/Hoon would have been top-seeded in the NZ Open this way. The current ranking/seeding for doubles is too convulated, what with notional rankings etc. etc.

In fact, when I have the time, I would like to create a seperate thread with my proposal and then invite people in this forum to attack my proposal.

No, the seedings of the double events are not exactly based on the world rankings. I thought you were aware that since early this year, the IBF have been incorporating the points earned by two paired up players with their previous partners within the last 12 months (but the points are fed into a complex formula before they are incorporated). Otherwise, KKK/TBH wouldn't have been seeded in AE because they were ranked below top-20 by the end of KO, if I'm not wrong.

[Inky2000]

No, the seedings of the double events are not exactly based on the world rankings. I thought you were aware that since early this year, the IBF have been incorporating the points earned by two paired up players with their previous partners within the last 12 months (but the points are fed into a complex formula before they are incorporated). Otherwise, KKK/TBH wouldn't have been seeded in AE because they were ranked below top-20 by the end of KO, if I'm not wrong.

The calculation of the notional rankings ARE based on "each player's points that was earned with the previous partner(s)". I find the formula for notional rankings quite fair because it retains two major general rules in calculating any player or pair's WR points, (1) only the points earned within the last 12 months are counted; (2) only the top-10 point earning events are counted. There is a "discount" element though - 80% of the points earned with previous partner(s). This is because a new pair is afterall a new pair and under normal circumstances, the two players need some time to build up their mutual understandings and improve their collaboration, despite how good they were when they played with different partners.

CCM/HTH's notional rankings were below the HK pair because prior to NZO, CCM/KKK only retained points they earned in 3 events from last May till they broke up (points earned in 3 more events were expired, namely, MO, SO and KO). HTH/TBH retained a little bit more. However, CCM/HTH didn't do well since they paired up as compared to the HK pair within the same period of time until NZO.

[Sandy]

Both 1-8 seeding and 1-16 seeding approaches have their pros and cons, so I remain neutral here.

Re. WCH's case - WCH was afterall on MC most of the time in the last year and therefore was caught up by many younger players who we assume are inferior to him. As he just came back from injury, I thought he could have been more patient by avoiding SS at the early stage (thus not to wear himself out) and instead focussing on GP Gold events to pick up WR points. Afterall, the champion of a GP Gold event will earn 7000 points, only 2200 points less than a SS winner. Now with his runner-up effort in NZ Open, he will earn 5950 points which is only 470 points less than a SS semi-finalist but 910 points more than a SS qf loser. Isn't it a much better deal than not being able to get through the qualifying rounds in SS?

Anyway, the 5950 points will bring WCH back to top-25 by coming Thursday.

NZ Open is GP (not GP Gold) tournament category, the winner got 5000 pts and r-up got 4250 pts

[sysoh]

NZ Open is GP (not GP Gold) tournament category, the winner got 5000 pts and r-up got 4250 pts
WCH will only earn (4250-880)=3370 points. He was unlucky to meet with Simon in few SS earlier this year.

[~sss~]

WCH will only earn (4250-880)=3370 points. He was unlucky to meet with Simon in few SS earlier this year.

yeah....agree wif u..
anyway congratz to him..n CCM/HTH!!

[badMania]

There's many GP Gold events to be held from July onwards, time for the second-string players to grab some massive points.

Thailand Open
Philippines Open
India Open
Chinese Taipei Open
Macau Open

Plus a few more GP events offering similar ranking points like the NZ Open:
US Open
Bitburger Open
Dutch Open
Vietnam Open

And not forgetting the Asian Challenger events (US$15,000) and Satellite events (US$5000) offering quite juicy ranking points for players like Andre Kurniawan:
Vietnam Int Challenge
Singapore Satellite
Indonesia Int Challenge
Korea Int Challenge
and the numerous European based Int Challenge events.

[sysoh]

yeah....agree wif u..
anyway congratz to him..n CCM/HTH!!
Congratulations to WCH! He should be ranked around 28 this coming Thursday. This also means no more SS qualifying rounds for him. He should take part in Vietnam Challenge next week, but it looks like he has not submitted his name for this tournament.

Zhou Mi is wiser, she will take part in Vietnam Challenge. 1 GP Champ + 1 Challenge Champ = 1 SS Champ ranking point.

WCH should take part because it will be so quiet in June as only Sudirman Cup is the major event.

Roslin does not deserve the wild card although BAM forgot to submit his name for the last two SS. May be BAM should organize qualifying match for MS wild card. This is more fair. Let them play against each other for 3 matches.

[sysoh]

I am watching the NZ Open streaming now, but the quality is really poor. Not worth paying USD10.

[sysoh]

LCW won Pahang Open. Still a big gap between youngsters and him. I am glad to see the gap between KBH and youngsters is closer. KBH's mental strength is really weak. He performed badly ever since he lost to Denmark No 3 during the last Thomas Cup in Tokyo. Indo players' mental strength seems better. LCW should not care too much about the World Ranking. He should care to whom he lost to, and not which round he is being eliminated (looking at the current SS 1~8 seeding system, being eliminated in the first round will become more and more common). I think he lost to Susilo mainly because his confidence level during that period was damn low.

[phaarix]

I am watching the NZ Open streaming now, but the quality is really poor. Not worth paying USD10.

It started cutting out a lot today :(. I thought the video quality was alright, but it wasn't very stable and I kept losing sound and/or video which was annoying. It wasn't very well pulled off. I would have thought they would have handled the finals better, but oh well I'm just glad I got to see it at all. I was hoping it would be on NZ free-to-air TV again this year so I was pretty disappointed to find out it was only on Sky and paid web streaming >_> (I mean last year when it was on free-to-air it really had an impact in NZ, loads of people came up to me and informed me that badminton was a very fast and exciting sport :D).

[sysoh]

In the rubber game, WCH started to run out of gas at 10-12, only managed to get another 4 points while Andrea got 9 points to finish the game.

His accuracy was not there when he run out ot gas (few unforced errors). Andrea also forced him to run all corners of the court knowing that his opponent was slowing down. Maybe it was very tiring to win LTS in rubber games.

[sysoh]

It started cutting out a lot today :(. I thought the video quality was alright, but it wasn't very stable and I kept losing sound and/or video which was annoying. It wasn't very well pulled off. I would have thought they would have handled the finals better, but oh well I'm just glad I got to see it at all. I was hoping it would be on NZ free-to-air TV again this year so I was pretty disappointed to find out it was only on Sky and paid web streaming >_> (I mean last year when it was on free-to-air it really had an impact in NZ, loads of people came up to me and informed me that badminton was a very fast and exciting sport :D).
Swiss Open streaming quality was much better. I watched it using my Pocket PC phone, extremely nice experience. No wonder quality of life for Switzerland is so high. Even the public toilet in Zurich is also with world standard but it came with a price (you have to pay 1 Euro for that).

[sysoh]

i think judging Zhou Mi current performance, she could match the level Zhang Ning and Xie Xangfang play. She could be the biggest threat for the CHN Team for now and the years to come. Zhou Mi is 27 yrs. old. She could play for at 5-6 years if she wants to like Zhang Ning who is now 32 yrs. old but still in the top peak form of her badminton career. I think Zhou Mi would play a major role for HK if given chance to play on the UBER CUP next year. Considering already have Wang Chen and Yip. They could even pose a threat for CHN team if Zhou Mi and Wang Chen outplay Zhang Ning and Xie Xanfang. And Zhou Mi already have big experience in Major Tournaments like that. She already won Asian Games Gold back in 2002, World Silver Medalist 2003, Olympic Bronze Medalist 2004, Uber Cup Champion 2003. That's already a big list for a player. Im just wondering if LYB would allow Zhou Mi to represent HK on 2008 Beijing Olympic if Zhou Mi would be the major favorites for Gold in the Women Singles Event. I think ever player if qualified and well-deserve the spot should be given the chance the play, Li yongbo should put the interest for CHN team set aside to make the competition in the Women Singles Event more entertaining for the viewer and the Champion truely deserve the title. She truely help Wang Chen to uplift her game in Indonesian Open where Wang Chen win the women singles event.
Agree. LYB should let the excellent player win the Olympic title. Anyway, HK is still part of China, therefore, it will be too bad if he disallows Zhou Mi in participating the Olympic.

[sysoh]

Draws must have an element of luck involved to make it exciting. Also, seeding to 16 does not guarantee that good players do not get knocked off early. There are many dangerous floaters outside the top 20. In addition, if all the time we only see the "good" players in the final stages, what does it say about the competitiveness of badminton.
I agree that draws must have an element of luck but on the other hand, it will make the World Ranking less accurate.

BWF is trying very hard in stopping China from dominating the games, so that it will remain an Olympic sports if badminton get more participations from other countries. However, it is sad to say, up to today, China is still dominating.

[amaze]

Honestly, Malaysia should seriously consider sending the 2nd stringers like Daren Liew, Lim Kenn and Tan Chun Seang to these types of tournaments instead of sending the oldies who are already going downhill.

At least the youngsters can try to pick up their match experiences faster and maybe we will have more MS who can shoulder the burden of getting honours for the country.

At the moment, sadly, Lee CW is the benchmark that the youngsters and even Kuan BH can hardly match, as evident in all the games played at the Pahang Open the last few days.:crying:

[sysoh]

Honestly, Malaysia should seriously consider sending the 2nd stringers like Daren Liew, Lim Kenn and Tan Chun Seang to these types of tournaments instead of sending the oldies who are already going downhill.

At least the youngsters can try to pick up their match experiences faster and maybe we will have more MS who can shoulder the burden of getting honours for the country.

At the moment, sadly, Lee CW is the benchmark that the youngsters and even Kuan BH can hardly match, as evident in all the games played at the Pahang Open the last few days.:crying:
Agree. Should let the youngsters pick up some ranking points so that they do not have to play qualifying rounds which is very tiring (imagine one day 3 matches). When they are top 28, they might meet with world top player during the first round of the SS, from there, they will gain a lot of experience. Also, let them feel the excitement when they win the GP tournament.

[hcyong]

The calculation of the notional rankings ARE based on "each player's points that was earned with the previous partner(s)". I find the formula for notional rankings quite fair because it retains two major general rules in calculating any player or pair's WR points, (1) only the points earned within the last 12 months are counted; (2) only the top-10 point earning events are counted. There is a "discount" element though - 80% of the points earned with previous partner(s). This is because a new pair is afterall a new pair and under normal circumstances, the two players need some time to build up their mutual understandings and improve their collaboration, despite how good they were when they played with different partners.

CCM/HTH's notional rankings were below the HK pair because prior to NZO, CCM/KKK only retained points they earned in 3 events from last May till they broke up (points earned in 3 more events were expired, namely, MO, SO and KO). HTH/TBH retained a little bit more. However, CCM/HTH didn't do well since they paired up as compared to the HK pair within the same period of time until NZO.

Notional rankings was not started this year. It has been around for at least a few years, probably much longer, but I don't know when it started.

CCM/HTH had at least 2 tournaments to their name, so points garnered with previous partners were not used. Instead, if they have 2 to 5 tournaments, their ranking points are doubled. 6 tournaments - multiply by 10/6. 7 tournaments - multiply by 10/7. More than that, just use world rankings. However, a notionally-ranked pair cannot be seeded in the top 4.

If it's a new pair that has never played together or played just once, then points with previous partners were used (with some conditions of course).

It is common to see a new (good) pair with good seeding at first, but after that they tend to be unseeded. That's because once they have 2 events under their belt, their ranking point is only doubled for notional ranking. That is usually not as good as when they were using their points with previous partners.

The notional rankings have good intentions and it is reasonably fair (in my opinion) but it is convulated, and that is my main grouch. It is better to have notional rankings than not, but there could be better solutions.

http://www.internationalbadminton.org/PDF%20-%20Regulations/197%20APPENDIX%206%20-%20WORLD%20RANKING%20SYSTEM.pdf

[ants]

Congrats to the winners. Too bad WCH lost. He was that close in securing his 1st title after injury. BUt Adrea did a beter job beating all Malaysians to clinch the title.
Proud to know the Japanese won! :) GO nippon.

[CLELY]

Really2 surprise for the youngster Andre to defeat MAS trio Roslin-Yeoh and Wong Choong Han, probably he will become another INA promising-talent beside Tommy to back-up Sony, Simon and of course TH. Good beginning to reach MS title in GP-level without top-names here. Congratz!

Zhou Mi/Wang Chen/Yip Pui Yin obviously are stumble blocks for LYB' girls to seal Gold in Beijing next year.

[pjswift]

Really2 surprise for the youngster Andre to defeat MAS trio Roslin-Yeoh and Wong Choong Han, probably he will become another INA promising-talent beside Tommy to back-up Sony, Simon and of course TH. Good beginning to reach MS title in GP-level without top-names here. Congratz!

Zhou Mi/Wang Chen/Yip Pui Yin obviously are stumble blocks for LYB' girls to seal Gold in Beijing next year.
Extremely delighted to note that Andre , an INA rookie,has beaten three solid MAS veterans in a row to clinch his first title.I hope this augurs well for the future of INA badminton and there is a wealth of INA badminton talent waiting for opportunities to open up.
But you know what's the problem with MAS veterans? They tend to underestimate their lesser known opponents and be lax in their pre-match preparations.
However I would still bet on WCH to win one good title although he missed this one. He is such a fighter but he has to be aware of his psychological giveaway. He either overestimates his opponents (eg.LD in GO07) or underestimates (eg.LTS in NZ07) and sound out loud so his opponent (LD) knows he has the upper hand or riles his opponent (LTS) so he put up his biggest fight 'to show him'.
Be smart like TH in pre-match interviews. TH never gives anything away in how he views his opponents.In ABC07,clearly seeing LCW as his only hurdle to the title, he said he was there to get a good result.But because he never declared that LCW's the one to beat, LCW never knew TH was not so confident against him.After defeating LCW, TH was clearly confident of taking the title and his original aim of 'getting a good result' graduated to 'winning the title'.
With the NSS, which does not allow time to think on your feet, with points moving so fast, match outcome depends a lot on form and on pre-match preparations based on many 'what ifs?'. WCH is still gung ho;to me he's MAS MS no. 2. Hafiz should go nurse his injury properly or retire.

[X Ball]

Actually I would like to see WCH do well. But I don't know whether he has still got it in him to win the big one. He is always thereabouts --- think it is a bit of age and fitness. Hope he can call on his reserves to rise to the occasion again, tough but not impossible.

[ants]

Yeah.. WCH forever. Even though his game has declined, he plays and gives 120%. His HEART keeps him going. I have full respect for him. Definately one of my fav lad.

[Han]

Choon Han still will be very useful in Thomas Cup as 3rd singles. At this point of his career, I don't think he's consistent enough to play as 2nd singles, that slot should leave to Hafiz(we know he can't win win either but at least Choon Hann has better chance to win as 3rd single, none of the Malaysian player capable of winning 2nd single if go against China, Indonesia or even Denmark). Malaysia should start to insert a junior single player into Thomas Cup squad to gain valuable experience as our players are pretty old now.
Is hard to imagine Choon Hann can play the way he use to when he almost won the World Championship back in 2003 as he may not want to push too hard to re-injure again.
Choon Hann will always be our favorite and even though I don't see him win any major title in near future but team Malaysia still will find his service valuable just like Tan Fok/Wan Wah.
Choon Hann boleh!!!