he loses.... the ones that i've seen: 2005 Sudirman cup vs Kenneth Jonassen, lost 15-5 15-0 2005 World Championships vs Jonassen, lost 15-2 15-4 2006 England vs Denmark international, lost to Niels Christian Kaldau
Long way to go I think Ghaffar still have long way to go to play against top notch player, it's not a bad idea for UK to groom another or 2 MS player as this obviously is a weak event for Team UK based on Commonwealth Games results last month.
his standard is nowhere near any of the top danes. i don't think he'll have a major part to play in this competition at all ...
Its Ghaffar (not gaffar) He's beaten Palayama, Bao at the AE and Shon Seung Mo at worlds but has yet to show consistency and beat several top players in a row. He doesn't seem to be playing as well this season but is the only english player to have beaten top 16 players
well, most of the top 5 won't be at the european championships, so he's alright in that sense. but yeah, definitely lacks consistency, and ummmm, humility.
Need motivation I do think Ghaffar does have potential to advance further as his size is perfect for badminton and his skill is quite good. What he lacks is motivation, just like Malaysia players back in the 90s, lose or win still in the national team with allowances so played only half-heartedly ... Bring up more youngsters in MS department will certainly make Ghaffar feel the heat and train and play harder.
Wasn't Bao injured in the All England this year and Shon is pretty inconsistent as well so I don't know if those two examples counts.
Yes, but he beat Bao in 2004, if you took any of the top players and made them move to England and train with players of that level for a year I wonder if they'd keep their consistency or standard.
Training at the Danish centres will do him the world of good (like Nathan and Gail did / still do?). The Canadian, Bobby Milroy, is currenty enjoying the benefits of Danish sparring partners.
Difficult to say. Pi Hongyan and Xu Huaiwen seem to have prosper despite having fewer peers in Europe. On the other hand, the Indonesian men singles team appear to have deteriorated in standard , possibly because they have less depth in their squad for sparring purposes. Mediocrity breeding mediocrity, perhaps ?
I have to disagree with you there. Tony Gunawan, Mia Audina, Pi Hongyan have all moved countries whilst still in their prime. ( Yao Jie, Xu Haiwen past their best, and others moved before developed fully and improved after moving- eg. Wang Chen, Susilo) Good sparring partners may be a factor that influences performance, but there are many more factors that can have larger influence, such as physical capability, attitude or other external factors. IMHO Gaffar has a good feel for the shuttle, but is technically poor and lacks basic skills and qualities needed to be consistent and play at a higher level.