Yes, politics got in the way. The 3 Chinese players who were inducted into the IBF Hall of Fame in 2002, namely Miss Chen Yu Niang, Tang Xianhu (The "Thing"), and Hou Jiachang did not actually play one single "legal" match to warrant their inclusion. None of them ever participated in official IBF tournaments during their time as China was not a member of the IBF. Their inclusion, under such special circumstances when the world never saw them play, is an exceptional honour.
Sabathiel, you have extensively and repeatedly cited the Guinness Book of Records for Rudy's greatness and world record. However, when logging into the Guinness website www.guinnessworldrecords.com, I couldn't find anything about badminton under the category "Sports & Games". Can you lead me to a more specific site? Perhaps others can find where I cannot. On the other hand I do have a Guinness Book of Badminton that deals with nothing but badminton.
Rudy was born in 1949 the badminton hall of fame details are not accurate as it also mentions that Rudy was unbeatable in Thomas Cup competition. We all know that Rudy lost to Luan Jin in the 1982 Thomas Cup in which Indonesia was beaten 4-5 by China. Rudy also lost to Svend Pri in the Thomas Cup in the early seventies in which Indonesia won 8-1. Here is an accurate date of birth of Rudy Hartono. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Hartono http://www.badmintoncentral.com/badminton-central/content/view/9/26 So Rudy was indeed 31 when he won his 1980 WC and 32-33 when he lost to Luan Jin in the 1982 Thomas Cup.
No I can't as I read the Guinness Book of Records myself in the 90s when I found Rudy's name in it. Rudy was included in the GBR in 1982. I tried searching the GBR on the net but couldn't find anything about Rudy Hartono. If you want proof that Rudy was included in the GBR I can provide a link to an article but it is in Indonesian.
The world did witness Hou Chia Chang play in the 1974 Asian Games where he won the gold medal and Liem Swie King got bronze(Rudy didn't play). You are also incorrect on secret visits to China during this era as my research from the internet says China made official visits to the West to play badminton (Canada, Denmark, etc). So the world did witness these Chinese players play. As to how you concluded it was politics that prevented these Chinses players from being inducted into the hall of fame earlier than 2002 this puzzles me. There were no politics against China between 1997-2002 to prevent the Chinese players from being inducted in 1997 the same time Rudy was inducted. China as I said was admitted into the IBF in the early 1980s and became an active and non-discriminated IBF member and was and is very influential. How could China be prevented by politics from pushing for Hou Chia Chang and Tang Xian Hu into the Hall of Fame in 1997 when there were no such politics that prevented them from doing so?
What has the application of your Buddhist philosophy got to do with my argument that Rudy is the greatest so far and is unlikely to be surpassed by anyone in the near future?
You are wasting my time as you are totally "bebel"! (eg 24 is a kid, get real you delusional person, if this is true Rudy when he was 17 was a baby). So talk to the hand because the face isn't talking to you anymore. Just one last tip, open the dictionary and check out the meaning of the word "dominate". How many years did Taufik dominate the game? How many Chinese players played in the Men's Singles at the Olympics? How many Chinese players played in the Men's Singles at AE? When you find out the answers you can talk to the hand! You are a joke! I think the audience knows that.
Thinking that Taufik has surpassed Rudy shows your underconfidence that Taufik could do better than what he already has achieved. Just like when Icuk won the WC at 20 many Indonesians (the Muslims and natives like Icuk) were talking about Icuk being the greatest and look what happened to Icuk after. Just like Mike Tyson he bombed out. Talking about being the greatest when you are only 24 and hasn't finished your career is just plain and totally "bebel".
To all Taufik's supporters: Can you find on the net a list of all past winners of a badminton tournament officially stated from the first year it was held until 2005 apart from the WC, Olympics and AE?
Common Sabathiel....you are getting out of focus now. You seem to live in the past and you are not being realistic. Things and times have changed...You seem to get so attached in the past... You fail to see the realities of TODAY MODERN BADMINTON.
Wow...again Sabathiel...you brought up racial issues again [Muslims and natives]....I am very surprised you are so out of focus and clearly frustrated in presenting valid and reliable arguments!!
As an intelligent audience on this thread has said, Taufik's case is like "blah blah blah". If you grow up in Indonesia you would know who the racists are and which religion is the one with extreme prejudice. It is a fact! You are no match for me in the argument department so don't flatter yourself. Unless you raise new and relevant points you can talk to the hand. You think claiming someone who is 24 in badminton is a kid is not subjective in a sport where the average age is around 24 anyway? Claiming that winning 20 AE titles mean nothing is not subjective? What are your badminton credentials again? Tell us so we know it is actually reliable to rely on your badminton knowledge and analysis.
ok all, we have decided that this thread needs to be locked. any attempt to revive the topic will be deleted. while the discussion have started off civilized, we have sense that it has hints that it is started to steer away from that. both sides of the discussion have made their points and from what we can tell, both sides have quite strong opinions and there is little hope of reaching a concensus. the best thing to do here is to agree to disagree, so no feelings are hurt. remember that here in BadmintonCentral, one of the most important thing we value is respecting each other's opinions. there is not always one absolute truth, by respecting what others have to say, you can learn to see from different points of view, and broaden one's view point and knowledge. have a good year 2006.
