Besides power, tactical awareness and a feel for the shuttle this one requires teamwork, blind understanding is the key. If that is given, spectacular matches are guaranteed. These are the masters of their trade: 10. Koo Kien Keat One of the most spectacular doubles players ever to walk on court. Able to create the most incredible shots. But lacks in concentration and too much playfulness cost him dearly. Way too few titles measured against his talent. 9. Nathan Robertson The icon of British badminton was probably the best European mixed doubles player in his prime. His career highlights were the silver medal in the Olympics in Athens and being able to win the title of the prestigious Yonex All England Open on home soil. 8. Zhang Jun The Chinese Olympic mixed doubles champion participated in the most spectacular and well known rally the badminton sport ever saw. 7. Zheng Bo The Chinese powerhouse impressed with a very strong impact on the shuttle and achieved quite a few All England and world cup titles. 6. Sigit Budiarto The doubles specialist is an Indonesian badminton legend and will always be remembered for his trick shots and deceiption. With his congenial partner Chandra Wijaja he formed the commanding mens doubles team for many years. He also was held back a little by his hang to perform shuttle cock magic. His sheer talent should have brought him more titles, yet he will remain unforgotten due to his playing style. 5. Nova Widianto My favourite mixed player ever ever ever! Technique, feel for the ball and feints paired with elegance. I could just watch him play forever. Together with his fantastic partner Lilyana Natsir he achieved two world cup titles, an Olympic silver medal and quite a few victories in Super Series Tournaments. Considering his skills that`s not enough, but whatever…watching him stroking the shuttle was a treat for the eye! 4. Cai Yun Olympic gold and silver, several times world champion. Simply effective and totally lethal at the net. Nuff said. 3. Lee Yong Dae The Korean whizz kid has it all, no weaknesses can be detected. It is most extraordinary that -despite his young age- he is world class in both mens and mixed doubles for years now. Such a player comes along once in a blue moon. His biggest strengths are the almost unbreakable defense, his athletic body and the dominant netplay. 2. Tony Gunawan He was mens doubles Olympic champion, worldclass for more than a decade and some (not me) say the best front court player of all times. Yet he will be remembered for one thing above all others: Winning the world cup title in 2005 in Anaheim along with the US American Howard Bach. Everyone who knows a little about the badminton sport will be able to judge this outrageous performance for what it was. I want to give credit to Bach, too. His smash was very good and -carried by the thrilled homecrowd- he played the tournament of his lifetime. Nevertheless a good smash is not even remotely enough against the skilled Asian competition. But Tony Gunawan showed everything he had and controlled the net like I had never seen before. A performance beyond belief! 1. Hendra Setiawan The net skills of runner-up Gunawan are seconded only by one man. The coolest, most effective, most lethal and best doubles player of all times. Watching Hendra Setiawan between rallies it is hard to believe was this man is capable of. He appears almost lethargic in rest periods. But as soon as the shuttle is in play he positively explodes and shows breathtaking skills at the net. With his speed, feel for the ball, anticipation and precision he simply is superior to all the other great players out there. A typical rally in mens doubles badminton lasts quite long since breaking the defense of the top class players needs time and preperation. Setiawan is the only one who seems to be able to end the rally as soon as he gets involved at the net. But it`s not just the front court play that seperates him from the rest. Again and again he manages to turn defense into offense with his clever blocks, where others choose to play the defensive lift. He isn`t the hardest smasher in the game, but he makes up for that with clever shot selection, a clear view and a witty playing style. Amazing guy!
KKK, Robertson and Nova don't really belong there. next to go besides them would be Zheng Bo and Zhang Jun. and add Rexy Mainaky, Park Joo Bong and Kim Dong Moon there. they deserve a spot at the near top of the list. and potential addition would be Halim.
For all round men's and mixed doubles, Kim Dong Moon has to be at no.1! The guy is just fantastic. I'd rate Tony better at men's doubles but Tony didn't play much mixed. Missed Rexy, Candra and Park Joo Bong on that list. Men's doubles Rudy Gunawan is an understated hero - he was an absolute rock. Ladies it is Gao Ling, Ra Kyu Min, Ge Fei. Modern ladies games Ma Jin really does have that fine touch. Zhao Yun Lei I would rate slightly lower.
this becauce 90-99 era double back player have higher change to win point..2000 era more best front player will set and win point...nowdays best front player can get point..also better counter attack in defend will turn to win.
[MENTION=7]Cheung[/MENTION] If you like PJB and KDM, you can watch them play against LYD and YYS in that Cool Kidz on the Block video thread. [video=youtube;Efjuix5II1E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efjuix5II1E[/video]
how come there is no mention of Jung Jae Sung ? His powerful smashes and reasonable net play makes him a good player as well.. all those fantastic games between LYD/JJS - CY/FHF - KKK/TBH..
becauce if hard smasher cant get best setting from front player...in other word best front player will get change 60-40 to win point...
i saw PJB and KDM play together in the semifinal of the 1996 Thomas Cup against Indonesia. It was amazing to watch the two totally control the match.
Good but best of the rest? I base my criteria on how the player can control the game around the court. That's why the hardest smashers are not the highest on the list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPLJBEHbPMU This one? I watched it also. I wonder if the Indonesian pairs were ever lost 0-15 before that game.
Yes. I was in the audience for that game. My friend went for a toilet break and completely missed the first set. Antonius/Denny Kantono were probably somewhere in the world top five then - but still ranked behind Rexy/Ricky and Rudy Gunawan/Bambang for Indonesia.
i was going to say, maybe the Indonesians are just playing aweful. but as the match progress, it was clear that the combination of Kim at the back and Park Joo Bong just killing off everything at the front with incredible pace was the major factor.
If Park/Kim played Rexy/Ricky instead, it would be a great match. I bet they would have beaten Rexy/Ricky also.
I can understand why JJS isn't there, for the same reasons FHF isn't there I guess, but totally agree that Park Joo Bong, Kim Moon Soo and Kim Dong Moon should definitely be on that list. PJB without a shadow of doubt is right up there, probably second to none in my books. Setiawan is a bit like a modern version of him, clever, great vision, creative, clean shots and very consistent. The clip that visor posted above just shows us a glimpse of what he was like in his hay day. Not the most powerful smasher, but he just proves that power was not essential for winning - the number of times he had (with KMS) beat the Indonesians (Rudy Gunawan and Eddy Hartono - and later Ricky Subagja) was just testiment to that. RG probably had the hardest smash of all players at that time. Shame they didn't have the equipment to measure it, but I'm sure it wouldn't be sniffed at even by todays standards. But Park and Kim's defense was like a rock. The shuttle just kept going back over the net.
Koo KK, Robertson, Zheng Bo and Nova don't belong on the list....and another thing holding back Sigit was him doping and getting caught... I agree that KDM and PJB should be at or near the top. Two incredible players, although regrettably I haven't been able to see much of PJB so far. But KDM was a great, rock-solid all-around player, comfortable in all situations and anywhere on the court. I'd also rate Cai Yun higher than LYD (at least so far) as he has won the bigger matches, and attained the 2 big titles (OG&WC). While LYD has the Gold in Mixed, his performace in that discipline plummeted in 2010, and while I agree that he's one of the great MD players he hasn't been able to produce the goods when it counts there - the SF loss against the Danes in the London Olympics was rather bitter, being the product of nerves more than anything. LYD/JJS had been in a league of their own with Cai/Fu for the whole year before the Games, and were quite frankly a pair of completely different potential and stature than the one-trick ponies BoMo... Personally I'd probably rate Tony Gunawan 4th, KDM, CY and HS just impress me more with more all-court play and the ability to maintain their level for a long time, in KDM's and Setiawan's case even with different partners, Kido handicapping him (sometimes severely) from 2009 on.
And won the Olympics in 2004...every player has his off days, and KDM collected quite a few titles to prove those days were the exception for him
