what I mean I mean attitude, as it is recognized in for example a 'fair play'-award... Which players sometimes do or do not respect to the opponent, and who always plays fair? What tricks are there? And any of you players who cheat a little bit every now and then? Do you always play a fair game or are you sometimes dishonest about shuttles that fall just inside or outside the lines, do you on purpose bent the shuttle (to make it faster or slower), break a feather, distract the opponent, etc.
for me...i would like to say is kim dong moon (kor). I think his attitude towards those games he plays is good..he gav me a feeling of determination. He is also quite calm while playing games and not easily frustated. so what bout u??
I would have to rank Kenneth Jonassen right there at the very top when it comes to being a gentleman on court. From what I witnessed at the recently concluded Thomas Cup I must say there is an unhealthy trend developing. Gamesmanship will kill the game. Classic example is when the service has been executed when the receiver immediately protests he is not ready. What utter rubbish. The onus should be on the receiver to be ready at all times. The server should have the priviledge of serving when he/she wants. This sort of thing used to be non-existent before. Lin Dan does this sort of thing regularly and the blame should rest on his coach Li YongBo who used to indulge in gamesmanship during his active playing days. And what is this thing regarding the request for a change of shuttlecock or to towel down. It has turned out to be some kind of psychological warfare. The players must realise that the audience is not interested in these sort of mind games. The audience is solely interested in the display of badminton skills and finesse. Resorting to pyschological means and gamesmanship just shows that the player wants to win at all costs at the expense of sportmanship. Winning is not everything. Winning with style is! In the very near future the badminton fans will not only be familiar with the players names but will be equally knowledgeable about who the umpires and service judges are. I remember a time when one can watch the entire Thomas Cup without a single service fault called. Now you can get 3 or 4 service faults in a game. The IBF must know that this really detracts from the game when even the umpire jumps into the act of calling service faults. Right up there in the 'gentleman class' with Kenneth Jonassen would be Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Taufik Hidayat, the Korean players etc. My main grouse is especially with the teams from China and Denmark (Kennneth being the exception). When will their respective coaches and players from these 2 countries realise that sportsmanship is everything in the game of Badminton. Win with style and grace, not at all costs!
I would say Sigit Budiarto. For me, i wouldn't say Taufik because he throws a lot of tantrums on court if he gets a bad call.
The problem is every team uses the stalling tactics now...not to use it, will be to your disadvantage because everyone else is doing the same. Kim Dong Moon is one of the worst culprits when it comes to stalling for time...numerous towel downs, mop downs, shuttle exchanges, walking around, untying and tying shoe laces, and the very popular walk around the court for 30 seconds, return, pose in stance and then claim not to be ready....together with Ha Tae Kwon, they are the "Korean Time wasters". Of course the Malaysian Time wasters are Choong and Lee. They have already received the prestiguous Hancock award.
What's the Hancock award? Are you referring to some lady umpire called something Hancock? She was not impartial and as such should never have been allowed to umpire the match. Its a disgrace to the sport. Just as bad are the line judges who calls out when its obviously in and vice versa. Also not forgetting the prima donna (they are getting more attention than the players these days) service judges calling fault almost every other serve. Look at how partial the service judge was during the Uber Cup doubles match between Korea and Denmark. Disgusting how the Korean girls were faulted at every turn whereas the Danish girls could serve at almost chest height. Somehow Westerners (generally speaking) dont make for very good umpires, service and line judges. Just too biased. I wonder why. Could it be thay are unconciously hitting back just because the Asians are faring better in the sport? HOPUI: I agree as to Taufik and his tantrums but my feelings are that if the player is mad at himself or is directing the anger at himself then its ok. What is not ok is if a player is showing his fist at his opponent like you-know-who then its definitely 'not ok'.
Er... if that's true then why almost everyone hates playing in the Korean Open? From what I heard and read in this forum. It's raked with impartial officials. I think it's abit too harsh to make the statement about Western impartiality even after the Hancock affair. As for Taufik, I doubt an arrogant and flashy player like him would direct anger at himself. Even if it's true, he could have been more subtle about it.
maybe an dictionary definition of the word can create some insight : sports·man·ship Pronunciation Key (spôrtsmn-shp, sprts-) n. The fact or practice of participating in sports or a sport. Conduct and attitude considered as befitting participants in sports, especially fair play, courtesy, striving spirit, and grace in losing.
Sportsmanship! I also prefer to see players winning in a fair game... but won't many players use every-trick they can get away with for the olympics??? Hmm Taufik is not a perfect example if we consider Kwun's definition of 'sportsmanship'..., getting into fights with the public and numerous arguments over calls from the linejudges. What about Wong Choong Hann? Wijaya, Budiarto? And there are not many awards for fair play are there? I know the German Bjoern Joppien won the 'fair play award' at the 2004 French Open, but do we also have such awards handed out in other tournaments? - Mark.
let's not get into insulting kdm, he's my HERO!!! Besides , lots of other players use this kinda tactic all the time like candra wijiya (fast serving), and i still like both candra and kim, they're both great players. iwould say the best sportmanship goes to hendrawan.
for the lack of better definition, let's look at the above that i quoted.. the main points are : fair play, courtesy, striving spirit, and grace in losing fair play, i think we can interpret that as no cheating. or if even more strict, not trying to stretch the rules to the limit. time wasters as mentioned above are stepping into the gray area. deliberating "not ready" is stepping even closer. courtesy, hard to be a courteous gentlemen while being in court duking it out against somebody. ppl who shout and yell and generally bad behaviour could be considered bad courtesy. striving spirit, is this the same as fighting spirit? players who'd go all out and not relax. players who are always playing seriously regardless of opponent. players who don't give up easily even when trailing behind. grace in losing, i think we can extend this to losing the match, as well as losing a rally. one should accept the loss of rally with grace. if objecting to a line-call or a umpire overrule/fault, must be done in a graceful gentleman manner. or even if opponent are arrogant in their manner, they must still be graceful when dealling with it. i must say, these are quite tough qualities for the modern group of players. i think Wong Choong Hann should definitely be high up in the list, Wong seems to be courteous no matter winning or losing, sometimes he disagree with umpires calls, while he does show disagreement, he never throw a tantrum like the likes of Taufik.
i strongly suggest that we should be objective (and respectful) instead of playing favoritism over our heros/idols.
- The IBF Eddy Choong player of the year award is always targetting "The player who knows how to win and also how to lose".
There are many candidates here from my side : Sigit Budiarto He can lose and yet you don't see him throw tantrums and make excuses for his performance. Same as with when he wins, he goes on to congratulate the opponent for a good challenge. He makes a mistake, he is the first to apologize to his partner. Kim DM He soldiers on even when the odds are heavily stacked against him and his partner, playing the same calm and measured game until the end. He plays until either side wins. Wong CH He sucked big time during the recently concluded Thomas Cup and perhaps was the reason for Malaysia's crash against Indonesia. Yet, you don't see him act up and shout, get angry, delay the game. He lost, he congratulated Sony like a true professional. Peter Gade Nuff said. Here's one examplary gentleman on the court.
He was constantly pointing out Lin Dan to the umpire at the recent Thomas Cup. What he was trying to point out is anyone's guess although I think most of us who witnessed it has a very good idea. So this is what you would call an 'exemplary gentleman'? My vote still goes to Kenneth Jonassen. Yes Wong CH is not bad either.
Gade supporter will chip in soon, stay tuned! Anyway, he's probably saying, "Sir, Lin Dan is delaying" or "He is taking too long". It's their right, no? But whatever it is, perhaps that is one match where is less of a examplary gentleman. It's rare though.
