so the MS finalists are decided. Taufik Hidayat (INA) will face Shon Seung Mo (KOR) for the Gold Medal showdown. who will win?
I go for Taufik though Shon Seung Mo has big chances of winning too... The winner will probably be the one who can stand pressure the best...
I am a Indonesian supporter and was actually hoping for an all-Indonesian final. Nvr mind. I jus hope that there will not be a repeat of the Sydney 2000 MS final.
Oh yeah, same here... I am undecided as both players were underdogs with less pressure comparing to the other favorites. Both worthy of the gold medal. Howver, I am hinging on Taufik as he has something to prove after the Thomas Cup debacle. Read from somewhere in the forum that his old personal coach is back with him for the olympic, he'll do alright if that's true.
yeah. but then, just imagine if Taufik wins the gold, which is very possible. he will be dragging PBSI on its tail and can do whatever he wants, yell at the officials, never showing up for training, etc. etc.
Mulyo Handoyo (Taufik's personnal coach) has been fired by Icuk Sugiarto. He should be leaving the staff at the end of the olympics. I don't know how Taufik will react to this but he seems to have prepared the olympics as if it were his last tournament ever! If he wins the gold, will he be able to put pressure on Icuk to get what he wants? I'm not sure...
My heart is with Taufik (must support Indonesia to maintain ASEAN solidarity), but my head says Shon. Never expected him to be able to beat Sony.
He might do that. However, will PBSI bow for a one time winner even if he won gold in the Olympics? The guy is still young and he better win alot more before he has that kind of pull. I wonder if he'll become just like Roslin... decline after the big win. Would PBSI still cater to his whim afterwards?
Taufik is obviously the talented one and Shon is the hardworking one. For this match, Taufik will be under pressure. He fought hard to reach the final, and once he is in there, he does not want to lose such a good chance. It may be ok for him to lose to Lin Dan but to lose to Shon for the gold medal will haunt him forever. That's why he will be under a mountain a pressure. However, I still expect him to win over Shon.
i have no idea if this is true or not but i read from a chinese article that taufik's planning to retire after the olympics while gade's still aiming for beijing 2008....
Isn't he doing that already? *laughs* And on the contrary Abedeng, I was actually expecting Shon to beat Sony!
There I go shooting off my mouth again but in a word of fairness, I must say that the top half of the MS draw has been ridiculously tough - not like this hasn't been bitched about enough already on the forum. I mean, putting Lin Dan, Taufik, Peter-Gade, Lee Hyun-il (however off-form), Wong Choong Hann (and not forgetting "Our very own Ronald Susilo") all in the same group! Not that the players in the second half are weak (Bao Chunlai, Chen Hong and Shon are all not to be trifled with) but the first half is truly a group-of-death. We may hate Taufik's guts and his act of "dragging the PBSI around on its tail" but honestly, he has done rather well for himself beating out Wong and Gade in the 3rd round and quarters respectively. From his performance at these games, I must say that he is a deserving gold medallist, if he does get it.
mmm. Shong will win. I just feel it. The korean men have been flying up and down!! Look at their jump smashes SO FREAKING HIGH AND WHAT A SMASH!!!