TheStar PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Mohd Hafiz Hashim received a huge dose of confidence ahead of the All-England with a runner-up finish in the German Open in Mulheim on Saturday. It was his first appearance in a final of a international tournament since winning the All-England title in 2003. But national number one shuttler Lee Chong Wei gave a below par performance in his first international tournament of the year and there is some concern over this. Hafiz took only 30 minutes to blow away Chong Wei 15-3, 15-7 in the semi-finals. It was Hafiz's first win over Chong Wei in four meetings. In the final, Hafiz was beaten 8-15, 8-15 by top seed and world number one Lin Dan in 34 minutes. National chief coach Yap Kim Hock said that Chong Wei was in the transition period of adapting to the ways of training under new coach Li Mao. He came under the charge of the Chinese coach in January. “Yes, he did not play up to the mark against Hafiz,†said Kim Hock in a telephone interview from Germany yesterday. “He is finding difficulties adjusting to the new training regime set by Li Mao. It affected his game. But I am confident that he will be okay. He just needs more time. “Li Mao is trying to make changes to Chong Wei game. I am confident that he will bounce back at the All-England (which begins in Birmingham on Wednesday).†In contrast, Kim Hock noted that two other players – Lee Tsuen Seng and Wong Choong Hann – had showed progress under the charge of Li Mao. At the German Open, the 25-year-old Tsuen Seng, who has been given a six-month probation period to shape up or ship out of the Project 2006-08 Squad, defeated P. Gopichand of India (15-7, 15-4) and upset Germany's top shuttler Bjoern Joppien (15-10, 15-6) . He went down fighting to Lin Dan, 13-15, 10-15 in the third round. The 29-year-old Choong Hann needed three games to beat the unheralded Peter Mikkelsen of Denmark and Holland's Eric Pang. But he found his rhythm to score a convincing 15-4, 15-8 win over Anders Boesen of Denmark. He took China's Bao Chunlai to three games in the quarter-final before bowing out 15-10, 10-15, 7-15. “Unlike Chong Wei, Tsuen Seng and Choong Hann have adapted well to Li Mao's coaching,†said Kim Hock. “This was evident in their performances. For Tsuen Seng, I think that it was his best performance in a tournament in recent times.†On Hafiz's display, Kim Hock said: “His game is sharper. It is good that he helped us reach the target of having at least one finalist in the German Open.†Hafiz trains under Misbun Sidek together with Kuan Beng Hong, who was beaten by Boesen in the first round. Beng Hong is also not expected to make much headway in the All-England.
Lin Dan Unfortunately, to all players, irrespective of their nationality, who played against Lin Dan, it must have been frustrating that Lin Dan is in all aspects obviously better. And he did not lose any single set again. Hafiz Hashim was no exception. The only exception during the whole tournament was maybe Lee Tsuen Seng. Even Lin Dan's compatriots Xia Xuanze and Bao Chunlai gave up their matches against him very quickly. So my forecast for All England is Lin Dan. All MS players and coaches I talked to assert that only Peter Gade could be a serious opponent to Lin Dan, but his physical fitness is not at the same level as Lin Dan. And Lin Dan is aware of this. Thus, Lin Dan who will meet the second seeded Peter Gade only in final will be the consequential winner.
Lin Dan definately is a fav to win the All England. however he does have a tendency of dissapoint in BIg TOurneys.
