EVEN one of Team Europe's brightest stars admits, the Asians have the edge. Gail Emms, the other half of the world's top-ranked mixed doubles pair, yesterday said the odds are slightly tilted against the Europeans in the MVP Cup Asia vs Europe badminton challenge at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. Emms, a blonde 27-year-old smasher from Hitchin, Britain, acknowledged the fact that Asians -- bannered by Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and world singles No. 1 Lin Dan of China -- are "very, very skillful" and play at a level that is "higher than the Europeans." She said Team Asia is far quicker, while her European teammates "rely more on tactics and play a little bit different and unusual." "I think it will be a very, very good match, and with a little bit of luck, Europe will prevail," said Emms, who will play side by side with Nathan Robertson, her partner of four years and with whom she had won the prestigious All England and Swiss Open titles. They also bagged the silver medal in the Athens Olympics. Emms marveled at the way the Filipinos embrace badminton and promised to give a good match when they play homegrown bets Kennie and Kennievic Asuncion tomorrow. "Kennie and Kennievic, they are lovely, lovely people," she said. "They are improving all the time. We beat them the first time, and hopefully this time we'll win again. But I hope it will be a good match so the crowd will enjoy it," she said. I'm sure the crowd will enjoy the match.
i think what gail meant was that at current status, the asian are better shuttlers. Personally, i dont think asian are born better in badminton, just culturally more exposed to badminton than other nationality. I think any nationality can groom their athletes to current chinese level if they are train intensely and less distracted as the chinese training program.
for those who have debated about speed vs tactic and stroke skills with me before, be warned that i'm beating my drum again Gail Emms, the other half of the world's top-ranked mixed doubles pair, yesterday said the odds are slightly tilted against the Europeans in the MVP Cup Asia vs Europe badminton challenge at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. She said Team Asia is far quicker, while her European teammates "rely more on tactics and play a little bit different and unusual." ie, speed skill not equal to tactics, deception, stroke skills, speed is more valuable than those others skills (except mental). This plus what li mao had said and use, what TH XD pair had said they beat the danish XD.
