SINGAPORE's top singles player Ronald Susilo is certainly the big threat to send Malaysian Mohd Hafiz Hashim home on an early flight. And the Indonesia-born Susilo made his intentions clear when asked how he felt about having to face Hafiz as early as the second round. Hafiz and Susilo got their campaign going yesterday against unfancied players at the Arrowhead Pond. The eighth seeded Hafiz played against Iran's Kaveh Mehrabi and Susilo was up against Olivier Fossy. Against Susilo, Hafiz will definitely have to be at his best or face the possibility of another sad end to his campaign in the World Championships. The 23-year-old Kelantanese made his World Championships debut in Birmingham two years ago as the All-England champion but was eliminated in the second round by his elder brother, Roslin. Susilo is here with the reputation of having been a giant-killer in the Athens Olympics last August. Then, he sent top seed and world number one Lin Dan of China packing in the second round. Now, he is all set to be the giant-killer again in the world's premier individual championships. Susilo, who has a famous brother-in-law in Olympic and world champion men's doubles player Candra Wijaya, said that he would be out to get the better of Hafiz after losing to the Malaysian in the semi-finals of the Thailand Open early this year. “I do not think there is any favourite if we have to face each other in the second round. I think I have an equal chance to beat Hafiz,” said Susilo, who has also earned a reputation in recent years as a player the higher ranked opponents preferred to avoid in the early rounds. “I have a good record against him. I will try my best to win. No one likes to lose early. Neither do I,” added Susilo. The winner of the match will probably come up against South Korea's Lee Hyun-il for a place in the quarter-finals. Also in the same half of the draw are Denmark's Peter Gade-Christensen and top seed Lin Dan. Hafiz's win over Susilo in the Thailand Open in March was significant in that it was the first time he had got the better of the Singaporean. Hafiz went on to win the title to add to his victory in the Swiss Open the week before. Hafiz was the loser in three earlier meetings against Susilo – in the third round of the Indonesian Open (2003), the semi-finals of the Thailand Open (2003) and the second round of the Malaysian Open (2002). Susilo, however, will also draw inspiration from his performance in the last World Championships where he fought back from a game down to beat former world champion Peter Rasmussen in the second round. But he was beaten by Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the next round. “Reaching the third round was my best achievement in the world meet thus far. If I beat Hafiz, I think I have a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals,” said the 26-year-old Susilo, who lifted the Japan Open title last year. He first represented Singapore in the World Championships in Seville in 2001and was beaten in the second round by eventual bronze medallist Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. Susilo, who arrived with the Singapore team on Friday, also has a good reason to do well ahead of the Manila SEA Games in November. He has yet to win the men's singles gold medal in the regional Games and a victory here over Hafiz, whose game changes with his moods, will surely be a confidence booster. Hafiz admits that it is never easy playing against Susilo. “This is a match I am looking for. It is never easy playing against him, especially as early as the second round. ‘I have to be at my best and not allow him to dictate the game,” said Hafiz.
I guess if he is injured , this will not be materialise. Hafiz will just have to wait to play against Ronald next time. Maybe in the Sea Games.
severly sprained ankle? i was sitting behind the court next to his match, but i dind't see what happened.
Just wonder whether the courts are slippery since the stadium is catered more to ice hockey than badminton. It doesn't seem to go too well with the players with a stong overhead draft as well.
we can assure you that they are not playing directly on ice... the courts surface looks like the regular Yonex court mats that are used in other GP tournaments. perhaps the foreign environment plus the effect of jetlag caused a split moment of inattention, which is all that is needed to cause a sprain.
It's an Achilles tendon rupture according to worldbadminton.net. That is a very bad injury. It needs surgery and immobilisation. Immobilisation causes the muscles to waste away until the tendon is healed. I think we are not going to see Ronald on the international circuit for maybe a year at least.
That is terrible......I think he just recovered from one other injury if I recall... Kendrick has big shoes to fill.
This is very disheartening :crying: Guess Ronald himself is more upset than anyone else here.. Wish him all the best, get well soon and hopefully he can make it for the next SO, if not AE in 2006...
It's such a pity. He worked so hard for a comeback just to face another more serious injury. It'll take Ronald now a greater resolve to make another return. Hope he is as strong as Peter Gade and I too wish him a speedier recovery. Yes Kendrick Lee will now have to prove himself that all his hard training will not be wasted. This may be the right time and forum for him to make his mark.
i did mine , few weeks ago. $%@@##@$%#@ this is my 2nd time few years ago i did my left leg and now my right leg. its the wrose injure u can get from badminton , and once u recovered its still not 100% , only maybe at 75% what used to be ,now i think i should stop playing badminton i dont want it to be 3rd unlucky . and takes long time to recover.
Achilles Tendon Injury Dear Cant Backhand and others, I just had my surgery of my right achilles tendon a month ago. I played badminton at the competitive level as well last time. I also heard that some players got this injury back to back, one side after the other. How long after the surgery could you walk normally again? What kind of warming up movements do you think we should we next time before playing badminton again? Well, I am still in a cast now, and on crutches. I hope you guys can illuminate me on this injury. As Cant Backhand said, I am unsure if I can still play badminton again. My doctor said the strength of the repaired tendon is only 80%. Please advise me... Thank you very much!
Yes, you can play badminton again.... I personally know two people still actively involved in coaching and playing badminton who have previously had this injury. One is a former HK representative. Both still play local tournaments.. After the cast is removed, you need to build up your leg muscle strength again befor trying to play near your previous level.
Do not forget ! Derek wong will be graducating and will be full time player soon. Derek is better than Kendrick i guess.... a few more youngsters coming in as full time soon.... we dun need overseas talent.
I'm afraid I can't agree with you. We need foreign talents who are better than our local talents so that the latter are being pushed to their limits!
No, Theres 1 more person who is graducating soon and fellow singaporean haven't get to know him yet. He might or might not accept singaporean citizenship to take up full time player. He is not a singaporean. He won derek wong easily.... I won't reveal much so early... he might/might nt join sg team. He also won singapore sports school easily with the score of 15-1 easily... i guess i say so much, you should likely to have someone in mind.
