Boy, they'll be playing together again and time to start making those "big moneys"....They should "run-over" the MD field, esp. with the "weak" draws..As for Howard, tough luck for him and all the fun has to end somewhere. I guess he's moving on with Bob M. as his new partner. http://www.dutch-open.nl/html/news1_3oct.htm
Considering Tony won this tournament last year there is pressure on Halim to perform as well. Especially now since they will be "expected" to be winning/reaching SF or, QF at least
Maybe both will struggle earlier(since Halim hasn't played any real competitive matches in roughly a year), i wouldn't be surprise. But IMO they should reach the Finals stage, with at least a SF appearance, esp. in this "less competitive" field.
This is not the first time that Halim has to face the condition (and doubt) like that. He was in almost the same shoes in the year of 2001 when he reformed the partnership with Tony and they won All-England and later World Championship that year. I am as optimistic as Chris. -SC
Hey Chris, Sorry if this is of topic, Did you catch up on the Indonesia Open - especially the Men's Doubles final? I am very interested in Kido and Setiawan after beating Chandra and Sigit. Do you know anything about them. Regards Stuart
Will Howard surprise Tony by beating his WC partner and Halim? Howard seems to me to be a very highly motivated young man who could turn the table on anybody as the recent WC have shown. Is Bob M. the former partner of Tony? If so, since both Howard and Bob have played with Tony they would know Tony's game quite well and they have also learned how to play top level doubles from Tony. And I think they are also relatively younger than Tony and Halim and therefore have a better chance of improving their doubles combination. The change in circumstance may unwittingly help produce a truly top-class US team in Howard and Bob and with Tony and Halim (basically still Indonesian, not American and both are ageing) as sparring partners, the chance for success must be phemomenal. Don't miss this opportunity to be the greatest, Howard and Bob!
Hi Stuart, yah, they won over Candra&Sigit. Regarding MarkisK and HendraS, sorry, i don't know much about them. I haven't read any new news on them. Last i know they were scheduled to compete in the upcoming Dutch and Denmark Open, but PBSI cancelled the Indonesian squad last minute. They are still young and up-and-coming pair, still need to prove their recent success wasn't a "flash in a pan". All i know is that they have siblings, younger brother and sister who are also playing competitively and often in tournaments in Indonesia. Couple notes to share, as I read from a media source. Jonas Rasmussen was asked about Markis and Hendra, and he said "they have a very bright future and could become world champions in a short while". Sigit Budiarto also said "they are ready to take over our reign as the next top Indonesian MD pair"..
Stuart, try this..www.badminton-indonesia.com (that's a local site for badminton in Indonesia, local newspaper but sometimes it has english news..) hope you get it.. well Chris, how about Howard and Bob Milroy?..why they are separated?.. But as Indonesian i really glad to heard about that (although they not play for Indoenesia anymore...:crying: :crying: )...
that's a pretty good online source also, albeit most of the news are in Indonesian.. ffc2002: sorry i don't quite get what you meant by "But as Indonesian i really glad to heard about that (although they not play for Indoenesia anymore"??..who are you referring to??are you referring to Howard, as in Howard Bach and Bob Milroy??..or some other players??..Hmm, both of them have never played for Indonesia..
open of saarbrucken at final M D gunawan and haryanto beat mylroy and beres easily ,like a badminton lesson , the canadian got only few points ,in total not ten points,they are still in good shape,this week they are going to ducht open in nedeerlend , MING from Paris
you know mike and willian beres and milroy ,one of them is from ottawa,they win their place i final after some match in 3 set,so they are a little tired! MING MING
I am not against your idea that Bach and Malaythong get chance to beat Gunawan and Haryanto. Both of them once partnered with Gunawan but my observation is that they improved, however, not to the level that could "turn the table". Even though they might know Gunawan's game inside out, the probability to defeat the 2001 WC Champion pair is much thinner than that Gunawan/Bach would win WC 2005 since they are at the same level that Gunawan and Haryanto play (no disrespect to Bach and Malaythong). Life is full of surprises. For men's double, it is even more so but well dependent on who your partner is. -SC
I'm glad you did not totally disagree with me. Really, nobody gave Howard and Tony a chance to take the WC crown, but they did! We all agree that Tony is a fantastic doubles player, having won the previous Olympics (not the last) with Candra, but as you put it, doubles is a team game and your partner is important to you. Now, I don't think it is fair to say that Tony won the WC single-handedly without Howard's contribution. IMO, Howard played a good part and it was excellent team effort that contributed to Candra and Sigit's downfall at the WC Final. If one were to equate Howard's efforts as being on par with Tony's, then Howard can proudly stand on his own as a world-class doubles partner. Bob Malaythong also had the benefit of playing together with Tony and I think, together they did win some minors and got into a few major quarter-finals. This proved that Bob has improved and being young and if he still has the passion and commitment to be the best, there is no telling what he and Howard might be able to achieve. Now hopefully, with Tony and Halim as sparring partners, their rate of progress must be highly enviable!
Worldbadminton.net Thrilling time in Masspoort http://www.intbadfed.org/Portal/desktopdefault.aspx?tabid=10&ItemID=1867 Tony and Halim lose in final to Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah 15-11, 10-15, 15-13