Two words sum it all: Terribly Disappointing!! Here's my comments on each player/pair: MEN'S SINGLES: All the three singles players had a bad tournament, all losing before the quarter-final. Is it because of the fasting? MEN'S DOUBLES: OK rating for Markis/Hendra since they are playing their own countryman. OK rating for Flandy/Eng Hian too since matches between any Indo pair and Eriksen/Hansen are always close and could go either way. Disappointing for both Candra/Sigit and Luluk/Alven. I was absolutely disgusted with Luluk's performance tonight. They lost very easily to a supposedly inferior pair. I think a reshuffling is needed. Alven needs to be paired with another player, while Luluk could perhaps be switched to mixed doubles. WOMEN'S DOUBLES OK rating for Lita/Nathalia considering they lost to the world champion Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen. VERY GOOD rating for Indonesia's ONLY representative in the semi-final: Jo Novita/Greysia Polii. An absolutely wonderful win tonight and they had to work hard to defeat the taller British pair of Emms/Kellogg. I remember there were a few rallies which went on for so long that the crowds were cheering for every returned shot. Eventually when the shots were won by the Indonesian pair, the whole stadium errupted with loud applauses. It seems that Atik Jauhari's effort is slowly taking shape. It's now 3 semi-final appearance in 5 tournaments for Jo/Greysia and let's hope they can continue this good form. They have nothing to lose tomorrow against Gao/Huang but their first outing next week will be a tough one, against Chien/Cheng of Taiwan (another quarter-finalist in the Hong Kong Open too). Another quarter-final appearance next week will be considered a bonus. With today's win and another good showing next week at the China Open, their ranking will reach the 20s. MIXED DOUBLES OK rating for Nova/Lilyana considering the fact that the top mixed doubles players are consistently beating each other. GOOD rating for Anggun/Yunita for reaching another quarter-final. They played well in the first set tonight, reaching game point before losing 14-17 eventually. Then, similar to the match in the Indonesia Open final, they run out of steam and lost tamely 1-15 in the second set. They should break into the top 10 sometime early next year. SIDE NOTE: While at the stadium, I bumped into some players, like: Sudket Prapakamol, Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen, Zhu Lin, Jung Jae Sung, Lee Hyun-Il, Hwang Yumi, some England and Scottish players and the bunch of Indonesian players who were training in the multi-purpose hall (Candra Wijaya, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Simon Santoso, Anggun/Yunita, Lilyana Natsir and a few coaches). I also chatted with one Indonesian official and an ex-Indonesian player now coaching in Phillipines (Minarti Timur).
Hmm, i wonder how PBSI will judge the performance by these players.. Supposedly PBSI is using the HK Open, China Open & All England Open as "guinea pigs event" for next year's Thomas and Uber Cups teams..And with all these results, will they resort back to the "we won't send any players to future tournaments unless they reach the QF or SF stage" philosophy or something else??.. On that note, speaking of the MD, i will be waiting for any news from Candra Wijaya in this coming 6-8 months. I don't exactly know if he will play in next year's WC(Spain), eventhough he said he will play there, but he has a scheduled appt. to play some baddie in the U.S. again with his PBSI buddies Tony and Halim.. On Markis and Hendra, i think they should've beaten Flandy/Eng Hian, even if they sparred with each other daily. Anyways.. Hehe, any pics of you with those players??..mind sharing with us BC folkz??..
well.. so.. agree with "this is the worse tournament for indonesian squad" eventhough, i'm proud of the WD player... they just keep fighting, who ever their opponent are
