Just watched the Copenhagen Final. Gunawan, Bach vs Fu Cai. Bach's improvement since WC is remarkable. He follows the shots so much better and is starting to create offense with his shots. While his smashes aren't exactly devastating... his defense has excelled. Howard Bach seems like he is becoming an at least decent if not good international badminton player. One more thing. Its tough to play with a player who much better with you no matter what level. For Howard Bach to play with Tony Gunawan and to improve is huge. Playing with a legend basically puts all the pressure on you. If you lose it is your fault. At first when I watched WC in Anaheim I wasn't sure about Bach but know I have huge respect for him.
Yes Bach seems improved much. However it seems that Tony was not as good as in the WC. Reaction is much slower and tons of errors. Maybe it is just lack of systematic training or something, he was dominating at the beginning of each of the 3 games, however lost energy after leading 8:3 or something like that.
wow yea i really noticed that about Tony aswell .... in the copenhagen match he seemed off his game and Bach seemed to be alot more focused and intense
Tony is 30 years old already. We can't expect him to keep up at that pace for long. Just wish him the best. I just hope Howard will learn as much as he can from Tony.
not that old.... aslong as he is injury free I dont think age would be a huge factor yet, especially in doubles. How old is andre agassi ?
movements in tennis are not the same as in badminton. no badminton singles players last into thier 30s even doubles players generally quit before they hit 30. there are of course some exceptions
Maybe the new 21 system will help him. In almost every game, he was really dominating the first half, making his opponents look like fools, before his gas run out. If playing 21 points, a lead such as 8:x x<3 would kind of guarantee taking the game. So Tony would be able to rest to some extent after establishing an early big lead.
Yep, tennis is significantly less demanding, relatively speaking. You get a lot of time to rest. Badminton = take no prisoners.
howard had been dreaming all his life to be in the WC. To to be playing in the WC final with AND against his idols, dream and reality borderline become blurry. I too would be like that in la la land. if u think howard look ridiculous, have a look at the audience
I hope so too. However I distinctly remember him shouting "THIS IS MY HOUSE, GO HOME!!!!" The ump had to give him a warning after this. (I was at the WC and he shouted this practically right in front of me. I remember even some of the Americans sitting around me were quite upset with him, to put it mildly.) I was kind of disappointed when I heard this because they were the only Americans to make it to the quarter finals and above, and it made them look extremely bad. Especially too that they were playing against Gunawan's old teammates. I admire Gunawan a LOT. His humility and ridiculously good skills. Of course you can be happy to win, but really, I felt that Bach overdid it by far. Hopefully with time he'll learn not to be so.. forceful. Take a page or two out of his partner's book.
I feel there are cultural differences here. There's a saying in American Football, "it's my house" or "we have to defend our house" meaning you/we have to defend our home ground/stadium/state/country/city. This type of saying is meant to pump up the person, it's not derogatory or meant to insult anyone. Cultural differences. Just like I think it's silly and kind of cocky for players who win a match to clap (whether it's for themselves or for the audience) and raise their arms up. It's because I probably don't understand the meaning or purpose. The same applies here. Unfortunately, most of the time, perception is dismissed as fact. It's just a fact of life. C'est la vie.
From what I've seen, Bach was exactly the energetic person that the audience wanted. It's hard not to be like that when thousands of people are cheering you on. IMO, if I were playing and Bach shouted that out to me, I'd be a little upset. Just my opinion.
I agree with Dink that there's probably a cultural difference at play. I think most "traditional" badminton fans are used to seeing the stoic type of players who don't get excited either way. Even though the fans themselves may go bonkers, they don't expect the players to follow their lead. So, when spectators saw a behaviour on the court that's more commonly found in NFL matches following touchdowns, many were quite turned off by it. I admit I was one of them along with practically everyone in my travelling group. However, that said, this may be a case of the end justifying the means. If somehow Howard's expression of excitement transform into more native-born Americans getting interested in badminton, perhaps it isn't so bad after all, is it?