let us dis-regard the pre 1970s era bcos badminton community was small den. and just focus on men singles n doubles. this is where the best badminton is played (no offense to the ladies and the mixed) criteria must be a) both competitors must be recognized as more than one class higher than de rest of the field. b) matches are exciting, unpredictable, hard fought n memorable. c) contrasting styles of play is desired, but same oso is OK. d) must be retired and no more competitive play. MENS SINGLES - Yang Yang vs Morten Frost MENS DOUBLES - Park JB/Kim MS vs Li YB/Tian Bingyi
Interesting question. Men's Single: - Paul Hoyer Eric Loursen vs Don Jiong (One of them staged the most amazing comeback. Cant remember which one. Too old. One was trailing 14-3 but managed to chase and win the game at 17-14) Men's Double - Rexy/Ricky vs Cheah Soon Kit/Beng Kiang (Not really sure about the exact name of Cheah Soon Kit's partner)
i guess Rexy/Ricky vs Cheah Soon Kit/Beng Kiang match is the best 90's match ever, the mas pair had 2 match points ( 2nd and 3rd sets) but they couldn't finish it and lost badly to ricky/rexy
I see no need to disregard the ladies. Ricky Subagja/Rexy Maineky and Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock, Park Joo Bong/Kim Moon Soo and Li Yongbo/Tian Bingyi Kim Dong Moon/Ra Kyeung Min and Zhang Jun/Gao Ling (Nowdays it looks to be Robertson and Emms who are Zhang and Gao's rivals) Zhang Ning and Mia Audina, Camilla Martin and the chinese ladies squad in general Peter Gade and Lin Dan, Taufik Hidayat and Lin Dan
I think firstly you must define what a "great" rivalry is. Lets say Two opponents who are 1)at the very top level of their discipline, and 2)are very evenly matched. Xia/Wong would fail on point 2) Jonassen/Boonsak (always have great games) fail on point 1) (as would probably many rivalries throughout the game. I would say that currently there are no "great" rivalries. Lin Vs LCW may develop into one. Taufik/Lin is a non starter, since In all Important clashes Taufik has won. Zhang Ning Vs Mia is too one sided in Zhangs favour. On the whole though, modern confrontations are the usuals Whoisitc country vs Country affairs, not individuals as present. Previousley we have had Kim Dong Moon Vs Tony Gunawan Kim/Ra vs Zhang/Gao was a good one. Yang Yang Vs Zhao was also good. Gong Zi Chao Vs Susi? Choong/Lee Vs Eriksen/Luundgaard. Anyone else?
I don't really know anythign about ancient badmiton (sorry couldn't resist) ehm I mean earlier badminton.... but nowadayw it really isn't a 1vs1 rivalry...LD,PG and TH are all close to ecah other, with LCW, BCL, Chen Jin, LHI (? the korean bloke?) about to join the ranks...I'd say, especially under the new scoring, the entire top 15 is close/very close....
again to be precise, we should differentiate between: 1) a good rivalry 2) one single closely fought match. Sun Jun vs. P. Rasmussen, as well as PEHL vs. Dong Jiong will fall into the 2nd category. a rivalry is a series of closely fought matches over a significant period of time. more interesting if they are closely watched by fans which adds to the excitement and significance.
Men Single: Han Jian - Liem Swie King Sun Jun - Peter Gade Woman Single: Susi Susanti - Bang Soo Hyun - Ye Zhaoying Li Ling Wei - Han Aiping Camilla Martin - Chinese Great Wall
I think Peter Gade and Lin Dan fall under the criteria of many closely contested matches over a fairly long period of time. Taufik and Lin Dan have said things about eachother in the press. ie, taufik saying lin dan had better watch out in Madrid, etc and so on. pre game chatter
what about the triangle : MS : Yang Yang - Icuk Sugiarto - Morten Frost Hansen WS : Bang SY - Ye ZY - Susi Susanti MD : Park JB/Kim MS - Li YB/Tian BY - Eddy Hartono/Gunawan Icuk always lost to Yang Yang, Yang Yang always lost to Morten Morten always lost to Icuk No maths at all.
how come I forget : Zhang Ning - Mia Audina ........ probably the longest ever one since May 1994 till nowadays 2006, 12 years over.
hardly the "greatest" though. Zhang Ning hasn't been at the top of her class for many years, shadowed by Susi, Ye Zhaoying, Gong Zhichao, and then Gong Ruina. she somehow woken up in 2002 and end up in the top. Mia similarly, never managed to get pass the above listed players. and then only start to rise after she settled in The Netherlands. a good rivalry might be the trio of Susi / Ye and Gong, actually. Susi seems to be able to beat Ye more, Ye beats Gong more, and Gong beats Susi more. how interesting is that??
yup ........ you are rite at all. I only see between Mia Audina & Zhang Ning .... their rivalry only. and as like what Indonesia people said "Makin Tua Makin Jadi" .... "getting older, getting better" ........ in reverse from others.
I think there was a small rivalry between foo kok keong and ardi wiranata back then... I remember when they played in the thailand open, both walked out of the court womiting on seperate occasions in the same match... one of the longest and toughest matches. Not sure if it fits into this thread...