Chong Wei and Tan Fook-Wan Wah crumble in HK Open final By LOGANATH VELLOO PETALING JAYA: The expectations were high but when it came to the crunch, Lee Chong Wei and Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah crumbled in their respective finals in the Hong Kong Open badminton championships at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium yesterday. World number one Chong Wei lost 19-21, 21-8, 16-21 to China's top seed Lin Dan in the men's singles while Tan Fook-Wan Wah fell 24-22, 16-21, 20-22 to Indonesia's Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan in the men's doubles. ONE UP: Lin Dan of China pulls his shirt over his head as he celebrates his victory over Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei during the Hong Kong Open badminton championship final yesterday. Lin Dan won 21-19, 8-21, 21-16. – AFPpic Yesterday, Chong Wei failed to get the psychological boost he wanted over his closest rival ahead of the World Championships in Madrid, Spain on Sept 18-24. With the hard earned win in the men's singles final, Lin Dan has now extended his 2006 record against Chong Wei to 4-1. The Malaysian's only triumph came in the Malaysian Open final in Kuching in June and he has yet to beat the Chinese ace outside Malaysia. Lin Dan's other victories came in the finals of the Macau and Taiwan Opens and the semi-finals of the All-England Championships. In the final, Chong Wei raced to a 19-17 lead in the first game but froze at the vital moment to allow his opponent to take four straight points. The Malaysian made amends by taking full control of the second game and allowed the Chinese to collect only eight points before forcing the tie into the rubber. But mistakes started creeping into Chong Wei's game and despite putting up a good defence, he gave away too many easy points and Lin Dan clinched a second straight Hong Kong Open title. Despite the defeat, Chong Wei can take comfort from the fact that he still leads Lin Dan in the IBF world rankings and will start as the top seed in Madrid. Tan Fook and Wan Wah, meanwhile, received a ticking off from national doubles coach Rexy Mainaky for handing the Indonesians their first title of the year. An angry Rexy, who is in Kuala Lumpur, rang his doubles players in Hong Kong immediately after the final to voice his displeasure. The Malaysians almost lost the first game when they threw away a comfortable 13-5 lead and were made to slog before prevailing 24-22. Kido and Setiawan edged the second game 21-16 but found themselves trailing in the decider. But the Malaysians failed to sustain their 13-8 lead and threw away two match points to lose the tie 20-22. “They (Tan Fook and Wan Wah) played well until they led 13-8 in the third game,” said Rexy. “Then, they changed their tactics and played as if they were already the champions. “The problem is that they think too far ahead even before the game is over and I was angry, especially with Tan Fook, as Malaysia should have won the men's doubles title easily,” he added. It was a no-show in the women's singles final as world number one Zhang Ning conceded a walkover to compatriot and second seed Xie Xingfang without stepping on the court. SHAKEN BUT NOT STIRRED: Malaysian Lee Chong Wei disputes a call with game officials during the Hong Kong Open final match against Lin Dan of China. He was rattled and went on to lose 19-21, 21-8, 16-21. – AFPpic There was an upset in the all-China women's doubles final when second seeds Yang Wei-Zhang Jiewen toppled the top seeds Gao Ling-Huang Sui 21-19, 15-21, 21-19. Zheng Bo-Zhao Tingting ensured China took four of the five Hong Kong Open titles at stake by defeating Indonesia's Nova Widianto-Liliyana Natsir 22-20, 21-19 to capture the mixed doubles crown.
I think this is their normal problem. They alwiz think too much during the game. Tan Fook was making a lot of errors as usual.
exactly, to tell you the truth i'm not surprised, not at all. This is typical malaysian men double. I still remember how they lost in 2004 all england men double final... just got really fed up.
Rexy did the right thing as he has done his part putting the Malaysian MDs into position to win, the rest is up to the players to grab. I am not sure what was in Lee/Choong's mind, after playing for so many years and missed so many close encounters ... and continues to miss. BAM should put priority on the new pairs as it's time to clean up and send the message to those who under-perform. Malaysia may not have the talent depth of China but the nation is very passionate on badminton and I truely believe we can rebuild in very short time especially on MDs. I am not disspointed on LCW, the match could have gone either way if LCW handle the situation better on the last few point of game 1. It's very difficult to beat Lin Dan especially this year and if I am not mistaken only Lee Chong Wei can really challenge him so far. Overall, Team Malaysia is getting better compare to the past, I recall we would be so happy to see Rashid Sidek, Ong Ewe Hock, Yong Hock Kin to advance to QF in any tournament and anything beyond that was consider "bonus". Wong Choon Hann brought Malayisa to the next level then came Hafiz titled the All England 2003 and now proudly having Lee Chong Wei. Same thing can be said about the MDs, Malaysia now has so many solid pairs that I can't even remember who team up with who, I think Malaysia do have better chance to win the world title in MD then MS. Back to Lin Dan, without him Bao Chunlai and Lee Chong Wei would have won many more titles, so LCW is not the only casualty, think in the positive side. Also, not bad for someone who's still bittering about the lost of LCW and CTF/LWW in Hong Kong Open being so positive just 1 day after the defeat. Malaysia masih boleh!!!
yeah, although they fell at the last hurdle, i think they did well to make it to the finals. the win over cai/fu in the semis was amazing, i'm still dissapointed they didn't win the title from 13-8 up though. i think it would have been different if rexy was there ... he would have really let them have it even from the side of the court!
Yap. I am not sure what's in their mind too. They should be very experienced now and should know how to adjust their mood/心态 during a game already. CTF still doesnt change his attitude which once made Kim Hock very angry in the past. LWW played well yesterday, defended well and could keep up the fast pace.If CTF can play at his true abilty, he can kill the ball easily.Well, hopefully Rexy will do something about it before the WC. Last time at AE final 2004, they admitted that they started to imagine the title in their hands when they were holding a huge lead which eventually cost them the game as they started to lose focus and made all the unforced errors.
wow really ? they admitted in the news press ?? sigh ... typical malaysian players ~~ I always expect huge fall out at the end of the game when I watch malaysian players play, and I prepared myself just to prevent going through all the disappointments.
Well, to me, they have the skills of a champion, but maybe not the mentality of a champion. They play a fast game and i love watching them play. Anyway, i think they have contributed a lot to the nation esp in the last Thomas Cup and they should be given some credits too. It is not easy to continue playing and maintain the standard after so many years on and off badminton court. Well, hopefully our new pairs will rise soon.
Marching into Madrid Agreed, even though I am dissapointed with them but we can't deny the contributions(plus numerous heart broken) they've provided. Take this sport as entertianment, both Lee/Choong have played quite a successful roles. Anyway, both of them justified their national position and able to advance far into the round ... Just feel so fed up being second best(use to be OK but I think we can do better) So Madrid, here come the Malaysians(worst come to worst, we come home empty handed again and few more broken hearts, what else is new) So lets all get plenty of rest and re-group in BF in 2 weeks.
I thought they should have learnt their lesson well when they were shockingly ushered out in the early rounds during the Singapore Open by Singapore's unseeded and untested Indonesian brothers, Hendry Saputra and Hendra Wijaya! Then, I think they were taking things too easy, yes thinking well ahead that the match was already in hand! And before they could wake up, they were many points behind and never recovered from their nightmare! Counting their chickens before they're hatched!
i am also not surprised that choong/lee lost... Lee WW is a good player winning most of pts but choong seems at time to be over confident and make lots of basic errors... if they want to win titles they shld cut down on those errors and be focus... true champs find a way to win even when they are not playing well WAY to go choong/lee!!!
this is not fair, ants gets to eat with them all the time. though i did meet CTF, LTS and Roslin in birmingham during AE 2003. met Roslin outside the stadium, whilst CTF and LTS were having dinner in a restaurant nearby. nice guys!
I better hope for improvements for the line judges, there was far too many arguements from the players to the umpire.. Will you people think having replays will be better in a match of badminton? (Similar to tenni's system?) I think there wouldn't be much arguement therefore.
Off topic-re using instant replays Sorry guys, just want to make a quick comment on this.. IMO, i don't think it's necessary to do so. I mean, sure, it may help during that particular match. But personally, i'm a believer, even if we do have that technology and allow instant replay, the calls will be a "wash". You can call it "what comes around, goes around".. By that i mean, if a players gets all the calls in favor in a match, the chances of that player getting all the calls against in a match later on will be just as great. So, for what it is, it's going to be all cancelled out, nothing is gained or lost, sooner or later..
