Just wathced Taufik-Ng game. Taufik seems to be playing half-heartedly, doing tests on all kinds of shots. What surprises me is his smashes. I don't think Taufik was a one-smash-get-a-point guy. But in this game Ng seems just unable to return almost all of Taufik's big smashes, and the reason seems to be they are just too fast for Ng. Indeed, many smashes from Taufik are above 290km/h. I remember last year's WC, his smashes were mostly between 250 and 270. What happened? a faster shuttlecock or a stronger Taufik? If it's the former, FHF should reach 350km or something. How could anyone defense then?
actually, Taufik's most lethal shot is his smash. he has been very effective in executing a very tight tumbling net shot and then killing off the subsequent lift. he wins most of his points that way. even the likes of LD and PG are not able to read his smash, NW will have no chance.
I agree. But I really do not remember Taufik's smashes being so powerful. My impression is that his smashes are just reasonably fast. But since they are very hard to read, they often are winners.
A bit off topic.. hmm, i remember Ng Wei practiced/sparred with several of his teammates in last yr's WC here in Anaheim, and even then i don't recall him being that aware defensively. I recall one time, he and Agus Hariyanto practiced against each other(full-speed), and sometimes couldn't get or return Agus' smashes. So, imagine playing against Taufik
..hmm, i think that's also one of the byproduct of Taufik's strong wrist; he can probably snap it, at the last second, for a smash in any direction..
His forehand smash is lethal, but his backhand smashes impresses me even more! His technique is incredible.
i remember Taufik's match against Shon from Korea in the gold medal match at the Olympics. Taufik was absolutely destroying Shon with his smash. Whenever he'd go for the smash, the point was basically over. even though i havent seen the taufik- ng wei match, it doesnt suprise me at all to hear how hard taufik's smash still is.
..absolutely...also notice, in most of his pictures, Taufik tends to or always hold his racket towards the end of the handle/knob area..rather than away from it or in the middle..
I remember it was the European players that had the skill with the backhand smash and most asian players wud just either lob or drop with the backhand. But recently you see the asian players have developed the backhand smash so well taht even palyers like Hafiz can execute quite a powerful backhand smash. Of course I still think TH has the best backhand smash due to his incredible powerful wrist work.
fully agreed. i had watched the game on TV. his smashes were just incredible and out of this world. don fancy anyone (even the like of lin dan , another heavy smasher) can execute such lethal smashes. few of his smashes were executed form the baseline jumping smashes down cross court. NW had no answer at all. another of TH's strong point is the net play but he didnt get it right against NW that day. if TH keeps on playing and improving at this level, fancy him winning another title.
Guys, taufik has indeed a powerful smash. I observed it from a long time ago. Even Heryanto Arbi could not return his smash and also taufik could not return Arbi's smash (ref. MSF Singapore Open 1999). Look at last worlds, when against LCW or LD, they were not able to return some of taufik's big smashes. Chen Hong will also be the next victim. Chen Hong is even worser, he could not return CJ's smashes (ref. MSF German Open 2006).