3th Asian Games DOHA 2006: Shuttlers fall 05 Dec 2006 ON paper, Malaysia fielded their best available players but their performance still fell short as South Korea advanced to the Asian Games badminton team final with a 3-1 win in their semi-final clash yesterday. Korea were there for the taking but somehow, top singles player Lee Chong Wei decided to lose and Malaysia's wait for a final appearance, last achieved in 1990, continues. National coach Yap Kim Hock had, in laying his plans for the semi-final, said that World No 2 Chong Wei would surely give Malaysia a winning start but that would have been true if the Games were held six months ago. Chong Wei's form has dropped tremendously since his failure in the World Championships and his defeat to Korean No 1 Lee Hyun Il was more of his own doing than the form of the opposing player. Chong Wei's unforced errors proved to be the difference in the end as he fell 21-19, 21-19 in 41 minutes at the Aspire Indoor Stadium. That meant first pair Lin Woon Fui-Fairuzizuan would have to give Malaysia what even Kim Hock had said would be an unlikely point against World No 2 pair Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae to keep the team's hopes alive. The Malaysians gave it a go, winning the first game 21-19 with a battling performance. They then raised hopes when they held match-point at 20-16 in the second but the Koreans are not ranked second in the world without a reason. They kept plugging away and aided by the Malaysians unforced errors, drew level at 20-20 to force deuce. As Woon Fui-Fairuzizuan hung their heads, Jae Sung-Yong Dae took the game 22-20 and the decider was a foregone conclusion, with the Koreans winning 21-16. It was then Hafiz Hashim's turn to keep Malaysia in the tie and he did, but off course, he first had to slay the demon that plagues his game. Hafiz was in commanding form in the first game against Park Sung Hwan, easily winning 21-12 but he lost the second just as easily, 11-21. The third was a close affair but Hafiz surged ahead at 14-12 and sealed the game 21-17. Scratch pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, touted as a combination for the future, then came on but Koreans Lee Jae Jin-Hwang Ji Man were by far the better pair, winning 21-14, 23-21. The Koreans face either China or Indonesia, who were still engaged in an exciting semi-final at Press time with the Chinese leading 2-1, in the final today but for Malaysia, there should be plenty of soul searching.
I am very disappointed with Lee Chong Wei (my first time)and i don't know why he is still error-proned, making lots of unforced errors. He should have learnt that from his previous matches esp the one against Japan when he gave away too many easy points in the second game and had to struggle to win the game.If he still can't get rid of unforced errors-making habit, it would be hard for him to win big tournaments. For the doubles, i think that the coaches' plan backfired. CCM should be able to make the difference. Anyway, what's done is done and hopefully they will fare better in the individuals events.
Well, he did suffer a setback a month ago when he was involved in a very serious car accident. I remember my big accident. Very nerve wrecking and left me feeling unsettled for quite a period. TBBMBB(N)
Disappointing, could have been a win for Malaysia... As for Chong Wei, just saw the replay, and his unforced errors proved to be the undoing... His smashes and drops were alright, not so for the net plays... Interestingly, Lee Hyun Il, after 12-12 in the second set, seemed to use the body attack and it worked, unsetlling Chong Wei... Good tactic by Hyun Il...
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36429&page=2&highlight=peaked I had said before, my assessment of LCW is that he can't improve anymore than what he already had. Yes, LCW is an excellent player but everybody and everything has its limit. Nothing personal against LCW, just my objective view. If LCW get a month or 2 of rest, he might able to get back what he had before but not anymore.
I think MAS made a mistake which was their low profile which was fatal. Even animal roars when facing danger to scare enemy away. But MAS team claimed that their target is only 1 silver. Koreans view this as sign of weakness and lack of confidence. So they launched a full scale attack against MAS. The best strategy is not keeping low profile to invite enemy's attack, the best strategy is to scare enemy away before they launch the attack. anyway, still hope MAS boleh in the individual events
Hmmm... that reminds me of something that someone tried last weekend and it didn't work out quite well... Only good thing for Malaysia MS is that BCL probably won't have any warm-up matches anymore during the team event, and will have less time to get used to the environment as LCW had. Otherwise, LCW maybe in more trouble, and should anyone have much hope on Hafiz...
When I learned that Mas lost 3-1 to the korean, my first thought was, this must be Hafiz who loss again. But it surprised me that it was actually LCW who lost. IMHO I don't think that the young Mas doubles can handle pressure. For the individulas, it seems that there is only little hope ... for the MAS boleh ...
That's a bit harsh >_>. I'm sure LCW didn't "decide" to lose. It isn't as if LHI is a second class player. Once again LCW is expected to be invincible. Why blame it all on him? Why blame it on anyone? A loss is a loss, deal with it.
Why r u guys so surprise abt LCW lost...LHI has been among the top few player in the circuit for quite a long time and he is a very good player as well... he got sharp net/drop fast reaction/movement everything a top player should hav...
ChompChomp, Not surprised if LCW lost, but on how he lost it. Possibly still feeling the effects of the accident + long season where he was entered in many tournaments. A little side effect of Malaysia having too few quality players. Plus LHI is not in top form himself, not that I am saying he is not a great player. Now I would not have minded if LCW lost after a very hard fight, like agains Bao in the WC06.
I don't know why... MAS has a great team... at least on paper... How ever, they failed to bring trophies like the INA and CHN teams.. may be there is not enough chemistry..?
I don't have an answer either, just maybe some guesses. Could it be the huge difference in coaching style of misbun and li mao camps and players trained under both of them end up with mix up or even conflicting style of play and conflicting tactics. (this is just postulating)
May be public support is also a issue.. Media support and financial support are important to success. for example, if TV stations are not willing to spend money to broadcase BM games, then where does the public and financial support come from? when CCTV5 reporters are packing the Gym for reports and photos of CHN national team, should BAM show some love for their players? Just a few thought
don't think so. Unlike canada, badminton is low profile and has low funding. In MAS, at least the funding part is still there. I can't say lcw, hafiz, roslin, KKK, etc lack training or international tournament experience
its obviously not a 'very serious' car accident... and he Said a weak after the accident that that incident didnt bother him and his training pace!! so why lost!! i mean after not being focus as world no.1 what other reasons for his failure this time.. perhaps the korean player had improved a lot or LCW he himself has never improved ever since WC. which for me its purely to stupidity!! arrgghh..nvr thought i would criticised LCW as i'd always supported him despite his lost in previous tournaments... but this time... NO EXCUSE !
