Seriously, is he really 21? He looks like 17 or 18 and seriously lacks the power to play top MS. Just watched his SF game against CJ. If only he is stronger he would win the match. There are many chances when he should had finished the rally but not due to his weak smashes. He's got good technique, good strategy, but even his half-court smashes were easily retrieved by CJ. His smashes seem much weaker than even BCL's. If he meets LD he has no chance. LD can just give him clears, wait till he smashes, think about dinner, and then move return a cross-court or something. If LD wants he can even wait a bit longer and show us a perfect dive. What's the problem with Ind training program? Can't they make Simon stronger? btw his legs seem not strong enough too. His recovering seems slow.
Man that's just too funny. LOL I guess Simon's smash is like a fast drop to other top level player. I don't think there's anything wrong with Indo's training. Some people are just stronger then others. But I do think that he is weak. One of the player at our place played against him when he went back to Indo and said that his smash is weak for a national player. I don't think he'll ever be the next Taufik.
That's exactly my impression after watching the game. He kept fast dropping with great precision and angles... How many pts did your friend get? Who won?
I agree he looks so young ! O_O He managed to beat Chen Jin .. how could he be weak ? lol he may just prefer use technique instead of power but i do agree that if he has powerful smashes he could beong to the top players as he seems really talented, Against chen jin everything looked so easy for him O_O
Man if a player has a big smash, they will use it or combine it in their technique like LD, or Xia. I saw Simon played against Peter Ras. in the Thomas Cup and Peter treated him like a warm up material. But yeah, he does look really young. You sure he didn't lie on his birth certificate like in the movie "Bench Warmer"? LOL
About that match against PR, I heard some rumor about Indo coach told Simon to not fight all out in the 1st game and use it to tire PR up. Simon treated the first half of this plan too seriously and totally lost control in the 1st game. Then in the 2nd game the experienced PR played rush-rest-rush cycles and won comfortably.
Simon doesn't have many weapons, that's very true. And, he's not deceptive either ... the only hope right now is that he's got a new coach, who has the similar style like him, who was very successful, Hendrawan ... Hendrawan may be able to add more spices to Simon's play, hopefully ... we'll see ... Do you remember Hermawan Susanto? His smash was also not strong, and he didn't have many weapons, BUT, his shots were deceptive, that's why he did fine, although he was under some top Indonesian players back then like Ardy, Alan, Joko, etc. An example of Simon being around for a while is one prove that INA is strugling, they don't have many talented players. Even in mens doubles they start to strugle ... too bad. INA problems can't be listed, there are too many of them. Start from economy, politics, religius, it's just unbelievable ... I'm off topic now, I guess I should stop right here ...
Simon is too short and small. In men singles, stature is quite important. But no need to be too tall. In women singles and doubles, stature is not that important.
hahah, yahh he does have to up his smashes but you can always train that. i still remember the first time i was lcw play, he was sooooooooo weak but look at him now! i personally think that simon has great potential. whether or not he meets or exceeds expectations, that's another question. but i think that he has the capability of being a top player in the world. (that also goes with yeoh kay bin)
I just saw simon vs cj during the sf ag and I think simon rarely showed his power. He played with good technique though: he's pretty good at the net, and his half smash or fast drop is in good quality and consistent. He smashed pretty hard a couple of times, so I'm not sure if he's really weak instead of too much interest in playing good techniques...
I think that Simon's playing style is classic one..because we can see that he used to play more rally rather than smash..I believe that he can be a top player oneday with he has had right now. however he must sharpen his strength again and i guess it is going more interesting to watch vary styles of playing..
Well, after Simon beat Chen Jin in the group, both Chen Jin and Lee YB said that Chen Jin lost because Chen Jin used too many smashes. Chen Jin then used more rallies instead of smashes in the semi-final, then It was Chen Jin finally won the semi against Simon when playing more rallies.
i agree!! thats what i thought when i saw him!! he has a gf too bad... i took a pic with him and got his signature anyways, some ppl say that Simon plays much better than Taufik Hidayat. and i could SWEAR he does!!!
From my own observation(limited as they are) and others i've talked to in INA.. ...personally, i don't think Simon has what it takes to be a Taufik-caliber player...Like others mentioned above(and some PBSI coaches), his technique is sound & he's still young-from what i know, I believe he used to be or maybe still under the guidance of Mulyo Handoyo(Taufik's coach)..Sure he *could be*, if he trains and maximizes his potential, be in a similar class to maybe Hendrawan or Ardy Wiranata...But, IMO, after seeing a few brief matches of him in actions, his ability has reached that "ceiling"(or INA people might call his level of ability "udah mentok")...In particular it's similar to that of Sony D. Kuncoro as well, but that's a different topic altogether...The INA MS field, from my own personal observation, to be really frank, has no one else to count on(now or in the near future, even with the talk of Tommy Sugiarto or other young players), except one of Taufik..
Did remember Fung Permadi? People thought he had finished..after moving to taiwan...he played better...so you will never know that "udah mentok" can go futher...I think mentally and experiences are very important factor in the games... Like in Tennis, no one expect Amanda Coetzer can counter Seles or Hingis...Amanda is just like Simon...determination and fighting spirit are imprtant factors beside the skills... I would not give up on Sony or Simon yet...
A bit off topic-True, determination and fighting spirit are as important, but.. ..hehe, and so far from what you've seen, what do you think of both Sony's & Simon's level of determination and fighting spirit??... Personally, for Sony, a couple or so yrs ago, i thought he would be the 2nd dependable player after Taufik..But numerous injuries have befallen on him (ie. his foot injury just before the World Championships) and now who knows what happened to his game??..I believe, he's even gone behind Simon as the #3 MS, no??.. Anyways, we'll give 'em another yr to prove themselves...