Super Dan: I am better than Taufik [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](Xinhua) Updated: 2006-12-22 14:43[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]BEIJING - World top-ranked badminton player Lin Dan said on Friday that he was a better player than Taufik Hidayat in the year of 2006 despite losing the Asian Games singles title to the Indonesian Olympic champion. China's Lin Dan reacts after losing a point to Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat during their men's badminton team league stage semi-finals at the Asian Games in Doha December 4, 2006. Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat clinches his fist after winning the men's singles badminton final against China's Lin Dan during the Asian Games in Doha December 9, 2006. "I have ranked No. 1 in the world for two straight years and I think people can easily come to a conclusion on who is a better player for the whole year," said Lin Dan, also known as Super Dan. Hidayat beat Lin 21-15, 22-20 to give Indonesia its second gold medal in Doha on December 9, retaining his Asian Games singles title and avenging two losses to the badminton world champion. Lin, 23, led China to the men's team title after defeating Hidayat twice in three days, in the preliminary round and in the semifinals. In their third meeting, Lin came up against a better-prepared Hidayat than he had encountered previously. Hidayat was cheered on by the boisterous support from dancing and flag-waving Indonesian fans, who had converted the badminton arena into a national celebration even before the two players stepped on to the court. There's been a lot of acrimony between Hidayat and Lin, who this year won the singles title in the world championships after former champion Hidayat crashed out in the quarterfinals. In Doha, Hidayat was quoted as calling Lin "arrogant" before the event began, but the two stars played down the rift. "It's no problem, we're close friends," said Hidayat. "The media fabricated it." Lin said here on Friday that he and Hidayat remain friends. "There is no problem between Taufik and me although we don't talk to each other very much," said Lin. "Media tends to make up things in order to make their stories juicy." Source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports/2006-12/22/content_765630.htm [/FONT]
Well, Lin might be world number 1 for 2 years. I think both Lin and Taufik are good. It's the matter of who plays better on court when they compete. No big deal if Lin Dan lose or taufik lose (although im so overjoyed that Lin Dan lose,hate him). Lin is famous for his speed, smashes But Taufik, I can say he is a all-rounder, great net play, smashes, strategy...but he don't have the speed Lin has after his injury......
Well...no doubt they two are great player and no need to compare who is better than who,i think they are equally strong...
Based on facts, I would have to agree LD is better than TH. LD has been #1 for the last 2 years. Very dominate in fact.
ok this article seriously made LD sounded like a soar loser, the title is lame too I dont think LD mean it that way, its probably part of the longer sentence he said, trying to defend himself from the aggresive media/fans to come up with a reason to explain his lost, instead they probably just cut small fragment and put it in the article
that pj, remains to be seen... when taufik was at his best, LD wasn't... (WC2005, ag 06), and when LD was at his best, TH wasn't.. countless number of times...lol
statistic had shown, that the latter circumstances occur at higher frequency than the first circumstances.
Hi Cooler, the saga of LD/TH continues...hahaha! Next Tuesday night is on, check my email to Dale last night and we show him again LD moves...Now get back to work, not lunch time yet...the same goes for me...lol
True. It's just a prediction,hence the inclusion of 'will'.Reason for it is that TH has beaten LD before full fitness, just training twice a week. What if the old man decides to up it to 3x a week? Problem is this match may not happen.LD ,when facing an almost fully fit TH,gets gripped by fear,then we don't get to see him play his best.Also it's important to have neutral ground otherwise an INA crowd gives TH an advantage. Is Philippines neutral? or maybe Canada? Or Singapore? They still haven't decided on the venue for the year end blockbuster Masters.Any suggestions?
philippines is KINDA neutral... many here idolize both LD and TH... but i think TH is more of a star here because they say that TH won his first tournament here in the phils... also, many kids, like me, grew up idolizing him.. that was waaay back 1999.. imagine, a 18 (or maybe 19) year old number 1?.. really amazing... LD on the other hand is adored because he is a flamboyant player and of course, current world's #1..
ah, it's all just fun and games ... makes the game more interesting. what's the point of having a sport without any controversial players?
I liked this part . If that's not "proof" enough to those who wouldn't take a word of what we were saying about the media then I don't know what is . Anyway yeah I think overall this year Lin Dan has been better. That's pretty obvious. He's been far more consistent whereas Taufik has been on and off. But on this particular occasion (or this particular match if you like), Taufik was better. So it will be interesting I think to see how things go next year before we come to any conclusions. After all Taufik does seem to have come up and up since the start of the year. Also hope Lee Chong Wei can get his act together. He can do better than this I'm sure. I don't know what it is. Has he reached his full potential, or have all the other top players just figured him out? Perhaps he needs to change his style? Or maybe it's just an off period. I'm hoping that's the case .