I have been following internatioanl Badminton for the past 25 years from early teens to the threshold of middle age. I've seen Luan Jin, Lim Swee King, my personal favourite Misbun Sidek, Morten Frost, Yang Yang, Icuk Sugiarto, Zhao Jian Hua but none of them match Han Jian as the greatest. Why? Although many of the above players were requally good in skills, technique, and other departments, it was Han Jian's sportmanship that stood out. I remember one tournament final I cant tremember which one, but it was against an Indonesian MS player , Han Jian took a shot from the opponent, the shuttle just scratched the outer edge of his racket and the shuttle went out. The umpire didn't see that and gave the point to Han Jian . Needless to say that the opponent protested to the umpire and engaged in a heated argument. Han Jian walked over to the umpire and admitted the infringement and the umpire promptly awarded service to the other player. I can't imagine players these days doing that. Chinese players in general in the early days did displayed good sportmanship compared to today. In one double's match, LYB and Tian Bing yi played, one oftheir opponent fell to the floor returning the shuttle, and was slow to get back up, Tian BIng Yi played stroke with the other player without killing the shuttle to allow the other player to get back up. The opponent who fell did the honourable thing by hitting the shuttle out to give LYB and Ting Bing Yi the point to the rapturous applause pof the crowd. I dont thnk we will ever see such sportmanship.
Han Jian may be the greatest in the sportsmanship department but the greatest player of them all, in the real sense of what is generally accepted as the greatest, he was not. Otherwise, even a lower grade player can be regarded as the greatest.
the point is it was not just his sportmanship, his achievements were coupled with his sportmanship and honourable behavior both in and out of Court that's why he is the greatest of that generation.
Opponents - Eddy Hartono & Rudy Gunawan during the 1992 Thomas Cup in KL? I remember this incident quite well.
oh well, one of the incident (TC 1982??) where Han Jian racket's hit the net when as he swept King's net ball and he got his last (winning) point against Liem Swee King, which he did not admitted becoz he quickly shook King's hand and left the court. Is it consider 'sportsmanship'?
and how about the incident where Han Jian being the temporary singles coach some time back (he was with Pelikan or something badminton academy and BAM was in disarray from the morten frost fall-out).... and Han Jian reported to the entire nation via newspapers about how 'in-correct' footwork of Wong Choon Hann (doubles foot work blah blah) and that Wong Choon Hann needs to rework his footwork (under who's guidiance do you think he was proposing ... ) So was he being so greatly sportmanship when doing such 'berating' and 'confidence crushing' remarks???? Maybe I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill from basing on just One Incident.... but I'm defo not the only one
That doesn't sound logical... I think WCH was trained under Han Jian before he went professional? So Han Jian was blaming himself for teaching WCH wrong footwork? Anyway, I don't see anything wrong in saying such things. Sportsmanship =/= Humbleness.
WCH true coach is not Han Jian. I fail to remember the name but the man was from China and coach with BAM for some time. When WCH started to make some headway... the coach from china parted ways with BAM and moved to coach in Australia (some University or state). Wong Choon Hann even took time off BAM to make a trip to Australia just to thank the coach for everything, catch up on old times and etc (i think this was after WCH won the commonwealth games title in 1998). Why i mentioned about Han Jian's statement in the newspapers is because imho... i perceive han Jian's statement was with the following intention :- 1) Han Jian was lobbying for the the possition as BAM Singles coach (which was then vacant) by publicly expressing such a 'problem' and obviously meaning that 'he would have the cure'. This is very debatable of course and I would not be able to prove it. 2) By doing such a statement on natiowide press...... to me it is obvious that Han Jian (wheter lobbying or not) has shown little respect or care for the confidence and morale of his fellow sportsman. This action is no different than some other 'strong personality' yelling "Break His LEG! Break his LEG!!" be that on court side or in the media. This is thus a very 'un-sportman like behaviour'. especially IF it was done for personal gain with cause of detriment to another. and as I have said before... yes.. I'm being very critical about this 1 incident in an obviously beautiful careed of a sports-idol. But then again....... as you can see in this thread... I am not the only one (positive or negative).
Whatever his true intentions was, HJ was right about WCH's weakness, definitely the inefficiency of the footwork. Come to think about it, he might hv achieve greater heights under HJ.
Try telling that to WCH. WCH... China Open Champ. beat China in own home ground. how many other Malaysians or other International Player can claim such glory? WCH.... World Championship Runner UP. Right now.... LCW hasn't beat WCH's record. WCH...... Come back man from career ending injury. Reach Macau Open Semifinal on Injured condition. Even in injury can Make Chen Jin play into rubber Set. Chen Jin won Macau open. WCH... dun play play you know
If I have better footwork I also can be world champion????????? No. To become champion must have great 'HEART' and 'character' OF champion. (i also have but not up to world champion standard ) can you have self doubt and become a great athlete????
The Relentless Retrieving Machine In terms of a complete player, I'd hesitate to rate Han Jian as the greatest of them all... ...that, in my opinion, would be either Tiang 'The Thing' Xian-Hu or Iie Sumirat (My favourite singles player, Zhao Jian-Hua, fails the fitness and stamina test as he secretly struggled with a badly-healed pneumonia :crying However, if there ever were a poll on the Greatest Retriever Of Them All, I'd vote for Han Jian. Like Ardy Wiranata, Sun Jun and Hendrawan, Han Jian was a relentless retrieving machine, except that he was a great deal better at it. It was quite unsettling to see him reach and return a shuttle that, a moment ago, looked certain to hit the floor... ...and, worse, he did it all the time It was a shrewdly effective tactic against fast players who were used to being in continuous motion throughout a rally. Late retrievals meant that a fast-moving opponent had to either slow down to Han Jian's pace or stop moving until he returned the shuttle... ...either way, it would affect their playing rhythm and footwork continuity. (Sun Jun used this tactic to great effect against Peter Rasmussen in the controversial 1997 World Championships Final... ...except that Sun Jun was too exhausted from the previous night's match to see himself through against a very fit Rasmussen). (Those who would argue that Lee Chong Wei has amazing retrieving skills will be missing the point here. Clean retrieval is certainly an essential skill... ...however, what is tactical is the timing of the retrieval. I believe Chen Hong is one current subscriber to this variation tactic ) Two greats - Liem Swie King and Morten Frost Hansen - are unlikely to forget Han Jian in a hurry. In his prime, he kept them running and guessing for far longer periods than they ever thought would be necessary to win a rally. Yes, Han Jian was eclipsed by Yang Yang... ...just as Pele eclipsed Garrincha and Bradman eclipsed Ponsford. But that doesn't take anything away from the fact that Han Jian possessed exceptional determination and staying power... ...and that's probably why old-timers speak of Han Jian with more respect than they accord his contemporaries. Although not the greatest ever, Han Jian would surely be up there... ...as one of the greatest ever.
I think Han Jian was probably the best qualified person to talk about good or poor foot work. I think he had a point about WCH's ponderous foot work. I have talked with some Malaysian veterans and they are of the same opinion about WCH's comparatively poor foot work. FYI Han Jian's greatest strength was his super efficient foot work as he could play for hours without tiring, because in an hour or more of play he expanded significantly less energy than any opponent that ever played him. Many Malaysian greats and even Korea's and Chinese past masters salute Han Jian for his incredible and super efficient foot work-just ask the Sidek brothers for one.
No doubt about WCH's heart for the game & his fighting spirit. But his footwork weakness is a crucial one to prevent him from being a complete player.
mmmmmmmmmmmm.... footwork of which era might I ask. Time and tide waits for no man nor any legend. The oldest legend with footwork I would consider (IMHO) in touch with todays game is Zhao Jian Hua. standing next to this ashtma ridden player...... Han Jian's game and foot work would be made to look just like Yang Yang's and Joko Suprianto's footwork. I.E. Humbled.
Singles footwork has changed little since its inception as a pattern that mixes economy of movement with speed of movement. Although variations are evident in the footwork used by Indonesian, Chinese, Malaysian and Danish players, the essentials are still the same... ...and it's still the same expanse of court and, yes, still two legs. Incidentally, Zhao Jian Hua's footwork was hardly one of his strengths.
I have to agree with everything except the last sentence. Perhaps the master deceiver's deception lies much further than just his ability send his opponents scurrying the wrong way... mmmmmmmmmm. Naturally when one cites the Legendary Asthmatic... we would always refer to the trully classical AE 1990 MS Finals match againts Joko. The video is full testament to how advance his footwork was and still is if compared to todays matches. It's a totally different planet compared to 1984 World Championships MS Semifinal between Han Jian and Liem Swe King.
I dont think Han Jian is the greatest of them all. Even though I have played with him and against him at Summit Badminton Hall a few years back. We should not mention about good sportsmanship as a criteria for a player to be the greatest. Back then, the psychological advantage is not as crucial as nowadays. Anyway, in my opinion, to be the greatest, the major criteria has to be best skill set coupled with top championship trophies + having to face alot of top calibre opponents, i.e., to me Yang Yang has got to be the greatest ever, hands down. Zhao is quite close to him...hehe
Han Jian will probably never be eclipsed in one way, for certain. i doubt anyone else will ever ever be able to win a world championship after starting badminton at the age of 16.
