At the 2009 Singapore Open, at least a few Yonex brand-carriers were using the new Nanospeed 9900. But, judging from how these players performed with it, it seems the racquet change was more a 'forced gift' than a matter of personal choice New NS 9900 users who lost: Markis Kido (previously AT-900P) Koo Kien Keat (previously Ti-10 Yellow) Thomas Laybourn (previously NS 8000) Carsten Mogensen (previously ArcSaber 10) Those who said 'No' and still lost: Lee Chong Wei (played with the AT-900P) Hendra Setiawan (played with the ArcSaber 7) Tan Boon Heong (played with the Ti-10 Purple) Peter Gade (played with the ArcSaber 10) Those who switched and won nothing: Team Korea (switched to Victor) Team Singapore (switched to Li Ning) Those who switched and reaped rewards: Zhou Mi (using Head) Anthony Clark (using Head) Nathan Robertson (using Carlton) Nguyen Tien Minh (switched to Victor) Boonsak Ponsana (switched to Gosen) Team China (switched to Li Ning) In fact, the 2009 Singapore Open was the second tournament in a row in which Yonex hasn't had a title winner to its name (the immediately previous tournament was the 2009 Sudirman Cup in which Li Ning's brand-carriers swept every match). The most recent face-saver for Yonex was Kido & Setiawan's win in the 2009 Badminton Asia Championships MD. Perhaps they will do it again for Yonex at the 2009 Indonesia Open.
That's surely because you guys are too kind to me PS: I have the Apacs lookalike as well. So you really can't be sure what I'm using
well, maybe the sponsor-ship-monopoly is waning at the top-ten of the world, but globally, yonex really still has the most players under contract. I have no source for this off course, but looking at the EBU/Grand Prix players I see in Europe I'd guess the ratio yonex vs all other brands is 1:1. Head and Carlton are chipping in, Babolat does a fair deal in France and a couple of Danes, Forza has a lot of Danish players under contract, but the common denominator in each country is a lot of Yonex. However, in due time, yonex might actually have to fight for their sales and with a history of great products I'm sure they'll stay in buisness for a long time to come. Up to now, Li-Ning has just brought out some stuff, and sponsored the worlds best players. But the stuff they have is un-atainable outside of China so far, which will be a treat to watch spread over the world. Don't forget, a lot of country's already have Li-Ning importers, a lot of them probably bought the exclusive right from Li-Ning themselves; some of them might not even be interested in shipping in badminton stuff. Just look at Mizuno's badminton rackets, no European shoe-seller wants to touch those. Or maybe they will import but refuse to sell any cheaper than the registrated retail price, which (by the looks of it) is probably over 200usd a racket. There're still some hurdles
Just concerning this, I'm sorry to say, but you know better than to equate racket usage with performace, right? Or am I mis-reading this? As far as we know, yonex has never forced any player to switch, only offered some rewards to those that did (inciting them to switch in the first place) There're a hundred other ways to account for the losses of players like Markis and Carsten... You're not honestly suggesting they would've won with any other racket? Markis for example was injured at the sudirman-cup, and was already struggling in open rounds judging for the livescore, is the racket more likely than an injury?
wait, i though boonsak ponsana was sponsored by gosen of a while, i mean, they have had a specific model for him for a couple years, right? and i am sure cooler is right on the money.
I guess you misread it. Of course, it's silly to correlate the racquet and the player's performance. That's why the grouping includes those who won and those who didn't All I'm saying is that the monopoly that Yonex long enjoyed in the East seems to be on the wane.
yeah, both boonsak and nathan have been using gosens and carltons for a number of years now, i don't think that can be considered a 'switch'.
Nathan robertson in 2004 , http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/HIckZMTOBA89P0qkovhOuw carlton has had him under contract for at least 5 years now. I'm don't see to many English players, but I hardly see any yonex-sponsored english players... odd...
Hi Recently At The Singapore Open I Went To Li Ning Booth And Saw The Products And Did Not Find The Range Impressive Although The Pricing I Found Was Very Expensive! The Shoe's Seemed To Have Cheap Design N Finishing, Nonetheless I Purchased Their Rkt N90 Which Was For $400 Plus Thinking It Would Be Solid And Wud Be Something To Experience, But Am Shocked That The Rkt Has No Punch Or Feel Compared To The Yonex At-700, I Dont Understand How Can China Players Even Use Such Poor Quality Stuff, If Not For The Player's Own Game, These Li Ning Rkts Would Not Sell For Nuts. Am Back To My Yonex At-700 Which I Feel Is Still The Best! I Guess They Feel That Just By Getting Top Players They Can Get People To Buy Li Ning Stuff, But Customers R More Intelligent And I Think I've Got Duped By Buying Such Expensive Rkt Which Shud Not Be For More Than $75-85/- Its A Shame That Companies Try To Fool Their Own Potentail Customers By Over Charging And Making Huge Profits From Poor Quality Stuff!! I Suggest Dont Buy The Rkts Implusively And Make A Mistake Like Me, But Follow Ur Experience!
Um, it's difficult to believe that the Li Ning range is 'poor quality stuff'. If so, China's players would have struggled to adapt to them. Worse, the quality of their shots would have suffered. But that doesn't appear to be the case, does it? The new Li Ning racquets (and other gear) certainly appear to be overpriced when compared to the prices of the Yonex range. Perhaps it is a marketing ploy... perhaps it is sheer greed... perhaps it is a justified pricing strategy. The last would be borne out if, indeed, the racquets are vastly superior to any other make currently on the market. Li Ning claims to have engineered these racquets to perfection. Yes, claims. It is up to new users to test these claims for truth
I know its difficult to beleive but I guess I paid a heavy price to find that out by purchasing the N90 on impulse. What disturbs is not that the range is expensive, but the fact that the product does not justify the price a single bit, the rkt is to low in quality that its unimaginable and more so coz of the pricing! Maybe someone using AT-150 / 250 or Cab-21 Sp/ Cab-20 Sp. might be able to adjust to N-90 but if you have used rkts like AT-700/ 900, NS-6000/ 9000 etc. then you will know the difference during play immediately, these rkts are a class apart and you cherish the experience. You dont mind spending money on AT-700 /900, NS-6000/ 9000 etc. I feel being duped, am myself from a Marketing background n feel that they priced it high to create Perception for their brand but someone really needs to guide them that the Perception can alone not be created by Pricing or player endorsement but the most important factor is the Product, if that is weak no amount of marketing / branding exercise will be able to make the brand succesful, in the short run they will get customers who want something new, but once they experience the poor quality they will definitely switch back to brands which offer Quality products such as YONEX etc. I feel li ning has no history in badminton n they just feel the market is big so they jump into the market by paying and getting top chinese players to use products, but they have a lot of work to do as far as making quality equipments is concerned and how far they will be able to do that is ???? I am against monoploy but am more against brands selling sub standard products on the basis of endorsements! They need to take care of the customers need and offer them value for the price they pay! Information in today's date and age is available at a click of a button so no brand should try and fool customers and especially new entrants like li ning which have no history to support in the game of badminton, we just hope they r not there to just make a quick buck out of consumers hard earned money
Quite possibly, the N90 does not suit you. I have tried the AT700, AT900P/T, NS9000X/S, briefly the NS9900 and for an extended period the Arc10. None of these rackets suit me more than the Cab30. In fact, most of the time I was comparing to the original Cab20 and they all left me wanting (until the Cab30 came along). Now, I have added a ZELM and a Tantrum 200 to my "in-use" rackets. It's not that the said rackets (some of the most expensive rackets from Yonex) are bad. They just do not suit me. Even more important is the string you put on them..
