They have found form when other pairings are losing concentration. Maybe it's their new Victor rackets that are giving them the edge?
Nah... the equipment is secondary... Though I still can't believe Tontowi opted for BS12, instead of SW series .... the amount of sponsorship fee (and the intensive training) are the underlying factor(s) that boost up their winning spirit LOL
Nathan Robertson still made him look pedestrian though. Its Ill that is making the difference. Her cut outs were magnificent.
6th SS title for Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir + 7 GPG titles and 1 SEA Games Gold Medal make it 14 titles won by this pair since their pairing almost 3 years ago. Compared to Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir (17 titles, including 2 SEA Games Gold and 1 Invitational World Cup), they actually have pretty much won the same number of titles! Nova/Butet's titles (14 Open titles, including World Championships): World Championships 2005, 2007 Singapore Open 2004, 2006 Indonesia Open 2005 Badminton Asia Championships 2006 Chinese Taipei Open 2006 Korea Open GPG 2006 Philippines Open GPG 2007 China SS 2007 Hong Kong SS 2007 Singapore SS 2008 Malaysia SS 2009 French SS 2009 SEA Games Gold 2005, 2009 Invitational World Cup 2006 Towi/Butet's titles (13 Open titles): Macau Open GPG 2010, 2011, 2012 Indonesia Open GPG 2010, 2012 Malaysia Open GPG 2011 Swiss Open GPG 2012 India SS 2011, 2012, 2013 All-England SSP 2012, 2013 Singapore SS 2011 SEA Games Gold 2011
I think their next "big" targets will be to win the Indonesia SSP (at least one), one European SS, the World Championships 2013, and hopefully they can last till the Asian Games 2014. If they can win the last two, we can consider this partnership to be more or less equal to Nova/Butet.
liliyana will be 31 yo by 2016. she is excellent, but age is a problem for asian. and we also dont know IF liliyana want to get married too she once said that she already has a "close male friend"
2 WC title for Nova/Butet are impressive. Towi/Butet should win WC hopefully twice, and Gold in Rio, fingers crossed.
Let's hope that by the time Liliyana finally retires and this pairing ends, Towi will already be "mature", i.e. keep his cool & not cracking under pressure, so that he can guide whoever his future XD partner. Then again, which discipline will be our best bet in Rio?
CMIIW, final india open ss 2013 lilyana using victor but her shoes still yonex. Well, at least i'm using the same shoe she has and it is yonex
More Bonuses for All England Champion Tontowi http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/sports/more-bonuses-for-all-england-champion-tontowi/#more-'
