I think it's not the most important. He is still 20 yo. What we can hope from him is keeping his good work for GP tourneys at least for the most one year. Gaining experience, winning mentality, type of play, type of strategy and others. After that, just believe that he can do further in higher type tourneys...
If it's not the most important.. ..then what is??..Sure he is still 20 yrs old, but so are many of his other teammates/compatriots. IMO, with his resume, he could start playing regularly in GP, GP Gold or SS type tourneys. Do you know which tourney Taufik was already playing in when he was 20 yrs young?? Sure, you can expand & test Hayom's talent, experience, winning mentality, type of strategy for at least 1 more yr, playing in International Challenge, GP or National Circuit type tourneys. But what's next after that 1 yr ends? Are we expecting him to keep playing in those type of tourneys? Or are we expecting him to move up the ladder and challenge the big boys in GP Gold and SS type tourneys??.....Sooner or later he has to move up and face stiffer competitions..that's the bottom line.
Agree with ctjcad. I reckon it's time Hayom try out higher level competittions. Already won INA Challenge 4 times. He shouldn't get too comfortable at this level. Otherwise the disapointment when losing will become unbearable. IMHO, Hayom possessed enough skills to compete with the best players. He just need experience and able to control his emotion once in a while. All the best to Hayom.
yapz..... actually, he has got one GP tourney and 2 International challenges. I think, he has to get another 2-3 GP tourneys first and gain another experiences in GP Gold tourneys. Like what he had done. He joined some international challenges before winning such tourney. and also joined some GP tourneys (may be just 2-3 GP tourneys) until he could win it in Australia GP. Now, he will join also in Taipei GP Gold (higher rank competition), let us hope he can gain another experience. At this year, he beats some top 20 players. Also top 10 players.
Yup: Yonex Australia Open GP 2009 Astec Ultra-Milk Indonesia International Challenge 2009 and Banuinvest International Series 2009 plus a couple of Sirkuit Nasional titles.
I foresee Hayom will continue to participate in GP and GP Gold-level tourneys for the remainder of the year: 1. Yonex Chinese-Taipei Open GP Gold 2009 2. Yonex-Sunrise Vietnam Open GP 2009 3. Malaysia International Challenge 2009 -- debatable as Hayom already won an IC title, but, it's nearby! or European tour with: 2. Bitburger Open GP 2009 3. Bulgarian International Challenge 2009 4. Dutch Open GP 2009 (??)
I heard about his amazing performance in Australian Open this year, he beat many of the top seeds even though he was un-seeded, so he definately has the potential to become a great player. Most probably the next Taufik Hidayat if he continues his work. It was amazing how he also beat Andrew Smith, Chan Yan Kit and his compatriot Yunus and won the MS title. Very nice.
Amazing how Badminton is going Theocrat! Wonder on what "supernatural" relative is Taufik? He did made a Sensation!
i saw him playing on court in Jkt during INA Challenge. He's tall and when he smashes.... BANG! it's so sharp and fast. His net play is also considerably smooth compared to other players around his age and level. Further news from the local media: He's advancing his participation level to GP and SS tourneys soon after the INA Challenge. He's looking forward to join INA Pelatnas sometime soon; he was actually being offered to join already last year but he refused it because he didn't feel ready yet to take up the challenge. Looking at how he plays, I have big hope for him. Additionally, he has no injury until now (not like most INA players who have some injuries even since their early ages)
Probably a good thing in declining to join Pelatnas. For one reason or another (most probably money related), the 2nd and 3rd tier player there rarely got the opportunity to play..... Djarum has been much better in sending players to play at various tourneys.
^^A sober...pessimistic one???..^^ ..hardly, i may say (if you re-read the post again). I'm just putting forth the reality and what he (PBSI or whoever his management entity is) should be thinking abt. It's for their own benefit (to an extent INA badminton) and hiscareer. Or would you prefer him to just continually compete in the National circuits, International, Challenges type tourneys??..