Fernando Kurniawan (brother of Fran Kurniawan) is just 20 yo, while Lingga Lie is turning 22. They started to be paired up only late last year and won 2 back-to-back International Series events early this year. Well, I am beginning to be quite pleased with their performance, esp after they beat two MAS Junior pairs in the Macau Open this week. Regardless of whether they will win again tomorrow, they already achieve their best performance in a GP event so far, with a QF finish in a GP Gold. That should see their ranking rise to the top 50 by next week. Let's hope they can continue the good showings in future Int Challenge/GP tourneys. SS events will probably be too early for them.
The next tourney for them is NZ Open. The pair is a bit raw especially Fernando....he needs to be calm...his shout/scream is one of the loudest one...Fernando still needs to learn how to play tactical and more efficiently.....his smash is quite hard...
I like this. Hopefully we can have many players with this attitude in the future. They can terrorize their opponents with their roars. From what I've seen in live matches, almost all our current players show plain, poker-face expression while playing. Especially Maria.
Throwing away my 2 sens-Just a quick comment on them.. ..(from my first time witnessing their match, last night)..I'd say they have a better future than Hendra A.G. & Joko (esp. after i saw the 2008 China Masters Semifinals video of Hendra S. & Markis Kido dismantling Joko & Hendra A.G.). Yes, Fernando & Linga's game is still somewhat unrefined and kind of 1 dimensional, but with more match and higher level tourneys exposure and experience, i think they'll improve. *Personally, from the Fernando & Lingga pairing, i haven't figured out which player is a better "set-up" person, ala Hendra S.
very impressed with this pair when i watched them play in the Asian Satellite in Singapore early this year
that's prove that Ina have long history in MD department and one of the the brightest prospect the future...they keep producing good pair along the way....
I have bee told that Joko Riyadi/Devin is a good also..in practice, they always force kido/Hendra in 3 sets....lets see when Joko/Hendra AG will be split.
FYI, fernando kurniawan paired with muhammad ahsan won the silver medal on the last PON (Indonesia National Sports Olympic) beaten by Tony Gunawan/Bambang Suprianto on the final. he is a very good player for the future !
Edo/Lingga progress to their first ever GP Final! Can they make it count tomorrow and win their first ever GP Title??
Kurniawan and Lingga have made it into the finals at the KLRC NZ Open.. Yes, they do shout very loud but not as loud as some of the other male professional players at the KLRC NZ Open such as Sairul Ayob..
Aih, Edo/Lingga lost in NZ GP, after leading so big in 1st game. Ah well, looks like they still have a long, long way to go. Nice effort, BTW!
unfortunately the lost to the taipei pair in the final.. dunno whats happen to them in the 2nd set.. anyway, they still had a long way to go..dont worry,
It's still a productive outing at the New Zealand Open GP for the young pair as they won 4250 ranking pts which will put them in the top 40. 2 more outings before the end of the season, at the Yonex-Sunrise Vietnam Open GP and the India International Challenge 2008. I expect Edo/Lingga to progress to QF (fulfill their seeding) in the Vietnam Open GP and hopefully WIN the India Int Challenge, to be ranked in the top 30 by end of the year. As for Wifqi/Afiat, the 3500 pts won last week propels them back to the top 70. Additional pts won in the next two events could see them in the top 55!
Lingga had alot of Indonesian supporters at the KLRC NZ Open.. His defense suprised the whole crowd in the finals.. He dodged the shuttle which nearly hit him, and he still managed to return it back.. some people call him the Matrix-man now.. :O
Plan for 2009: Jan -- Malaysia Super Series Feb -- Austrian Int Challenge and German Open GP (depends on funding) Mar -- Yonex-Sunrise India Open GP Gold Apr -- Vietnam Int Challenge and Happy Suwon Badminton Asia Championships Jun -- Indonesia Super Series and Singapore Super Series or Thailand Open GP Gold (either one) Jul -- KLRC New Zealand Open GP Aug -- GGJP Indonesia Int Challenge, Macau or Chinese-Taipei Open GP Gold (either one) Oct -- Yonex-Sunrise Vietnam Open GP A mix of Int Challenges to Super Series events....which mean chances of a few titles (like Fran/Rendra this year) and exposure to playing top pairs in the GP Gold and SS events. All together -- 12 events....should enable them to rise to top 20 by end of next year.