I think Gu Juan has tried her best in the past but unfortunately she has not been able to make a breakthrough, so critical in her ambition to be a top-rate player. Other young players seem to make better headway. Not wanting to give up, I'm sure she has worked much harder than before and hopefully her day will come sooner than later.
Yes, they exceeded my expectations, just that I don't want to be too quick to praise them. And you're right about Gu Juan being the best of the SIN WS, my fave Fu Mingtian hasn't been playing much recently nor perform anywhere near Gu Juan's, didn't even feature in the WS here. Gu Juan's come-from-behind win against Aya Ohori yesterday was a pleasant surprise. Chen Jiayuan stretched Sindhu to three sets after taking the first before losing the match. Liang Xiaoyu surprised me by beating Sonia whom I consider MAS best and most promising WS. In MS Derek Wong did well to overcome KOR Hong Ji Hoon before Nan Wei eliminated him next; I understand his dad gives him two years to show credible results or quit badminton.If I'm not wrong, Derek Wong once beat Taufik Hidayat in the US Open, I think. The new WD pairing of Vanessa/Yao looks reasonably good, both can smash quite well. Indeed, an appearance in the final for either WS or WD if not both is pretty good already. Still, SIN badminton is a far cry from their table tennis counterparts led by Feng Tianwei, presently WR4 below three other CHN players; she was as high as WR2 before. Hope SIN badminton finds the right formula one day as we did for table tennis. I look forward to your Singapore Players thread being re-opened soon, I hope.
As far as I know, he certainly still is. I also read somewhere there is a certain CHN coach doing a program for Singapore schools and young people, and it's doing quite well so much so he's thinking of doing the same back home in his hometown. Sorry, I know it's off-topic but as the SIN Players thread is not re-opened yet, allow us to talk a bit here seeing as a SIN WS and a WD are in the semi-finals. Thanks.
I think Chen Yuekun is under some pressure to perform and is playing with a sense of urgency, esp as he's seen how his young CHN cohort,particularly MS, made waves in the AUS and NZ Opens last month. But I've to admit Yunus is a tough nut to crack, he's to me like a version of Du Pengyu, able to run and run and grind his opponent down throwing everything back coupled with good placement shots. Goh Soon Huat impresses me too; he seemed to have put up a good fight to Chen Long in their BAC encounter going by the score. Iskandar, I'm not sure as I haven't seen him play, should be good as he's come this far.
OMG... Vita/Praven beaten Seed # 1 wow i just fell in love with Vita and her partner.. They also won NZ Open last month .......
You're most welcome. Actually, Uncle Loh is the best person to talk about the SIN badminton scene. I believe once the SIN Players thread is re-opened, he'll continue his valuable work of updating and keeping posted those of us who are interested, even and esp for those stationed overseas.
GLY might be don't want to face Vita anytime soon. Get outclassed at the net from mid game 1 to finish line
The girl is a seasoned veteran, ex-partner of Flandy. The boy is a talented youngster (albeit with questionable attitude in the past). Deadly new combo.
