Gunawan/Riyadi is totally demolished. I think they have no moral at the end of the match. On the other hand, it is possible that the familiarity of this younger pair (are Gunawan/Riyadi really younger? Somehow I have the impression that they are of similar ages as MK/HS) helped. MK/HS didn't do as well in the final.
what on earth are you talking about? a good pair! they are the current world champion, olympic champion and the world no 1 pair. they are simply the best. if they didnt performed that well in cold countries, so what? ask the danish or english players play in singapore or jakarta with the air-conditioning off to see how they perform!
Unfortunately, they are NOT YOUNG. Hendra A. Gunawan is 26 this year, turning 27, while Joko Riyadi is 23, just one year younger than Kido/Hendra. Likewise, Rian Sukmawan/Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki are both 23 this year. The young pair will be Bona Septano (Kido's younger brother) and Mohd Ahsan. Both are still 21 and started to show some good performances (esp in the Japan Open 2 weeks ago).
So, Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan have won another 2 Super Series titles (back-to-back yet again) since winning the Beijing Olympics Gold Medal in August this year, including achieving one of the target they have yet to accomplish: winning in Europe! 2 more tourneys before the well-deserved break in December....French Super Series next week and Hong Kong Super Series next mth. Can they win another title? Perhaps the French one will be a good addition since they have won the HKG one twice already
IMHO, Jung/Lee, Koo/Tan (in their best form), and probably a team-mate (like Rian/Yoke) will be the pairs that can stop Kido/Hendra at the moment. Pairs that will give a close match will also include Paaske/Rasmussen and probably Fairuz/Zakry (at their best also).
When was the last time.. ..these 2 pairs met??..anyone knows??(maybe badMania knows)..I'm afraid with JJS' planned absence from the pro-circuit, we won't be seeing all 4 of them (both pairs) compete against each other in the near future..
since MK/HS have won almost everything there is to win, would it be a good idea to split them up and create new combination with rian sukmawan/yoke? so it'd be like hendra/rian and kido/yoke?i think it'll be neat for rian/yoke, they can improve a lot more...
I think INA MD coach will not split Kindra to improve another player like China did to CY/FHF.. MK/HS is very solid partner and our number one MD. I think other pair like Rian/Yoke is a solid partner too.. Im sure they will improve in the future together..
One of the reason of the temporary CY/FHF split is because of CY's age.... MK/HS are still relatively young (24yrs old). If they can maintain their form, they've good shot of being contender for 2012 OG as well.
The last time they met each other was in the Thomas Cup SF, with Jung/Lee triumphing in rubber-set. The first set was closely fought, with the INA pair losing marginally 19-21, before they bounced back strongly to take the second set 21-18. However, the Korean pair was never going to let the INA pair control the game in the third set as they raced to a 14-4 lead in no time and the INA pair lost 10-21. The Korean pair also won in the Swiss Super Series Final, although Kido/Hendra took the first set 21-17 and had a 6-2 lead in the second set, before a spectacular collapse happened and they lost 16-21. They were trailing 10-11 in the rubber-set, but a change in court meant that they only managed to win another 3 pts to lose the decider 13-21.
Precisely, it's VERY UNLIKELY they are going to split up Kido/Hendra (just like Nova/Butet). They are going to split IF ONLY they have a dramatic loss of form and plumetted in the World Ranking, the chance of which is very small and unlikely to materialize within the next 1 year.
finally KinDra won tourney at Europe... It's prove that they can win anywhere... Wishfully they can continue their good performances at French this week... Go... KinDra!!!
One prestigious title is still elusive for Kido/Setiawan, hope they will crown All England title in March 2009!
agree...the future is looks so bright for Kido/Hendra maybe the toughest rivals for them in the future is : Lee Young Dae/Jung Jae Sung Koo Kien Kiet/Tan Boon Heong (if they r in their best) Hwang Jiman/Lee Jaejin (thats if they could reduce so many unforced errors which has become their "habbit" everytime these pair playing) and...their juniors like Rian/Yonathan or Bona/Ahsan
Kido/Setiawan have done a good job maintaining their performance this past year (except All-England, that was unusually bad). I am most happy with Hendra's ability to recover from a bad patch in the semis game against Cai Yun/Xu Chen. And most important of all, they took charge of the points when the going got critical in the final.
Of the six defeats this year, 2 were to Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae (both in rubber-sets, with the INA pair crumbling badly in the decider ). 2 were to INA pairs: Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya in the Indonesia SS QF (Hendra was still unfit then) and Rian Sukmawan/Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki in the Japan SS QF (post Olympic syndrome?). Yes, the defeat to Tadashi Ohtsuka/Keita Masuda in the first round of All-England was uncharacteristic and totally unexpected They also suffered another early defeat to Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen in the R16 of Korea SS (again, another collapse in the second set).