Ahsan/Hendra has beaten LYD/KSH at MAS Open 2013 in straight set too. Ahsan/Hendra set strategy so well. They put pressure to KSH and force him to make errors, when the opportunity exist and the shuttle is an easy meat, they sometimes smashed shuttle to LYD instead. Since KSH looks LYD as his senior on court, the inability of LYD returning smashes will put KSH under even more pressure, and that is the end of the match.
If you re-watch the 2 matches, the INA pair played brilliantly and their strategies were spot on. Ko, in particular, was the weak link in this partnership. Lee could not even unleash his net prowess.
Has this pair taken on Liu/Qiu before? Now that would be an interesting match! Edit: I see they played in the SF of AE2013. Hmmm ... wonder what happened to them then as they lost to the eventual AE winners.
Yes. I could not agree more, Ko is their weakest link, but i do appreciate LYD, he is quite supportive to Ko and does not put Ko under pressure from him.
as an indonesian, i see hendra setiawan (HS)'s calmness is too much even it's weird, his expression of winning the Olympic Gold Medal and SSP is too flat, like as he just beat his teammates in daily training, it is contrast with ahsan's explosion and expressive face after winning a match but HS has incredible technicque, he always make a drop shot when his opponent think he's gonna smash, and his ability to cut the shutlecock in front of net is amazing, while ahsan's poor technique made him placed behind HS to do some jumping smash. Mentally, dan technically, HS is way better than Ahsan but i hope they keep improving
Hendra Setiawan was screaming while he was winning OG Gold Medal at 2008. In the near future you might saw him screaming again while winning WC2013. Ahsan techniques is not poor, as i could recall, he placed his defensive shoot so good and sent both KOR in the wrong direction. Ahsan is more towards back player, while Hendra is more towards front player, they have its own special strengths and weaknesses of course, just that i could not find their weaknesses so far. You can't compare both of them in term of skills as they are specialized in different areas. That makes them a lethal combination.
Well, let's say. He may have no purposes to do so. But I think it is a pressure to play with a "senior" team mate. So it's like putting under pressure without purposes. Whatever, this is not the topic about them. Let's stop the offtopic here
I think Ahsan's technique doesn't poor at all. He has also show some decent and few great frontcourt play. But compare to Hendra, I think Ahsan did much more errors in a game under pressure.
Imo, both Ahsan and Setiawan are the most complete and all around MD players of all the top pairs. They both can play front or back, smash or defend, fast or slow, etc. They really have no weaknesses. This is what makes them a lethal combination.
They still have some weakness for the defence, especially Ahsan. Physic and emotion also still need to be repaired.
True. They can be unusually and painfully inconsistent some tournaments eg. AE2013 and Axiata 2013, where their serves were sad and they played without belief nor fire.
True... Ahsan is very fast and his smashes are done in very steep angle, this kind of smash is very difficult to be returned and count-attacked. Without a good defensive clear, Hendra will be able to intercept on the mid-court. Happened so many times during their games against LYD/KSH and CY/FHF. Sometimes Ahsan was getting carried away by the rush and he's not mentally strong enough if their opponents are leading with points but luckily Hendra who is more experienced/senior, able to guide and calm him down to stay focused. Good news is, seems like Ahsan is getting better as he managed to get emotionally stable at some critical points in their last few matches, and Hendra still performs very well in reading and controlling the pace of their rallies. Looking forward to watch their next matches in Singapore Open 2013 and wish them good luck !
Agreed with your comment, visor. They are both could be so called jack of all trades with expertise. The other MD, i really enjoyed watching to is LXL/QZH. LXL/QZH ahead of Ahsan/Hendra in terms of speed, however Ahsan/Hendra ahead of CHN MD in terms of strategy and shuttle placement. Should both of them clash each other, it would be very entertaining to watch, i will still pick Ahsan/Hendra though.
yea , it's true... they qualified for WC next month but just barely lol... this should be interesting to see if they can really perform at the highest level... they have peaked at just the right time i think..... they are so much better than KKK ... who can't even beat Cai/Fu or Lee Yong Dae in god knows how many attempts for the past 3-4 years LOL...
Ahsan prok prok prok. Hendra prok prok prok. Congrats for making it to Singapore open 2013. Hopefully they can get a back to back titles. Definitely a good sign before WC 2013