KKK has not been in top form since the 2010 WC. Since then, his form has dropped and they lost their attacking style somehow....either they can't be bothered (which would be incredibly stupid&lazy) or they can not sustain the high pace like they used to. I don't think TBH is very dependant on him, he played with Hoon Tien How(?) in the Thomas Cup (I think) and played pretty well, winning at least one match against a top pair. Recently, KKK has been the weakness as he plays too many overconfident or defensive shot. For me, LYD and CY are pretty much at the same level right now. On the really big occasion (WC, OG), there are very few pairs who stand a chance against the Chinese, as they're always in top shape for those events, and usually CY is just a tiny bit better at the net in those matches than LYD, winning the attack more often for FHF, who also has a better smash than JJS. Other than the Koreans, only the Danes are dangerous - Boe is also once of the best net players out there, and even if he has severe weaknesses when compared to the others, his serve-return game is superb, winning the attack very often. He is not as quick and CY/LYD, and has a much weaker defense, but at the net, he's on the same level, I think. Although I really hate his on-court attitude and delay tactics -.-"
KKK was in topform at the All England, they just messed up in the very end, the semi-final was unbelievable, I was there. With dependant I mean, when KKK is off, the whole act just falls apart. LYD/CY are most of the time on the same level. The difference there is that FHF is just not able to be at his top the whole time. However this means that when he is (as shown in the last WC) they will win over JJS/LYD (unfortunateley ) As for the Danes I agree with you, Boe and Mogensen are a very good couple. Boe is very good at the front of the court and Mogensen has to be one of the besst allcourt doubles players there is. Their angles/slow down game works very well against the fast asian pairs.
Well, that is true for almost any other pair as well - when they cannot win the attack, they cannot score. And in most doubles pairs, the 'back-court' player is significantly weaker at reading the game and winning the attack/intercepting in the serve-return situation. That's one of the strong points of the Danes, btw - Mogensen is very good at the net as well, and often able to keep up with the other net players. When Boe doesn't get impatient and plays a poor shot, they're almost always able to switch at one point and get back into their favored formation. Most other pairs aren't as good as them in their weaker formation (although LYD/JJS are almost as good - JJS is just a slight bit weaker than Mogensen at the front imop). For almost all other pairs, a bad day of the net player equals a loss against similarly strong opponents as they will not be able to win the attack often enough. Tan's big problem is that on a weak day, Koo also gets too defensive and gifts the offensive away when he could have played a drop shot or didn't move fast enough. While everyone is dependant on their partner, Tan just has the bad luck that his doesn't try to fight and play safe shots when he feels off, but tries even more fancy shots and plays very defensively. PS: Although you're right, the AE was really good. I just remember the German Open SF where they lost against JJS/LYD in straight games and didn't even fight back in the second.....pretty disappointing, especially when on the other court 4 Koreans play the highest pace of the tournament (even if a change of pace would've been more effective sometimes^^).
To me, HS simply better than CY & LYD, when it comes to cross court smashes.. He has done several good cross court smashes on several occasions too.. For speed, although CY is the eldest among them, but he is the fastest, perhaps, LYD pace is on par with CY but, LYD is quite young, a lot younger than CY..
True, he is just amazing at intercepting drives, but in other aspects the others are better imop (like movement around the net, and as a result, the response to net shots - and blocking low-paced drives/pushes to the net and following in)
He is amazing all court as well. Not as fast, but he is fast enough. Just check his results, Kido isn't really all that good so imagine how good he is. HS+CM would be a nice combination hehehe.
Lethal! Especially with CM used to a slower and defensively weaker partner.... He'd probably also mix well with JJS, as he is another player very very fast around the back court and not as smash-happy as MK, FHF, TBH and better at keeping the attack until there's an opportunity...or perhaps even LYD? Even though they'd have no huge smash, they'd just dominate the front...and both are really good in XD, so they're not exactly useless from the back
Actually MK/HS combination is quite good, but somehow their performances are not up to the knot yet... HS movement has became slower due to his injury, & he is a married man now... MK smashes quality from the back are not that bad, but he is INCONSISTENT & make unforced error too many.....Once opponent can defend well his smashes, he will make an error after the third returns by his opponent.
MK is really off form. No consistency, no real danger from the back, too laid-back and rested at the net (look where he holds his racket!!!)....and HS is not getting younger^^
From my local source, they both have been working hard to get back on track lately after plenty of distractions (injuries, married, etc)
I think Moh Ahsan is worthy to be included in the list. Yes ATM he's an unproven case, but soon or later I believe he will be up there among legends. Similarly to many other pairs, he's partner (Bona) needs to improve ALOT
Glad to hear that. The real test for them is where they meet CY/FHF, & LYD/JJS, if they can beat one of them, or fighting really hard, showing positive progress towards their peak performance, i might say there is a high possibility for them to defend their Gold Medal at London 2012.
Really really doubtful. Even if they should have it in them to win against one of those pairs, it would take a lot out of them and they'd probably lose the final to any of the Top 8 pairs. They do have a really good serve-return game, but should one of them Korean or Chinese pairs get past that and force them into long rallies, they just don't have the fitness to play at their best the next day. Personally, I hope they make an early exit in the first 2 rounds. Kido's gut is a disgrace for a professional sportsman.
Any of you guys watched the first 'neck stress' matches in doubles in the 80's? Sitting in the front row watching park joo bong and Kim moon soo playing (forgot who was the opponent) .... too many drive shorts exchanging and I always thought that was the start of the new doubles play from the Korean pair. Credit should be given to them as I think they started those aggressive play with many drives and counter attacks. I remember Kim moon soo had a few occassion able to leap in front of the net to intercept his opponent's clear. Was that something we don't see in doubles nowadays? So mod, how do I vote for 2 players?
Well, seems like we won't - according to a list on badzine, they failed to qualify (in doubles, you have to be in the top 8 to qualify with more than 1 pair). It's neither official nor final, but I'm pretty sure they got that right. Only way for them to go would be Ahsan/Septano stepping back or one of the other top 8 cancelling pretty early (I think that way they'd move up in the Olympic ranking to #8 and would be eligible as 2nd Indonesian pair). Both scenarios are highly unlikely though I'm very much looking forward to CY/FHF and LYD/JJS. Both pairs are in a class of their own the last few months and both are desperate to win this title, CY/FHF especially as they're likely to retire after the games and the defeat in the 08 final will still be on their minds. JJS will also want this title very much, but he wasn't as close to winning it as the Chinese, who to be honest are the better "big-occasion-players" (winning all World Championships finals they've been in, and having 4 World titles compared to 0 for the Koreans).... Anyhow, MD should be completely amazing. Many good pairs, and the promise of a super-thrilling final with the possibility of the two titans of the last years clashing (with probably the best two net players and two best smashers in the world in two teams).
I really want to see the top two seeds ramp it up for the match of the century. And the previous century ...