The one thing I have in common with Tian HW, apart from we both play decent badminton is we have a better record than the 2 times OLY champion against the current world no 1. A 100% record, still haven't lost a single match against LCW.
Seriously, I don't think RMV is any where close to beat LCW, just look at the 2 games won by LCW at 21:10 and 21:15 whilst LCW lost 1 game at 18:21
To me,it's already amazing to see all these newbies from CHN represented in the semi-finals of four out of five disciplines where their slightly better known colleagues, namely Gao Huan, Yao Xue, Deng Xuan, and Li Gen/Liu Cheng are gone in earlier rounds. I mean even if they all fall at the final hurdle, so what? Their performance at this stage would be enough to make any member associations (apart from CHN of course) delighted and proud, rightly so. The most frightening part is they keep coming year after year if not every few months - the Chinese badminton factory,laboratory,research center and university just keep churning out potential future champions.
What a shocker, I'm still in a daze by Tian Houwei ! (My PC was down and I couldn't post until now). Where did this guy come from? I mean, how did he improve by leaps and bounds all of a sudden? I last heard that he's into his studies and not into badminton full time, and now ranked 196 yet beat the WR No.1 LCW, who could have imagined that ! Seriously, even in G3 I thought LCW would still come from behind to take it but THW played like another version of Lin Dan !
Wow, the Chinese brigade is really good. What's more impressive is that they're all under 21 and have virtually no (or little) international experience.
I am quite happy that the MD Final will be contested between the top 2 INA MD pairs. It's time for Rian Agung Saputro/Angga Pratama to win a GPG title and maintain consistency this year. As for Mohd Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, it was an excellent achievement beating WR2 Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong. Another title for Hendra in Sydney tomorrow? Irfan Fadhilah/Weni Anggraini also impressed in their first tournament this year and once again advance to another GPG Final. It will be a pleasant surprise if they can beat the Korean pair of Shin Baek Cheol/Jang Ye Na tomorrow. As for Vita Marissa/Variella Aprilsasi....who would have thought that they will reach the Final? Vita has indeed been contributing a lot to Variella and Jordan's development in recent months!
Really excited to see more from Tian Houwei, hope he gets into the main team. I too think he will be better than WZM and DPY
I think Tian Houwei played better than Xue Song in their respective semi-finals today. Incredible, two relative unknowns, one a qualifier and in his first foray into the (adult) regular int'l circuit, are in the final of the GPG and both have taken notable scalps enroute. I must say Tian Houwei created badminton history, a historic win for a 'nobody' to beat the mighty LCW in a display of high quality badminton with remarkable attacking shots and fantastic retrieving abilities. Tian Houwei is a sensational discovery in this tournament, so is Xue Song, both deserve to win the title tomorrow. Really hard to choose between the two, though I'm more excited about Xue Song even before the start of the event, I will give my vote to Tian HW this time simply for beating LCW in a thrilling 3-set close encounter. Tian Houwei, I salute you ! Let us all give him a standing ovation!
I've watched Houwei at the 2009 Yonex Sunrise World Junior Badminton before. Houwei has somewhat the demeanor and court control of Lin Dan, though less explosive but is on his way. His choice of shots is stable and accurate, opting only for deception when needed. Xue Song on the other hand is a working horse like Du Pengyu, but with more deceptive shots. Xue on first impression looks not as fit as Houwei, but has a big set of lungs no doubt. He can run and run. But I think Houwei is more aggressive of the two. Houwei is neither too tall nor too skinny. Just about right with more gym training on the relevant muscles needed for this explosive sport. I have heard some sport fanatics using the Bruce Lee's way of small electrocution volume to the athletes' muscles to produce the twitching forces of muscles necessary for explosive movements and racket swings. I have no comment on this though.
Tian Houwei played his best badminton today No one expected him to come out and beat the WR#1 We all thought LCW would win comfortably. It's very rare that a non-Lin Dan or non-Chen Long beats Lee Chong Wei at this time LCW played well, but just today, Houwei was better. I was very impressed with his endurance, he out-rallied LCW. He showed some signs of fatigue, but so did LCW hence all the unforced errors This will boost his confidence and will indicate he and Xue Song has what it takes. China will definitely look after them well after their success in this tournament
I did not see any matches either by LCW or THW during this tournament, but recently a lot of average players gave hard time to LCW. We should not get too excited about his defeat here. Maybe he adopted LD tactics of being lazy except when it counts?
I was there watching live. THW is a really solid player, wasn't concerned about playing against the World No.1 at all. In fact, LCW was making more mistakes, hence the lost. THW really held his nerves to the end. Well done to him. Most of the audience were cheering for LCW, bad luck. I have actually witnessed one of the biggest upset in badminton. 2unseeded players in the final!
Nope, I was as cool as cucumber. Whoever won would not have upset me one bit. Privilege of being old and without expectations .......... But the two MD matches were total letdowns, comedy of errors really.
2013 Australian Open: Tian Houwei defeated Lee Chong Wei at the Semi-Finals . OMG, Tian Houwei defeated Lee Chong Wei at the Semi-Finals. Well Done Tian Houwei !!! I am so happy for Tian Houwei. BTW, I was expecting to have one of the 'Wei's' at the FINALS; whether it could be; * Lee Chong Wei * Wei Feng Chong * Tian Houwei * Tzu Wei Wang, or * Po Wei Cheng It is the Wei to finish to tournament. .
I first noticed Xue Song in his match with Lin Dan in the CBSL, was impressed but thought it too early to mention him then until you posted that video and talked about him in Lin Dan's thread. I was glad to have you for company, it reinforced my belief we'd soon see Xue Song making his mark in the regular (adult) international arena. And - voila! - in his maiden tournament (apart from the junior championships) he advances to the final as a qualifier scalping the likes of Taufik and Nguyen TM along the way. My only difference with you is I won't liken Xue Song to Du Pengyu but more like Chen Long except he's physically not as strong (yet?). IMHO, I even thought he could be another version of Lin Dan - by version I mean like Lin Dan in some aspects but not fully up to his level whether in ferocious attacks or superb defence ,etc. As for Tian Houwei, he too I consider another version of Lin Dan,that they are both southpaws aside. In the match with LCW just now, his reading of the game was quite good, esp at the net and front court play, anticipating a number of his trademark shots. I know it seems far-fetched and sounds cliched to compare them to Lin Dan. You'd probably think " well, he's a Lin Dan fan and those two are promising CHN players, so obviously...what do you expect from him?" Strangely, after watching both of them play today against their respective opponents, that is the feeling they give me, I can't help it. A coincidence,maybe? Perhaps they're products of the same school by the same master? Or young players nowadays all want to emulate a Lin Dan (or LCW or Chen Long)?