This is not a new way of playing... It has always been Indonesia trademark since REXY and Ricky... Then wijaya, sigit, tony gunawan & halim hayanto... Till kido and setiawan, even malaysia pairing of koo and tan was playing like this when they are under REXY coaching. rally don't usually last more than 4 shots from service and unless opponent can withstand the first 3 shots. That's how kido and setiawan beat caiyun and fu in og2008. Although these kind of play seems easy but it takes two players who are extremely good in anticipation of shots and quick to execute it perfectly. Even when defending, they will drive back the shuttle to force flat exchange For the last few years, the drop of form for koo/tan and the injury to kido, there isn't a pair that able to execute this kind of play. if u watch back koo/tan & kido/setiawan glory years 2006/9... Matches are less than 30min but for tony, wijaya, sigit and halim time, matches are longer due to service over rules
Thanks for the answer - thats explain why they are using fast and mobile rackets like NR800 and FL series - it allows them to serve well, return serve unbelievably and attack the 3rd shot. Its fast flat game with very few rallies and marvelous control.
You are spot on! The style that Ahsan/Hendra adopts now is not a new one. If you look at Kido/Hendra's victory at the WC 2007, you will notice that all the matches were done within 40 mins. I feel that Ahsan is slightly better than Kido because Ahsan is more agile and can play at the net too.
You can actually view China as Hendra Setiawan's gold mine considering most of his early titles and the big titles were won there: 1. Yiyang Invitational World Cup (2006) 2. Guangzhou China Open (2006, 2007) 3. Hong Kong Open (2006, 2007) 4. Beijing Olympics (2008) 5. China Masters SS (2008) 6. Guangzhou Asian Games (2010) 7. Guangzhou World Championships (2013)
"Keep the shuttle down, keep the shuttle down." Isn't that the most important part of doubles play? To rewind a few years, if Minarti Timur had stuck to this golden rule, she & Tri Kusharyanto would probably have been Olympic Mixed Doubles champions instead of Zhang Jun & Gao Ling at Sydney 2000 Ahsan/Setiawan are proving to be a very formidable combination indeed!
haha,,, that is what Ko Herry IP always talk to them during the match "asal turun aja, asal turun aja. pelan2, gak perlu keras, yang penting bola turun" ""Keep the shuttle down, keep the shuttle down. no need to hit it hard, the importance is to keep the shuttle down"
A first time defeat to Lee Yong Dae/ Yoo Yeon Seong and Ahsan/Hendra first time defeat since All England 2013 against LXL/QZH. What an incredible achievement. I have noticed at yesterday's final that Ahsan/Hendra are not in their form in which they are not as offensive and not giving pressure since the beginning. It turns out that Ahsan has a right shoulder injury and withdrew from French Open and back to Indonesia for recovery. Lee Yong Dae / Yoo Yeon Seong performance was not bad, in fact they are far more better than LYD/KSH. YYS has better defense and mentally stronger than KSH, this give LYD confidence & trust to his partner and that is essential for a partnership. I am looking forward for another clash between Ahsan/Hendra vs LYD/YYS.
Yah, saw Ahsan grasping his right shoulder a few times after smashing, which lacked sting today. Not to mention Setiawan uncharacteristically made more errors defending. No worries, they're been on a good run since early 2013. Just take some time to heal.
I saw Ahsan seemed not comfy with his right shoulder since the QF against the Japanese MD pair, I think he was struggling with his shoulder injury. Hope it's not something bad though. Another thing was related to the slower shuttle speed, I heard the commentator mentioned about the change of shuttlecock speed decreasing from S3 to S2. This allows SanDra's opponents to play longer rallies which is not their style. SanDra couldn't use their opponents' force to create the pace so there were many times during the rallies, they had to lift the shuttle and gave their opponents more opportunities to attack and shoot big smashes.
It's so unfortunate that Ahsan's shoulder injury costs them the Denmark SSP title & participation in France SS! Otherwise, they would've claimed the first spot following France SS. Nonetheless, it's no biggies, for with their quality, seeding in a tourney doesn't really matter for them.
Ahsan must change his racket as the Arc FB he's using now is too light and he has to generate all the power by himself - this is very taxing to him and maybe the cause of his discomfort/injury.
Wholeheartedly agree! We've often discussed on BC whether he's even using the real FB or perhaps a repainted one... but the way he had been smashing since the beginning of the yr winning all the tournaments they've entered, that must be putting a real strain on his shoulder and arm. Even in the previous 2 tournaments including WC his elbow was visibly taped up already.
I did notice this problem too since QF and i wonder if Ahsan injury while at this tournament or before? I will be disappointed if PBSI sent Ahsan while knowing before if he was not at 100% fit or already had shoulder problem. It is too much to risk sending an injury player especially for precious player like Ahsan. If i am not mistaken since last year combination with Hendra, Ahsan already had at least 2 (or 3?) shoulder injury. Something that must be carefully not taken for granted.
They lose again to lee/yo. :crying: One of the excuses, according to coach Herry, is the slower shuttle. It is logical, though, because slower shuttle neutralize the advantage of ahsan/ setiawan which is quick reflexes and anticipation.
It is a bad excuse. If you are World Ranked #1, you should be able to play in any condition regardless. Slower shuttle means longer rallies and Ahsan is still nursing his shoulder injury so he can't continuously smashing.
The problem is that they are playing one of the world top pairs, a slight advantages will determine the winner. Slower shuttles are favor by Korea and China player if they r playing against some social players, even plastic shuttle also no prolem
Its perplexing to me that until today we are still talking about slower shuttle and what not - why can't the the shuttle speed be standardised so as to avoid all this shenaningans. You never heard of such problems in tennis, only the court surface are different and accepted as part of the tour - the ball is a constant, which should also be the case with the shuttlecock.
Any of you fans know what string and tension Ah San use for his Yonex ArcSaber FB (ArcFB) Flash Boost Badminton Racket? Thanks