And while we are enjoying this so-called 'King of SE Asia' title, the almighty China forces swept all 5 titles in the Hong Kong SS, where all the sharks (read: Olympics-level shuttlers) are in.
Just watched Rendy/Afiat match.... Herry IP MUST split this pair soon ! they dont have speed... they dont have power... they dont have good defence... they dont have good mental strenght... and more importantly, they dont have good chemistry each other ! from the match, Kim/Shin won in a very simple match.... when Rendy give a good set up in front of the net, there is no lethal smash from Afiat.... Rendy is also still quite raw, make many mistakes. they also dont have a good chemistry. we could see many clear points for Kim/Shin. they can not cover each other. in term of defence, it's problem for both of them. Afiat looks better in defence. they can not handle many first smash from Kim/Shin. although it is not too lethal. We need a high baseline player to be paired with Rendy Sugiarto. dont waste his talent. Afiat's smash is not lethal, even, i think, didit juang's smash is more lethal than Afiat. but actually he is not bad. he works a lot in the field. harder than Rendy today. may be, better for him to play as a front court player. Some players from this year AJC/WJC can be a good partner for Rendy. Actually, I prefer Jansen Jones to be paired with Rendy. too bad, he chose to go to Germany. I hope Praveen Jordan will get a call back to Pelatnas after Jones go to Germany. Ricky/Ulinnuha pair seems not work well. Maybe Ricky Karanda can be paired with Rendy Sugiarto and return the pair of Ullin/Berry.
Beside Rendy/Afiat, i think coach should split Rijal/Debby too, no improvement at all i must say, but i think no any women players in pelatnas up to par to pair with Rijal at the moment, only Greysia is up to par i think Feinya is fast at the net, but i think she is not the material for XD(still need to improve her defence). Other choice could be Tiara or Gloria perhaps? Hope too see new strong combination in 2012
Debby is still 22 actually, i think it is better if she move to WD, former AJC winner with Richie right?
Rendy/Afiat actually played quite well in the Indonesia GPG, gave the JPN no.2 a good fight... I saw them and I thought they were not bad... But their tame loss to Kim/Shin really surprised me. Looks like they are still far from Angga/Rian
i didnt say that they are bad, i just said they are not good enough... i saw that they dont have a good chemistry, and it is the most important point. sometimes, they confuse who has to cover free space. it can be seen clearly. this is not the first time i saw them, especially Afiat.... still not much improvement.... I prefer Wifqi/Afiat.... this pair worked better, i think.... although their WR was quite low... Afiat has to work very hard on his power... really really work hard....
hi guys, i have to agree with fathonezic here...it is really such a waste to pair such talent that is rendy with afiat i saw this pair played in indo gpg and honestly i did not see anything special with this pair...afiat's decision making was poor, his ability to kill of the shuttle from the rear court is non-existent. rendy needs a powerful smasher to make full use of his talent (in this case i'd suggest to pair him up with m.ahsan, but then again he's doing really well with bona so no to that). in reference to miksss's comment abt rijal/debby, i too agree...they are not improving as a pair. I would like to see rendy paired up with either rijal or fran kurniawan who both have big smashes and quite experienced. lets hope for the best for ina team
The 5 Golds at the SEA Games mean nothing unless Team INA can rebound big time next year and retains the Olympics Gold Medal. That looks like a long shot now, after yet another predictably disappointing showing at the China PSS. INA looks to be in dire straits, especially in MS & WS. Taufik is long past his prime, while Simon & Hayom are still inconsistent. It will be a miracle of there's any qualifier in WS for the London Olympics. Kido/Hendra are in a decline and this partnership will probably last only till the Olympics (if they do manage to qualify). While Bona/Ahsan will possibly qualify, they are at best a top 6 pair and it will be even a miracle if they can win a Bronze Medal at the London Olympics. As for WD, either Mel/Grace or Vita/Nadya will qualify but right now, they will probably not win a medal at all, even if they qualify. The best hope lies in Tontowi/Butet, which will also possibly be INA's only representative in XD. That's the state of badminton in INA right now. The current batch of players simply cannot make it and I really hope PBSI starts the regeneration process soon (esp in MS, MD & XD).
My verdicts on the Pelatnas players: MS Simon Santoso - although he's the best Pelatnas we have so far, he has only won the SEA Games Gold medal this year, and that was won without facing Nguyen Tien-Minh, Taufik Hidayat, or Lee Chong Wei. Inconsistencies still plague him and his best showings were SF finishes at the Malaysia SS and Korea PSS early in the year. Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka - one title at the INA GPG that's short of CHN and KOR players does not make up for the 11 first-round exits! Honestly speaking, I am quite disappointed with his performance this year, esp at his attitude...there seems to be no fighting spirit in him once he trailed by many pts. Sony Dwi Kuncoro - he's past his prime and now plagued by long-term injuries. Will possibly quit the National Team soon. WS Nothing to comment here as ALL of them fail to perform! All are consistently inconsistent! MD Bona Septano/Mohd Ahsan - Bona/Ahsan definitely show improvements this year and they retained the INA GPG title and add the SEA Games Individual Gold Medal to their title haul. But, they are still not good enough to beat the top 3 pairs of Fu/Cai, Jung/Lee, and Ko/Yoo. Not to mention, they lost to average pairs like Liu/Qiu recently and Kawamae/Sato today. They will still be relied upon as INA's no 1 MD pair next year and more will be expected of them! Angga Pratama/Rian Agung Saputro - this year is the year where they start winning a GP title at the Vietnam Open GP. They are still young and need to show wins over the top pairs next year. Hopefully, they can also climb to the top 10 ranking. Yohanes Rendy Sugiarto/Afiat Yuris Wirawan - they had good spells occasionally, but mostly, ended in disappointing losses, just like this week at the qualifying round of the CHN PSS. I do agree that Ko Herry IP needs to split this pair. Pair Rendy with a hard-hitter like Ricky Karanda and start from scratch!
Continuing to the rest of the disciplines: WD Meiliana Jauhari/Greysia Polii - let's face it, Mel/Grace WILL NEVER BE a top 4 pair. They are in the squad so that they can qualify for the Olympics. That is if they qualify, which is a rather uncertain thing given their poor form lately. Vita/Nadya might just edge them for the Olympic spot. After that, I reckon Grace will be paired with another younger player. Nitya Krishinda Maheswari/Anneke Feinya Agustine - this pair has won the Vietnam Open GP and the SEA Games Individual Gold medal. They might be pushed to earn an Olympic berth by May next year. I will expect them to reach the top 10 also. XD Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir - despite their inconsistency and poor form lately, they remain the only INA pair that's capable of winning an Olympic Gold (whatever the color is). What they need now is to be consistent and start winning more matches against the CHN and DEN pairs. Mohd Rijal/Debby Susanto - another average pair that I hope Richard Mainaky will split next year as they had been given enough time to prove themselves.
About Greysia/Meiliana, i think they are good contender for bronze medal at OG next year. Sigh and unfortunately , they just get a better result but injury strike Greysia in the TPE Open 2011 final, after winning first set and lead in the second set against Ha Jung Eun/Kim Min Jung, i think they have capability to beat all pairs in the world except Wang/Yu, Qing/Zhao(quite hard to beat them), and also their boogeyman Miyuki/Satoko. Greysiia still not fully recovered yet, thats why they lost in first round on several last tourney. After OG, i prefer Greysia to pair with Tiara or Della, i think Gebby is not that good. Or probably she could just play in XD.
Now, my take on the independent and club players: MS Taufik Hidayat - no mistake about it, he's on a decline and his form is rapidly dwindling, especially in the second-half of the year, with no title to show for despite competing at the US and Canada Open (both times losing to Marc Zweibler). I think next year is gonna be his last year, possibly with the Olympics as his swansong tourney. Tommy Sugiarto - a good job by Tommy this year, winning 1 GPG title in Taipei and several IC titles. He also contributes to the Team Gold won by the INA team at the SEA Games last week. The only sour note of his record this year is that he failed to reach the QF of any SS events! That will need to be rectified next year if he wants to progress further and become a top 10 player! Alamsyah Yunus - his ranking has dropped quite a bit from 18 to 31 and I guess we all realize that he will never be a top 10 player. However, he can still remain competitive at IC, GP and GPG tourneys for the next few years. We should appreciate that too! Andre Kurniawan Tedjono - his ranking has also dropped from 48 to as low as 109 due to his patch performances in the first half of the year. However, thanks to his participation the German League, which allows him to also compete in various tourneys in Europe in recent months, his ranking has improved again to 62. He has also added the Swiss International title to his collection. WS Fransiska Ratnasari - although she's also probably not a top 10 player, she can still win one IC title this year and her ranking (30) is still the best among ALL INA players. If Djarum wants her to qualify for the Olympics, she needs to defend her points at the India IC & GP in December! She might need also to compete at the various IC, GP & GPG tourneys early next year (such as Iran IC, Vietnam IC/NZL GP, Japan IC/Australia GPG, and BAC)
MD Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan - this pair is also on a decline and they will need to push themselves harder to qualify for the Olympics next year, after several bad results this year, yet again without a SS title for the second year running. Nevertheless, I still think they can qualify and let's hope they can deliver a good result at the remaining major that they still have not won, the All-England. Hendra A. Gunawan/Alvent Yulianto Chandra - poor Alvent, he's stuck with a partner that is still very inconsistent even in the 3rd year of partnership! Still without any GP title to show for, unless there's a miracle or their form improves dramatically early next year, they will probably not qualify for the Olympics. Rian Sukmawan/Rendra Wijaya - this pair enjoyed quite a good return, with 2 IC titles and a bunch of Sirnas titles this year. Djarum will probably still keep this pair mostly to compete in local tourneys and some regional tourneys. Fernando Kurniawan/Wifqi Windarto - similar to Rendy/Afiat, this pairing is at best average despite winning 1 IC title and 2 local titles. Perhaps Wifqi will be partnered with Afiat again and Rendy will need to be paired with a better partner. WD Vita Marissa/Nadya Melati - although still without any title, this pair remains our second best hope for the Olympics and they could just edge Mel/Grace as INA's sole qualifier in WD (if only 1 pair reach the top 8 by next April). Their best performance was the runner-up finish at the Indonesia SSP and I was quite impressed with their victory over Fujii/Kakkiwa in the SF! XD Nova Widianto/Vita Marissa - partnering each other again after being split in 2004, I still think Vita had a better performance with the younger Hendra A. Gunawan last year. Their best finish was the runner-up finish at the Thailand GPG and I think it will be very very difficult for this pair to qualify for the Olympics. They really need a title or two at GPG level to have any sort of chance!
As for the second-team in Pelatnas, I will only list those which I think can be retained: MS Shesar Hiren Rhustavito Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo Riyanto Subagja Arief Gifar Ramadhan - these 4 players showed reasonable results at the WJC 2011, with Vito, Wisnu reaching QF and Riyanto and Gifar reaching R16. I will give them 1 more year to see if they can show improved performance in the senior-level tourneys. At least Riyanto has impressed me this week, at the MAS IC 2011. WS Bellaetrix Manuputty - I think she can be retained but she needs to mature quickly if she wants to excel in WS. Elyzabeth Purwaningtyas - She deserves a chance, thanks to her good performance in reaching the Final of WJC 2011. MD Markus Fernaldi Gideon/Agripinna Prima Rahmanto Putra - this is another promising pair that has shown impressive performance since being paired early in the year, winning the Singapore IS title! Standing at WR67 and with a few more tourneys left, they will continue to rise up the table and hopefully, they will be in the top 50 by end of this year! Mohd Ulinnuha/Ricky Karanda Suwardi, Berry Angriawan/Rahmat Adianto, Andrei Adistia/Christopher Rusdianto - these 3 pairs have not shown consistent performances (although Andrei/Christopher won one IC title recently) and they are likely to be split up. In particular, with the wealth of talent we have in MD, probably only 1 pair will be kept. WD Suci Rizky Andini/Della Destiara Haris - having a WR of 36 and winning the Indonesia IC 2011, they deserve to be in the squad, probably becoming a first-team squad. Can they rise up to the top 20 by end of next year? We shall wait and see. As for Gebby Ristiyani Imawan/Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah and Jenna Gozali/Komala Dewi, honestly, I am not sure. I still prefer to see Tiara and Jenna in XD! XD Fran Kurniawan Teng/Shendy Puspa Irawati - the renewed partnership will need some tourneys to gel and hopefully they can rise up the ranking table quick enough. Riky Widianto/Richi Puspita Dili - this is also quite a promising partnership. Poor Richi, she did not have a good year partnering Mohd Rizky Delynugraha. I am also hoping the new pair can show good performance in the upcoming tourneys. Despite the promise shown 2 years ago, Irfan Fadhilah/Weni Anggraini has not progressed much. Again, with the wealth of talents we have in XD, I am not sure whether they should be kept!
Irfan/Weni is also average pair, i think. I think both are still not really good. Jenna/Komala, i think they will get split soon. Nothing special on Komala. Not sure if Komala will still in pelatnas next year.
The INA WS is really getting from bad to worse in terms of performance. I don't think we can send ANY to GPG level tourneys at this moment. For a start, please let them get exposed to victories at IC level tourneys (like Bella). Then, send them to GP and GPG levels. For SS, send them maybe only to the home event (INA SSP). These are the tourneys that PBSI can send the first-team players (YES...the first team!) to next year: Feb - Iran Fajr IC Mar - Ciputra Hanoi Vietnam IC Apr - Osaka IC Jun - Indonesia SSP (home event) Jul - Indonesia IC (possibly?) Aug - Yonex-Sunrise Vietnam Open GP Sep - Yonex Chinese-Taipei GPG (for those with high-enough rankings), Bankkaltim INA GPG (home event) Nov - Bahrain IC (possibly?), Malaysia IC (possibly?) Dec - India IC, India GPG That itself is already 12 tourneys, which is more than enough for them to build up their rankings. The message is: start from scratch and work your way up from there!
Let's list down the records of the INA WS Players in Pelatnas and compare them to the records of Fransiska Ratnasari of PB Djarum: Bellaetrix Manuputty 10-5 Best Performance: Winner at Malaysia IC & SF at INA GPG First-round (and qualifying) exits: 3/6 Hera Desi 11-7 Best Performance: Runner-Up at Malaysia IC First-round (and qualifying) exits: 3/7 Lindaweni Fanetri 8-14 Best Performance: QF at Indonesia SSP First-round (and qualifying) exits: 9/14 Adriyanti Firdasari 10-13 Best Performance: QF at Indonesia SSP First-round (and qualifying) exits: 7/11 Aprilia Yuswandari 7-15 Best Performance: QF at Malaysia GPG First round (and qualifying) exits: 9/15 tourneys Maria Febe Kusumastuti 4-12 Best Performance: R16 at Japan SS First round (and qualifying) exits: 8/12 tourneys Fransiska Ratnasari 16-7 Best Performance: Winner at Russian IC First-round (and qualifying) exits: 2/8 What a huge difference! NONE of the Pelatnas first-team players has an even record. The result also clearly shows why Maria Febe Kusumastuti will probably be returned to PB Djarum next year! Her result this year simply does not make the cut! At the same time, it also JUSTIFIES why Hera Desi & Bellaetrix Manuputty deserve to be promoted to the First-Team! As for Aprilia Yuswandari vs Lindaweni Fanetri, I will say keep Lindaweni for one more year as she's younger than April and she's the highest ranked Pelatnas player! I will also suggest keeping Firda for one more year as she's the second-highest ranked Pelatnas player at the moment at no 40. Either Linda or Firda has a chance of making it to the London Olympics. And, they have to compete against Fransiska Ratnasari for the sole spot! So, in total, I will suggest only for the Pelatnas main team to keep 4 players. Plus at most 2 as the second-team (including the WJC 2011 runner-up Elyzabeth Purwaningtyas)
