Dear Blackrose You are good and positive thinking person AYU... Hope you still go home anytime in future. Wow..Die hard Fan beb.....!![/quote] Dear Blackrose, Thank you for your view. I hope that I can support my beloved team in Malaysia Open next year. See u there.As I promised that I will always be by their sides on matter what is the outcome? True fans will never fade but will keep on encouraging the players especially our seniors. From: Ayu
What a day. Most of the Semi-final matches were intense. Gao Ling/Zheng Bo vs Thomas Laybourn/Kamilla Rytter Juhl was amazing. The first game was close, but Gao/Zheng outclassed Thomas/Kamilla. An amazing rally was when Thomas snapped his strings on a smash, ran in and then switched with a racquet on his bag, turned around to see what was going on, saw the bird fly over his head, turned around to get it, swung and clashed with Kamilla's racquet and broke his racquet, but got the shot over and still dove to try and return the final shot. The video will show it, but the racquet Thomas grabbed after snapping his strings was an already broken racquet. He put the racquet there after breaking it a few rallies earlier. This was a really intense match, but unfortunately the Indonesia vs Korea match wasn't. Lilyana Natsir just dominated the net and didn't allow Lee Hyo Jung to do anything. Lee Hyo Jung also wasn't playing well, so Nova/Natsir pressured her and won the match quite easily. Tine Rasmussen is playing extremely well. She barely won the first game against Lu Lan, but that proved to be important because she dominated the 2nd game. Whatever training she did recently, it's worked out well because she has proven herself. From the first round until now, she's played ex-Chinese players and Chinese players. This is no fluke. Her backhand clears are really causing trouble for her opponents. It will be interesting to watch her match against Xie Xing Fang. Jun Jae Youn played well, but not well enough. She was able to control rallies and win points, even getting ahead in the 2nd game at one point, but was unable to break Xie Xing Fang's control of rallies where as Xie Xing Fang was able to break Jae Youn's control. Jae Youn played with technique, consistency, and stamina, but unfortunately wasn't consistent enough at key points that may have helped her win the games. Lin Dan doesn't seem like he's playing his usual aggressive style. It seemed rather passive, but he did fight in his match against Lee Chong Wei. He did his usual dive, get up and get back in the rally, but Lee Chong Wei played fast and patient. Today, Lee Chong Wei was the better player and won. He thought he was going to lose and was planning on shopping tonight, but guess he'll have to wait . Taufik was... unbelievable. Simon couldn't do anything. Shots most people cannot do, Taufik can. His trademark backhand left Simon frustrated and Taufik easily won. It'll be fun watching the two friends, Taufik Hidayat and Lee Chong Wei, play tomorrow in the finals. Women's doubles was an all Chinese affair, but was still intense. Each team gained one point at a time, and by the time the first Womens doubles game of Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen vs Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili was over, Luluk Hadiyanto/Alven Yulianto Chandra had finished their match against teammates Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan on the next court. Yang/Zhang barely won the first game, but ran away with the second with their upperhand in experience. Hadiyanto/Yulianto played very well and were just more consistent than their teammates. Gao Ling/Huang Sui vs Zhao Ting Ting/Yu Yang was a very close match, but the center court of Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya vs Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen took all of my attention. It was a very intense game. I kind of expected Tony and Candra to win quickly in two, but Paaske/Rasmussen were playing well with their angled smashes. The Danish supporters were cheering on the Danes, so I decided it was time to voice my support for Tony and Candra. If you watch the video, you'll probably hear my lone American voice cheering them on. The Japanese sitting around me were staring at me because they didn't expect me to be an American, on top of that cheer on my own. Tony and Candra barely lost the first and ran away with the second game. They were avoiding giving the Danes time to set up a good smash by using low lifts to the back, but the Danes were able to stay aggressive and took the first game. Tony's net play and Candra's smashes dominated the second game and allowed them a comfortable lead to take the game. The third game was gut wrenching because of how close it was. At 18-19 with Jonas serving to Tony and Tony/Candra leading, the stadium fell quiet (except for Gao Ling's match on the next court) and just before Jonas served a baby started to cry, so Jonas was distracted and backed off to regain his composure. The baby continued to cry and I'm wondering if that on top of the pressure caused him to lose concentration and serve into the net. At 20-18, Tony serving to Jonas, I think Tony also felt the pressure and surprisingly served into the net. 19-20, Paaske served well, Candra returned the serve but Paaske was able to cut it off and drive it back. Candra reached to cut it off, but hesitated and therefore wasn't able to get to it fast enough to cut it off and instead clipped the shuttle and a fault was called. 20-20, the pressure was on and the entire stadium was focused on the match. With the Danes cheering, and me cheering practically alone, the next few points seemed to take forever, but Tony and Candra pulled through and won the match. I was extremely happy for them and I do wish they are able to defend their Japan Open title. I am a great fan of theirs and wish to see them continue playing more. Hopefully they will play again in next year's Japan Open since I'm planning on coming again around that time. I believe I've covered all the matches. It was an intense day. I was a little embarrassed being the only American voice shouting support, but then again I'm shouting support for a pair that I've had the honor of meeting, a pair that I admire and respect, and of course, USA . Also, I'd like to hear some support if I were playing a pair that had supporters . It feeds you energy. I'd like to have seen some Koreans in the finals, particularly Jun Jae Youn, but I guess Korea still has some way to go to fill the shoes of their predecessors, namely Kim Dong Moon, Ha Tae Kwon, Ra Kyung Min, Lee Dong Soo, and Yoo Young Sung. I haven't taken any pictures yet since I've decided to focus on enjoying the event this year, but I have taken some video footage of what goes on before everything starts with my small digital camera, and I am planning on taking pictures tomorrow.
Wow, long and detailed post by Bobatea! Appreciated that. Abt LD's playing style, maybe he is experimenting with different kinds of playing style rather than smashing all the way like last few years. Noticed that he is playing the same style during Sudirman and WC, he actually drop more than smashing.
Bobatea.... good detailed information... Did you watch badminton with boba tea???? what flavour.....????
Appreciate again.. ...for your exciting review, Bobatea!!..Hope you still have your voice, after your continuous cheering, for tomorrow's Final..and looking fw to your pics!
I think I pay enough respect for LCW, never expecting he WOULD LOSE today! In fact, LCW is my FAVORITE NON-INA Men's Singles player. Despite predicting that Lin Dan will win last week, nevertheless, I was very happy that Lee Chong Wei beat him fair and square! However, if I were to be given another chance to predict, I WOULD STILL predict that Lin Dan WILL BEAT Lee Chong Wei.
hi there, do you know what's wrong with your post recently? Quote: Originally Posted by badMania MEN'S SINGLES Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei -- despite the many LCW enthusiasts, I think tomorrow is going to be another sad day for them. Nobody can beat Lin Dan at the moment...except for a very very fired up Taufik perhaps ? unquote i think what X Ball really concerned, pls see red on above on the other hand if someone says--despite the many Taufik enthusiasts, I think tomorrow is going to be another sad day for them. Nobody can beat Lee Hyun Il at the moment...except for a very very fired up Lin Dan or LCW perhaps ? i'm not directing you but as X Ball said: come on, be a gentleman admit it.
What I perhaps forgot to add in my previous post is "At his form right now".....nobody can beat Lin Dan at the moment, except for a very very fired-up Taufik. And I was accused of "not giving LCW enough respect". I know that LCW has beaten Lin Dan this year and neither will I disagree that he's a very good player, but, at this moment, by looking at Lin Dan's form I just don't think that anybody can beat Lin Dan! I will stand by that statement. And why is that? Because we have seen that Lin Dan has been the MOST CONSISTENT Men's Singles player so far. I am NOT A FAN of Lin Dan. In fact, I prefer Lee to win, but, in my mind, I just think that given any match, the probability of Lin Dan winning the match OVER ANY PLAYER is > 50%! That includes matches involving Taufik Hidayat or LCW. Does that IMPLY I do not give enough respect to both Taufik or LCW? I apologize if my statement has created some misunderstanding.. What I am disappointed is the fact that someone here had overreacted to my statement and said that I "did not give LCW enough respect". If I didn't give LCW enough respect, I would not have predicted that he will beat Simon Santoso. He is a level higher than Simon Santoso! I can just write that "I predict Simon will win because I just don't think he's good enough". Instead, I wrote "in his form right now, LCW should win". The fact that he lost to Simon indicates that LCW is still not consistent.
badMania, please read it again and again! If u still think that your statement hightlighted in red is not offending, then u r wrong! U need to apologise to X Ball and all the MAS fans!
Quote: Originally Posted by badMania MEN'S SINGLES Lin Dan vs Lee Chong Wei -- despite the many LCW enthusiasts, I think tomorrow is going to be another sad day for them. Nobody can beat Lin Dan at the moment...except for a very very fired up Taufik perhaps ? unquote there's nothing wrong with your predictions n good analysis on players and encounters, i must say the problem was those in red on above, very sensitive n instigate, or please read the below in blue as an example as i have posted previously: quote: despite the many Taufik enthusiasts, I think tomorrow is going to be another sad day for them. Nobody can beat Lee Hyun Il at the moment...except for a very very fired up Lin Dan or LCW perhaps ? unquote i regret but tomorrow will be another great day
Honestly, I really don't think that I am instigating something Which is why I wrote in my previous post "I apologize if my statement has created some misunderstanding". It's my personal feeling that "at his form, nobody will beat Lin Dan at the moment". This is backed by statistics. If this is the case, then I predict Lin Dan will beat LCW, which will mean a sad day for MAS fans (LCW enthusiasts). U got my point? I also didn't get the point of why I was accused of "not giving enough respect to LCW". FYI, I will write the same thing if it's Taufik Hidayat vs Lin Dan. Now, TH fans...do u think u will be offended by such words? Will u say I don't give enough respect to Taufik? Despite the many Taufik Hidayat's enthusiasts, I think tomorrow is going to be another sad day for them. At his current form, nobody can beat Lin Dan at the moment...except if Taufik is very very fired up.
Haha...our samuel here is too busy with his plan to run for the Chief Advertising for BOTH PBSI and BAM that he forgot LHI's name
Yeah.. Being too busy ever since the "unofficial" appointment by XBALL for BAM At least LHI is far more better then LYI right