S. Korea won S. Cup 2003. As the predicted, MS (maybe also XD) is the key pt. in this match between 2 super powers. With the current seq. Chinese WD never got a chance to play, which is a little bit sour feeling by chinese team. Seems chinese MS is no more the dominating force in the event, even though, this competition has only 1 shot in MS, but within the entire series, chinese MS (even some LS) were kinda "shaky" through out the entire event. Guess many fans will really miss the time of Yangyang, Zhao Jianhua, Gong Zhichao... The good sign is, chinese MD really provide some hope for the fans. With it's surprising formation, MD gave a huge boost in semi final, and put on a huge fight in final. Many ppl predicted everyteam will get MD from china in a relatively easy match, however, most of them were killed instead (Ind. for example), and even Korea had to sweat in the 2nd set, which they had already got a comfortable lead, but had to fight until 17-14 to raise the Sudirman cup. If chinese MD got the set, I really think the surprising MD will gave them anther pt, which will be 95% China got their 5th cup in WD. Well, 2 yr later, the 4 superior powers will square off again, let's see....
Ýes, 2 more years and China can have their revenge... LOL. By that time, some of their top juniors should be fully integrated into the system, such as Chen Jin, Cao Chen/Ru Long, etc. But, by that time, there may be some other badminton powers ready to challenge these four powerhouses ...(hint hint Hong Kong). I think it was definitely a dissapointing finish for the Chinese but they can be optimistic about their young MD players, notably Cai Yun. I think placing Bao CL against Lee Hyun Il today would have been a better choice and probably forced the fifth and deciding WD. Well, there's still the World Championships for the Chinese squad to redeem themselves.
Overall, china still have tons of good players. I think, if S. Cup is decided by 20 matches, instead of 5, china still have the power to blow out everyone. It's like, no one is the 100% in chinese squad, but if u talking about 85%+, maybe we can easily list 20+ names. However, S. Cup needs the A+ to represent a event, but not a group of A-. Talking about chinese MS, well, Bao CL, Lin Dan, Chen Hong surely grew up a lot in the past yr. At least, they were much better mentally than Thomas cup. Even Chen lost to lee, but he almost put a great come back.
It will really hurt the Chinese team to lose to Korea. Next time? Kim/Ra are in their late 20's. I really wonder how much longer Ra will play for. She's been on the circuit for ages. Actually, both have been on the circuit for a long time. I suspect after 2004 Olympics, they will retire. Men's doubles, Lee/Yoo have been going on for a long time as well. I suspect they won't go on after 2004. Hence, the integration of some new Korean men's doubles players. In the last couple of years, international men's doubles seems to have stagnated somewhat with no new combinations dominating on the scene. Wonder what the next couple of years will show.
hahahah Too bad all you Chinese dudes talking about retirement.. if I was in your situation I will think about beating them the next time.. Not talking about retirement and all those crap.. Go Korea Go..... Still I think Chinese team are really good.. Especially Ladies Double.. But We still Rule Mens + Mixed Doubles.. Go Korea Go...
Re: hahahah Well, I hope all ur statement is just a friendly joke. Well, really hope so. I am not saying due to my chinese background, I will always stand on the side of chinese team. Tell u the truth, my favorite double player is Kim and Sigit. I am not a narrowly minded ppl, only judge a person or a team, base on where they are born. I respect all the participants, regardless what their rankings are, and whether they got a cup or not. Clearly, some players did not play well in the event, however, 1 game can't really show the real "value" of a player. As we all know, no matter what lvl a player is, he/she can just be hot in one day, and be cold for another. Skill and experience of course are the majority of competition, but we have to know, luck does count. Like I metioned in my previous post, let say, overall. If sudirman cup is not 5 matches, but 15 or 20, heheheheheeheheh.... see who is the crying one right now. Ok, I am not really talking about "rule changes" or "retirement" just because a "favorite" is losing. However, I just want to say, there's NO NEED for POINTLESS TRASH talk right afterward. It's more like, if ppl kept talking about "korean line judge" cases from Asian game, I won't see any Korean team fans will be really smiling any more. However, why we have to just laugh at or aginast each other, instead of doing a reasonable analysis just base on the fact? We talking about who improved, who grew up, or who will retire. We just pointing out our opinion base on our thought. EVen some of the great will be in history soon, they are still the memorable legend. Yeah, maybe after Ra, Kim retired, some chinese youngster will shine, but what's wrong with that? If Yang yang, Zhao Jianhua, Gong Zhichao, Gefei / Gu jun did not retire, then china can whip out everyone with 5-0. However, will that ever possibly happen or make any sense? Retirement is not a shame, or an excuse for a team did not have a good following generation (consider Ind. Woman team, after Mia and Susi...) China has been a dominator for yrs, not just because 1 guy or 1 pair, that's because of generation after generation. That's the difference between "all star" and "flash light". I am not saying Korean are not good. They are good. Kim is one of my favorite. Also, Korean team is the best team, if u consider about the "mental" issues. They are hard working ppl, and I am totally respect them with all my heart. Just as same as a lot of other athletes throughout the world. Ok, been talking really long. My point is clear and simple: if we are doing reasonable analysis here (of course, pick ur own favorite is fine), surely welcome. If just purely laugh at others / trash talk, well, think what u will feel if u r on the receiving end. Plus, if u r against one individual, that's bad already. If u r aginst the entire group, good luck...
LazyBuddy, You said if the SC were to be played over 15 or even 20 matches China would certainly win... well there is no certainty in sport unless of course the SC were contested over 1.2 BILLION ties (and no one coule play more than once!). Korea has a highly underated team and I think the SC vicotry is just reward for not winning the Asian games team gold 'cleanly'. While line judges may influence the outcome of a tie, the player still needs to contribute his/her own share of the work. I think it's great that Korea won the SC and am looking forward to keener competition in the future.
Re: hahahah Oh? Am I all crap? Let's see, in the history of international badminton, has any player NOT retired? Granted that some players have played more than 10 years on the circuit, 8 years would seem to be above the average.
Libra, I certainly agree with ur idea of "Korea is a great team". As I metioned in my previous post, I highly praised Korean team for their mental strenth and hard working. Of course, there's no pure luck for a champion, the trophy is a provement of their yrs of improvement. I use 15-20 matches, not to change the rules of the SC, of course, that's won't be possible anyway. I use that example, just to say, winning a cup is surely good, however, once the rulez changed, the result could be very different, especially, for such a tight final match. I don't want to be sounded like a loser, since china lost. However, if WD is to be played way earlier in the sequence, I have to say, the result could be different. I brought this up, not really saying, a competition must be set to be favor to certain team, however, there's no need to "trash talk" as some others did. I think, trash talk might be more suitable for a blow out, but surely not for a 50-50 match, with a little bit "luck" (don't get me wrong, I know luck is part of the game, and I am perfectly fine with that) on event sequence involved. For the "line judge" issue, I really don't want to bring this up again. I agree with players should be the main key factor for the result, and some "close" calls could be hard to tell. However, "more than 0.5 ft within line is out" is way too obvious. I think a 3 yr kid can tell that. If u think u r good enough to win in a fair match, why do something like this? If u want ur favorite player to be the real champ, why u put them into a position to let the entire world to laugh at? We all know, maybe 1 pt is not say the winning pt. however, the mental issue and momentum shift will really bother the "receiving" end. That's surely won't be any sportsmanship like. If a game is decide by something like this, well, I have to say my lvl of "respect" will be down to the very limited lvl. Once again, I am not against particular ppl or team. I like chinese team, and like korean team, too. I respect all the participants, no matter they are the champ, runner up or even the ones losing everything match. I came up with this thread, not trying to throw out a "sour grape", but trying to get some relatively fair analysis for this SC as well as the next one or two.
Re: hahahah hey, icandoall I invite you to read the following article Korea’s Kim sets goal of two Athens golds before retirement please note the date of the report was July the 1st. Seems I wasn't so wildly off the mark after all
Bao's shirt Did anyone notice the lettering on the back of Bao Chun Lai's shirt? they got the B the wrong way round? did he do it on purpose? or was it a genuine mistake? would you wear a shirt knowing that they got your name wrong? Oh, I spotted this from one of his matches against Taufik Hidayat in the SC cup.
Re: Bao's shirt Yeah, we discussed that in an earlier thread. However, the original assumption was that Bao's backward B reflected his failure or loss to Taufik Hidayat. However, since he wore it during his match against him, then it could be either just a genuine mistake, apathy, or another reflection that he is not back to normal yet since his knee injury suffered several months before.
