I watched the match between Mia Audina and Zhang Ning during 94 Uber Cup final in you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONU9WGkc1xc&feature=related and I was extremely surprised with Mia's age. For goodness sake, she was so thin and fit and only 14 years old and I dont think LinDan, LCW or Peter Gade was that good when they were 14 or 15. In fact, I kinda feel that, Mia Audina could easily topple Zhang Ning if she could play like when she was 14 in Athens Olympic final.
Great, another "what if"... Yes, some ppl show their talent when they were young, some might be later. However, when you evaluate a person's career, you need to look at the whole picture. Not when s/he was 14, or 16, or 18 or by 1 single match, 1 single rally, etc. Yes, I agree for that particular match, Mia became a star, and ZN got doomed for years after. However, now, we all know ZN's story book looks much better after both hung the rackets. Same as for LD, LCW and Gade. Maybe when they are a young boy, they might not even be the best in their classes. However, now each one has their legendary stories. On the other hand, the class leading horses (when they were like 10) might be a no-name now for whatever reason.
If I remember correct Gade started out as a doubles player (won junior world champs in doubles 94) :-D /Twobeer
Hmmm.. ..more like a pony, when they were 10 yrs young...A young stallion or thoroughbred when they reach their 20s...and in their late years, more like a pinto.. Mia could be, arguably, the last remaining great WS players to come out from Indonesia, at least in the last 10-15 yrs or so...
zhang ning is a late bloomer and I think that loss to Mia help her develop as she wanna get stronger. Mia is a exceptional talent but she didnt fully utilized it. Spend most of her time battling the indonesia badminton association.
zhang ning won 2 gold medals at the age of 29 and 33. Before 28, she was not the best chinese players. She was behind ye zhaoying, gong zhicao, gong ruina, zhou mi and dai yun. All these great names retire before 30 except for zhou mi. Sometimes, I am wondering if Zhang Ning is playing way better badminton since 2007 or was it due to the retirement of other players?
Since 2007??? ZN got WC gold in 03 (and gave both CM and Mia a 11:0 in earlier rounds) and OG gold in 04, my friend... Yes, in her younger days, she's not the leading horse in CHN team. However, if there's a true "open" match among individuals, I wonder how many of the world so-call top 20 WS player, can even get selected in CHN national team to begin with? Even if says all the name you listed (besides ZM) are truely much better than ZN, then their retirement should have the same effect to Mia, but she did nto capture any valueable titles such as OG, WC, etc. Since 2003 or so, everyone has equal chance to shine. However, only ZN went through in a fairly consistent dominating period (besides earlier 2008). Remember, the chance was fair to everyone in the WS circle. You may argue that ZN might not be the best ever in history, but she's definitely the best from 2003 - 2008.
I think ZN's best playing period was From 2003-2004. In that period she was blowing the top players consistently away giving players such as ZM, Martin & Mia 11-0 in games. She was fit, fast and her strokes were powerful. After that she was not as strong (but still strong enough to be No.1 for periods of time). Her strokes were less penetrative & became more defensive - I suspect partly because she changed her game due to her opposition as well as her own body.
I agree. ZN's later performance shows her reply more on her brain and mental toughness than her body.
don't forget, Mia is two OG silver medals holder, 1996 & 2004. She got one of it when 16 or 17 y.o. After that she married in young age, and has some problems with PBSI because of she stayed in Netherlands and almost can't play in Sydney 2000.