Thats a very naive view. If a smash was all it took, Indonesia wouldnt have a Top10 pair and be sidelined by China completely...Ahsan/Setiawan are hugely successful because they have such a strong flat and serve/return game. Setiawan reads the game well and has super placement, and Ahsan...well, he's quick
My vote has to go to Cheah Soon Kit, the man who revolutionized jumping smash in MD. Never had a man smashed like Cheah before his time and his vertical leap jumping smash techniques inspired so many World Champions after the 1992 Thomas Cup Final. Fu Hai Feng would be the best smasher in the new 21 points system.
Start to play badminton quite late of my age. Quite a lot of pros name never heard. Got to youtube them to see how they play.
I think when judging the smash we ought to consider not only the quality of the smashes produced but the fact that some shuttles would be too difficult to smash for some players, but because of anticipation, speed of movement and balance, are smashable for others. That might qualify Ashan for a good smashers. But can also be considered : 1) the capacity of making many smashes in a row and 2) keeping a good balance after the smash, so to not be caught out of position by a good defence. All those points makes smashing more complex then just producing "bombs".
I think in terms of smash speed Tan Boon Heong is the quickest but its amazing how few times (at the very top level) he gets winners against the best pairs. Fu Haifeng is the most penetrative and consistently devastating so he gets my vote. It also just looks so beastly the way he delivers it and the sound is amazing. Just louder by far, sounds like somebody letting off a shotgun. After him, XD specialist Zhang Jun gets an honourable mention. Rexy Mainaky - even nowadays! - is right up there.. saw him at an exhibition in England a few years back and had the incredible luck to get the chance to play half court against him. (I actually put a couple of smashes past him which i still feel cocky about lol)
Fun fact: all of TBH's records have been out of competition, with a different measuring process than in-game, and with only a few Yonex-sponsored players attending. FHF's were faster across the board whenever they measured in competition (2010, 2011WC for example). Conclusion: TBH's smashes actually werent the quickest. Btw, I saw a match at the All England a while back (2012, I think) where Anthony Clark joined Gill as commentator, and they got into a small discussion about smashes. He said that Fu's smashes put pressure on you unlike anyone else's, that they felt faster and more penetrating. Personally I would guess that he also places it slightly better and harder to defend than TBH, making it feel even faster as you have to adjust in defense...
May just be me, but Shin Baek-Cheol is really whacking them these days, and he places better than any other player I've seen for a while.
It's probably already been mentioned but Park Joo Bong tended to be the net player in his partnership with Kim Moon Soo. They nearly always tried to arrange their rallies so that Kim was the back court player in the attacking formation.
