Forgive me!! But i (as TH's big fans) thought that CH juzt lucky. Ok,,, maybe he plays gud. But for me,,, TH is da best. I've ever read an article somewhere... said that TH isnt motivated to win this WC, coz itz already hold every year, juzt like usual tournament... not special. TH is more interested to be a gold medalist of Asian Games on December. sorry... if my english is bad!!!
if not interested, why not tell that to pbsi so other indo MS players get the chance to play the WC? Why waste pbsi money and produce subpar result?
hahaha... coz PBSI still hope da winning of TH. people from PBSI, Lius Pongoh, have ever said "if TH is not motivated, what we gonna do??" which it means that they stay to send TH to WC 2006 although have known that TH isnt motivated. dunno what exactly da reason is.
Someone have ever told too (if i'm not wrong... mulyo handoyo, da coach of TH) that "the motivation between people who've ever win the tournament (WC) 'n people who not win the tournament (WC) yet is so different" Did u get my point???
I must say this, Taufik's play is still amazing although he lost the match, I hope there are more serious and fantastic plays like this from Taufik.. I admire him more than ever
here is my take on taufik, from watching his match against chen hong. he definitely has the best shot selection and ammunition of today's MS to take down his opponents. Depending how one define mental strength, intelligent on court but too cocky for his own good. He rely on his stroke skills and past record too much and hope to cruise by his opponents with those. Unfortunately, his opponents dont stand still, they make improvement and want to beat taufik. He has the glamor shots and that's what thrills his fans. However, the more important skills, speed/stamina, are not glamorous, are backbone in winning in the long run. As i can see in the 3rd set, taufik lost pace and want to shorten rallies with tighter net shots, ie hoping for winning net shots or guarantee short lifts from CH. Result is, net short shots end up short too often.
there're 2 'gods', LCW and Taufik, who are whorsipped here taufik is only lack of stamina... let'see in next japan open
yeah... me too... i hope taufik will meet lindan (too early prediction ) lin dan haven't won the asian games
he should run up and down mountain to 'improve' his stamina/strenght i don't worry about his skill, anyway.
i like taufik very much but i think this is the end of his career, now he has everything, his father in law is very rich every of election in indonesia he always one of candidate . wowwww how much money that he has??? i think he will lose in asian games too
.. ..he's NOT going to do that..i will be surprised if he actually come to the Asian Games in-shape & in-form.
If TH was unfit, he wouldn't be able to last 3 games and even won 19 points in the rubber when he could have won the 2 crucial points instead of losing them to CH. If TH was unfit, the third game would have been won by CH in a much shorter time instead of 19 points he conceded to TH and CH could also have lost if luck was with TH, like two net tumbles for the last 2 points in TH's favour. Why, because as James had said and as the subsequent matches he had with PG and LD proved, CH was superfit and even then he was still unable to annihilate TH, even with CH's famous and most effective smashes. Just watch his game with PG again and you will just have to admire CH for his skill and all-round ability. As as James had also pointed out, CH had been WR1 for a long time and had won many tournaments before he got injured. Someone has mentioned TH's numerous uncharacteristic 'unforced errors' which must have contributed greatly to his downfall. But unforced errors cannot be directly attributed to the lack of fitness. A loss of concentration, an unexpected draft, a noise distraction, etc, can also distort one's judgement and cause the error. But I think CH's superior fitness in terms of speed has elevated the match to a much higher level. This forced TH to try to catch up, but unfortunately, TH could not. Not because TH is not fit but his speed could not match that of CH's. But even CH's speed was later nullified by the much 'fitter' LD, who prevailed quite easily in the rubber game. So now if TH really wants to be WR1, he needs to polish up his speed. He needs to spend more time in the century sprints, not just on his racket work alone! The other important weapon that CH had against TH was his fierce determination to succeed. You could see it in his eyes, his body language. His concentration and single-minded focus was of a higher order than TH's. Yes his mental strength, intangible and unquantifiable though it maybe, unlike the speed of his smash or his run, was far superior than TH's that evening, I feel. So not only did TH succumb, even the remaining great European star, PG, could do no better. Only CH's good friend and younger teammate - the eventual World Champ, LD, who knows so intimately about his strengths and weaknesses, was able to take advantage of this specialized knowledge to defeat CH in three games. And as commentator Kevin Han had said, LD is the most hard-working player in the China team, often times staying behind to train himself after all the other players have left. So, LCW better work much harder in order to qualify to play against LD. LCW, however, has to contend with four other China players before he could test LD again. And these other four dragons, BCL, CH, CJ and CY are no pushovers either!
thanks Loh for the input..some post snipped for brevity.. the statement i've highlighted in bold is rather confusing and conflicting, at least to me. It seems you have mentioned the word "fit"(ie. unfit, superfit, fitter), yet for some reason i sense that you are not acknowledging it. Taufik going to 3 sets and getting 19 points against CH in the 3rd set could have been caused by few factors. True, perhaps CH making a few mental errors or self-errors cause Taufik to make those points. In your opinion, what other reason is/are there for Taufik for not being able to match Chen Hong's "speed"?? What do you think contributed to "TH to try to catch up, but unfortunately, TH could not"??Wouldn't you agree that Taufik's playing speed even against Chen Hong was probably the same speed he had in his previous 2 matches, more or less?? And i'm sure you would agree Chen Hong's *fitness*/stamina is basically what got him thru against TH and subsequently PG in this WC??.. I guess my main question is, in your opinion, looking at both CH and Taufik as "equally skilled" combatants, who do you think really controlled the 3rd set?? CH or Taufik??..If you say CH, then i think it's obvious he had more stamina/was fitter than Taufik(like you mentioned in your post). And Taufik def. lacked stamina/wasn't as fit in the 3rd set. If so, then it's clear, Taufik's lack of fitness(ie. speed-wise, quickness-wise etc2) is not up to par to what he should have. Doing "century sprints", as you mentioned, indicates that he needs to improve on his what??.. BTW, i'm sure you've read abt recent articles abt Taufik prior to the WC, have you??..i'm sure you can get a feel or some clues as to his preparedness??.. yes, mental strength and determination were most likely slightly in favor of CH also, no doubt. As both players were basically spent going into the 3rd set. But Taufik seemed to be lackadaisical in his body language(not only against CH but in his 2 previous matches).. as for PG, i do not know what happened to him against PG. He also went 3 sets, but who knows what came down on him. Anyways, i would like to hear from hollywood_t's opinion on your response...
One more question before i forget.. i'll just note this portion, if you don't mind.. ..Loh, since you mentioned(a few times) that "speed" was a factor, what do you think a player's "speed" *uses up*??...i'm sure you have the answer for this..
The arsenal of a good player, among other things, should have the three "S", loosely defined as fitness. They are 'Stamina', 'Strength' and 'Speed'. The training for each of them must necessarily differ but when three ingredients have achieve a high performance, it will be staggering! As an example, strength alone is not much use unless it is combined in harmony with speed to give you the POWER. I'll leave others or you to share your knowledge/experience/opinions.