i suggest TH come to amercia, we have an excellent program to handle spent nuclear fuel http://nsnfp.inel.gov/whatis.asp
That's why I said it's "partial truth". People doesn't win gold by playing only SF and F, right? And don't forget this "handicapped" person beat CH (twice! the other in WC2003) and Sony fair and square. Have you ever thought about it, why those "black horses" had so many chances when facing other top players (LD, CH, BCL) but had no chance at all when facing TH? Furthermore, if LD cannot even beat a well-prepared Susilo, what makes you think that he can beat a well-prepared TH? And look at what happened after OG, TH beat LD 3 times in a row (easier and easier!) in singles event and only lost once in a teams event in which INA already had no chance winning after its XD lost (Same situation as LD vs LCW in 07 Sudirman, the match itself has no significance to both teams). As I always said, TH's OG and WC golds are not as "significant" as JXP's OG gold (in fact none of the WC/OG champions after 2000 are at the same level as JXP if we look at their opponents. Mind comparing LD's two WCs against JXP's OG? Hafiz Hashim? Anup Sridhar? An old and exhausted CH? SDK? Only BCLx2 sounds strong), but definitely not below average.
Men Singles one thing for sure, 08 OG is gonna be one pressure cooker: LD: home soil, expected to win, missing hardware in his trophy cabinet LCW: in a hot streak (according to his fans). Huge pressure as he is the only gold hope for the entire nation. BCL: most improved player so far IMO, no longer plays like a girl TH, PG, WCH: all married, last chance for glory before retirement SDK, simon S,CJ, LHI, PSH, BP: dark horses, can surprise any critics Wacha, KJ, japan, ENG, HK & vietnam players: an accomplishment if make it to the SF
I think the pressure is on the players who have yet to win a big one among all the potential Olympic candidates. There always will be pressure in big event like All England, World Championship and Olympic and since Lin Dan has won World Championship and All England twice, I think he should be able to manage during the Olympic, I don't see the repeat of Olympic 2004 where he fumbled in early round. On the contrary, Lee Chong Wei, Bao Chunlai, Lee Hyun Il, Park Sung Hwan have yet to pass the above test while season player Taufik just doesn't have what it takes to win anymore ... Chong Wei really is the one that I think will face huge pressure with high expectation, I really hope he can withstand the pressure and pass the early round jitter. Lin Dan still should be the one to bet on to win the gold.
Very late starter to this thread, but I have now formed my opinion. I agree OG 08 will be a pressure event, and to a certain degree agree that Lin Dan should be the favourite. I am however not so sure he will win though. OG is only every four years, and many of the players will have focussed their training possibly for two years with the main outlook being the OG. LD, although obviously the best player in the world on a day to day basis in the opens, and over a yearly period, He has a tremendous desire o win and excpetional athletic ability, these are the very attributes which could lead him to not win the OG. The OG rewards players of exceptional ability and one-off performance, as all the highly talented players who for one reason or another don't or can't perform to this level year in year out. Unfortunately for me LD doesn't have this ability, that top level of play - when watching him when he is hard pressed against one of these players he almost looks ordinary. I will not cite examples as such but when said players are fully fit and playing their best he cannot keep up. For this reason I don't think LD will win. my vote will go for LCW, BCL (whom I think if he does not face LD can beat any other, but the scars are too many to beat LD). As all the players will be playing their hearts out in OG, LD could quite possibly fall foul to one of the lower ranked players out playing him. I would also say you can not draw any conclusions to the upcoming tournaments either. players will be fitting these around their training, wheras they would normally be fitting training around them, and as such the results are generally anomalous.
i dont doubt jamesd20 analysis. All along i've said LD has the best odds but never said LD is shoe in to win the title, and the real serious challengers will be lcw and bcl. I would not buy the crashing out early theory for LD this time tho because LD is now more than his old one dimensional player before, jumpsmashing, plus what Han have said too, LD has learned about pressure from the last 4 yrs. Pressure is still on lcw shoulder, china has 3 bullets.
On-topic: Yes, Lin Dan can win the Beijing Gold. The recent Thomas Cup loss to Lee Chong Wei should provide some fuel to kick-start his ascent to peak form. Off-topic: I hope the Malaysian press and what not will not pile on the nation's expectation on Lee Chong Wei with fanfare as mental pressure will be another issue to deal with, for the lad. -dave
Too late. Whether mentioned out loud or not, the expectations are high, nay, overbearing for LCW to deliver for MAS. His recent win over LD in the TC has fueled this even more IMO. While unfair on the player, it was almost inevitable. I fully expect LD to win. I feel bad for BCL, whom if on the same side of LD's bracket, will be sacrificed for LD's progress. BCL has performed excellently this year. Don't care much for CJ as he's been "helped" to make the MS draw; he won't progress far anyway. Got a sneaky feeling Boonsak will upset a few apple carts. As for other MAS and INA players, get ready to shop till you drop
Was Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen #1 seed in 2000? I remember he was ranked #1 in the world before around that time.
#1 Seed is Taufik Hidayat in OG 2000. I don't know who the #1 ranked player was just before OG, but I don't think it's Hoyer-Larsen. Btw, was it Larsen who met Sun Jun in the round of 32?
^^As a matter of fact..^^ ..it was Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen who won the 1996 OG MS in Atlanta... ..here is a post listing all the no.1 seeds, for MS, from previous Olympics: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=886186#post886186 (post #106) Minor correction is the 1996 Olympics. The #1 seed was Joko Suprianto, not Heryanto Arbi. MS Winners: 1992 Alan Budikusuma 1996 Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen 2000 Ji Xinpeng 2004 Taufik Hidayat
