i really concur maybe some of you is not interested in the speed smash, but ALOT of other people do! same case like what's so-and-so's racket, tension, grip size, etc. it's an irrelevant matter to the game but nevertheless, it's an interesting piece of fact.
To set the record straight (I'm surprised no one has so far), Ng in Cantonese SHOULD be pronouced with a nasal sound with no vowel. This is often hard to grasp for non-Cantonese speakers; something like "Ung" or "Eng" would be either incorrect or sloppy. As for the meat analogy, if the commentator was a Chinese speaker (I didn't watch the match), he may have been subconsciously translating Chinese sports jargon into English.
i agree with you. when i was watching this WC on StarSports, what really concerned me was "if the commentators make badminton more interesting to the mass who never/seldom pick up a badminton racket and walk/run on a badminton court". and by this criterion, i think they did a decent job overall. if you ask me to choose between commentators for fanatics (including myself) and commentators for the mass, I'll choose the later. i'd rather to see more people fall in love with this game (even the commentator is annoying to me) than to enjoy a few games myself with pro commenting which could be too pro and therefore boring for the mass. don't you? perhaps we think the smashing speed (~300km/h) doesn't have to be spelt out every time. but i guess it attracts attention and interest from the mass. so though we see it as a cheap gadget, i'm fine with it. those impressive serves in tennis are always spelt out too.
I like Gillian's enthusiasm even though she's been playing and commentating the game for such a long time. It often delights her whenever she sees good badminton and I think her favourite player must be the ever smiling Gao Ling!
Well Gao Ling does have a nice smile, and she usually has a lot to smile about! But Gill Clarke rocks! End of story.
i like the commentator who also commentated the ng wei - taufik match. he's really into the game, i mean he admire the players (and himself ;-) ). I heard other commentators they act like they are 10 times better than the pros and you think "this man probably can't play himself". Also i really think some of taufiks backhands were "AMAAAAAZING". It's great skill!! ;-)
The best I have heard is Poul Erik Hoyerlarsen. Him and Gillian Clarke make a very good team. Kevin and Charmaine are passable on the criteria of introducing the masses to the game.
Gillian Clark quite often pairs up with Steve Baddeley, who was the English singles number 1 for a long time, I think he's still the singles head coach. He's got great technical knowledge, very sharp analysis, and knows all the players well - but his voice! He's got this high East end wide boy accent, like some thug who's about to headbutt your teeth out. But he is very good, and tells you things about what's happening beneath the surface of a match that even league players might not catch.
Gillian Gilks I looked up the All England records and found a Gillian Gilks who appeared as a finalist no less than five times from 1973 to 1978, missing out only in 1977 when Hiroe Yuki of Japan beat the Danish champion, Lene Koppen. I have a strong feeling that this Gillian Gilks is the same lady as Gillian Clark, who must have adopted her husband's surname Clark. (Perhaps someone can confirm?) Gillian Gilks was AE women's singles champion in 1976 and 1978. Gillian Gilks also played doubles with various partners, beginning 1971 as a finalist with American, Judy Devlin Hashman in the AE, then the unofficial world championships. Her doubles career lasted even longer till 1981 when she partnered compatriot, P Kilvington as the losing finalist to perhaps teammates, Nora Perry and Jane Webster. During this period, Gillian appeared in six doubles finals and won two of them, one with Sue Pound Whetnall in 1974 and the other with Nora Perry in 1980. Of course, during that period the Great Wall of China was not around until 1982, with the appearance of Zhang Ailing , Li Lingwei and a little later, Han Aiping. Thus it was the Japanese ladies who showed the way with Noriko Takagi as runner-up in 1967, Hiroe Yuki (1969, 1974, 1975 champion), Etsuko Takenake (1970 champion) andN Nakayama (1972 champion). Somehow the Japanese stranglehold faded from 1979 when S Kondo became the last runner-up finalist. But Indonesia did make some impact when Minarni got the silver in 1968 and Verawaty Fajrin did the same in 1980, losing out to Lene Koppen of Denmark in the final. However Verwaty combined well with Imelda Wigoeno in 1979 to oust the Japanese pair of A Tokuda and M Takada to take the AE WD crown. South Korea also had some success in the WS when Hwang Sun Ai beat Lene Koppen in the 1980 final. She was followed by Kim Yun-Ja in 1986 (Champion), Lee Young-Suk (1988 Runner-up) and the great Bang Soo Hyun (1992, 1993 Runner-up and 1996 Champion). But during the period 1986 to 1995, the Koreans dominated women's doubles with Chung Myung-Hee and Hwang Hye-Young winning four AE titles and the rest going to their compatriots, in particular Chung So-Young and Gil Young-Ah, whose partnership won them two golds. Only Lin Yan Fen and Yao Fen (now coaching some Singapaore schools) of China were able to steal the thunder from the Koreans in 1992. However, there was a golden period from 1982 to 1985 when China's WD dominated. From 1996 till today, the Korean musical chairs soon passed on to the Chinese, beginning with the terrific partnership of Ge Fei and Gu Jun, who won four titles before Gao Ling and Huang Sui took over. There was a break when Koreans, Chung Jae-Hee and Ra Kyung-Min took the crown in 1999. But still involved in this game for such a long period is none other than our very knowlegeable commentator, Gillian Clark, who commented that it was the best ever WS final between Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang that she had watched. See, after so many long years, Gillian's enthusiasm never dies. And it seems she looks forward to many more exciting games. We wish her well and look forward to hearing her voice again.
So this guy John Burgess is British and has lived in Singapore for 33 years? I assumed he was from the peninsula because of the network. The badminton players were obviously hired for their badminton knowledge and not for their broadcasting experience and Burgess was obviously more comfortable behind the mike and less comfortable talking about badminton. Burgess's accent would never make me think he was British. I heard many BBC-style accents I heard on TV when I was in Malaysia and Singapore. I like this comment Even in a second round match, after talking non-stop through 2 rallies, he said "Well...uh...back to the game." A signal from the booth? I found him a bit much but I've heard worse.
I'm A Comment-Hater TV commentators should comment... and not yak-yak all the time. They are supposed to comment on the unseen, the obscure and the unobvious. In sports, that would include the finer points of the game, a tidy and relevant bit of player and tournament histories and backgrounds, reasons for surprising or contestable decisions, rationales for game strategy and, of course, interesting trivia related to what is being shown. Describing the game is not called for . As a matter of fact, they shouldn't be describing the game at all because that is what the TV picture is all about. The commentator's job is essentially an accompanist's role.. He or she is required to supplement the video with words that highlight, explain and make sense of the goings-on, not with words that describe the goings-on. (For the more complex scenarios, the broadcaster will provide on-air graphics to aid the commentator.) Lastly, in TV broadcasts of 'stop-and-go' sports (events in which the action takes place in bursts, like tennis, badminton, cricket, etc), it is a professional crime to be talking over live action. As a friend pointed out earlier in this thread, a sports broadcast is best enjoyed when accompanied by natsound (the natural sound of game-play), and not when a loud-mouthed retard disguised as a commentator is ferociously jawing the action. Sports broadcasters, wake up and fire the retards . And retards, log on to BC, search, read and learn . Perhaps then, you will learn that Lee Chong Wei is not Lee Kuan Yew.
