Maybe we should not be so fast in taking out that broken violin and play that same old, same old excuses.
aiyoh.... all pairs will win and lose. Just because they lose to an unheralded pair dosen't mean anything. Besides, look on the bright side, we now know who to support in today's QF featuring Choong and Lee vs. the Taipei pair?
To be fair to them, they only lost in Quarter-Finals onwards (except for the All England when they lost in R16). Also, they win 2 titles, including one GP Gold event. Their only achiles heel is the record against KKK/TBH Still, they never lost to Jap or Taiwanese pairs (no matter whats the excuses). Nevertheless, the World Championships title is a huge one that people will always remember and that one will last until 2009 If they can defend the titles in Guangzhou and Hong Kong (a big IF that is), then I would say that they had a relatively good year too
The fairest and most objective comment as always from abedeng. Nobody gave the Chinese-Taipei pair and Japanese pairs a chance (including me of course) and they turned out to be the surprise winners
The long and short of this is that KKK-TBH have shown that they can come back and beat anyone after a loss or two. So as long as they can do that, I can excuse them because anyone can have an off-day. Besides, I like to see TF-WW win this now that their compatriots are sitting on the bench.
Its high time Choong/Lee win a major title and with only Kido/Hendra left in the draw, it will represent a good opportunity for them (as well as Kido/Hendra) to win their first Super Series title. I am leaning towards another encounter between Choong/Lee and Kido/Hendra in the Finals on Sunday.....that is if both pairs can clear the next two rounds It will be another spectacular Final.....
The sad thing is after the low ranked pair beating KKK/TBH in the early round,they will not go far and lose in the next round...Its so strange...
Wouldn't it be nice ? To rob the Chinese of their homeground advantage - it must have been a long time since it was done.
Brilliant people do strange things (I am talking about KKK-TBH) but of course, for the lowly ranked pair we should not expect too much coz it would have been a 'fluke' win for them - so naturally you expect then to lose in the next game (not strange as you pointed out -- just pure logic).
Well...I feel tat after AE this year,after they won the MD title..I never c confidence n the spirit to win in KKK anymore..He seem like lack of confidence in every tournament..and I feel tat there is a contradiction between KKK n TBH..
Their "challenge" (if you don't like the word "problem") is that they "keep" losing to unheralded pairs - pairs that are unlikely to go far in the future. They could beat top pairs en-route towin a title in one tournament and then lose tamely to a lowly-ranked pair at the next immediate tournament. CY/FHF and MK/HS never seem to have such a problem in the past whole year - they lost from time to time too, but to relatively established pairs or at least pairs that we believe in their potential. Let's see how the top-3 pairs fair after Swiss SS when KKK/TBH started to show their inconsistency (WC and SS only) ... China SS: KKK/TBH - lost to TPE pair (2nd rnd) CY/FHF - lost to Zakry/Fairuzizuan (1st rnd) MK/HS - still on! French SS: KKK/TBH - lost to JPN pair (qf) CY/FHF - winner MK/HS - lost to CTF/LWW (qf) Denmark SS: KKK/TBH - winner CY/FHF - lost to JE/MLH (sf) MK/HS - lost to KKK/TBH (sf) Japan SS: KKK/TBH - lost to Luluk/Alvent (2nd rnd) CY/FHF - lost to LP/JR (2nd rnd) MK/HS - lost to Luluk/Alvent (sf) WC: KKK/TBH - lost to JPN pair (3rd rnd) CY/FHF - lost to CTF/LWW (3rd rnd) MK/HS - winner China Masters: KKK/TBH - didn't participate CY/FHF - winner MK/HS - lost to CY/FHF (final) Indonesia SS: KKK/TBH -lost to CY/FHF (sf) CY/FHF - winner MK/HS - lost to KKK/TBH (qf) Singapore SS: KKK/TBH - lost to Zakry/Fairuzizuan (1st rnd) - that was before Zakry/Fairuzizuan demonstrated their potential to become future world beater CY/FHF - winner MK/HS - lost to CTF/LWW (sf)
X Ball's previous excited pronouncement of "A new Dawn for Malaysia" ... in the persons of KKK/TBH...has begun to falter and turn dimmer despite the approach of the morning sun... as the young and unknown Taiwanese pair was able to tear them apart! Is this the arrival of a new dawn for Taiwan instead?
Did they go for an entire calendar year winning nothing? Did they get knocked out by unknowns on a regular basis? Did any/both of them get career threatening injuries? Any of them with serious disciplinary issues? Were there fallouts within the national team stable? Making a mountain out of a molehill, this.
YES, what do you expect ? TBH said he is fatigue. And we have to believe him coz look at what happened when no one believed LCW when he said he had an excuse. He proved everybody wrong.
The string of losses of top pairs (not just Koo/Tan) against much lower ranked opponents since the scoring system was revised, are much too frequent to be called flukes. My guess is, the faster tempo has added a few unwelcome traits, reducing "thinking play" and tactical flexibility. Doubles pairs are probably relying too much on coaches guidance during intervals and forgot to use their own minds. While it does not necessarily mean that the gap between the top and bottom has reduced, it does gives rise to specific patterns of play from certain lower ranked pairs, that top pairs are unable to overcome successfully if their gameplan is not flexible. So we have Koo/Tan, dominating against the World Champs and Danish opposition, poor against JPN/TPE pairs. Or Cai/Fu, great when playing all high speed opponents esp Koreans, but stumble against older experienced pairs. Or the World Champs, dominant against everyone bar their two main opposition. Never saw this happen to Rexy/Ricky, Cheah/Yap or during the golden years of the Sidek bros, Professor Park and Coach Li Yongbo/Tian Bingyi. Park, especially could adapt with any player, and still beat other top pairs without his regular partner Kim Moon Soo. And you can almost guarantee that the same top 4 feature in semifinals of almost all tournaments.
