Tony, Howard, Milroy, Beres

Discussion in 'World Championships 2006' started by Eurasian =--(O), Jul 21, 2006.

  1. Eurasian =--(O)

    Eurasian =--(O) Regular Member

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    They are performing an exhibition match in calgary on the 7th or 10th. Does this mean they will not be at WC06?
     
  2. dropper

    dropper Regular Member

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    For whatever the reason Tony and Howard are not partners anymore. The rumor is that they are done playing with each other. At Thailand Open Tony is playing with Halim and Howard is playing with Bob Malaythong. At Thailand Open Howard also played with Eva in MXD. They did not make it out of the qualifying, so not in the main draw.
    At just finished Macau Open, Tony played with Halim and lost in the first round and Howard played with Bob and lost in the second round.
    I don't think this change of partners make any sense level of performance concerned. :( :eek: :confused:
     
  3. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    i'm sure a bit of experimenting is going on but not enough adjustment time for this coming WC. I would like to see tony and howard again this WC to defend their title.
     
  4. event

    event Regular Member

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    I read two stories on that, not necessarily related. One was that Tony wouldn't qualify to play as an American in the 2008 Olympics so Howard wasn't going to be committed to playing with him. The other was that Howard was going to graduate school and so wouldn't have time to play in tournaments. Howard has kept playing, however. I think the latter rumour came out before they were re-united to win the Copenhagen Masters. I consider the former rumour ironic because I don't think Howard has a chance of doing anything in the Olympics with any naturalized Americans. I don't know what is going on with Tony's or Halim's citizenship or eligibility. I call these rumours, but I could have sworn that I read them in news articles re-posted on this site.
     
  5. dropper

    dropper Regular Member

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    I don't know anything about the first rumor, but I have heard the second rumor. I remember during last year World Champoionships reading a great big article in one of the major Los Angeles area news papers with an interview of Tony that he is retirering quietly after the Worlds. So it was possible that Howard had to be partnered with somebody else. But, Tony is still playing, and with Halim. Neither of them are USA citizens. Tony had a special kind of a waiver from IBF because he managed to qualify himself as that he was in transition to become USA citizen or something like that when the IBF changed the rules that required players to be citizens of the countries they represent. Halim came to USA a quite a bit later, so he doesn't have a waiver.

    I agree with you that Howard will have no prayer in regard to Olympics playing with anybody else who is not the caliber of Tony. Although Tony/Halim qualified for the Worlds this year they are not eligible because Halim has no status to represent USA. I have also heard that Halim and Tony are employees of the Orange Badminton Club (OCBC) and may be they have contracts with the club and have to adhere to them. So they really might not be free to do as they wish either. There may be other agendas for the use of them. I have watched Tony play with partners at the USA tournements that I would not have expected him to partner with; weak players of the club.
     

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