But this is by the drawing/ranking system, right? I don't think anyone hand pick this one. With TH has less ranking point, he has to start a tournament against a seeded player, might be LD, might be BCL (last year in JO?), or what so ever. Guess no seeded player wants to face TH in earlier round, and not too many times, you see the "seed" is the underdog.
A true Warrior in any sport will always be playing his/her best Hi DinkAlot, A true warrior in any sport is one who plays his/her best in any match, regardless of; Who the opponent is, When it is played, Where it is played, Which round of the tournament it is played, and What the draw is like. Cheers... chris@ccc
I completely agree. I can't bring myself to entertain the fact that he lost intentionally, for any reason whatsoever.
Lin Dan lost because what's the point of playing when no one beats a Malaysian at the Malaysion Open. He played the first round against TH because he just wanted revenged.
They are willing to fight at any of those situations, but it does not mean that they preform at their best. I'm sure we all know the vast difference between practicing in your home gym and playing at a foriegn gym in foreign conditions. I just think that the draw caused luck to play more of a role in the match then would otherwise be desirable.
Chris, that's all nice and idealistic but in this world, not everything is so black and white; but rather many shades of gray.
Exactly. There is no mystery about how it happened. No one ever bats an eye when Boonsak Ponsana or Sairul Ayob Amar periodically face top seeds in early rounds. If Taufik has a similar ranking, why should it be any different. You can't have seedings determined by ranking or by the vague expectation on the part of the organizers that a certain player could do really well. I think we are just lucky that we see Taufik playing Lin Dan in as many finals as we do. The only two players who are guaranteed not to meet until the finals are the #1 and #2 ranked players. Nevertheless, we've had Taufik vs. Lin Dan in: Singapore Open 2005 (Taufik ranked #8); WC 2005 (Taufik ranked #6); Doha Asian Games 2006 (Taufik #9 player in the draw); and last but not least Japan Open 2006 (Taufik ranked a lowly #34!) Lest anyone suspect that the above examples are of organizers massaging the draw the other way, keep in mind that there are numerous examples of tournaments such as this Malaysia Open 2007, Malaysia Open 2005, Hong Kong Open 2006, and the Olympic Games 2004 when #1 Lin Dan and lower ranked Taufik were in the same half of the draw.
I don't care about all this so-called "logic", I just want to complain that LD played TH in the 1st round.
agreed.. I think the draw must be somewhat flawed if no.1 and no.12 on the world ranking meets in first round.. /Twobeer
i have 3 good reasons: 1. korean Hwan Park came prepared, he studied TH and LD because he knows he will likely meet these 2 in early rounds. Conversely, LD dunno much nor care much about hwan park style as he assumed he can handle it. In this MO, LD objective is the avenge TH in 2 set, with a comeback on the 2nd set just like TH in 06 AG. He accomplished that. 2. Under NSS, it is too short of duration for a player to feel and learn about a unfamiliar player and make adjustment in time. This is different from a regular comeback like against TH which involve just more effort. I can guarantee u that LD can kick Hwan Park's butt if they meet next time, just like how LD slaughtered Lee HL in 06 AG 2nd match. 3. LYB game plan. He wanted the other chinese players to get better ranking going into the 08 OG. As i said before, 2008 gold MS is super important, and having the best draws at the OG is super important, even if LD losing some 07 titles . The key match in 07 for LD is to defend the AE & sudirman title and get decent #1 or #2 ranking going into 2008. TH is LD only threat and TH has a long way up to climb in ranking. If LD stop TH at 07 AE and sudirman, TH ranking will stay low due to lack of motivation. LD can pour it onto Hwan Park at the end, looking at the the score, it seem LD didn't do that. chris, it's not black and white
Overhead this: TH : LD, since we are friends now, doesn't matter who win or lose. If you win 1st round, pls. make sure you lose the 2nd round. Then we can both go shopping and sight seeing. LD : Good idea...will do. See you on Friday and we shall shop till we AE 07 comes and do it one more time.
http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2007/1/19/sports/16620629&sec=sports Badminton: Sung-hwan packs off top seed Lin Dan DEFEAT for Chinese ace Lin Dan in the early rounds of a tournament is a rare occurrence. But he found himself bundled out by South Korean Park Sung-hwan in the second round of the Malaysian Open at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium here yesterday. The defeat came a day after he played a high-powered game to eliminate Olympic and Asian Games gold medallist Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. The world number one and reigning world champion crashed to a 14-21, 17-21 defeat in 36 minutes. Giant-killer: The scoreboard tells it all as South Korea’s Park Sung-hwan jubilates after knocking out world champion Lin Dan in the second round of the Malaysian Open. The previous occasion Lin Dan crashed out in the early rounds was in the 2004 Athens Olympics. It was also in the second round, losing to Singaporean Ronald Susilo. Yesterday, the Chinese again showed his side of a sore loser after failing in his fourth attempt to win the Malaysian Open. Just like he did last year after losing to Malaysian Lee Chong Wei in the final in Kuching, he refused to meet the media. But Sung-hwan was overwhelmed with delight as though he had won the title. “Lin Dan is the fastest singles player in the world and today I matched his pace. His tactical game is of high level but today, I was able to break his rhythm,” said Sung-hwan. But it was not his first win against Lin Dan. Sung-hwan also beat the Chinese en route to a runner-up finish in the 2004 Malaysian Open. “The Korean team came here a week early. It’s winter in my country and the early training session helped me to adapt to the weather here. Malaysia is certainly a good place for me,” said Sung-hwan, who will take on Denmark’s Kenneth Jonassen today for a place in the semi-finals. Jonassen qualified for the quarter-finals with a 21-12, 21-14 win over Indian Anand Chetan. Said Sung-hwan: “I have never won an Open title. I may have beaten Lin Dan but it will not be easy. I lost to Kenneth in the Hong Kong Open last year. But I have come this far and I will give my best.” Said Kenneth: “Sung-hwan will not be easy to beat, especially now that he has beaten Lin Dan. But I am confident of a good showing.” Lin Dan is floored after his loss to the South Korean. Denmark’s Peter Gade-Christensen, who was hospitalised on arrival here last week for the Malaysian Open after suffering a migrain attack during his flight from Copenhagen, continued to show improvement in his performance. He defeated Susilo 21-13, 21-10 in just 26 minutes to set up a quarter-final match against China’s Chen Yu, who beat Malaysian Yeoh Kay Bin 21-13, 21-15, 21-13. -----
