Taufik Quit China Badminton Open

The organizing committee of China Badminton Open declared to the public that Taufik quit the tournament.

The Indonesian badminton team arrived in Guangzhou last night without the most famous player Taufik. News came from Indonesia that Taufik claimed not to go to China before getting into a plane. After knowing that, many reporters asked the vice chief referee Lei Mingji to prove it.

“He informed us with an email. He told us he would not attend Guangzhou tournament without his cause.” Lei Mingji said to the reporters. Taufik will be fined 250 US$ for his quit.

It is the second time that Taufik did this. Early in 2005, the hottest battle between Lin Dan and him did not show up due to his absence. Also, the quit this time affected the box ticket. According to the draw, the opponent of Taufik in the first round will be Bao Chunlai. The badminton fans were eager to watch it, but they failed.

Bao told the media it was a pity for that all his recent training was aimed to beat the Indonesian. To the question whether his power scared Taufik, Bao replied as follows.

“I do not have such power to scare him to quit China Badminton Open. It is another case if he admits it himself. But I am working hard to prepare the clash. It is a great pity that I do not have the chance to beat him in China.”

Bao’s opponent was changed to an unknown Thailand one.

Let’s think about why Taufik quit.

Injury is sure to be an excuse. He has just beat Sony to get the title of national championship. It showed that he was in good shape. He was satisfied with his form that he would take part in Hong Kong Open.

In fact, Taufik’s quit related the following 2 points.

1. Indonesian revenge on China

As we all knew, Lin Dan quit Indonesia Open in May this year. He did it on the day before the opening of the match that the committee had no time to redraw. Indonesians were dissatisfied with it. Christian Hadinata, the head coach of Indonesian badminton team gave his opinion as the following.

“There is a tradition of equality in badminton matches. Since China did not send the most outstanding player to attend Indonesia Super Series, it is not necessary for us to let our excellent player to compete in the tournament held in China. Although we need more credits for Olympic qualification by Super Series, we make our choice with the consideration of all factors besides it.”

Observer considered his remarks a sign that Taufik would quit China Master in Chendu.

But it did no happen. It became a reality in the Guangzhou event.

2. According to the draws, Taufik had much difficulty to get a spot in final.

There are three top Chinese shuttlers Bao Chunlai, Chun Yu and Lin Dan waiting for him. One of the three has the strength to edge Taufik. Maybe it is wise for him to give up. Thus he will have more time to prepare for Hong Kong Open.

But I have to say Taufik will encounter Chinese badminton players sooner or later. In the first round of HongKong Open he will take on Chen Hong, a hard opponent to conquer.

In fact, Taufik is surrounded by Chinese group no matter what kind of tournament he attends.

Predictions of China Badminton Open

Men’s Singles

The most attractive match of the first round will be the clash between Bao Chunlai and Taufik. The latter hates to meet Bao on the court for they are the natural enemies due to the types of badminton techniques. Taufik does not fear Lin Dan, but he has some to Bao with 5 failures and 3 victories. He was beaten in Denmark Open. So I think Bao has more percentage to win again.

As I wrote before, Bao was always the second. In the semi-final of last China Open, He outplayed Lin Dan for the first time. All his fans were eager for him to win the title. But he lost to Chen Hong which disappointed them. It’s a copy of last year that he was the 2 runner-ups of Denmark Open and French Open. Could he move forward to prove that he was a man, not a boy?

The other games of the first day will also be wonderful which include Chen Yu against Chen Hong, Lin Dan against Park Sung Hwan, Peter Gade against Simon and Lee Chong Wei against Ponsana Boonsak. With thanks to the revolution of drawing straws for the tournaments with credits by BWF, we are offered so many splendid matches that are no less than semi-finals or finals of international events.

Women’s Singles

As the hometown player and world No.1, Xie Xingfang is the favorite to scoop the title. She has a very good luck that she will not encounter hard opponents till quarter-finals. Her compatriot Lu Lan and Hong Kong’s Wang Chen are in the same part as her.

Meanwhile, Zhang Ning will have more difficulties to fight her way out for there are so many top players in the second half including Jiang Yanjiao, Wang Lin, the world champion Zhu Lin, Hong Kong’s Zhou Mi and a so-called overseas group consisted of German Xu Huaiwen, Dutch Yao Jie and French Pi Hongyan.

She has not been champion for 6 months with bad form. In my opinion, it’s very hard for her to win the continuous title of this tournament.

Men’s Doubles

With the sweep against Malaysian pair of Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng changed the score to 1:2. They are expected to revenge the Malaysian to have a tie. In the fourth quarter, the French Open champions have the most possibility to take on Korean pair of Lee Jae Jin and Hwang Ji Man. The Chinese pair will step forward regarding the strength gap of both sides.

If they successfully enter the last 4, they are possible to meet world champion Kido Markis and Setiawan Hendra or Denmark pair of Eriksen Jens and Lundgaard Hansen Martin. The former beat them in the final of last China Open in straight games. The latter edged them in the semi-final of Denmark Open in three games. The Chinese pairs are filled with desire to have a win over either of them.

Women’s Doubles

China has the dominance of this event. But there are so many factors to affect it especially the change of players in national badminton team. Huang Sui left, Athens champions Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen separated (reunion now), Du Jing and Yu Yang injured. The gold pair Gao Ling and Huang Sui was replaced by Gao Ling/Zhao Tingting to attend China Badminton Open.

According to the draw, the top seed Zhang Yawen and Wei Yili and her compatriot Du Jing/Yu Yang are in the first half. The 5th seed Gao Ling and Zhao Tingting will have a battle with Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen.

World No.4, the 3rd seeds Lee Kyung Won/Lee Hyo Jung are likely to compete with Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili for a spot of final. The Korean pair beat the Chinese in the Macau Open.
I have to talk about Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen. After reunion, they scooped the title of World Championship. They cherish the chances given by the coach team and hope to have a 4 uninterrupted champion.

Mixed Doubles

Top seed Zheng Bo/Gao Ling and world NO.4 Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen are expected to have achievements. The English pair Donna Kellogg/Anthony Clark and Gail Emms/Nathan Robertson, the Denish pair Kamilla Rytter Juhl/Thomas Laybourn are the most competitive opponents for the Chinese pairs.

China Badminton Open Is Coming

The China Badminton Open will be held in Guangzhou, China next week. All the top players are going there for more credits of Olympic qualification. According to the draws given, many wonderful matches will be presented to the badminton fans.

For Chinese badminton players, it is a very good opportunity to adopt themselves to the home field as Beijing Olympic Games will be coming next year. For the players from other countries, it’s also a good chance to feel China.

I could not write an article better than CHINA OPEN Mouth-watering Starters.

Who do you think will be the titles of China Badminton Open? Here I give statistics about the champions of China Open in recent years as your reference.

1. Men’s Singles

Year Gold Silver
2001 Xia Xuanze Wong Choong Hann
2002 Wong Choong Hann Chen Hong
2003 Lin Dan Wong Choong Hann
2004 Lin Dan Bao Chunlai
2005 Chen Hong Bao Chunlai
2006 Chen Hong Bao Chunlai

2. Women’s Singles

Year Gold Silver
2001 Zhou Mi Gong Ruina
2002 Gong Ruina Zhang Ning
2003 Zhou Mi Gong Ruina
2004 Xie Xingfang Wang Chen
2005 Zhang Ning Xie Xingfang
2006 Zhang Ning Yao Jie

3. Men’s Doubles

Year Gold Silver
2001 Zhang Wei/Zhang Jun Liu Yong/Chen Qiqiu
2002 Feerawiwatana Pramote/Panviavas Tesna(Tailand) Chen Choon Eng/Chan Chong Ming
2003 Paaske/Rasmussen Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah
2004 Wijaya Candra/S. Budiarto Chen Choon Eng/Choog Tan Fook
2005 Wijaya Candra/S. Budiarto Eriksen Jens/Lundgaard Hansen Martin
2006 Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng

4. Women’s Doubles

Year Gold Silver
2001 Zhang Jiewen/Wei Yili Huang Nanyan/Yang Wei
2002 Gao Ling/Huang Sui Wei Yili/Zhao Tingting
2003 Gao Ling/Huang Sui Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen
2004 Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen Wei Yili/Zhao Tingting
2005 Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen Gao Ling/Huang Sui
2006 Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen Wei Yili/Zhang Yawen

5. Mixed Doubles

Year Gold Silver
2001 Liu Yong/Ge Fei R.Olsen/Sogaard
2002 Zhang Jun/Gao Ling Chen Qiqiu/Zhao Tingting
2003 Zhang Jun/Gao Ling Chen Qiqiu/Zhao Tingting
2004 Jens Eriksen/Schjoldager Mette Chen Qiqiu/Zhao Tingting
2005 Robertson Nathan/Emms Gail Lee Jae Jin/Lee Hyo Jung
2006 Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen Xu Chen/Zhao Tingting


My prediction is as follows:

MS champion: Lee Chong Wei (he is in such a good shape this year)
WS champion: Xie Xingfang (Guangzhou is her hometown. Ha ha)
Men’s Double champion: Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong
WD champion: Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili
Mixed Double champion: Zheng Bo/Gao Ling

What’s your conclusion? With your analysis and emotions you could have a totally different answer from me.

Comment on the chatter box.

Taufik and Lin Dan: Respect Each Other, Lack Communication Due to Different Languages

Taufik in Lin Dan’s eyes

The first fight between Lin Dan and Taufik was in 2001 Asian Championship with the former win. From then on, they had a lot of battles with victories and failures. The competition between them was the focus of attention for the badminton fans and media.

There were 2 idols for Lin Dan when he began his badminton career. One was Sun Jun for Sun was the No.1 MS player in national badminton team at that time. The other was Peter Gade for the Danish was outstanding in terms of badminton techniques.

But Lin also respected Taufik for the latter had almost scooped the titles of all kinds of tournaments including Olympic Games, World Championship, and Asian Games.

"My scores are not as good as Taufik. I am still on the way to my dream." Lin Dan said.

Taufik has a great many fans all over the world. I can prove it. Many Chinese badminton fans love Taufik much more than Lin Dan. Chinese little flower Wang Lin, the champion of Ladies Single in 2006 China Master, hoped to do well enough to let Taufik know her. Lin Dan believed that Taufik was the typical player of Indonesian with wonderful skills, enjoyable to watch.

As for the battle between him and Taufik, Lin Dan said that the character played an important role in it.

"Every player has its own character, its own way to live his life and its own way to fight on the court. There is no need to change it. Or he would lose his own feature. If Taufik turned to be modest and cautious for some people considered him arrogant, I think it’s no good for him. It’s not Taufik any more without his own style." Lin Dan thought.

Being an excellent shuttler, Lin Dan felt that the happiest was not the title, but a competitive opponent behind it.

"If I came to the top place without difficulty, I could not feel a great sense of achievement. Nowadays there are many top players fighting in the badminton tournament, so the champion weighs a lot. I benefited a lot from my opponents for their progress drove me forward. The uncertainty of win made the player maximize his potential."

Lin Dan in Taufik’s eyes

At the age of 8, Taufik was font of football. But his father wanted him to play badminton for Indonesia was a “kingdom of badminton”. To be a world-class badminton player was a dream for most teenagers of Indonesian.

Once he took part in this kind of sports, he loved it.

In Sydney Olympic Games, the world No.1 lost his game to Ji Xinpeng in the quarter-finals.

"I can not believe my failure. I have to wait for the next one. I am the No.1. Why and how can a new Chinese beat me?" Taufik could not accept it. But he began to know lose was a natural thing to a player.

"It’s just a game. Anyone could lose it. I have to relax. So I go to have a party, listen to the music and try to forget the game. But I do not mean to give up for Olympic title is my ultimate goal."

In Athens Olympic Games, Taufik cried again. But this time the tears were for excitement. "I must thank God!" Taufik said after getting the Olympic gold medal.

As for the topic of Lin Dan and him, Taufik said that he had never talked to the former due to different languages.

"There is no problem between us. He is the most outstanding player in the world. But languages are the obstacle of communication for us. I would like to be friendly to any other player in the world including those from Indonesia, China and Denmark. I could make friends with Lee Chong Wei and Peter Gade for we talked to each other in English. I was also eager to make friends with Chinese shuttlers, but we could not communicate. Why aren’t you able to speak English? If you can, we can do something together beyond the court."

Taufik gave Lin Dan a suggestion that watching English movie was a quick way to grasp the language.

Regarding the media’s discussion about them, Taufik was bored about the comparison of them.

"Everyone was asking me about Lin Dan. But Lin Dan is Lin Dan and Taufik is Taufik. I hated some newspaper reported something unreal. They always wrote that Taufik disliked Lin Dan and Lin Dan disliked Taufik. They brought much trouble to us. I don’t want to have any problem with Lin Dan. I hope Chinese media don’t give false report. And I wish Chinese badminton fans give a warm welcome to me."

To the question who was the hardest opponent to him, Taufik gave his answer----Bao Chunlai. In his opinion, Bao Chunlai is the same type as Indonesian player with great techniques and Lin Dan has more strength.

"Bao Chunlai is a very excellent player, but he did not perform steady while Lin Dan did well in this point."

Taufik has a full expectation for Beijing Olympic Games.

"I have been in China for many times. I think Chinese badminton is the world No.1. China is a very large country with a lot of people. They all work hard and I love them. There are so many world No.1 in China. I know US is the top one leading the world. Maybe the next one is China."

Lin Dan and Taufik in Bao Chunlai’s eyes

Lin Dan and Taufik have different types on the court. The media has no need to sensationalize the battle between them.

"We seldom have a talk with Taufik due to different languages. He is very clam, serous and devoted competing with others. And it’s a great pleasure to watch his games. Lin Dan is an aggressive badminton player with his own character. He often makes a standard solute to the audience after victory and shows strong desire for it." Bao Chunlai said.

Bao talked about other opponents as well.

As for Lee Chong Wei, Bao regarded him a good friend worth trusting.

"He is very smart and keeps his word to friends. I asked him to bring me something and he always did it. This kind of little thing showed that he was a nice guy."

As for Peter Gade, Bao Chunlai loved his types of playing badminton very much.

"Peter Gade is from the generation ahead me. I loved to watch his games before I entered national badminton team. Though his ability was not as good as in his top shape, his quick mind with sharp attack impressed me deeply."

Lin Dan: I Will Play Badminton till 2012

Lin Dan promised that he would play badminton till 2012 on his birthday. Oct 14th, 2007 was Lin Dan’s 24th birthday. Due to some tournaments for Olympic credits, the party held by his fans was postponed until Nov 10th. （Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang with their fans, photo)

Being the top one badminton player, Lin Dan made a birthday vow to god that he would scoop the Olympic title.

“Of course I hope that I could get the gold medal in Beijing Olympic Games for it’s a hometown event. But it’s a very difficult job for there are many competitive players including Taufik, Lee Chong Wei. If I failed to make it next year, I would try once more in 2012 Olympic Games. I will not be very old with 29 years old in 2012”, said Lin Dan.

As we all knew, Lin Dan is a fashionable person and shopping is one of his favorite hobbies. To entertain his fans, he wore a silver fur coat with sports shoes in the same color, which made him look like a model for the latest fashion in clothes. Being the hostess of the party, Xie Xingfang did not seek the limelight for her boyfriend was the center on this occasion. She had the same brand clothes as Lin Dan.

To thank his fans, Lin Dan rewarded each of his fans a special gift, a T-shirt designed by Lin Dan himself. The front of it showed a cartoon of Lin Dan with badminton racket, the back with 2 letters LD which stood for Lin Dan. For his works, Lin Dan spent a lot of time and energy on it. He disclosed to his fans that Xie Xingfang would show up in his 2nd works in 2008, which made us all eager to see it.

How did Lin Dan come to the badminton road?

When Lin Dan was 5 years old, his mother brought him an electronic organ. But Lin Dan hated it. The young Lin Dan liked to play with his boy friends especially acting as a policeman. To cast off the boring training of electronic organ, Lin Dan gave his mother an excuse of showing around the stadium nearby. By chance he met his favorite of his life----badminton. From then on he began his badminton road to success.

At the age of 12, Lin Dan became a professional badminton player of Ba Yi team. Everyone has his memorable first love. To the question when Lin Dan began to take notice of female, his face turned red. His girlfriend was also curious to know that. Someone shouted in the crowd: it’s in his 15 years old. But it was denied by Lin Dan. He was so smart that he said his parents and Xie Xingfang were the most important in his heart instead of giving the direct answer.

Olympic Games superior to marriage

Although being the top one, Lin Dan knew that the chance of Olympic title was equal to every competitor. Both Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang were under the great pressure of gold medals from the expectation of Chinese people.

“The biggest is from journalists.” Lin Dan told that the media gave him power and pressure especially when he did not perform well.

Lin Dan has done a good job this year. Besides the title of World Championship, he won a few champions of the Super Series tournaments. Next week China Open will be held in Guangzhou. It is a very good opportunity to get more credits for Olympic qualification. Lin Dan regarded it as Olympic matches to adjust himself to the situation of home field.

“Many people think Taufik is the hardest opponent to me. In fact, all the powerful badminton MS players are my opponents. But the most difficult one to conquer is not from others, it’s me. I believe that the only way to success is to win myself.”

In last China Open, Lin Dan was beat by his compatriot Bao Chunlai. He expected outstanding performance in the tournament this year for he was named “son-in-law of Guangzhou” with Xie Xingfang boring there.

There have been a few years since they fell in love and Lin Dan’s mother was very happy with Xie Xingfang. But they are not going to marry in the near future. The most important task for them is to prepare for Beijing Olympic Games. They gave great comfort to each other when either was in bad shape.

As for the title of Beijing Olympic Games, Xie Xingfang was more confident to get it. But she mentioned that she would retire after the great event due to injury and age. Lin Dan wass cautious of Olympic gold medal, but more dedicated to it.

“I hope to be the No.1 of 2008 Olympic Games, but the mission is a little bit hard to accomplish. If I failed in 2008, I would try once more in 2012 Olympic Games. I am still young then.” Lin Dan regards Olympic gold medal as his biggest goal.

Heartbreak for a Badminton Player due to Walkover

As the last article told, Ye Zhaoying was obliged to give a walkover to Gong Zhichao. It was not the first time. Nor it was the last time.

In the past few years, Chinese sports people placed the scores at a higher position than any other thing. When taking on the foreign players, Chinese team (especially some dominance event) will make a relative arrangement according to the opponents’ characteristic to make sure that the champion belongs to China. It is not a secret any more.

As for the battle of the semi-final between Zhang Ning and Zhou Mi in Athens Olympic Games, some people also had questions about it. At that time, Dutch Mia fought her way out of the Chinese surround to enter the final. Another spot would be chosen from Zhang and Zhou. Then Zhang easily won her compatriot and successful beat Mia in the final. But we could not draw the conclusion that walkover occurred because there was no proof.

The first walkover incident was discovered to the public due to the famous He Zhili’s going away. The world No.1 table tennis player He Zhili did not follow the instruction of walkover from the coach and beat his compatriot Guan Jianhua. Though she won the title, she was out of the candidate list of 1988 Olympic Games. With great angry she went out of the Chinese team for Japan.

Another walkover in 1988 was admitted by the participant. Jiao Zhimin, Li Huifen and Chen Jing represented China to play table tennis in Korea Olympic Games. The draws were Jiao Zhimin facing Li Huifen and Chen Jing encountering a Czechish player. The two games ran at the same time. The coach asked Jiao to give a walkover to Li Huifen for that she had ever lost to the Czechish before. Jiao lost the game as the coach’s direction.

But to her surprise, Chen Jing, on her side, edged the Czechish. In the battle for the bronze medal Jiao Zhimin also beat the Czechish. It showed that there was no need for anyone to do a walkover in the tournament.

After retirement, Jiao told her friends that she had done 5 walkovers which broke her heart especially in the Olympic court during his 8-year table tennis career.

Things have changed with the passage of time. Most Chinese people agree with that all the players have the right to compete fair and square. It is quite shaming that walkover occurs in the sports no matter how beautiful the excuses are.

Beijing Olympic Games is coming. Chinese State Physical Culture Administration makes a call for completely clean Olympic Games. I hope this kind of walkover incident will come to the end.

Badminton Secrets: Li Yongbo Admitted Walkover

Li Yongbo admitted that the coach team made a decision that Ye Zhaoying(right photo) should give a walkover to Gong Zhichao(left photo) in the ladies single semi-finals of Sydney Olympic Games. It was discovered in the interview to the head coach by CCTV(China Central Television).

The situation was that Danish badminton player Martin entered the finals by beating Chinese Dai Yun, while two Chinese badminton players would fight for a spot of finals.

The two are Ye Zhaoying and Gong Zhichao. The 26-year-old Ye was the most outstanding player at that time with the titles of 1995 and 1997 World Championship and many Open tournaments. Meanwhile, Gong was a rising champion with excellent performance especially in 2000.

“Once they had a hard battle, there would be great loss to the finals for Chinese badminton team no matter who would win in the end. It was no need to exhaust ourselves.” Li Yongbo analyzed it with calm mind.

There was a serious discussion and design in the Chinese badminton team in terms of the one who would face Martin. According to the statistics of scores in 1998 and 1999, Gong Zhichao seldom failed encountering Martin, while Ye Zhaoying was beaten by the Danish a few times. What’s more, Martin expressed his fear of Gong’s hard defense.

But Ye was the No.1 of Chinese badminton WS and made great achievements to the revival of Chinese badminton with a lot of champions including Sudirman and Uber Cup.

“I have been opposing walkover since I became a coach. It would hurt the player and show no respect to the audience when it happened. But in China, national interest is the top one. We finally made the decision that Ye should give a walkover to Gong. We tried to persuade Ye to do so and promised that she would be treated as the Olympic champion if Gong edged Martin. It was sure that nobody was willing to give a walkover. Tears came out from Ye’s eyes. She did not want to give up. But finally Ye accepted the coaches’ arrangement.” Li told the interviewer.

Our dear friend, if you have watched the game, you would have noticed that Ye was very reluctant to lose the game. With the pale face and two 8-11, she gave the walkover to Gong Zhichao. But the latter did not know anything behind the curtain.

“I have been a badminton player and deeply knew how much a badminton player should pay before standing on the winner’s platform. I did not have the heart to suggest anyone to do a walkover.” Li continued.

The head coach expressed his appreciation to Ye. The things went as Li’s prediction. Gong defeated Martin to scoop the 14th badminton title.

OK, the story is finished. What’s your feeling?

In some content it sounds reasonable. No matter how many excuses for it, walkover is walkover. Sometimes I can not figure out which is right. Can national interest replace individual right to compete fair and square? Were there similar things happened in other countries? How did they handle this kind of matter? If you have the chance to choose your opponent, will you do a walkover?
Comment on the chatterbox.

Badminton Law: Bao Chunlai----Always No.2

Bao lost his French Open title to the amazing Lee Chong Wei. This time it was Malaysian who broke his dream, last lose in Denmark.

The fans of Bao are all disappointed and doubted why. In China, there are more badminton fans of Bao than Lin Dan for the former is more attractive. But it doesn’t help Bao with a gold medal.

In Denmark Open Bao did so good job that he beat Taufik, Lee Chong Wei and Chen Jin and entered the finals. Facing compatriot Lin Dan, Bao did not perform well any more and lost the game in a very short time.

It was just a copy in the French Open MS final. After outplaying Lin Dan with great effort, Bao was edged by Lee Chong Wei. To conclude, the champion always slipped away from Bao.
In my opinion, Bao has the power to kick off any other top badminton player in the world. But the trrth is, Bao seldom got a gold medal. Why?

Maybe tiredness was the reason. In Denmark Open, Bao had a few hard battles before the finals. It was the same as in French Open. Bao finally defeated Lin Dan in semi-final, which made him tried both in physiology and psychology.

In fact, the main cause is Bao’s weak psychology.

Problem1: the shadow of Lin Dan

Bao is one of the most outstanding players in the world with strength and rich experience.But there is one badminton player that he could not conquer no matter how skilled he is. It is Lin Dan. In almost every tournament Lin was superior to Bao. Bao could have excellent behavior except facing Lin Dan. They have fought for 20 times with 14 victories for Lin Dan.

So Bao seemed to play badminton under the shadow of Lin Dan, which made him lack of confidence encountering Lin Dan. After so many failures, Bao intended to accept that it was nearly impossible for him to outplay Lin Dan.

Problem 2: the fear of finals

Always being No.2 made Bao fear of finals. A too strong desire to the title made badminton player impatient on the court. Bao is the case. Bao is very much eager to prove to the world that he could be the No.1. This deeply influenced his performance and made him not focus himself on the match. French Open is an example.

How could he overcome it? It depends on himself.

From his career honors below we could see this: so many runner-ups, few champions.

Bao’s career:

2002 All England Open, Indonesia Open last4; Japan Open, Singapore Open last 8

2003 German Open, Hong Kong Open last4; Singapore Open, Malaysia Open, China Open last 8; World Championship MS last 4

2004 Thomas Cup Champion(team); Swiss Open, Japan Open, China Open runner-up; Indonesia Open, Singapore Open last 4; Malaysia Open last 8; Olympic Games badminton MS last 16

2005 Sudirman Cup Champion(team); China Open, Hong Kong Open, China Master Open runner-up; German Open, Malaysia Open last4; Singapore Open, Japan Open, All England Open last 8; World Championship last 8

2006 Thomas Cup Champion(team); World Championship runner-up; Asian Games champion(team); Korea Open title; China Open, Indonesia Open runner-up; Singapore Open last 4; Thailand Open, Macau Open last 8

2007 Malaysia Open, Indonesia Open, Denmark Open, French Open runner-up; All England Open, Korea Open last 4; China Master last 8; World Championship last 4

Badminton Denmark Open Finished: Bao Remains Runner-up

My prediction was broke for the second time as Lin Dan continued to beat his teammate Bao Chunlai, which produced a record of 14 victories and 5 defeats between them.

Why did Bao fail again and again facing Lin Dan? ##CONTINUE##

The answer is psychology. Bao is not able to overcome the obstacle caused by years of defeats over Lin Dan. It might form a high pressure to him that it’s impossible to beat the world champion.

But as a spectator, I have to say Bao has the power to kick off any top players in the badminton world, which has been proved in the Denmark Open. Taufik, Lee Chong Wei and Chen Jin all went down to Bao. My suggestion is not out of date.

Zhang Ning is a respectful shuttler although she could not reach the top of this tournament. It is hard to imagine that the Olympic champion beat Zhou Mi and Wang Chen to enter the final with her injury being 32 years old. Lu Lan scooped the first gold medal in her career. Actually, Zhu Lin and Lu Lan have both been the top badminton players in the world, only lacking experience of big tournaments.

They are good friends beyond the court. In the evening of the day of the final, Lu Lan assisted Zhang Ning make their supper. “Denmark Open champion brought me more confidence rather than a gold meal.” Said Lu Lan. She is expected to be the third one to play in Beijing OG besides Zhang and Xie.

The champions of mixed doubles, ladies doubles, and men’s doubles are He Hanbin/Yu Yang, Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen and Kon Kien Keat/ Tan Book Heong respectively.

Recommended Reading:

1. Victor

Analysis of Malaysian Campaign in the Danish Open

2. Badzine DENMARK OPEN ?Asia dominates Europe

Denmark Open Men’s Singles Final: I Support Bao

Badminton Denmark Open finals line-ups are as follows:

Mixed Doubles Nathan Robertson – Gail Emms (ENG) vs He Hanbin – Yu Yang (CHN)

Men’s Singles Bao Chunlai (CHN) vs Lin Dan (CHN)

Men’s Doubles Jens Eriksen – Martin Lundgaard (DEN) vs Koo Kien Keat – Tan Boon Heong (MAS)

Women’s Singles Zhang Ning (CHN) vs Lu Lan (CHN)

Women’s Doubles Lee Hyo Jung – Lee Kyung Won (KOR) – Yang Wei – Zhang Jiewen (CHN)

Among the finals, I am most interested about the hard fight between world No.1 Lin Dan and his compatriot Bao Chunlai. ##CONTINUE##They will deliver a splendid match to the audiences. Who will be the winner? Whom do you support? I wish Bao beat the world champion for there must be someone in the national badminton team coming out to threaten him. Harder competitions push a nation or a team forward quickly.

It’s mere my will. Let’s analyze the possibility with facts. Bao outplayed four top badminton players in this tournament including Olympic champion Taufik, world No.2 Lee Chong Wei and Macau Open winner Chen Jin, showing that he is in his peak form. With his outstanding performance, anything is possible.

Lin Dan, on his end, entered into badminton MS final with few obstacles except from Dane Jonassen.

According to the BWF statistics, the two badminton players have fought for 18 times, with 13 victories and 5 defeats for Lin Dan. Bao has had only a won over Lin Dan in the last 10 matches. It occurred in the badminton China Open in October last year. The latest battle was ended with Bao’s failure in the Good Luck Beijing badminton event.

Will Bao make a break through world champion with his top mode? Or will Lin Dan continue to dominate his teammate?

The form below is the details about their battles. Lin Dan 13:5 Bao Chunlai
Date Tournament Victory

Aug 19, 2007 2007 World Championship Lin Dan

Jul 15, 20072007 China Master Lin Dan

Mar 11, 2007 All England Open Lin Dan

Jan 28, 2007 Korea Super Open Lin Dan

Oct 22, 2006 2006 China Open Bao Chunlai

Sep 24, 2006 2006 World Championship Lin Dan

Nov 6, 2005 2005 Hong Kong Championship Lin Dan

Sep 4, 2005 2005 China Master Lin Dan

Apr 10, 2005 2005 Japan Open Lin Dan

Mar 5, 2005 2005 Germany Open Lin Dan

Nov 14, 2004 2004 China Open Lin Dan

Apr 7, 2004 2004 Japan Open Bao Chunlai

Mar 7, 2004 2004 Swiss Open Lin Dan

Nov 2, 2003 2003 Hong Kong Championship Lin Dan

Aug 24, 2003 2003 Singapore Open Lin Dan

Oct 21, 2001 2001 Denmark Open Bao Chunlai

Aug 19, 2001 2001 Singapore Open Bao Chunlai

Nov 12, 2000 2001 World Junior Championship Bao Chunlai

I have some suggestion for Bao Chunlai.

1. Bao should make a brief that beating Lin Dan is just like beat any other top players. That is, in psychology Bao should overcome the problems made by years of failure over Lin Dan.

2. Bao is more accomplished than Lin Dan in terms of badminton techniques. But Lin Dan is more aggressive with powerful strength. They are different types of shuttlers. Bao should take advantage of net play and be more patient to fight back to Lin Dan’s hard smash.

Whom do you support?

Recommended Reading:

1. Victor Badminton Predictions - Denmark Open

2. Badzine http://www.badzine.info/content/view/637/2/

Badminton Match: Zhang Ling VS Zhou Mi

Zhang Ning will have a hard fight over her former patriot Zhou Mi for a spot in the semi-finals of Denmark Open. As I mentioned in Badminton Denmark Open: Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang's Different Emotions, Zhang has not recovered from his lap injury occurred in Good Luck Beijing badminton event, which seriously affected her performance in the first 2 rounds. She experienced a lot of problems beating Sara Persson of Sweden in the first round, then Kaori Mori in the second, showing she’s quite far from her peak form. The Olympic champion should have beaten them in straight games if in her best mode.

So I suppose that Zhang would lose the game. After the publication of the latest world rank, Zhou Mi is in the No.17. She is eager to get a win over Zhang to promote herself to a high position. Zhou has won 2004 Olympic bronze medal and she is aiming to enter 2008 Beijing OG. ##CONTINUE##She has enough power to kick off any other players in the badminton world including Zhang Ning.

Let’s talk more about Zhou Mi(photo).

After retiring from Chinese national badminton team, Zhou Mi chose Hong Kong as her second hometown to go on her badminton career. She benefited from the proposal called “Quality Migrant Admission Scheme” by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. She was accepted for having brilliant scores including former Asian Games champion and former world No.1, following Wang Chen to represent Hong Kong badminton team. Thus Hong Kong has more power to challenge Chinese national team, which Li Yongbo does not expect to face.

In the former national player Gong Ruina’s eyes, it is also good to China that more powerful opponents result in higher level in badminton techniques.

In China, a national player’s transforming to other places always related the topic called patriotism. To avoid this, Hong Kong is the best choice for Zhou Mi for HK belongs to China.

Hong Kong is a better place for Zhou Mi to play badminton

As we all knew, there are so many excellent badminton players in Chinese national team that any of them could be the world champion. The competition is so hard that a few of them fail to represent China in the world badminton court. But Hong Kong is not the case. No one could threaten her center position.

A loose environment could help her make better achievements. Wang Chen is an example. I have to say that Wang was not the first-class player in national badminton team. After going to Hong Kong, Wang Chen beat the top player such as Xie Xingfang, Zhang Ning many times and became one of the hardest opponents to Chinese team.

Zhou was very satisfied with the change. She could enjoy badminton most rather than playing for better scores before.

Another factor is that Zhou’s injuries could be cured in HK. She was forced to quit national team because of her injuries.

To the question whether she could enter Beijing OG, she said that the first step for her was to win enough credits to qualify for it.

Badminton Denmark Open Analysis

Men’s Singles----the competition among Lin Dan, Taufik and Lee Chong Wei

China badminton MS is comprised of Lin Dan, Chen Jin, Bao Chunlai, Chen Yu and Chen Hong ranking world No.1, No.3, No.4, No.5, No.6 respectively. The powerful troops are aiming to score the title by beating other top players leading by Taufik, the Athens champion and world No.2 Lee Chong Wei, the famous Malaysia shuttler.

The reigning world champion Lin Dan is coming to his perfect form. Not a long time ago he beat Bao Chunlai in Good Luck Beijing badminton event finals as a gift for his birthday. He will have an encounter with Peter Gade, the host nation’s hope in quarter-finals if going through smoothly. It is great challenge to both sides. In my opinion, Lin Dan has the ability to defeat Gade. But the local audience will be the third man to help Gade. ##CONTINUE##

Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin are in the third quarter. The two seeds have to beat Taufik and Susilo to go ahead. So the quarter is called “dead quarter”. Bao Chunlai remains stable and steady which could be seen as both advantage and shortcoming. He should be more aggressive. Chen Jin is more confident after he beat Taufik in badminton Macau Open. He is quick with his feet and bat which enable him to win in a quick battle.

Chen Yu and Chen Hong are in the second quarter. If everything goes well, they will fight each other in the quarter-finals. Being world No.3 and No.5 respectively, Chen Yu and Chen Hong need to overtime their lack of physical fitness. Jonassen is the competitive opponent in this quarter.
There is no Chinese player in the fourth quarter. Thus Lee Chong Wei have a good luck to enter the next stage. But Sony, the runner-up of World Championship and Thai Boonask Ponsana also have the power to challenge him.

Women’s Singles----who is the No.1, Zhang Ning or Xie Xingfang?

China is expected to win the WS title for the superpower constituted by Xie Xingfang, Zhang Ning, Zhu Lin, Lu Lan and Jiang Yanjiao is presented. The first four of them dominates the top 4 of WS according to the latest world rank. Wang Chen from Hong Kong, German Xu Huaiwen and French Pi Hongyan are the hard competitors to them. Actually, fans are interested to know who will perform better between Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang rather than knowing which country will win the WS champion. An old Chinese saying goes: on the court, we are opponents; beyond the court, we are friends.

Zhang is eager to prove her powerful strength by a win against Xie for the latter just replaced her as world No.1. Perfect skills and rich experience will make up the physical lack caused by years’ injuries. The reigning world champion Zhu Lin and Jiang Yanjiao are in the third quarter. If Jiang can beat Mew Choo Wong, she will face Zhu Lin in the second round. Xie Xingfang and Lu Lan are in the fourth quarter. And it is possible for them to encounter in the quarter-finals.

Men’s Doubles

Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng and Xie Zhongbo/Guo Zhendong are selected to present for China. Cai/Fu are waiting to prove themselves again after losing the position of No.1. They will have a hard battle against Korean pair Jae Sung Jung/Jae Jin Lee in the fourth quarter. Xie Zhongbo/Guo Zhendong in the first quarter is likely to encounter World No.3 Indonesian pair Kido Markis/Setiawan Hendra.

Women's Doubles: Chinese pair dominance

Once Chinese players are involved in a tournament, the champion of WD is fixed. Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili, Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen, Gao Ling/Huang Sui and Yu Yang/Zhao Tingting present the Denmark Open. The first 3 pairs are also the world top 3. Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili and Yu Yang/Zhao Tingting are in the first quarter. So there must be one of them absent from the last 4.

Mixed Doubles

Li Yongbo intends to give more opportunities to the new pairs. Instead of the No.1 Zheng Bo/Gao Ling, Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen, He Hanbin/Yu Yang, Xu Chen/Zhao Tingting represent China to play in Denmark Open. Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen who have just won title in Macau Open are expected to continue their outstanding form. He Hanbin/Yu Yang is possible to fight against Indonesian pair Limpele/Marissa in the quarter-finals. Xu Chen/Zhao Tingting probably encounter English pair Robertson/Emms for a place in semi-finals.

Badminton Strategy: Gao Ling's Choice

All the top players are playing in the Badminton Denmark Open, with the exception of the duo of Zheng Bo and Gao Ling, the world No. 1 mixed doubles. Do you know why? It is a strategic arrangement.

Since scoping the first Olympic title in Sydney 2000, Gao Ling has been playing both as women doubles and mixed doubles. Gao Ling chose mixed doubles instead of women doubles in Good Luck Beijing event, but finally lost the final game. It showed that Gao Ling was too tired with 2 categories. ##CONTINUE##

As for Denmark Open which was an important event to get credits, Gao merely applied to play as women doubles.

Let me give you the reason. Zheng and Gao’s credits are ranking No.1, leaving the No.2 Indonesia pairs far behind. Regarding Gao Ling’s tiredness, there is no need for her to play 2 categories in each stage of world badminton Superseries. This ensures her best form to play on the court. Of course, the arrangement will be changed according to the credits adjustment.

The truth is, Gao will play as mixed doubles with Zheng in badminton France Open instead of women doubles.

Badminton Training: Perseverance Is the Only Way

Are you playing hard to improve your skills? Most badminton fanatic like me enjoys competing with other amateurs to prove the skills progress. Even some of them would like to hire a private coach. I learned a lot from a coach in campus who has ever been a professional player.

But badminton techniques are not built in a day. There will be a certain stage for players hard to cross no matter he or she is professional or amateur. Have you faced the same problem? Are you going to give up?

Listen, perseverance is the only way to a higher level. ##CONTINUE##

Here is an article written by badmintonsecrets.com which gives some helpful advice. I recommend it to my readers who have the same problem in your badminton training.

Dear Robert,

I've had a little bit of training now, and am feeling that my badminton skills are improving. But now I feel that I can't get any better than this. Do you think this is my limit? Please have some advice.

Rgds,

Weer
----------------------------------------------------------

My reply:
----------------------------------------------------------
Dear Weer,

Congratulations on getting to the stage where your skills are improving!

What you are experiencing at the moment is a 'consolidation period' that the brain goes through whenever we learn anything new.

Everything that you have learnt so far has lead to your game improving bit by bit. Now your brain is sitting on what it has learnt and making sure that it understands what has happened, and how it all fits in with everything else it knows.

It is even possible that your game will go down a little(or even a lot!) - this happens to every player at some stage, and is nothing to worry about.

It is all the natural process of learning.

There are two important things that you must do now.

1) Don't give up! If you give up there is a 100% chance that you won't get any better :) Perseverance is one of the key attributes of successful players, for the exactreason that every successful player has to go through these 'consolidation periods'.

2) DON'T think that this is the best you will ever play. As long as you keep going, keep learning and persevering,you will get better as your brain gets ready to take inmore and more information.

This is covered in more detail in Chapter 6 of the Badminton Secrets book, when we look at the steps the brain goes through when we learn any new task.

The main thing to remember is that it is perfectly natural to NOT improve every time you play, but that overall you WILL keep going in the right direction.

Regards in badminton,

Robert
----------------------------------------------------------

I hope this can help in YOUR game. It is the ability to recognize that bad patches are all part of getting better that can make real differences to your badminton.

Wish you great progress!

Li Yongbo: Chinese Badminton Team Is Not a Dream Team

Li Yongbo, head coach of Chinese badminton team, wrote in his blog to claim to the world that Chinese team is not a so-called dream team. I translate his words below:

We met some difficulties in preparing for the OG 2008. Although we got three gold medals in the world championship this year and defended the Sudirman cup, many problems are occurred in the players and more beyond that. I summarize four points in the following:

1. A lot of powerful enterprises will sponsor OG and each country taking part in it will spend enough time and money on it. Thus a great many excellent players are attracted to come to Beijing. Accordingly, there will be even harder battles than before.

2. We ourselves faced great challenge from public expectation. Beijing Olympic Games, for China, is a home event and no opportunity is better than it. On the other side, it is more of challenge than the chance. Players have to win without other choice. They are under high pressure. Due to the replacement from old players to new ones and injury, system training is hard to accomplish.

3. There is not much of advantage for China adopting the new 21-point system. It makes all the badders in the same starting line. In order to adapt China to it in as less time as possible, a specialist team is set up and more scientific researchers are brought to us. We hope that the secrets of 21-point could be known ASAP to give more guidance to the shuttlers.

4. We are obliged to change traditional training proposal which is more helpful with the combination of match and exercise. To gain more credits, to get the full 3 tickets for OG, players have to play more tournaments than ever. This affects their forms, even more injuries followed.

The 4 problems above should be overcome before next summer.

High expectation means high pressure. Nowadays, some people regard badminton as China's diving and table tennis and call them dream teams. Badminton is China’s traditional prevailing sports. Of course I am proud of and have confidence in it.

But as for dream team, I have to say we just make a dream at night to score titles. Instead of tens of gold medals for some kinds of sports in OG, there are only 5 for badminton. I wish badminton fans and media give more space to shuttlers for too high pressure surely has a deeply bad influence on the badminton national team. If so, better performance will be shown to you.

In my opinion, the four are the common problems for each country involving in badminton to face. But for China, 21-point system reduces its advantage to other countries. His call for lowering the expectation is reasonable, but will be useless in the end. No one can stop the strongest willing to win in the hometown especially in the dominance field.

Competitive sports is just like this.

There must be many head coaches in other countries preparing for OG 2008. What are they doing and thinking? Do you have some suggestion to them? Comment on this issue.

Do You Know the Benefits of Badminton

Occasionally, I found an interesting thing that belonging to the national team, badminton players are all tall and willowy, while table tennis players have different shapes. Yes, playing badminton helps fitness and makes one more beautiful. I don’t know how this happen. Maybe it owes to a lot of running and jumping. Are you able to do a jump-smash? I can, but I jump much lower than Lin Dan. Ha-ha. It is more killing than normal smash. Players jump as high as possible to meet the shuttle in the air in order to hit it earlier and gain a steeper angle. It requires strong legs.

Badminton shows Women’s rights. How can I say that? Due to physiological difference, men players have advantages of both speed and strength compared to women ones. But badminton is a kind of sports that requires more skills than physical quality. I am amateur player. Most of us play badminton as a lovely hobby. It is just normal that women player beat men player. The equality of men and women shows here. Conquering men in the badminton court is possible for women as long as they are skilled enough. (But there is a gap between professional men and women players)

Also a short man can beat a tall one as I mentioned in why I love badminton so much before.

It is suitable for all teenagers, young man, and middle-aged, even old people. I have ever learned from a 63-year-old man. Why? Although I am much younger than him, I always lose in the competition with him.

As a recreational game, nothing could prevent one from playing without the net. As one of the most flexible sports, badminton can be played on any kind of relatively flat and hard surface, either outdoors or indoors as you like. But honestly speaking, I love to play on the professional court indoors.

And I’d like to show as a professional player, although actually I am not. It brings me good mood and better performance on the court. Are you the same badminton fanatic as me?

Playing badminton regularly also gives multiple health benefits and promotes longevity. See this article Health Benefits of Playing Badminton

Badminton helps you make more friends as well.

Are you going to join us? Whether you are just trying to kill some spare time or reap the benefits from one of the best exercises that you will ever get, badminton will guarantee that the time you spend will be well worth it.

Don’t hesitate! Go get racket and shuttlecock, have fun with your close friends!

Response to the Badminton Blog

After I wrote Argue with the Badminton Blog, Victor Ching（the webmaster of the Badminton Blog） replied to me with the following:

Thank you for the link.

1. I think it is unethical. Sure, Lin Dan might have beaten Chen Yu, but why deprive the fans of good badminton? They paid to watch badminton, and the walkover occurred. It’s not a matter or who would have won, but this is not just unethical, but it also decreases the popularity of the sport.

2. I have checked. Most, if not all tournaments, like the Indonesian Open, Malaysian open etc do not use or use minimal amounts of umpires from the same country. They avoid it if it is avoidable, but China, they just put all Chinese linejudges.

3. Taufik asked for the shuttle to change. The umpire disallowed it. Taufik is not my idol. I am not even a fan of Taufik! I am from Malaysia, and I support Lee. Please watch the game before making allegations. Taufik was disallowed to change the shuttle.

And if you want the truth to prevail, what’s wrong with my call of investigation?

As for my choice of vocabulary, i.e.: cheater, I did not accuse China of being a cheater. I put a question mark, China, the cheater? Meaning: is China a cheater? The answer can be yes or no, and I have made no such allegations on China cheating.

Please clear this up with your readers.

Thank You
Victor
October 11, 2007 9:48 PM

Yes, I reply as follows：

1. How did you draw the conclusion walkover occurred? From your experience? Let me make my point more clearly. My questions given to you did not emphasize who would have won in the end.

Do you think Lin Dan can beat Chen Yu each time? No, we can only say possible.

If All England champion is important, is German Open champion important either? Both are important.

Whether did Chen Yu want to be a champion once? He wanted absolutely.

Ok, if things all went as your imagination could Chen Yu win the All England 100 percent as long as he gave up in German Open? No, we can only say possible.

So, Chen Yu had the possibility to beat Lin Dan and he was eager for a title. Why should he give walkover to Lin Dan?

If you or I beat Taufik, we could make an apparent conclusion that Taufik gave a walkover to us. But anything is possible when the most powerful badminton players compete with each other. Sometimes players are in great shape, sometimes in poor form. How could you define walkover?

2 & 3. Both are about linesmen and umpires. As we all have seen, there are a lot of criticism to the umpires. And it never ends. I suggest IBF to set up a committee to supervise them.

You meant that China influenced the judgment of the linesmen and umpires. Let me repeat my sentence here. China has got so many gold medals in kinds of tournaments held beyond China. Could Li Yongbo or China badminton team influence those umpires from any other country in the world? Please remember this.

A fan of Taufik commented on this badminton issue on Victor Ching’s blog as below.

Anonymous said:

Taufik is a great player. I am a big fan of him. But do me a favour not to find excuses when he loses, no matter to whom. Please lose like a man, not to Taufik but to you.
October 11, 2007 1:24 PM

It is nothing wrong with your call of investigation. We are discussing on blog the 3 solid evidences of yours which your call was based on. Everyone has the right to ask for investigation if he or her thought a game was unfair. I have clearly given my attitude on the matter.

OK, you just had doubts about cheating.

All-China or International Badminton Tournament

An international tournament became a national event? It probably was a joke. But it was true.

Good Luck Beijing 2007 International Badminton Invitational Tournament got underway as a test event for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at the Beijing University of Technology in Beijing. The Olympic badminton matches will be held there.

It’s a very good chance for the badminton players worldwide to know the venue and its facilities. But unfortunately, most of them invited withdrew from the event except for Nguyen Tien Minh (men’s singles) from Vietnam. The famous Pi Hongyan was one of them.

You know why? Because most of the players are hungry to get more credits in order to earn their Olympic place. It may be helpful to know the venue to improve their Olympic performance. But it is less important than world ranking points. They prefer to save energy to take part in other tournaments that brings them points. If a player fails to enter Olympic Games, the venue has nothing to do with him. An excellent article Olympic year—what does it mean described this.

OK, so much for this.

Lin Dan, Zhu Lin and Nguyen Tien Minh are all satisfied with the new venue. You know, air-conditioning and wind can affect Badminton seriously. According to introduction of Mr Zhang Ailin, the design of the stadium made the draught “well-controlled.”

Oh, have I told you the most exciting feature of it?

The wind will be blowing under your seat when you watch badminton games in the stadium. The temperature will be 78.8F inside it in the hottest days next summer. Also for the players, the speed of wind will be less than 2 meters per second. Wonderful, isn’t it?

I am certain that you are eager to see the venue. No need to wait, here comes. Is the last photo like a shuttlecock? See the photoes: Does the Badminton Stadium for Olympic Games Look like a Badminton Shuttlecock

Argue with the Badminton Blog

Victor Ching, a badminton fanatic from Malaysia, wrote in his badminton blog to call for the International Badminton Federation (hereinafter knows as the BWF) to investigate claims accusing China of foul play.

I do not agree with him at all and not mean to flame anyone.

I am a Chinese, but it is not the key factor affecting one’s attitude towards this issue. Facts speak louder than words. You could only draw your conclusion with facts and logical inference.

Let’s see the 3 so-called solid evidences he listed in the "hot news open challenge China cheater" which were repeated in his next post "response to previous post". I strongly opposed the word “cheater” for it was mere his imagination before the final judgment. Are you going to draw more eyeballs with an astonishing title? But it is not what I want to argue with you, let us analyze the 3 listed.

1. German Open: Chen Yu gave a walkover to Lin Dan, while making the finals of the All England one week later. Is this fast recovery, or an attempt to save energy? While I don’t think this is strictly prohibited, I still think such walkovers are not in the spirit of badminton.

Let me ask you a few questions. Do you think Lin Dan can beat Chen Yu each time? If All England champion is important, is German Open champion important either? Whether did Chen Yu want to be a champion once? Ok, if things all went as your imagination could Chen Yu win the All England 100 percent as long as he gave up in German Open?

2. China Masters: Almost all linesmen and umpires in several crucial matches involving Chinese players were from China. This not only raises many people’s eyebrows, but it also represents the unprofessional organization on behalf of the Chinese badminton governing body. In addition to this, there were several crucial line calls that went China’s way. In an international Super Series tournament, how can an official be from the same country as one of the participants? Wouldn’t this account for a conflict of interest?

I do not want to say more words on it. You will know the same situation if you check the tournaments taking place in any other country like Indonesian Open, Singapore Open, etc. Maybe you could advise the BWF to add a new rule that you personally wrote.

3. Macau Open: Chen Hong gave a highly controversial walkover to Chen Jin, while appearing to be fine the day of the match. Does Chen Hong really have an injury, or is he faking it for the benefit of his countryman? Another controversial act was by Chen Jin in the finals to wipe his sweat on the shuttle to make it heavier, allegedly to neutralize Taufik Hidayat’s smash and net play. While this might constitute bad sportsmanship, and being against the spirit of the sport, should this be allowed?

The upper part of 3 is the same as 1. I do not explain any more.

I could not help laughing seeing the rest part. How much I envy your powerful imagination! Use your common sense. Did Taufik Hidayat have the right to ask the umpire for a new shuttlecock? According to your imagination, each detail action could be a trick. If Taufik askes to use a new racket during the game (we can see this often), are you going to say that he intends to make it heavier?

To conclude, you did not expect China to win. Or maybe Taufik is your idol. Unfortunately, China won in the end. You could not accept the facts and turn out to look for excuses.

Yes, China is powerful in badminton field. But it is not the country’s fault. I have to say China’s dominance depends on scientific training and rich experience of years. Any other country or player could be the threat as long as he is skilled enough.

China won so many badminton world champions. If you are right, can Li Yongbo influence any other umpires and linesmen beyond China?

Each country has its own advantage in sports that other countries do not need to envy. Just like that we can not say we encounter a bad referee with our constant failure when playing basketball with NBA players. Complaint is not the solution, envy is not the solution, accepting the facts and practising hard are. What’s more, BWF proposed more and more measures including modifying the rules to restrict China. Changing from 15-point to 21-point is an example.

Despite of different opinions, I support what you did to discover the truth. The same sentence as you: Let the truth prevail!

Finally, Badminton, for an individual, is a kind of exciting sports to take part in. I think we have a lot of ideas to share with readers.

Why I Love Badminton So Much

Do you know why I am crazy about badminton?

A simple answer: It has nothing to do with height.

Let me tell you I am only 5 feet 6 inches. I played basketball in my college and postgraduate time, not professional. In spite of being short, I was determined to play hard to be an excellent player. You know, an NBA player called Box was my example. And the famous Potato --Anthony Jerome Webb, 1986’s dunking champion, was just 5 feet 7 inches.

Once I met our coach in bathroom, I asked him how a short man like me can beat taller ones. He told me to do the 2 things: practicing 3-point shot and breakthrough. Ok, I followed the advice and played even harder. I was skilled enough to be a good guard.

But I have to say basketball is a game for tall men. I always faced this kind of situation: I could not get the ball for nearly half an hour when I played basketball in campus with people I don’t know without teamwork. What the worse was, I was not able to get rebounds.

Things began to change when badminton came to me.

I am possible to beat any taller players as long as my skills are better than them. That is, your success depends on your skills, how hard you practice, not height that you have no solution to change.

Lin Dan 5 feet 9.5 inches, the No.1 badminton player can beat Bao Chunlai 6 feet 2.8 inches. In women’s singles, being short may be an advantage. For instance, Gong Zhichao(China), the 2000 Olympic champion and Liem Suei King(Indonesia) the 2004 Olympic winner are both 5 feet 4.2 inches.

If you want to stand out from the crowd in sports with unchangeable height, badminton is your best choice. Come on, my friends! :)