Aviva Open semi & final matches
Went to the Indoor stadium for the semis yesterday. The 2 matches I was particularly looking forward to was the indo vs indo mxd and candra/tony (indo) vs fu/cai (china), & both didn't dissappoint.
Mxd event was really exciting coz both pairs were definitely world class. Personally I favoured Flandy/Vita coz I saw how good flandy was (& the fact that he's left handed as well!), & only by watching him during warm up did I realize how talented he was. He probably has the most flexible wrist/strongest drive in the indo national team, & that is definitely the highest complement coz indo men's doubles have the reputation of being the strongest in drive & net play. Vita also played very well and was equal to her task of matching Lilyana, the strongest mxd woman in the world. Three set later, Flandy/vita were on their way to the final!
It was an easy kill in the final, as I've expected before the match. Their opponent was the impressive thai world no 3 pair of sudket/saralee, who has beaten world no 2 pair xie/zhang the day before. However, they very much depended on sudket's smashing at the back, and the indo pair plays the driving style. Flandy controlled the match thruout with his unconventional mxd play, and left the thai with no chance. Flandy/Vita are the champions in the category! I think they've much more to go as a new pairing, although Flandy is already 33 this year. Next aim: winning the Olympics!!
Men's doubles also lived up to its top billing. Candra/Tony has met Cai/Fu in the previous super series semis, and has lost on both occasions. They seemed to have more preparation this time, and Tony was back to his imperious best form, controlling the net and certainly worthy of his best player tag given to him a few years back. Candra was doing ok but definitely wasn't at his best. they won the 1st set and was on even ground with the chinese in the 2nd. However, they weren't able to close the set and let the chinese back into the game, losing 24-22. There was no way back for them in the rubber set, as they've used up their energy to focus on winning the 2nd set. The chinese won the 3rd easily, depriving me the chance of watching my idols play in the final =(
Credit has to be given to Fu/Cai though, coz their fighting spirit definitely served them well. They were also down 1 set in the final vs Choong/Lee (Malaysia), and almost lost the 2nd set after they saved 2 match points. In the rubber, they were down 15-6 and fought hard to win the game 21-18, when odds were stacked against them. Juz gotta give it to them for their perseverance, & truly worthy of their world no 1 ranking.
Indonesia Open is next & it starts tmr. Hopefully Indo can come out from its recent slump and start winning some titles. I'm betting Taufik for the MS, Nova/Lilyana for the MXD, and Candra/Tony for the MD. As much as I want to be optimistic about our chance in the women's, it looks like China is gonna dominate for at least another 2-3 years =( Hopefully we can unearth another Susi Susanti soon!
Mxd event was really exciting coz both pairs were definitely world class. Personally I favoured Flandy/Vita coz I saw how good flandy was (& the fact that he's left handed as well!), & only by watching him during warm up did I realize how talented he was. He probably has the most flexible wrist/strongest drive in the indo national team, & that is definitely the highest complement coz indo men's doubles have the reputation of being the strongest in drive & net play. Vita also played very well and was equal to her task of matching Lilyana, the strongest mxd woman in the world. Three set later, Flandy/vita were on their way to the final!
It was an easy kill in the final, as I've expected before the match. Their opponent was the impressive thai world no 3 pair of sudket/saralee, who has beaten world no 2 pair xie/zhang the day before. However, they very much depended on sudket's smashing at the back, and the indo pair plays the driving style. Flandy controlled the match thruout with his unconventional mxd play, and left the thai with no chance. Flandy/Vita are the champions in the category! I think they've much more to go as a new pairing, although Flandy is already 33 this year. Next aim: winning the Olympics!!
Men's doubles also lived up to its top billing. Candra/Tony has met Cai/Fu in the previous super series semis, and has lost on both occasions. They seemed to have more preparation this time, and Tony was back to his imperious best form, controlling the net and certainly worthy of his best player tag given to him a few years back. Candra was doing ok but definitely wasn't at his best. they won the 1st set and was on even ground with the chinese in the 2nd. However, they weren't able to close the set and let the chinese back into the game, losing 24-22. There was no way back for them in the rubber set, as they've used up their energy to focus on winning the 2nd set. The chinese won the 3rd easily, depriving me the chance of watching my idols play in the final =(
Credit has to be given to Fu/Cai though, coz their fighting spirit definitely served them well. They were also down 1 set in the final vs Choong/Lee (Malaysia), and almost lost the 2nd set after they saved 2 match points. In the rubber, they were down 15-6 and fought hard to win the game 21-18, when odds were stacked against them. Juz gotta give it to them for their perseverance, & truly worthy of their world no 1 ranking.
Indonesia Open is next & it starts tmr. Hopefully Indo can come out from its recent slump and start winning some titles. I'm betting Taufik for the MS, Nova/Lilyana for the MXD, and Candra/Tony for the MD. As much as I want to be optimistic about our chance in the women's, it looks like China is gonna dominate for at least another 2-3 years =( Hopefully we can unearth another Susi Susanti soon!
posted by leonhart @ 10:40 PM
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