After their strong display on this year TC and UC. Can we conclude that Korea is the 2nd strongest badminton nation after China?! IMO they have a very well-rounded team and has decent players in each of the category. Meanwhile, Ina and Denmark are lacking of new talents to replace their aging elders. But I also find Malaysia is emerging the 3rd place (and taking over INA) but they are still missing the mental strength and consistently of the Chinese and Korean. Thought and Opinion? Maybe mod can help me to setup an yes / no poll.
It's hard to rank nation with just the Thomas Cup or Uber Cup alone. What happens if the format of play would be 3 doubles and 2 singles? Or 5 singles 4 doubles? By that who knows China might not be the strongest nation? But by the current format of play, I would say Korea would certainly beat Malaysia by 3-1. It's not hard to figure out isnt it?
In my opinion, we should consider other aspects like current world ranking and championship title of their shuttlers and...also dont forget mix doubles which not included in TC and UC..
Well, I have to agree with yen_saw. In fact I would dare to say that Malaysia is second rank below China in TC respect. QUoted from the outspoken Li YongBo's comments which stated that Malaysian team has stretched their team capability. Its been a long time that China have not met such challenge given by other country in Badminton lately. Let see the stats: LCW easily put off Lin Dan straight set whereby Korean First Single had no answer to Lin Dan, Fairurizuan & Zakry easily put off the experienced China Side (straight set), The only problem with Ken Kiat and hs partner is they are supposed to win as expected, but they failed. Hafiz and WCH are well, ermm well calculated risk then. both are on the weakest link -Given Hafiz Hashim shld put off that weak mentality and start to show real stuff. OR Maybe they shld put HH to fight Bao Chunlai earlier as he got a good record with this BC guy.Malaysia shld easily cruise Over China if HH vs BC (as commented by One of the Indo Coach) and GOlden Dble KK/TBH did their what their supposed to do. Korean is good in Double, however failed to shine over the weakest double of China in final. Well all thing also not well for Korean, eventhough they try to play avoidance strategy when they purposely lose to Malaysia - Well hw unsporting attitude (THIS IS ONE OF THE REASON KOREAN SHLDN'T BE THE SECOND strongest in this TC) - Cowardice Strategy. Indo surprisingly struggling to fight Korean = 3-0 flat is worst record for Indonesian team. I' expecting one my fav single player -TH to shine . Well it was not his day then. Well Overall Look at the record for better proof China vs Korea = 3-1? China vs Malaysia (3-2) lor? Just figure it out . WHich is the best? And Malaysia wld certainly has the ability to beat Korean, well this is their first time in final with such cowardice Strategy... Open for comments sorry if there are not so precise comments. Well just an overview and simplistic approach.
I agree with most your points and they are pretty equal on paper. But you do forgot to factor in mentality, which is a known problem for the Malaysia team. It is not hard to find Malaysia is under performing in big events when comparing the numbers of OG, WC and AE title that both countries has claimed.
Yes Wong8Egg, agreeed! Yeah it seems that there are issues in Mental department of Malaysia Badminton Players. Now the way I see it became a national plague for all sports huhuhhu except SQUASH I think ( Our SQUASH Princess yet again defended her champ title and still World No. 1 Squash Female Player) Well All I can say is that these guys need to realize their potential and bulk up. We've got one of the best coach around for Single (Misbun Sidek Himself) and Rexy for double. Clearly, Misbun also frustrated with lack of discipline shown by HH and it's also the same for the MD - KK/TBH unexpected play quality - it was simply below par shown by this fellas. Hopefully there would be better performance formulated for incoming Olympic as we have to fight China in its Own DEN.....
CHN and KOR have very strong and stable players. Individually and as a team, they possess the skills, and also the numbers to forge ahead into the late stages of tournaments. But how do you rate "best badminton nation"? Do you just look at the male players? CHN has superb athletes both male and female. As for KOR, their female side is nowhere near CHN's. MAS only has LCW emerging as a stable player, and non-else. -dave
LYB had commented in an interview that he saw significant improvement made by many countries; netherland, germany, and korea. (i forgot if he mentioned japan or not).
Well LCW isalso not exclxluded from this plague.... Malaysia used to superior in MD...wld love to c much better from D then.
MAS is lacking in depth in the MS area. After LCW, the up and coming youngsters have been inconsistent in their performances. Don't count all the oldies (WCH, Hafiz, Roslin, LTS etc etc) because they'll never be used again at the TC. MAS must be bolder to blood their young MS players to see if they'll make the grade. KOR will lose LHI and SSM after the Olympics and also need replacements for them. LIke his MAS counterparts, Hong Ji Hoon, their 4th TC MS player is still a somewhat unproven quantity at international level. Unfortunately, my knowledge of KOR men players are limited. Maybe someone like event and other Korean fans can add further. Both Kor and MAS MDs are strong and deep, so it's a saw-off there. (PS, I'm only assessing for the men's side of the game)
Mas or Korea better can still be argued. Having said that, Korean coaches definitely have brains. Strategized and helped their team to get into the final while the Malaysian coaches are only good in pointing fingers. They loved KKK/TBH when they win and joined the masses to crucified them when they lost.
I personally feel Mas will win korea 3-2 Here the point Park lost LCW JJS/LYD bt CTF/LWW LHI bt Wong LJJ/HJM lost KKK/TBH SSM lost Hafiz unless something unexpected happens
And neither will Lee Jae-Jin/Hwang Ji-Man lose to KKK/TBH. MAS is nowhere near KOR in a team event. -dave