Taufik goes out with pride..

I did a post on Taufik’s lost to Wong Choon Han recently. Even though he lost the game, I take off my hats to Taufik for being present at the games despite being admitted for Dengue and for giving everything he had against Choon Han. Its not easy for anyone to come back from Dengue and play against top class players; Taufik did just that and it proves that he has matured and he’s truly a professional in the sport… He gave Choon Han a run for his money in the first set however it wasn’t enough to win. He went out with style and gracefully. In my mind I thought that if Taufik were to win the first set, then he would get thru to the next round. Anyhow, I do hope to see Taufik playing more this year and I do hope that he shows us more of his talent in the future tournaments.

To those who missed out on the game, here’s some highlights I managed to get from youtube.. you can also check the Badminton Olympics LIVE here.

Badminton Day 2 & 3 - Wong "CHUN" Han and Maria Kristen does the unexpected

Hey Folks,

Sunday was the second day of the Badminton competition with the early rounds of the Women's singles and doubles. Top-seeded Xie Xingfang and Athens gold medalist ZHANG Ning, won their opening matches in women's singles with little struggle. Not much talk about the Sunday's game.

Let's talk more about today's games in Day 3. Most of the seeded Men's and Women's players entered the courts today. To my surprise, we had 4 upsets today. Firstly one of my predicted finalists in the Women's singles, Tine Rasmussen; she went down to Maria Kristen in three games. Maria once again used her fighting spirit to come back from a game down to win 18-21, 21-19 and 21-14. Looks like we have a new contender in town… Maria will be climbing the ranks faster than I thought.

In another Women's singles match, World No. 15 Saina Nehwal of India beat sixth seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong in the Badminton Women's Singles round of 16. Saina lost the first game 19-21, however came back strong in the second and third to win 21-11, 21-11. I think its Saina’s first ever win over Wang Cheng.

The third upset is more of a shocker as the defending Olympic Women's Doubles Champion China Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen were upset by unseeded Japan's MAEDA Miyuki and SUETSUNA Satoko 21-8, 21-23 and 14-21. Looks like Yong Bo’s chances of more than 3 Gold’s looks slimmer…

Next, we had the defending Olympic Men's Singles Champion Taufik entering the court in his first match against Wong "CHUN" Choon Han. Taufik, didn't look himself (well I dont think anyone can recover from dengue that fast) in the game while Choon Han looked determined and fully fit to take on Taufik. The opening game was a point to point fight whereby Choon Han came out tops at the end. There were some debatable line calls however, non of the players really made a fuss. Taufik gave his best in the game however it was not enough to stop Choon Han from causing the fourth upset of today.

To me, Choon Han dominated the rallies and he was fighting for every shot (Even made a few dives to save some of Taufik’s smashes – not bad for a 31 year old chap). Taufik however looked weak and we could see that his concentration wasn’t fully focused on the however, he managed to create some good moments in the game with some good trick shots and some good defense. Choon Han however played a more consistent game; hitting some very good net plays and some powerful and played a more aggressive game to win 21-19 and 21-16.
The third upset is more of a shocker as the defending Olympic Women's Doubles Champion China Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen were upset by unseeded Japan's MAEDA Miyuki and SUETSUNA Satoko 21-8, 21-23 and 14-21.

Besides all the upsets, the favourites managed to cruise thru to the last 16 with ease. I've selected the top pix from day 3... I'll let these pix tell you the story.. Images are from Getty Images, for more of these fantastic images visit gettyimages.com.


(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

(Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images)


(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)


(Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images)

(Photo by: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images)

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

In my opinion, you should expect more upsets to come in day 4.. Till then do come back to my blog for more updates...

Ciao da mao..