yea, it's a bad treatment to gail when nathan intentionally lift on the last flick serve which guarantee a bullet return shot for the unprepared gail.
i didn't see that, i had almost lost interest by then. doing that is just totally out of order to set up a smash which you know that your parnter will not return. if i did it i doubt my partner would want to play with me again
strangely, when things are going Nathan's way, it is always Gail who gets blamed when she makes a mistake. nowadays, whenever Gail makes a mistake, she immediate say sorry to calm Nathan down. but yet when Nathan doesn't feel like it, he just gives up the whole match. i agree with the suggestion, Blair/Emms will form quite a good pair, i think. perhaps it is time for the English supporters to send BadmintonEngland (BAofE) a mail?
On the subject of the flick serve. Zhang Jun realised Nathan had given up so kept flick serving to him, one time he didn't move. The occasion we are talking about was simply as he can't move back to hit flat or down so hit a high clear. Nathans big weakness is not being able to move back when in midcourt position or flick serve. Kwun: I don't think thisould work. They (emms/robertson)can still be in top 5 by getting to QF/SF/Finals and not winning the big tournaments, and BE are happy with this (they get their results), and Nathan/gail happy as they get their funding (although maybe not happy to lose, I don't know but nathan is obviousley happy to lose). Can Blair/Emms stay in top 5 comfortably or at least make an improvement on NR/GE pairing?I think it will be hard for badminton England to justify a split, as if a new pairing do not at least match NR/GE results (ie at least 1 AE victory) then they will be flamed. They are both approaching 30, so little chance to change much now. Only chance to change is if Either NR or GE request to split, which I can't see happening either at their stage of play.
i think it is time to see a new male playing at world class standard for england. most of the england players are reaching a fair old age now and should be thinking of retirement fairly soon. as for gail i still think she is the best or second best female mixed player in the world so she should definetely keep playing for the time being. she should find a new partner who is younger perhaps between 23-27 age group and they should start to build a partnership from there. it's just a shame that there aren't many younger players which are upto the high standard.
Gail don't forget is also 28, the same age as Nathan and having a partner with a big age difference is not ideal because the partnership is not likely to last long, as one of the players will have to retire sooner. Also the younger players need time to develop. Nathan is skills-wise still one of the best doubles players in the world, its just he needs to sort out his attitude. Also i'm sure that England will produce world class mixed pairs in the near future as traditionally England has been very strong in this event. What England really need to produce [slightly off-topic]is some world class singles players and I think the coaching setup needs to be revised in order for this to happen
i say send players off to live at the NBC when they are 12, they can recieve hard training every day and it would benefit england's badminton sooo much. (it's what they do in china)
but the problem is the coaching at the NBC is not actually that good. If you ask the top players from the counties where they would prefer to train, the NBC or their own county, they would choose their own back yard any time
i've never actually been to the NBC, are the facilities good (i guess they should be). if we were to go to the NBC for training we would have the surrey U13 coach anyway
This thread is strarting to diverge into the BE setup, if you wish to discuss this, then please start a new thread, it actually hasn't been discussed too much before.
i'm trying not to get off topic but the BE setup would be too wider area to start a new thread. you would need to go into a certain area of the setup
i have set one up, it is called "badminton england training setup?" and is in forums under proffesional players. now lets get back to the topic . who would you say dominated the net in the final? in my opinion it was gail but it was very close between her and gao ling
Actually Simon Archer has expressed that he wants to continue for a while. I reckon he is more hungry and determined than Nathan Robertson, even though he is a bit older. I can see Archer and Emms doing no worse than the current pairing, as Emms game is now a lot more stable. Archer has more fire, both power and within, just don't know if the body will hold.
just what the partnership needs, gail has just improved her defence dramatically so if simon has fire and power it will be a perfect combination. maybe one of them are members here and will take our advice
Archer/Emms already been and gone. Yes Archer has fire, and is still a very good player accurate, fairly consistent and good tactically, but no where near the level that gail requires. and i dont think they would no reach the level NR/GE have at present (IMHO) Gail dominated the net. Gao actually played a very poor final by her standards, many missed chances to kill, and even more oppurtunities to seize advantage. The game was won in the mid and rearcourt however, as Zhang Jun played very good tactically forcing Emms to the back often, and with far better defence than Nathan, and played his attacking shot with good effect (although not at his most powerful). Gao rarely finished the rallies at all, unlike Gail who finished off most of ENG pairs chances. It was a very intriguing game, and a sign of a great pair that when Gao played poorly, Zhang covered her as many times gao has covered Zhangs mistakes bad days.
Nathan! Hi Everyone!! I know Nathans reactions very well as I´ve played him both as a junior and senior. He always seem play best when he is trying to prove someone is wrong about him. He should actually read this thread as it might fire him up to prove all of you guys wrong. I agree that it´s disrespectful towards Gail not to fight in the 3rd set. He has a sense for the drama and he might make it look like he doesn´t care, but be sure he does. I think he felt appalled not to win one of the 5 matchpoints and was simple overwhelmed to have to play another set to win. It also gives the chinese great confidence to take the second set practically having lost it. Even though, this is no excuse for giving up. Kind regards Jonas
it just looked like he had given up from his body language, when i have let a game go to the 3rd set then i sometimes lose it very quickly
I've skimmed quickly through this thread reading the majority of replies. I think while maybe Nathan's attempt at the third set was half-hearted, I disagree with blaming him so directly... Nathan always IMO seems to play with emotion, he's disappointed if he loses a set, makes a bad shot, etc. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It could be that sometimes, that's what pushes him to try harder. Also, with respect to the fact he is a professional, he's still human . I always try to play my best but sometimes, if I'm just having a bad day or playing poorly, I do get discouraged and then it gets harder and harder to take control of the situation and back to a reasonable form, I don't see why it's so different with 'professionals'...I know they're supposed to be above that, but I'm sure there's a certain point where it will still definately bother them. I've seen plenty of doubles/mixed doubles pairs not working well together, or playing half-hearted, I believe they just don't show it as obviously as Nathan does. It's a shame for Gail, I agree, and the fans, but, as I say when I lose, there's always a next time . I definately think they should stick together, most of the time they're on form, and when they are, they're one of my favourite things to watch.
nathan should change his attitude, he shouldnt have just given up, if its a no-bearing game then maybe but for crying out loud its the AE XD finals.
