Am I the only person who thought it was clear that both Xie/Zhang looked fatigued and sluggish??
Zhang Yawen, of course, has an excuse.
But what was up with Xie??? Was he ill? because he certainly looked it.
It was clear he was struggling and looked weak and slow throughout. He hardly ever smashed, instead resorting to pointless drops, during the majority of the match. Only when it looked desperate during the later stages of the match did he reluctantly resort to smashing, which in all honesty, lacked the usual potency.
In fact, I heard the England coach repeat to his players that "he is struggling out there, he is clearly struggling".

A real disappointment. England won because they played as well as they possibly could, and Xie/Zhang just looked spent and tired from the very start to finish.

Xie doesnt not even look interested in the game. Seldom heard the loud shouting from him :D

yes he was also very quiet and looked indifferent.. I'd like to know if he was actually ill or not.. cos he really did seem so.
anyway, Zheng/Gao to take the AE!!

I agree with you guys, I'm actually surprised they scheduled zhang yawen to play her matches in that order. I thought they would put that xd match to be the last of the evening to keep those english fans in the NIA.
Xie looked completely out of it, but he had the strength to snap his racquet in half with a backhand swing though:eek:

The speed of Xie might be affected by serious low back pain & knee pain.

...(and yes, i touched on it in the Semifinal thread also) after looking at who they were playing in the Semifinals, i thought the ENG pair really got a break...Yes, being "fresh" physically is one thing..But i was looking at the ENG's pair's recent results(esp. winning the England National Championships over GEmss/NRobertson this past February) and the fact that they were playing in front of their homecrowd, i thought they could give the CHN's pair a pretty stiff competition...
Anyways, tomorrow's battle in the XD Final should be another fun one as well..We shall see if we're going to see the "Smiling Assassin" or the "Serious Assassin" on the court come tomorrow...hehe:p :D ;)

...(and yes, i touched on it in the Semifinal thread also) after looking at who they were playing in the Semifinals, i thought the ENG pair really got a break...Yes, being "fresh" physically is one thing..But i was looking at the ENG's pair's recent results(esp. winning the England National Championships over GEmss/NRobertson this past February) and the fact that they were playing in front of their homecrowd, i thought they could give the CHN's pair a pretty stiff competition...
Anyways, tomorrow's battle in the XD Final should be another fun one as well..We shall see if we're going to see the "Smiling Assassin" or the "Serious Assassin" on the court come tomorrow...hehe:p :D ;)

Exciting? meh...I think the final will be a quick kill by ZB/GL.

Exciting? meh...I think the final will be a quick kill by ZB/GL.
...we'll be seeing the "Serious Assassin" early on and once they win it'll be the "Smiling Assassin"..hehe:p :D ;)