How far can Zhang Jun/Zheng Bo go?

[2cents]

Both Zhang Jun and Zheng Bo were assigned to concentrate on mixed doubles only. Both of them had given up men's doubles for a long time. Especially Zhang Jun, has not been playing men's doubles for many years.

Since both of them will go to open tournaments for mixed doubles, so they teamed together as a men's double for fun and warm-ups.

Everyone thought it's a joke to put them together. Both are short and fatty. In fact, they are the shortest and fattiest guys in the national team. Both of them are good at smashing, and none of them has decent net play. It looks like they must be a dead meat.

There was even no coach thought it's doable to team them up. It might be against complementary theory in pairing. The reason the pair got approved from coaches was just a warming up for mixed doubles.

But when they really played together in the training, there was no one, no pair in China men's doubles could stop them. They did tame easily all the other pairs made by the pairing theory and winning experience at opens. Now it is the time to see how far this scratch pair can go in the real tournaments.

It seems that great pairs can be made only by accidents or unconventional wisdom.

[zqloy]

Did they beat Cai/Fu as well in training? Anyway this is seriously not a good idea, esp Zhang Jun has gone really big in size.......and for ZhengBo he should concentrate in his XD instead....

[2cents]

When Cai/Fu conquered the world, speed was their unstoppable weapon. Now they are not dominant any more because KKK/TBH is just faster.

So many people believe that speed is the most important thing. Chinese coaches put speed as the key element to make a pair. Three other elements are secondary: power, agility and accuracy.

Zhang Jun/Zheng Bo has no speed at all, Their strategy is to slow down the game. They are not as powerful as Fu HF or Xie ZB. They are not agile either. The only thing they depend on is probably accuracy.

[2cents]

Did they beat Cai/Fu as well in training? Anyway this is seriously not a good idea, esp Zhang Jun has gone really big in size.......and for ZhengBo he should concentrate in his XD instead....

Cai Yun is not in a good shape right now. Some people said that they are even not as good as other pairs besides Zhang/Zheng in the training. I don't know details Cai/Fu vs Z/Z in the training.

[zqloy]

When Cai/Fu conquered the world, speed was their unstoppable weapon. Now they are not dominant any more because KKK/TBH is just faster.

So many people believe that speed is the most important thing. Chinese coaches put speed as the key element to make a pair. Three other elements are secondary: power, agility and accuracy.

Zhang Jun/Zheng Bo has no speed at all, Their strategy is to slow down the game. They are not as powerful as Fu HF or Xie ZB. They are not agile either. The only thing they depend on is probably accuracy.
KKK/TBH is not just faster. They played smarter in tactical wise (thanks to Rexy), which Cai/Fu is lacking, they depended too much on power and speed. Whereas for Z/Z, we shall just see how would they perform in SO.

[PlayaFromMalaya]

watched a short training clip of both of them on tv a few days back..heard that their preparing for the olympics..

[Dreamzz]

it'll be interesting, 2 power players teaming up, expect to see some bombs! drives and smashes will be the theme of the day.

[Han]

These 2 power players will have lots of problem facing younger and quicker opponents like pairs from Malaysia and Korea. However, they may fare pretty well against the Danish and Indonesia pairs.


it'll be interesting, 2 power players teaming up, expect to see some bombs! drives and smashes will be the theme of the day.

[Dreamzz]

These 2 power players will have lots of problem facing younger and quicker opponents like pairs from Malaysia and Korea. However, they may fare pretty well against the Danish and Indonesia pairs.

hahaha, possibly, but you never know with these things.
regardless, it'll be interesting to see how well they perform as a pair, it's all about teamwork and coordination after all.

[2cents]

These 2 power players will have lots of problem facing younger and quicker opponents like pairs from Malaysia and Korea. However, they may fare pretty well against the Danish and Indonesia pairs.


hahaha, possibly, but you never know with these things.
regardless, it'll be interesting to see how well they perform as a pair, it's all about teamwork and coordination after all.

That's the point of my post.

You can only "think" that "These 2 power players will have lots of problem facing younger and quicker opponents like pairs from Malaysia and Korea". Chinese coaches and players thought that too, but they beat other stronger (in theory) pairs with ease. So let's see how far they can go in the real tournaments. As Dreamzz pointed out, you never know with these things until it happens.

[2cents]

At Singapore open, They will face several Malaysia pairs in the qualification rounds, and possible Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan in 1/8, and then KKK/TBH in the 1/4 (quarter final). Let's see how far they can go. If they cannot beat MK/HS, Z/Z pair could be finished soon.

Their route in Indon open almost the same, only difference is the strong korea pair in the qualification round. Then Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan in the 1/8 the same as in Singapore open, and then KKK/TBH in the 1/4 (quarter final) also the same as in Singapore open. For them, Indon open is just let them play the same opponents one more time.

[Viper2005]

Since they both play well with Gao Ling, maybe she should sit in the coach's chair and help cheer them to win every game.
Also Gao Ling's smile can definitely cheer both of them up.:)

[Dreamzz]

Since they both play well with Gao Ling, maybe she should sit in the coach's chair and help cheer them to win every game.
Also Gao Ling's smile can definitely cheer both of them up.:)

hahaha, 2 average men + 1 gifted lady = 2 championship winning XD pairs.
but, 2 average men without the gifted lady = 1 possibly mediocre MD pair.
:D :D

[2cents]

hahaha, 2 average men + 1 gifted lady = 2 championship winning XD pairs.
but, 2 average men without the gifted lady = 1 possibly mediocre MD pair.
:D :D

I disagree ;)

I have to say that men are much better than women, even a "mediocre" man is a better player than "gifted" lady. So mixed double is very different from men's double.

If you or any one of us have played mixed doubles, we know we always try to attack the lady instead the gentleman. So in mixed double, male player needs to take care of 3/4 of the court when defense. While in men's double, each man takes care of 1/2 of court. So a mixed double male player has to be a good defender. That's the reason some great men's double players, say Fu FH, Cai Yun, cannot play mixed double. They don't have decent defense. And also for men, it is much more exhausted to play mixed double than men's double. So mixed double, in a word, is a kind of between men's single and men's double. The lady in mixed double takes about 1/4 of the job.

So I think both Zhang and Zheng are very good defenders. Both of them are used to take care of 3/4 of the court which makes their court quite safe. Since in mixed double, speed is not a weapon because ladies are always slower than men. The other reason they won over other Chinese men's doubles, I think, is because they like to attack the weakest link which comes from attacking the lady in mixed double. Because they knew who is weakest link in other Chinese pairs. But international, I don't know whether and how you can quickly identify the weaker part of their opponent. That's the reason I want to see how they will play in these coming opens.

[Louisia_th]

I'm quite sure that Zhang Jun/Zheng Bo can go far, maybe they can pass through final match. But I still cheer Cai/Fu.:D :D

[abedeng]

Interesting theory, this. But I wouldn't put so much emphasis on teammate vs teammate matches, everyone knows how everyone else plays.

However, I don't think Zheng Bo, at least, is an average player. He and Sang Yang in 2003/2004 had better potential than Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng. CHN coaches need to find him a complementary long term pair.

[2cents]

Interesting theory, this. But I wouldn't put so much emphasis on teammate vs teammate matches, everyone knows how everyone else plays.

However, I don't think Zheng Bo, at least, is an average player. He and Sang Yang in 2003/2004 had better potential than Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng. CHN coaches need to find him a complementary long term pair.

Right, both pairs were semi-finalists in the world championship, then Sang Yang/Zheng Bo won the Indonesia open in the INA territory. But Sang Yang and Zheng Bo could not get along.

By the way, Who is the national mixed double champion of China?

Not Gao Ling, it is Zheng Bo/Huang Sui. But National team never allow Zheng Bo/Huang Sui to play together. I bet Zheng Bo/Huang Sui can also claim several super series titles if they have the chance. I admit Gao Ling is a great player, but she is not the god or goddess. Zheng Bo paired with Zhang Jiewen also defeated Zhang Jun/Gao Ling before.

[zqloy]

I disagree ;)

I have to say that men are much better than women, even a "mediocre" man is a better player than "gifted" lady. So mixed double is very different from men's double.

If you or any one of us have played mixed doubles, we know we always try to attack the lady instead the gentleman. So in mixed double, male player needs to take care of 3/4 of the court when defense. While in men's double, each man takes care of 1/2 of court. So a mixed double male player has to be a good defender. That's the reason some great men's double players, say Fu FH, Cai Yun, cannot play mixed double. They don't have decent defense. And also for men, it is much more exhausted to play mixed double than men's double. So mixed double, in a word, is a kind of between men's single and men's double. The lady in mixed double takes about 1/4 of the job.

So I think both Zhang and Zheng are very good defenders. Both of them are used to take care of 3/4 of the court which makes their court quite safe. Since in mixed double, speed is not a weapon because ladies are always slower than men. The other reason they won over other Chinese men's doubles, I think, is because they like to attack the weakest link which comes from attacking the lady in mixed double. Because they knew who is weakest link in other Chinese pairs. But international, I don't know whether and how you can quickly identify the weaker part of their opponent. That's the reason I want to see how they will play in these coming opens.
Gao Ling defense is much better than her male partners, rock solid! She is the main lead player in her XD combination, unlike her rivals like Nathan/Emms etc. If anyone would play against GL, the opponent will attack her male partner 1st.

[2cents]

Gao Ling defense is much better than her male partners, rock solid! She is the main lead player in her XD combination, unlike her rivals like Nathan/Emms etc. If anyone would play against GL, the opponent will attack her male partner 1st.

So if let Gao Ling plays single with Zheng Bo or Zhang Jun, do you think Gao Ling will beat Zheng Bo and Zhang Jun in singles?

That sounds impossible, at least to me.

That's the reason I like singles; We still don't know who's better in doubles. You can even claim a lady better than a man, we really need mixed singles, both men and women can compete:rolleyes:

Of course I don't think it's necessary, to me, men are always much better than women

[ctjcad]

When Cai/Fu conquered the world, speed was their unstoppable weapon. Now they are not dominant any more because KKK/TBH is just faster.

So many people believe that speed is the most important thing. Chinese coaches put speed as the key element to make a pair. Three other elements are secondary: power, agility and accuracy.

Zhang Jun/Zheng Bo has no speed at all, Their strategy is to slow down the game. They are not as powerful as Fu HF or Xie ZB. They are not agile either. The only thing they depend on is probably accuracy.

KKK/TBH is not just faster. They played smarter in tactical wise (thanks to Rexy), which Cai/Fu is lacking, they depended too much on power and speed. Whereas for Z/Z, we shall just see how would they perform in SO.

These 2 power players will have lots of problem facing younger and quicker opponents like pairs from Malaysia and Korea. However, they may fare pretty well against the Danish and Indonesia pairs.


hahaha, possibly, but you never know with these things.
regardless, it'll be interesting to see how well they perform as a pair, it's all about teamwork and coordination after all.
..in MD are power & speed..And most of the current top pairs, arguably top 2 or 3, have those 2 in hand..The rest of the ingredients: ie. teamwork, coordination, agility, accuracy, tactically smarter, those are additions. Compound all those with their youth(age) and we can see what the results are. About ZB & ZJ, yes, they do have the power, major power, but speed???..:confused: ;)

[sumbadder]

well they lost their final qualifying match, so I guess we know how far they could go so far. :)

[Dreamzz]

well they lost their final qualifying match, so I guess we know how far they could go so far. :)

yup, hahaha, oh well, back to the drawing board then.
i still don't really understand why MD is not a strong discipline for CHN, surely there must be some great potential in the team if they are churning out world class MS players seemingly on a daily basis.

[gsloh]

Of course I don't think it's necessary, to me, men are always much better than women

Not true - I'll bet the Top 6 WS players in the world can cream/destroy anyone of us male BC forumers(excluding Thomas Laybourn/Jonas Rasmussen of course) in a match :D :D :D :D :D .

[FU4EVA]

I think LYB should maybe try to partner HHB with ZB. ZJ is too old to be ZB partner. Anyway nowadays ZJ doesn't perform very well.

[alohio12]

Not true - I'll bet the Top 6 WS players in the world can cream/destroy anyone of us male BC forumers(excluding Thomas Laybourn/Jonas Rasmussen of course) in a match :D :D :D :D :D .

lol uh thats obvious. he's talking about professional players.

[gsloh]

lol uh thats obvious. he's talking about professional players.

Haha - I know he meant that :D, but his post wasn't worded so!

[alohio12]

Haha - I know he meant that :D, but his post wasn't worded so!

haha XP. way to think like a lawyer, if you know what i mean. an excellent, analytical train of thought. :rolleyes:

[shawn30_k]

i remember seeing zhang jun being the bench coach for 1 of the doubles matches in the prelimenary rounds.:D

[LI De Quan]

ZHANG Jun will retire after I.S.S..
He said if he can not get into last four(semi-final),he will retire!!!!!

[huangkwokhau]

ZHANG Jun will retire after I.S.S..
He said if he can not get into last four(semi-final),he will retire!!!!!

Really? thats not a wise decision....I hope that he quits then join Chen Hong as free agent...come on...he is still young,,,,hope that he does not make stupid decision to leave China team...Zhang Jun has potential...may be he needs right partner....hope it does not happen that he retires...