Sucky korea was the only country other than china to win at the badminton asia championships. Makes it depressing to think about all the other countries that also suck ...
i personally agree with beta zone. It's a skill deficit thing. I'm not saying lee is some kind of God who makes no mistakes. He certainly does, but he's overall a more consistent player. On most days you know he's just gonna deliver. Consistency is one of the indications of a top player. This is not so with Ko, whose consistency is one of the greatest weaknesses in his game. And consistency is something that you can't specially 'Improve' on. Add to that his defensive problem n his lack of strokes except his smashing, and... Well. He will always be the target of opponents. This is a huge problem if they want to win anything big. I personally like KSR with Lee, their Thomas cup partnership was nice to watch. But as someone mentioned above, his negative body language is an issue. As for people doubting if Liu/Qiu are the next big thing - they will be. They beat this Korean pair easily in the German open as well. China has another good one in HOng Wei/chai biao/ye Shen. I personally really cannot wait for Indonesia to bring it on too, they have some good young players who will be ready in a couple of years. Then we will have an interesting MD field. Cause honestly right now it's getting a little boring, with the same pairs meeting each other at the same point in different tournaments all the time. ><
Having seen the Final of the India Open, it's true that most attacks were aimed at Ko. However, it's also true the Lee really did nothing special and made quite a few errors himself. Imop you can't really single out either to take the blame, they both had their fair share in it. People need to realize that Ko is not the second coming of Jung, having his own style which is really quite different from Jung's imop, and the first person who has to accept that and adjust accordingly is LYD. I think he'd play better initially with KSR as his style is more similar to Jung's than Ko's is, but I think it'd be foolish to tear apart both pairs so quickly after they've established good positions in the WR. I agree that Ko's defense isn't quite what Jung's used to be, but on the other hand, neither is his net play - in a good way. When Jung had to play the net against a real world class pair, 90% of the time he either had to lift or made an error/played a loose shot. Ko is already better around the net, being more aggressive and not quite as confused when getting a soft shot in that area. He does have to work on his general consistency though. A lot of unforced errors in the IO, which is a rather critical weakness with the Korean style of play (relying on their safe shotmaking, defensive abilities, and fitness pretty heavily - not quite the explosive attackers most Chinese are or creative as Koo or most Indonesian doubles). Anyhow, I think they're improving. Lee isn't quite as arrogant in matches anymore, and Ko has reduced his apologizing a bit. Looks like they're starting to grow into a real partnership. When Jung/Lee first formed, that wasn't such a big issue as Lee wasn't yet an established (or rather iconic) doubles player as he is now, and Jung was experienced but not really a big name. There was no clear star in the partnership, so there was no skewed balance as there was/is with Ko/Lee. While it's healthy to have a leader on court who dictates the actions, the players have to regard each other as equals or they won't perform as well as those who do. Prime example being Cai/Fu - while Cai is (usually) the playmaker on court and dictates their game, he and Fu have a very balanced relationship with no apparent superior. I think that's what Team Korea should aim for with their doubles as well...
LYD made just as many mistakes in the final match as KSH. But KSH also had MD match earlier in the day and was already sweaty walking in to the arena. But I can see both improving.
What BS ?!???? where are your manners ??? I am not the coach of Korea, it is not for me to comment who to partner LYD. But I hv the rights to say Ko is not the right partner for LYD. There is no need to use the word BS, we are all civil ppl here.
Actually you don't think Ko Lee had the upper hand in the first halves of both games? They did lead at both intervals. Only problem is after the intervals, more unforced errors started to creep into the Koreans play like several serves into net (LYD too!) and many many blocks by LYD that uncharacteristically ended up in the net. They would have had a greater chance to take the title if they could have been more consistent.
It is perfectly true that in the final of the Indian open, Lee made as much mistakes as Ko, and I would say made less winners. For the skills, who said consistency is not to be learnt? That is so untrue! Not long ago Fu's defense was awful, but it got better. Jung at the net was also much better at the end. Those pros improve all the time, if they have the correct attitude, and confidence, consistency, concentration, determination, collaboration, can all be improved. It seems clear that what the Korean need to improve is not Ko's skills, but their collaboration. And this is as much Lee's task then it is Ko's. Ko is not more Lee's new partner then Lee is Ko's.
Sorry about that particular sentence. The rest of the statement I stand by - who else should they partner LYD with? I don't see another player who is vastly superior to Ko in any department. His defense is probably the weakest part of his game, yet no other player in the current squad is really substantially ahead of him in that area. Keep in mind that Jung had a specific, pretty weak area in his defense as well - varying the pace of the smash would confuse him very often, resulting in him putting too much pace on a slow one or not getting ready for a hard one. He did have one of the best defensive stances though, being ready for the drop shot almost every time. I maintain that his low center of gravity and shorter levers gave him an advantage in that area compared to a taller player, just like Ko's height gives him an advantage in his offensive play (better angles, longer reach).
Some very good points have been made on this board regarding this partnership. After watching the indian ss final then watching some olympic LYD/JJS matches the difference is LYD is amazing. He seems so tame compared to his old self. But i dont blame Ko, i think he hasnt got over his split from JJS and hes having trouble changing. Dont get me wrong hes an awesome player and he will get back to his best but i think mentally he just doesnt think its with Ko. I think he should try a few tournements with shin and let Ko concentrate on the mixed for now and even reform with yoo. Only my thoughts
About consistency.. Hmm. I sort of agree with the earlier post, but that wasn't the type of consistency I was referring to. and I actually thought Fu's defense was weak til the end haha. At e professional level, it's difficult to make huge improvements to one's skill level, it tends to plateau after awhile. I was referring to the type of consistency that is constant in 'most' matches and that doesn't crumble when it'd attacked by opponents. Ko IMHO is not at that level of consistency and from the same style he's been playing the past few years.. I won't be holding my breath waiting for that to happen.. This. I also find Lee very tame compared to his old self. He seems un-enthused, sometimes he looks like he rather be somewhere else.. And he's starting to make plenty of unforced errors himself. And Especially the bolded statement is the feeling I get from him..All the time. :/ I think he thinks Ko is not the partner for him to go very far with(which I sort of agree with), but does he really have to make it so obvious (to me at least)..he always looks tensed and sometimes so irritated, playing with Ko. I don't know but I think things like that do affect a partnership...
About the improvement of players, this is a very interesting topic, perhaps outside this thread. Sometimes it is difficult to see the changes in a players's skill, as it change slowly. But it does happen. For example, LCW's smashes (or more generaly, his attacking capabilities) have improved strongly since 2009. He get now the sort of angle and speed LD only had. For LD, he said in some interviews that before 2006, his net play was not so good, and that is why Hidayat did beat him. On the psychological level, one can notice how Zhang Ning improved after she got 26. One very useful example is Ahmad who, when starting to play with Liliana, was confused half of the time. But look where he got now! Every case is of course different, we can't tell for Ko, but the lack of spirit from LYD that you mention in your post seems a bigger obstacle to me. We would have to know the whole dynamic of the Korean team to understand what is happening between them. Actually, I don't know if the Korean team does like the CHN team and live all togheter in the same complex, even sharing rooms. All sort of things happen then! In the CHN team, they all get romantically involved with one another at some point!
Hey yes! It's certainly an interesting topic. And you are right about the improvements of the players mentioned. But then again, hmm, I would also think it could be something that is really up to the individual. Those players that you mentioned - I've actually seen improvements in all of them! LCW's smash that you mentioned.. Lin Dan.. Wow that guy has improved so much over the years! Haha. I of course can't rule out an improvement for Ko, but just judging from his years in the pro circuit I just don't see it ie his service - it hasn't been working for him but he's still not changing it (serving quickly without looking up). But a lot of things about the Koreans/Korean team would require an understanding of the culture at large. Of course that's another discussion altogether one thing about them is they aren't known to be very.. 'Creative' for lack of a better word. Which is probably why u will keep seeing their players use the same strategies over and over although it isn't working for them.. as for question about their living arrangements. Yes, they do live in a national sports center called 태릉선수촌 or Taereung sports village, north east of Seoul. The men and women are rather segregated though, the males live in one building and the women in another. This is another thing about their culture where the men and women sometimes are quite separated, you'll observe this when the korean players go and have meals, the men and women seldom seat at the same table. From what I did know, Ko used to share a room with Yoo in their previous partnership. I'm not sure if married players like Jung jae sung and lee hyun il lived there though, cause lee yong dae seemed like he didn't have a room mate.. The only badminton players who were romantically involved were ra kyung Min and Kim dong moon. There doesn't seem to be any after them the players usually seem to marry/date people outside of the industry haha. Sorry about the long post!
i agree with your post, i got a thought that the problem is LYD mental. i know he got olympic gold medal but who is he to demand such a perfect player to play with? a god? he must remember jung is no longer around to cover him and he is now playing with ko! he must change his mindset, stay aggressive and positive during game. i feel sorry for ko, everytime he made an error he immediately apologize to lee like he can't do a mistake while playing with lee. lee should clone himself to play with himself. (don't take it serious!)
Hi Fans: Is lee yong dae still using BS blue color any chance he will switch to his old BS LYD or new BS 12 N?
Dude, what's with your obsession with pro's rackets And so far, he's been using the Bs12 (blue) constantly ever since partnering up with Ko.
Bro , i had been trying hard to buy Lee yong dae blue racket, but its all sold out in singapore. Do you know where can i buy BS 12 3U blue color ?
