Li Xuerui ( 李雪芮 )

Excellent,I couldn't have put it any better, esp the para. I highlighted in red.

By now, any doubts anybody has about her should be put to rest. For the longest time,since when , for the last one-and-a-half to two years, has anybody managed to win a major title from the three Wangs who seem to take turns to collect the trophies? And to do that 4 times in a row and twice beating none other than Wang Yihan, isn't that amazing?

To think or suspect that her two victories against WYH could be fixed is a bit too far-fetched for me. Who wouldn't want to win such a prestigious title as the All-England ? And then to lose again to the same upstart/junior the second time in front of her home crowd? Do you think WYH can stomach it even if it is team order under LYB, meekly and quietly accepting it without a murmur of protest? Imagine what effect it will have on all her teammates if LYB were to treat her so shabbily, everyone of them will be wondering when it will be their turn to be sacrificed like that at his whims and fancies when there is no compelling reason to do so to a top player who's been most outstanding among the 3 Wangs. Team spirit and morale will certainly take a big hit and the repercussions should things start to unravel would be too much for LYB to bear. Such a "tyrant" however capable he is will very soon come a cropper, how can he survive for so long and continue to produce such magnificent results year after year. Don't supposed LYB is that indispensable, surely China has a few other coaches just as capable and ready to step into his shoes anytime. The competition among the coaches is,I believe,just as intense and crazy as among the players - we are talking about China,not any country. I trust LYB to be hard-nosed,astute enough to know not to push his luck too far and risk losing all the hard-won gains he has accumulated over the years;for someone who has climbed so high,should he fall,he will fall very hard. To try to manipulate too much without considering foremost the players true capabilities and hurting their feelings as a result is a recipe for failure as a matter of time;otherwise there would have been many LYBs the world over,simply copy him as much as you can. India and Indonesia,for example,has the critical mass in terms of badminton population, they should be prime candidates to emulate LYB. Let's not over-rate or demonize this man, let's give him his due, but other factors are equally if not more important to China's enormous success. Ultimately,it boils down to the players own natural talents and hard work.

As we know,the best of plans can go awry, who is LYB to say he has everything under his control, that nothing will go wrong? We can only do the best we can ,and hope for the best.

Before end of the year, LXR will be seriously contending for WR#1 and stay there for an extended period. She has said she idolizes Lin Dan and she indeed has what it takes to be the female Lin Dan! Just look at the way she plays,she is only 21, still improving,growing and developing as a player - precisely,that's the scariest part for all her opponents!

 

I agree. The chinese team has found their most talented and strongest WS in LXR. LXR and WYH will be dominant force in women single over the next few years if they can prevent injury. LXR has to learn from Lin Dan how to prevent or minimize injury. Wang Lin is such a good player who was reduced by injury......

 

Pardon me for reviving an old issue. I agree with you, Zhou Mi and Wang Chen going over to Hong Kong wasn't a national disgrace nor for lack of patriotism but simply a career move. My reason is that,to China and the Chinese people, Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China,the more so when she reunited with the motherland in 1997 after her 99 years of humiliation as a British colony.

Coming back to LXR, though I tend to agree that it's quite unfair to WSX considering her past contributions and I do feel sorry for her should she,as seems likely now,be replaced by LXR for the London OG,we are more or less agreed that LYB's ultimate objective is to ensure that China wins gold and not which particular Chinese player do so, and I'm sure all the Chinese players know that too. Nothing will get into his good books except the player's form and performance,as witnessed how he treated WYH by not selecting her for the 2010 Asian Games after her Uber Cup debacle.

 

I don't understand why IBF makes such a controversy rule - why allow the country to choose 3 out of the top 4? WSX is ranked #3 and she should be going to Olympic.

 

It is a stupid rule concocted by the IOC...However China doesn't complain about it..in fact they love such ruling.

Imagine LXR couldn't qualify for the OG because she was the fourth Chinese player and then the top three girls underperformed..It will even become a bigger hoo hah considering LXR is capable enough to take all three of them out in one flick.

In all fairness nevertheless, WSX deserves to play because she is ranked higher. However, under these circumtances (with WSX playing like shi t, China is glad IOC is stupid enough to come out with such ruling and have LXR rise to the occasion at the right time.

 

I believe this player is ready to play a big role on a bigger stage. Analyse and observe her games since 2010, she has not won a single title from the Super Series because of team orders.

I mean for her age, she has to be subjected to team orders and match fixing to let her favourable compatriots win the tournament in the end. She has seen more defeats than victories from the start.

Any match to her is deemed as the same and she will play to her max abilities in every game.

 

No doubt LXR is the best WS player right now. If qualification is based of IBF ranking, the 3 Wang's should go to Olympics. Allow China to pick 3 out of the top 4 is like adding legs when drawing a snake. If IOC wants the best players in Olympics, then they should simply change the rule so that the qualification is based on the 6 months prior to Olympics. In that case, WYH, LXR and (WSX or WX) will go.

 

Towards the end of the qualification period, put yourself in LYB's situation...you realise LXR can actually make it to the top 4 when she demonstrated she could reach final single handedly. Through such critical moment and uncertainties surrounding Nehwal's performance, why not use all your resources to make sure she makes it to the top four by the end of April.

Before that, LXR has been playing as the soldier helping the Wangs especially Wang Xin to win SS titles.

LXR's defeat record to Wang Xin last year:

SS All England (Walkover)
SS Denmark Premier (Straight sets)
SS French Open ( Straight sets)
SS China Open (Thriller match as a result Wang Xin sustained a knee injury)

I find the defeat LXR suffered from Wang Xin extremely suspicious..seems to me Wang Xin didn't win most of her titles on Merit..especially the Hong Kong Open match semi-final against Wang Yihan. She won the match in straight sets and went to thrash Baun in the final.

The same can be said about Wang Shixian as well. Her China Masters 2011 and Korea Premier 2012 are completely given by Jiang Yanjiao whom i think has been paid to follow team orders and not to win.

Looking back at the results from last year of LXR's progress, i think she is one player China has completely overlooked and spent too much time concentrating on the Three Wangs en route to the Olympic qualification. She started to prove everyone wrong the moment she lifted that German Open trophy by thrashing Schenk when it was actually the tournament Wang Xin should have won.

 

Very good point. For anyone to say that all CHN vs CHN matches are fixed (there's actually one BCer who said that,can't remember who), is to me ridiculous. If he says,this is the OG year,there may be a few matches they resorted to doing that in order to maximize their players' chances of OG qualification due to BWF's special ruling - I can understand and am prepared to concede his allegation could be plausible.

But surely for 90% of the time at least,the matches are won on merit and why not? These are professional players who love badminton and take pride and satisfaction in their achievements and worth,for one. Secondly,on numerous occasions when the title is assuredly China's and nothing else at stake,why wouldn't they be allowed to prove who is the superior player? Thirdly,what purpose does it serve to match-fix in favour of an inferior player who cannot deliver or beat player so-and-so? Fourthly,it is presumptuous and conceited of him to assume the rest of us players and spectators are ignorant fools unable to tell the real from the fake. I rest my case.

 

It's unfair to assume all matches played between CHN players are fixed. However, you must look at it in a different perspective for WS singles department.

For a country that's blessed with abundance of women singles players and the endless emerging talents, it gets really complicated in the selection process for the Olympics if you implement a policy to allow open competition among themselves to see who stands a better chance of qualifying. That is not possible for China because the level which they played is almost equal with only one or two exceptions.

Since WX, WSX and WYH stood out as the promising candidates to become medal hopefuls in London beginning of 2011 qualification period, CBA has to concentrate on making sure all three of them get maximum points from every tournament counts. To that extent, that's where match fixing comes in occasionally but this scheme is not deployed in favour of certain players for to all three.

If one of them is in need for more points to compensate for their losses in the previous tournaments, the other two or even the footsoldiers (JYJ and LXR) must oblige to pave way for that particular player. I notice it happens quite often for WX. She crashed out in the early rounds more times than WSX and WYH last year on record and managed to compensate the loss by winning subsequent tournaments. but then the compensation doesn't seem to be fairplay at all. It took more than her effort alone actually to win some titles especially the Denmark Super Series and French Super Series when she beat both WYH and LXR in straight games. I never imagine both players would lose so easily in the final on straight sets. In fact WYH is actually better than WX, LXR is more or less the same level as WX.

Not trying to say WX is not good at all but the point i was trying to convey earlier was more towards LXR's performance of last year. Her progress is always stopped by her compatriots especially WX so I reckon the defeats were no mere coincidental and she was completely victimised by the scheme to put the three Wangs on the top 3.

I wont take back my words which alleged the match in AE was fixed because in the past it happens so many times during the Olympic year, why would CBA/LYB hesitate to do it again ? It's actually better to have a fourth player come in as a substitute to cover for anyone of the three should they be injured .The scenario appears to have changed beyond anyone's expectation. LXR proved she is better than all three of them and CBA did not regret sending her to compete in India Open to seal position .

It was just a shame that CBA overlooked her talents last year and placed too much emphasis on the three Wangs at the expense of using her as a soldier to help the three Wangs collect valuable points for the Olympics.

The situation is different and complicated now. In the end CBA is glad to have LXR positioned in the top four bracket. Hope you understand

 

To add on match fixing, some were implemented based on the scenario.

It is 100 percent convincing to say the match which decides who should play Tine Baun in the final or semifinal is FIXED in Wang Xin's favour.

The semifinal game between WYH and WX in Hong Kong Open, even Tine Baun smiled and anticipated the match to be fixed so WX could progress and take her out easily. She knew she stood 0 chance of winning if WX plays her.

Would you fix the match if the winner between LXR and WX is to face Tine Baun in the final of the Olympics ?

As LYB, i will definitely and tell LXR to prepare for her bronze playoff instead

 

In this case,the Hong Kong Open 2011 involving Tine Baun, I tend to concede you on this point. As for LYB telling LXR to "prepare for bronze medal playoff instead", it's too early to say. Wang Xin's 10-0 H2H vs Tine is one thing but past record is no guarantee of future outcome.

Furthermore,how much confidence LYB has in LXR beating TB isn't very clear yet. What's more, LXR may prove to be so good in taking out all the non-CHN players that WX's shut-out against TB may become redundant - you seemed to have made a similar point elsewhere. I would think that WX's 10-0 record could mean the chances of TB taking one back is increasingly higher probability-wise each time they play against each other, TB isn't such a bad player you know - it cuts both ways,I should say.

Btw,abt the WX-TB H2H, I also thought it was 10-0, not 9-0 as cobalt claimed. I remember the last time before they played it was already 9 to zero, maybe one of their encounters wasn't a BWF event, such as the Asian Games mixed event.

 

Tine Baun is not a bad player. The age has taken away a lot of her competitive edges. It's not possible to scrap a win of WX with the negative mentality. Everytime i watch WX takes on Baun, it's always foregone conclusion, a sure win outcome for Wang Xin.

But yes you might be right, her h2h record might soon become redundant if LXR shows she is good enough to take out Baun confidently. LYB will not treasure WX as much as before.

 

To me, LXR already has the speed and power, her accuracy still room for improvement, if she add more deception into her game as well, she will be a near-perfect player, there being no such thing as perfection in this world for nothing is permanent.

 

Sorry,my mistake,how can Tine be involved in the Asian Games, but I still think it's 10-0,where's that elusive match or there wasn't one,then 9-0 it shall be.

 

25 consecutive back-to-back wins by LXR. is this a record?

http://sports.sohu.com/20120520/n343628126.shtml

 

Will she even be picked to represent China in Sudirman Cup next year ? It's going to be a tussle between her and Wang Yihan.

After the Olympics, these two players are not around anymore; Juliane Schenk and Tine Baun.

I dont see any threat issued by other quarters except for this bigshot Nehwal.

 

LXR is destined for greater heights. She not only idolizes Lin Dan,she even plays like him,acquiring his fast attacking game with sudden injection of pace and smash ability coupled with a wide array of shots. Comparing her to the female version of Lin Dan is the highest accolade I offer any women singles.

The only thing lacking is her experience in the big occasions such as team events but time will take care of that. She is still young at 21 and can take a few knocks to polish this rare gem of a diamond. We shall hear and see much more of her going forward ascending the pinnacle.