While I had predicted PG would defeat CL in the SM, there were other circumstances that had swayed that prediction into the other way around. The reasons being: 1. PG being the oldest, had a fairly hard round against Du Pengyu before facing against CL. 2. Numerous players including LCW shy away from China masters due to dubious line calls and also favouritism. As for this match, I would like to open up the case of Chen Long putting up his hands signalling he is not ready to receive each and every serve from PG. First of all, we all understand that during a tense and exiting match, once in a while, we all need some time to prepare ourselves, mentally and physically. This is especially true in lightning-fast matches of Men Doubles nowadays. But in the case of this match, Chen Long was seen putting up his hands for each serve from Peter Gade until Peter Gade was seen complaining to the umpire. I mean every single serve, he put up his hands. Even the sports commentator said 'he seems to be physically ready but he puts up his hands anyway'. So is this a psychological warfare employed by the chinese or just being plain annoying to his opponents? I mean the game was being played so slow between serve intervals it was hardly interesting. Yes there were very nice shots being played by Chen Long but I think at the end, Peter Gade just wasn't very interested and losing concentration in the end. So after Peter Gade complained to the umpire (who did nothing whatsoever to change the situation), PG simply served knowing pretty well CL would 'pretend' not to be ready. And then this situation prolong till the end of the game until CL won. So CL did win as he was the better player. But not without his annoying antics employed to help him win by annoying other players. Sure some may say a professional player has to endure all this and be a good sport. But i still say CL is not professional and unsportsman-like in this manner. I wonder what would have happen had PG also purposely held up his hand every single time receiving a serve from CL just to annoy him out of revenge? And would have the umpire said? Nothing? If it was LCW on the other side of the court, he would been a goner taking so much time to gather himself. I mean CL act like he was tremendously under pressure facing a 34yr old player.
Hmm.. there was some bad calls such as the over the net call on the Korean men's doubles match but then again there was some bad calls during the World Championships. I do admit CL was very annoying vs PG but was it really a big deal?
i agree. in fact, PG is famous for complaining about every tiny thing that he can. it is more like a psychological game that PG is playing, instead of the other way around. PG will make sure that he will complain about all sorts of thing to jitter his opponents. most people who play against CL will just brush it off and not even notice it. i personally have played people who delays service, or people who serve too fast. etc. etc. it is not a big issue.
Yeah, I think it's best to delay service for another 1-2 seconds, than to not have your hand up, and then your opponent serves too fast before you are fully ready.
The important point is to acknowledge that IT IS annoying. Whether or not a player knows and handles it professionally is another matter. Just because other players are far more forgiving does not let you off the hook for being annoying. As in the case of PG, he resented it quite a lot and it affected his game to a certain extend. So whether it is a big deal or not depends on the player that is BEING annoyed. I for one, have no problems if it's done every once in a while. But to have it done for EVERY SINGLE SERVE with walkabouts in between serves, not only it is annoying to opponents' concentration (if you do meditation for patience as a sports player i applaud you), it also breaks the continuity of an exciting match, which clearly the umpire in charge of the said match, was being SUSPICIOUSLY too lenient.
I used a sports stopwatch to measure the time it took for PG to fire off his service before CL was completely ready. Average 20 serves took 4 seconds or more. The longest one took 6 seconds. One could really yawn...
Delaying service, lightning fast serves, taking time before you are ready to receive a serve is all alright if done NOT TO THE EXTREME. Lin Dan does it, but not ALL 21 points of the game.
You can't expect everyone to go up to the line and immediately be ready. Some people want to take their time to get the right footing down and be prepared as every point matters for them. And it's up to the umpire whether or not he or she will make the player to get ready faster. It's up to their judgement when they should enforce it more, or just let it play. I understand Peter's request to have Chen Long get ready faster, but if I were in the high chair, I would not have done much either unless I feel like the play is really getting disrupted and he is using it to regain strength.
You are right, if 'immediately ready' was what is requested by PG. But it was taking longer than usual, to the extreme of annoyance. Besides both PG and CL were practically walking around in court before every service. So the urgency of 'immediate' readiness is not in question, but rather excessive waiting before a serve.
