See Thomas Laybourn's comments on the Dutch Open. It seems after the trips out to the far east, the mind and body may not have readjusted for optimal performance. Clark/Robertson seem to have had the same problem with difficulty against pairs one would normally expect them to have comfortable wins against. The Chinese/Indonesians seem to have realised this and stayed away. Hence the larger entries in the German Open which offers the same number of ranking points. The M'sians might be thought of being less affected since the previous ranking tournment was on home ground. Doesn't seem to affect Koreans though!
wouldn't it make more sense for them to come play in the 2* Dutch Open, get adjusted during the week, and then play the 5* Danish Open adjusted, instead of fly in and play the 5* first, not very well adjusted and then adjusted to play the 2* German?
That's one way of looking at it. Adjust to the time differences. I have heard that in tournaments, playing two matches a day can be very tiring - mentally wise. That is even considering these top players train everyday. HK's coach, Chan Chi Choi was quoted in a newspaper article here that each player has individual tolerances. Some might be able to play 3 tournaments in a row, some only 2. I would think that most people do need some rest - difficult to be at the top of your form all the time if you are constantly travelling. It's a question of how much rest. And does the acclimatisation factor outweigh the benefits of more rest at home and working on some training/tactics? Quite a unique situation we have seen this year mainly because the schedules have been thrown in disarray by the SARS episode. Combined with the urgency of gaining points for Olympic qualification, that puts more pressure on players. Every country would like to get 3 representatives into each discipline to maximise medal chances.
