Lee Yong Dae ( 이용대 / 李龙大 ) / Ko Sung Hyun ( 고성현 / 高成铉 )

[lilmizsara]

Yeah, BoMoe were really on fire at the just finished China Open and just really picked on Ko's inexperience.

As already mentioned by several posters, Ko seems a tad less nimble around the court, especially when forced to rush from the rear right to his rear left to hit any overhead shots. IMO that's the price he pays for being so muscular (he is probably the most muscular amongst all the pro players, even Gail Clark keeps mentioning what a strong strapping young athlete he is ) that he's carrying more mass that slows him down.

But what I don't understand is why his smashes are not that deadly despite all the muscles. Even JJS hits harder than him!

HAHA! yes. i've heard Gill Clark mention his build/size or "powerful legs" at least 5 or 6 times already haha.

I agree with all that muscular mass thing slowing him down.

In my opinion, JJS hits harder might be due to JJS is in better position as a result of JJS able to position himself better. JJS able to position himself better, due to JJS is more agile than KO, not to mention KO has problem to handle his nervousness. KO needs to improve his speed in order to hit the shuttle faster hence give him more advantage on position and timing.

In my honest opinion, KO undergoes strength training, which resulted in bulking up his body up with muscles. The problem with bulking up is that the process naturally will also result on increase in Body Fat as well which made him slower on court. Therefore, after KO reaches optimal level , KO will have to undergo cutting process in which shed the layer of body fat while still maintaining muscles. As a result, KO will be faster yet still powerful which will be his opponent's nightmare.

This was what I thought too. The bulking up works well to some extent but it actually slows the person down after awhile. I'm not that great with weight training knowledge, but I do know the bulky players I used to play with aren't the fastest and surprisingly not the 'strongest' too. Also, I do think smashing has alot to do with technique. I'm not sure which discussion was this on another thread here on BC, but i think being the "strongest" or the "bulkiest" doesn't necessarily translate into someone being the best smasher. Leaner players like Carsten Moegensen smash really well and sharp, but aren't bulky in physique.

Yes, JJS gets himself into position very quickly and covers the back court really well imo. I've seen Ko struggle when he jump-smashes on the right, and the opponent lifts it to the left, he can't seem to recover or move fast enough to get into position. This lack of speed essentially cancels out any potential threat his smashes might make.

Hopefully the team works something out physical-wise. I think I'd be more concerned with Ko's psychological barriers on-court. Besides the nerves and mental block, there's also a very unbalanced dynamic between him and Lee. At least from what I've observed - he tends to look very apologetic to Lee whenever he makes a mistake and also has the tendency to display 'submissive' body language in relative to Lee's. I think for a doubles pairing to work well, the team dynamics need to be relatively equal, and not one partner feeling inferior or feeling he/she is playing a 'second lead' role to the other.

having to play 2 qualifications in a row sounds tiring!

[ah tat]

i believe ko has a harder smash. but jjs has a more explosive smash. i think thats the key difference between their smashes.

[SigH-Max]

My favorite MD pair now It was painful to see them lose that hard in the China open, but well. The Danes were really solid.
Hopefully KSH/LYD will be #1 at some point. 71 more to go !
And now they can try to win the HK open, the Danes are not there

[pcll99]

LYD and KSH warming up today at HK Open

[visor]

http://bwf.tournamentsoftware.com/sp...456133C&draw=6

Was just checking the match lineup for md qf and see that lee/ko has withdrawn against koo/tan. Heard from another thread that something happened back home. Hope everything is okay.

[lilmizsara]

^ Read that it was a shoulder/hip injury Ko has sustained, thus forcing the withdrawal.

I just hope it isn't serious and they withdrew for precautionary reasons.

[visor]

^ Too bad... I was really looking forward to seeing them take on koo/tan again like they did in the French Open.

[Licin]

^ Too bad... I was really looking forward to seeing them take on koo/tan again like they did in the French Open.

Yeah, that was an epic battle

[j4ckie]

i believe ko has a harder smash. but jjs has a more explosive smash. i think thats the key difference between their smashes.

There's no such thing as a more explosive smash... Either it's harder or it's not.
Or did you mean Ko needs more preparation, i.e. isn't as explosive in his movement? Either way, I think he and Lee will be the pair to beat come the 2016 Olympics. They already look rather solid, and with time they will grow into a real partnership and eliminate more and more weaknesses (like the misunderstandings they still have from time to time, or trying too hard to get Ko to the back)...

[SolsticeOfLight]

And since the chinese gold medalists are likely to be injury-ridden for the remainder of their career, the top is noticeably lower than before. Not that there aren't competitors It'll be fun to see the new era of mens doubles.

[lilmizsara]

^ SolsticeOfLight: Yeah, seems like Cai/Fu are battling injury concerns, and I'm not too sure if they would ever be at their best again. I personally doubt it.

"The top is noticeably lower than before". Exactly. That is one of the main reasons why I feel this pair is doing so well comparatively. They have almost no competitors at their level from the 2012 Olympic era except Boe/Mogensen and maybe Tan/Koo. But the latter seem to be very erratic as of late and I'm not too sure if they can buck up. Lee/Ko also usually have a very clear route to the finals in their draws. Just looking at the recent Korean Open draw, almost all the higher ranked Chinese players were not on their side of their draw. Tan/Koo were in their way... well, let's just say that I dont have much confidence in Tan/Koo to make much of a dent as of now. I'm in Korea watching them, whilst Lee is still great, Ko is still making his same old mistakes and being very inconsistent in his defence. He didnt look nervous as usual but it could be due to the vociferous home support. I didnt watch the Finals (queuing up to buy tickets is a pain in the behind here, but that's another story) but I heard it was a tight game and could have gone either way. But still think it was a great win for them.

Thus I think it is too early to say that they are "the pair to beat come the 2016 Olympics". It's still a looonnggg way off and many countries would have great contenders by then. I'm banking on China to come out with 1-2 solid pairs by then. Not a fan of theirs, but they always deliver. They would definitely be ready by 2016.

I feel that Men's Doubles has reached a pretty low era now post-Olympics - given all the injuries, the retirements, splits in pairings and all the younger and inexperienced players getting their chance now. I think Lee/Ko are doing super duper well, but I personally wont call them the "greatest" or anything to that effect right at this moment. I will wait for more solid contenders in MD to arrive and make the field more competitive and difficult before I pass that kind of absolute judgment. Just my two cents.

[Heong]

2013 Korean Open Victory Interview


Interviewer: At which point during the match did you believe you could win?

Ko Sung Hyun: "As soon as we changed sides while leading 11-7 in the 3^rd set, I believe we could take it."


Interviewer: In the first set, it started with a relatively slow pace, but as the game went on you came back stronger

Ko Sung Hyun: "I felt nervous as I’ve never beaten this pair before. There was a sense of burden, but I felt more comfortable as the match went on. I was able to reduce errors at the same time and I was playing better and better. When I played against them, that sense of burden disappeared. I believe next time, we’re able to produce the same results."

Lee Yong Dae: "There was a very strong drift in the stadium today as experienced in the semi-finals. But today it felt a lot stronger, maybe due to the amount of spectators. It was very easy to hit the shuttle long at times when I played smashes. But as soon as we adapted, we played even better. In comparison, when Denmark tried to attack, a lot of the times it landed out."


Interviewer: What are the strengths of today’s rivals?

Lee Yong Dae: They were serving very well. Their short and flick serves integrated together was hard to deal with. Also, because they are tall, their smash power and angle is very good and defending wasn't easy.


Interviewer: What are your strengths that you’ve improved on?

Lee Dong Dae: Ability to score more on the serve. When I’m serving, it’s difficult for my opponents to predict and attack with their return.

Ko Sung Hyun: Been more consistent and able to reduce errors. Defence has also been good throughout the competition and been very steady in overall performance.


Between Denmark’s Boe / Mogensen and China's Cai Yun / Fu Haifeng, which is more difficult to play against?


Lee Yong Dae: “Denmark is more difficult. Their net game is very good. They’re also very tall players and its sometimes difficult to bypass their defence. China has a lot of competition experience as well. They play relatively simple, but also stable. Their performance in competitions have often been good."


Interviewer: What were your preperations for Korean open?

Lee Yong Dae: “In Korea, prior to the tournament, coach Kang Kyung Jin trained our attack patterns. He is left-handed, like Boe, so this training seems to have achieved results."


Interviewer: What are your plans from here?

Ko Sung Hyun: "Continuous sparring ( rallying ) for longer duration. I also lack concentration and this is something I need to work on. My simple errors have to be reduced. I’ll also need more exercises for defense."


Interviewer: What are your ambitions for 2013?

Lee Yong Dae: "Sung Hyun and I still haven’t achieved world #1. To reach that ranking , we must perform well in large competitions such as World Championships. We have not experienced winning the World Championship, so our goal is the world Championships champion and reach #1 in the world rankings."


Your ranking is now 10th. You how much this win will enhance the ranking?

Lee Yong Dae: "The rankings should rise as we produce results. This Korean open title should increase our ranking to 5th or 6^th place . If we were to win in next week's Malaysia Open or come runner-up, our ranking should rise to 3^rd or 4th."





New Hear source: 일간스포츠 노컷뉴스
Finishing / Translation: Heong

[Licin]

Thanks for translating, Heong...

[Sealman]

The winning disguised drop shot from Ko at matchpont was awesome!

[visor]

The winning disguised drop shot from Ko at matchpont was awesome!

that was so jjs style...

[SolsticeOfLight]

Well; it certainly wouldn't be bad advice to copy JJS
He's improved a lot since I last saw him, but he does still have some basics to sort out. It's good that he admits his faults however. More progress coming soon, I hope

[KB@TB Em]

Thanks a lot for translating the interview!

This win over BoMo was so important!! Was great to watch. Esp. Ko Sung Hyun stepped up his game after the first set!
To partner LYD with KSH was definitly the right decision imo.
To be true I believe they will be pretty much unstoppable and soon no.1 (bc BoMo only play selected tourneys). Cai/Fu and Bo/Mo are the only real threat. WC13 and AE13 will give us some more insight. Koo/Tan always have problems with Korean pairs, Bod/Man should be a good force as well (Not sure why they don�t play much lately, probably bc of injury).
Get another SF thriller at the MS vs Koo/Tan underway plesase