2013 GERMAN Open GP Gold - Qualification to FINAL (26th February-3rd March)

**Ton-Min-Bad** · 03-03-2013, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by HappySachs

Judging by the announcer on the buildup it's Yulianna, he's said it about 20 times now and it's definately a Y sound not a hard J.

Maybe something like Yoolianeh...

**j4ckie** · 03-03-2013, 08:48 AM

Originally Posted by HappySachs

This might be a wierd observation but this is the first time I've seen Yihan in a while and her legs seem much bigger/stronger than the last time I saw her??

That would be the very direct lighting at the GO. Noticed it the first time I went there, the lighting tends to make the athletes look much bigger. Qiao Bin looked like he was standing on tree trunks, not legs. While other tournaments have similar lighting with the viewer area dark and only the courts illuminated brightly, they don't usually have such direct lighting (i.e. not from such an acute angle from above). The GO arena certainly is one of the smallest on the tour, maybe they can spread the spotlights a bit further apart elsewhere...the ceiling is actually low enough that Chen Long hit it in his match against Marc.

Oh, and Juliane is pronounced just like it's written - the German way. Which is a soft 'Y' sound for the J, a normal 'U' and 'L' (making it sound like 'Yule'), a long 'A' (as in hard) and the 'E' is, as far as I know, unique to German and is kind close to 'err'. Put it together and you get "Yule-ihh-ahh-ne" or "Yule-ihh-ahh-neh". Hard to describe

**Justin L** · 03-03-2013, 08:49 AM

What a clash of the Amazons ! First game to Wang Yihan,21-14.

**bdfreak87** · 03-03-2013, 08:54 AM

Juliana doesnt seem to be her usual self..

**etudiant** · 03-03-2013, 08:55 AM

Jules

What happened ??

**HappySachs** · 03-03-2013, 08:55 AM

Originally Posted by j4ckie

That would be the very direct lighting at the GO. Noticed it the first time I went there, the lighting tends to make the athletes look much bigger. Qiao Bin looked like he was standing on tree trunks, not legs. While other tournaments have similar lighting with the viewer area dark and only the courts illuminated brightly, they don't usually have such direct lighting (i.e. not from such an acute angle from above). The GO arena certainly is one of the smallest on the tour, maybe they can spread the spotlights a bit further apart elsewhere...the ceiling is actually low enough that Chen Long hit it in his match against Marc.

ahh ok, interesting observation. However I think it's more than that and that her legs are actually bigger. I've been watching games all week and she is the first person I've made this observation on, I would expect the lighting to affect everyone equally.

Last few times I saw Yihan she had a thigh injury and had massive amounts of strapping. My guess is that part of her rehab involved lots of leg strength work.

**CLELY** · 03-03-2013, 08:57 AM

Too many errors by Juliane...11-4 now at second game.

**HappySachs** · 03-03-2013, 09:00 AM

Impressive by Wang, she's thrashing Schenk (who's admittedly not at her best).

However it's interesting to see that Wang's round the head weakness still persists.

**HappySachs** · 03-03-2013, 09:07 AM

Can't believe that serve, that was about 2 foot wide, almost on the carpet, dunno what's up with Juliane today

Game and Match to Wang Yihan

**etudiant** · 03-03-2013, 09:10 AM

Clearly Jules not her best today, hopefully not something injury-related that can affect her games esp with AE just right around the corner

**Justin L** · 03-03-2013, 09:14 AM

Wang Yihan is such a complete player, an all-rounder in attack,defence,and counter-attack. That's the WYH we know without the nagging knee problem. I sense Juliane showing some frustration when she couldn't get her attacking shots through WYH's solid defence today, mostly in G2 when she even served wide and mistimed a return shot.

**Justin L** · 03-03-2013, 09:19 AM

Here, Wang Yihan is in fine form, better than LXR's.

**HappySachs** · 03-03-2013, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by Justin L

Wang Yihan is such a complete player, an all-rounder in attack,defence,and counter-attack. That's the WYH we know without the nagging knee problem. I sense Juliane showing some frustration when she couldn't get her attacking shots through WYH's solid defence today, mostly in G2 when she even served wide and mistimed a return shot.

Agreed. Additionally, WYH attacking play was good enough to generate outright winners, negating one of JS strengths which is her retrieving ability. WYH's physicallity surprised me today, with her height advantage and strength I couldn't help but be reiminded of Chen long.

The AE is going to be very interesting.

**j4ckie** · 03-03-2013, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by HappySachs

Agreed. Additionally, WYH attacking play was good enough to generate outright winners, negating one of JS strengths which is her retrieving ability. WYH's physicallity surprised me today, with her height advantage and strength I couldn't help but be reiminded of Chen long.

The AE is going to be very interesting.

You bet. Especially with all stops pulled, meaning there's gonna be no letting matches go by anyone. We'll see how well the Chinese MD teams really measure up against the Koreans, should they meet again. Same thing last year where LYD/JJS lost to Hong Wei/Shen Ye in Germany, but destroyed them in the All England. Maybe the huge amount of videos they all took will help analyze their opponents further as well (China was constantly filming all courts on QF day, while Korea seemed to choose certain matches only.)
I'm very interested in how the MD plays out, should be a real treat this year (as opposed to 2010 and 2011, where the SF and F stages were actually pretty lame).

**HappySachs** · 03-03-2013, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by j4ckie

You bet. Especially with all stops pulled, meaning there's gonna be no letting matches go by anyone. We'll see how well the Chinese MD teams really measure up against the Koreans, should they meet again. Same thing last year where LYD/JJS lost to Hong Wei/Shen Ye in Germany, but destroyed them in the All England. Maybe the huge amount of videos they all took will help analyze their opponents further as well (China was constantly filming all courts on QF day, while Korea seemed to choose certain matches only.)
I'm very interested in how the MD plays out, should be a real treat this year (as opposed to 2010 and 2011, where the SF and F stages were actually pretty lame).

I attended one of the earlier rounds at 2011 World Championships at Wembly Arena, when I went to my assigned seat the Chinese team had set up a Camera and Tripod on it ...true story