Well when I watched the european championships final between Gade and Jonassen, I saw a lot of the old Gade. We all know that Kenneth Jonassen has got a great defense, but Gade made a lot of winners with his smashes like old Gade did, and his tempo is just like old Gade and his defense is much better. Gade was very explosive with his smashes and followed the 1 smash up by a winner smash, I think the old Gade is going to be back at the olympics and with a seed at 4 he is definetely my favourite ,and I would like to see a final between Wong and Gade because I think that would be the best battle and a close battle in 3 sets.
Maybe old Gade is back, but Gade is also old. Perhaps his tactics can work against European opponents, but against the young and fit (like Lin Dan), it could be a different story.
Gade supporter, Sure Peter is a great player, I think he is even great as Finn Kobbero, Erland Kops, Sven Pri, Elo Hansen, Flamming Delfs, Morten Frost Hansen, Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen, Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen (you know beter than me. ) You can't make a conclusion just from the match between Peter vs Kenneth in Europe final. I didn't watch the match, but just like you said, old Peter was a offensive and very explosive player. Like hcyong said, he gets older. In the other hand : the young players get more experience and improvement. I hope that Peter can get his peak at TC and OL. It will be very exciting to watch.
Jonassen is also (I think) quite a defensive player, content to rally, and sit and defend, so would have made gade look good! (no offence, he looks good anyway, and is playing very well. He will certainly be in with a shout at olympics, and danish players often play well at majors, but there are many other factors/players in the same situation.
Perhaps Jonassen was a defensive player years ago but for the last two years he has changed his style of play into a more offensive way. Just look at the quarterfinal against Xia in WC 03 where Kenneth was unlucky not to win and made Xia move to every corner with great offensive play. Jonassen did not play a defence minded final against Gade, Jonassen played his game and so did Gade. Still Gade is way more offensive than Jonassen, but that do not make Jonassen a defensive player.
I havent seen him play in any of the recent tournaments, as he hasnt got far enough for me to either see him on tv or buy dvd. However when I have seen him, when he in the latter stages (Is there a link there?!) he has looked pretty defensive to me. Maybe it is me.
as i said in my thread Jonassen is has a good defense, not that he is a defensive player like Roslin, I think we could call Kenneths game a form of "contra player", he returns the smash and follows it up with a smash.
Kenneth is not a defensive player. He look like a defensive player, if his opponent is a offensive player. If you watch his match against Xia in WC 2003. He was totally not a defensive player, but also not a offensive player like Peter, Lin Dan or Wong CH. Maybe like Chen Hong. He is a little bit a counter player, or "contra" player like Morten said. If you want to know what a defensive player is, watch Icuk Sugiarto. He was a real defensive player all the time.
I'd say Morten is right on the spot regarding Jonassen. He used to to rely on his great defensive skills and counter-striking, but during the last, say, three years he has really transformed his play. He now has some very strong attacking capabilities, and actually plays a pretty aggressive game. I think this is also what has (rightfully so, if you ask me) moved him into the top 10. Kenneth has a very high "best level", and I'd say that he is capable of beating just about anybody. However, he does have a problem with consistency, and his accuracy at the net needs some work. I'd say his chances for an Olympic medal are rather slim. On the other hand, the Olympics have had some surprise winners before. I don't think many would have placed their bets on Ji in 2000, or on Poul-Erik in 1996...
