He has won all big three events ... All England, Olympic Gold Medal, World Championship. Do you think it is fair to say that he is one of the legend in XD (if not bigger than Kim Dong-Moon). I would say so ...
its hard to say he is a legend i think he was few of the best player in XD i believe Gao Ling will be a legend if she won Gold in 08 Olympic
For my humble opinion, winning big ones doesnt make u a legend. He's skills has nth much to remember on unlike KDM. Kim/Ra is the best XD combination ive ever seen so far.
I agree with your point of view. ZJ really has nothing to remember except his big smashes and KDM has much more content than ZJ. Meanwhile, GL still shine with her new partner, but not in the case of ZJ.
There's one special credit for Zhang Jung when he partnered with Gao Ling booked 2 times Olympic Gold Medalist in Sydney/00 and Athens/04. I guess this top achievement is the hardest thing to do for all shuttlers. CHN WD phenomenon Ge Fei/Gu Jun also had succeed grab 2 Olympic Golds in Atlanta/96 & Sydney/00. Yeah, Gao Ling is more appropriate being next bdm legend candidate with her superb performance in XD and WD simultaneously.
This discussion is as fruitless as a Taufik Vs Lin Dan thread. In his own right ZJ is a top class player, who managed to win two olympic gold medals and on World championship winners medal in a time when, Arguably, but IMHO the Greatest XD pair ever were not only playing, but at their peak. I think that speaks for his pedigree, no one can say GL won it on her own, XD is a team event. I certainly would not have won OG, even playing with GL.
Both the ZJ/GL and KDM/RKM pairings deserve equal merit, I think. They could beat each other, but it was rare for any other pair to get close to either of them. And it was easier or Gao Ling to get success in LD than for Zhang Jun to get success in MD, because the rest of the world offered far more competetion in MD than LD. (that's a failing of the rest of the world, hardly Gao Ling's fault)
because ZJ/GL performance was declining and they decided to split them up after a failure in the 06 WC i think.
Had it not been for Kim/Ra, Zhang Jun and Gao Ling's would have dominated the mixed doubles circuit from the 2000 Olympics till the 2004 Olympics. If this happened, I would very likely consider Zhang Jun as a legend. Unfortunately, they have been consistently losing to Ra/Kim in the finals in almost every tournament after the Zhang Jun separated from Gao Ling for a while because team China needs Zhang Jun to focus on the 2002 Thomas Cup preparations. If I remember correctly, after Zhang Jun and Gao Ling reunited, they have only beaten Kim/Ra once and lost to them about 10 times (or maybe even more). Because of these losses, I won't consider him as a legend by my books.
In 2003 WC MX Final, their head to head was 4-3, and after that loss to Kim/Ra, the record was 5-3 for Kim/Ra. When else did they defeat Zhang/Gao?
Kim/Ra's record against Zhang/Gao is 10-3. I remember they were unbeaten for a year or so. Very impressive.
Oh I see, thanks for the info. It's a shame that Kim/Ra lost in the 2004 Olympics, would've been great to see Ra with a gold.
No one can be a legend,until he/she's already quit.Even though we all know that this kind of achievements are rarely seen in XD.Kim/Ra is one of them.By the time,the achievements or maybe personalities will be the measurement.
Kim/Ra are at a class of their own. they are my idols ever since i picked up badminton. ^^ personally, i enjoy watching sudket/saralee, widianto/natsir as well as robertson/emms for different reasons. they are well, mixed doubles specialists i should say and watching them play is never a bore though they may be inconsistent at times. only time will tell if zhang jun will be a legendary player or not but personally, i feel that gao ling is definitely the brighter star. why are we having this discussion anyway?
Like him or not, he managed to step it up for the biggest event out there, twice. How many other guys have managed to do that?