Badminton: I’m sincere, says Lee Chong Wei

Thats the spirit. He never meant to offend anyone. He played and trained hard. It was not his day during that match. He will continue to play for Malaysia and hopefully to win more titles.

 

gambling and dealing with bookies will destroy players...

 

The defeat this time is more demoralising than last year. Can LCW bounce back? Hope he can deal with it and find himself again, although im not too optimistic with it. Plz prove me wrong, Chong Wei.........

 

hehehee, LCW will have a hard time bouncing back, for one i think he won't, he'll lose to some no name player in the next tournament, and then he will continue to lose and eventually fall out of the spotlight, even if LCW bounces back i don't think its going to be fast...my prediction is that he will start to bounce back at the olympics, but still won't be 100%. Furthermore i think that if he loses again to some no namer at the olympics, LCW is gone for good...

 

i hope LCW will bounce back by winning the JAPAN OPEN..// hehe

 

LCW will meet hafidz in the first round....it will be tricky for lcw

 

very good, i mean your imagination, you must be a fortune teller???
why not to wait for few more days to prove you are right???

 

i agree with chong wei as in....when he wins ppl will be happy...when he lose a lot of ppl will say a lot a lot of things........haihhhhh....
hope he will be fine......

 

"I am still not good yet"

It's unfortunate LCW still thinks like this-- I've thought for the past year that the only two things missing from his game to become the #1 player in the world were: (1) desire to win (2) confidence. His quote suggests he still lacks confidence in his abilities.

LCW possesses excellent skills in all areas when combined with blazing speed should allow him to become the #1 player in the world. He should take the loss to Sony for what it was-- a one-time random loss. In no way is Sony a superior player to LCW. Lin Dan lost to Ronald Susilo in the first round of the 2004 Olympics-- you take it for what it is; a one-time random loss.

Random losses can occur on any given day in a demanding sport where you really need to be in good form on that day if your opponent is in excellent form. Any number of things can upset a person's form-- too nervous; too excited; not enough sleep the night before; poor quality of sleep the night before; poor diet, etc. On top of these factors which can cause a loss in form, the pressure LCW felt at the WC at home in Malaysia was likely even greater than the pressure LD felt at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the pressure Taufik had during the 2000 Sydney Olympics (part of the reason why he became more and more of a rebel). It's human to allow the pressure to get to you the first time around (LCW was never the favourite to win in past Olympics or WC's) but good players are able to treat it as a learning experience and not feel the pressure in subsequent major tournaments.

So this loss is really no big deal-- he just needs to make sure he continues to have the desire to win (up to about a year or two ago I think he respected the top players Taufik and LD too much and didn't really desire to destroy them-- though Taufik and LD have never been complimented as being the most modest players in the world, perhaps there is something to be said for erring on the side of cockiness). Lashing out at YKH, while regrettable, shows LCW really wants to win now. That is a step in the right direction for someone like LCW who seems like the type who will want to keep his word (the meaning behind his words-- his desire to win).

When LD lashed out at Li Yongbo earlier in the year, I was very impressed and saw that LD might have the ability to become a great player. He was losing matches but he didn't care because he had a larger goal in mind-- a more distant goal-- and in order to achieve a higher level of greatness to his game, he was willing to sacrifice matches. He was willing to take a step back in order to become better in the future; forcing himself to play a lot of backhand net shots, even if it cost him the match. Not only did he accept personal loss but he also lost in LYB's face, which took courage. I had discussed a few things in a thread about what happened between Taufik and Lin Dan during the 2006 Asian Games-- in Scene 5: What lies ahead for these two players-- I had thought LD should take up calligraphy and poetry in order to develop the more artistic/soft elements of his game. I also thought he needed to get rid of XXF as his girlfriend if he wished to capture Gold at the 2008 Olympics. XXF seems like a nice girl but two minor problems-- (1) she doesn't seem that bright (2) she's not hot at all-- perhaps the opposite. A man can hardly be expected to be inspired and to possess the more subtle and beautiful elements of footwork and stroke when he is with this type of girl. As has often been said: Behind every great man is a greater woman (if she's not, it's better to stay single). However, I had not considered the possibility that LD would speak out to Li Yongbo. This is a turning point in LD's career and I now believe he does have a legitimate chance (LCW and Boonsak also possess the skills) to win the '08 Olympics.

So let's recap. The disappointment of loss in the 2000 Olympics causes Taufik to become more of a bad boy playing only when he feels like it. The disappointment of the 2006 Asian Games causes Lin Dan to speak out against Li Yongbo and sacrifice minor victories for China in order to become a greater player. The disappointment of the 2007 WC in Malaysia causes LCW _________ ?

Roger Federer at the top of his game, winning majors and ranked #1, fires his coach in order to pursue his own path-- wishes to experiment on his own; has a vision of what he wishes to develop and how he wishes to train; seeks to attain transcendency of the sport.

Tiger Woods playing excellent golf, destroying the field in majors and ranked #1, fires his coach in order to pursue his own path-- wishes to perfect his swing and form; has a vision of how he wishes to be on the golf course; seeks to attain transcendency of the sport.

All truly great players at some point in time must go off on their own and find their own paths. While it is helpful to work with many different coaches and glean whatever one can from different sources, at some point in time great players desire, seek out, and go their own path where they can explore new forms on their own. This is what makes them great-- their ability to perfect forms or create their own new forms. At this point coaches are useless because they are mere mortals-- great players understand the game at a higher level than the best of coaches.

Eventually great players will often retain coaches once more (Tiger, Federer) but it's merely for technicalities on how to play within the limits of the human body. The vision and the form that the great player sought was either fleeting or unattainable as the realities of the limits of the human body intercede.

LCW has yet to fully show his desire to find his own path-- an over-reliance on coaches/father figures-- but perhaps Li Mao leaving and now this YKH incident will spurn him to rely on himself more. Perhaps it is not the Malysian way but time will tell whether LCW seeks out greatness and his own path or if he is happy to be an extremely skilled student to whomever his coach is that day. This is not to say LCW needs to do anything drastic and coach himself but rather he should have his own vision of the game regardless of whether he has a coach or not-- it is not enough to be a robot or a student of the game. To reach the pinnacle, one must eventually become the teacher.

So perhaps then this is not the end but rather the beginning of LCW's prominence to badminton glory. You can either be naturally gifted with ice in the veins to handle the hopes and pressure of an entire nation or you can be like Taufik or Lin Dan-- make the decision to care less about national glory and play more for yourself in an attempt to attain a level to your game where you feel you have transcended the sport and are on top of the world regardless of your ranking and competitive results. The results in competition will automatically follow once you've transcended the sport.

So LCW: Play for yourself. Enjoy the game. Play the game because it's beautiful. Play to transcend the sport. Keep up that desire to win. The victories will follow.

The only question is whether LCW will be able to string together enough tournament victories between now and Beijing 2008 to have complete confidence in himself. If he can, I will consider him the favourite.

 

Thats a very long writeup. Interesting.

 

Quisitor...that is a looong essay...impressed with the hours you probably spent writing this stuff up...while I like LCW and think of him as a good player but to put LCW in Roger Federer, Tiger-man, LD, TH who have won majors and to be consider 'great', I think is not the time yet.

Your paragraph “I had thought LD should take up calligraphy and poetry in order to develop the more artistic/soft elements of his game. I also thought he needed to get rid of XXF as his girlfriend if he wished to capture Gold at the 2008 Olympics. XXF seems like a nice girl but two minor problems-- (1) she doesn't seem that bright (2) she's not hot at all-- perhaps the opposite. A man can hardly be expected to be inspired and to possess the more subtle and beautiful elements of footwork and stroke when he is with this type of girl. As has often been said: Behind every great man is a greater woman (if she's not, it's better to stay single)”…you can expect reply from Bcers for sure, think you are brave to start this post, hahaha!!…need to create a thread just for this post alone…hahaha!!! LOL!!

 

LCW vs HH in the 1st round, hmmm Personally I think that BAM should pull one out from this tourney.

 

then should we, be happy when he lost and said alot of things when he won? it is ONLY alright and forgivable when LCW spoke of the wrong things??....... We too are humans and we have emotions.

 

both will have w/o and noone will lose.... win win for both parties.

 

Correction:It's 'perceptive' not 'preceptive'. So you need to be both objective and perceptive.

 

Go Go LCW!!!!!!

 

LCW is back.Thats the only thing i know when i read his statements.He has for forgiveness on his controversial statement over YKH.LCW once again turn into LCW.
I doubt if any player would ask for forgiveness after a mistake.(At least i know Super Dan wouldn't do that.)