Zhengming Wang ( 王睁茗 ): the next super king

[Thom_bad]

Well, we BCers said Chen Long, Yu Li, Pengyu Du etc were the new Lin Dan but I think LD is really an exception.. What will be proved in the future 'cause none of these youngsters (neither CJ or BCL) will reach the level of play Ld had in his good years...

Wait n see

[jamesd20]

My last post on this topic!!

He got the final at his first tournament, that's 2001/10/21 Denmark open. Then he won the Korea open, the highest prized tournament that time, in March 2002. Therefore, Lin Dan did NOT take over a year to win a tournament. It's only within 5 months!

BCL won his first tournament!! and look at him now!

Seriously though, I still believe you need to see them play against other players for a while now. I still don't think LD really dominated until 2004-present, but we both have our opinions

by the way, thanks for proving that.

No probs, proved us both wrong

[Dr. Evil]

Sabar jia you fanatic, sabar. You guys are getting ahead of yourself.

[tbgoh288]

For those of U who missed the Tago/Zhengming match, here is the link.
http://watchbadminton.com/video-Zhen...pionships-2010

Will he be the next Lin Dan? The article below makes quite interesting reading. Personally, I think if he can overcome his tendency for unforced errors he should be up there among the likes of LD, ZJH, YY and LCW
Zhengming: Style and Substance

November 23, 2008 by badmintonmania

A profile I did on the World Junior Champion for worldbadminton.net:

SELDOM do style and power come in one package. Style and its attendant qualities – grace, skill, delicacy, deftness – are reckoned to be exclusive of the other qualities expected in an athlete: power, toughness, stamina. Few players have had an equal measure of both. Finn Kobbero, one of the greatest of Denmark’s players, was reputedly the most stylish of his time, but he did not have the qualities of toughness and stamina that his more famous compatriot, Erland Kops, did. Kobbero was often recalled as the best player never to have won the All England. Kops, on the other hand, despite his almost mechanical style of playing, set the record for the most number of men’s singles titles at the All England: seven, before he was eclipsed by Rudy Hartono.
In Wang Zhengming, China seems to have unearthed a gem that has equal measures of both style and power. The youngster won the World Junior Championship at Pune in November, thus adding the world crown to the Asian Junior title that he held. But it was the manner of his victory at Pune that pleased connoisseurs of the sport.
Moving with fluidity, displaying an attractive variety of strokes, and yet smashing with great power, Zhengming might just be the next big thing in international badminton. He moves lightly, rather like a dancer, and gets into position early. He displays a fine touch, and the arcs that his racquet describe suggest an artist with his paintbrush. His jump smash is a powerful weapon, and he was at his fearsome best in the first game of his semifinal against Guru Sai Dutt, where he decimated the Indian’s defence with his searing smashes.
Of course, a world junior title does not immediately qualify him as a top player on the senior circuit, but the signs are there. As China’s best young player, he has the system on his side, and its legacy of turning out world champions.
That Zhengming is the product of such a system is hard to imagine. The Chinese system regularly throws up flawless, superfit athletes, but few with an extravagance of style and grace. Lin Dan and his predecessors, Zhao Jianhua and Yang Yang, are spectacular specimens and stylish in their own way, but did not have that easy grace that the young prodigy possesses.
Having started playing at 10, Zhengming was interested in several other sports such as football and basketball, but eventually decided to stick with badminton after he began winning junior competitions. He now trains for five to six hours each day at the national academy for juniors on Qing Huang Dao island. It has been two years since he moved to the academy, and he misses his family. “I’m very homesick,” he admits, “but I call them often or keep in touch through the internet.”
At the team event of the World Juniors, Wang lost the only match he played – against Jen Hao Hsu of Chinese Taipei in three games. In all the following matches, Gao Huan was preferred ahead of him. And yet, in the individual event, Wang was a contrast to the top-seeded Gao – who was made to sweat in two of his matches. Wang, seeded 3/ 4, cruised through, briefly troubled only in the second game of the semifinal, where his smash deserted him. In the final, he roundly thrashed Gao, who had simply no answers to his variety and skill. Whatever Gao has, Wang has in greater measure: his defence is excellent, and he can create points with lesser effort than his compatriot.
Whether Wang will eventually move to a higher league is hard to tell. At the moment, though, his success augurs well for the future, for it tells us style has as much place in the international game as power, speed and the other elements of the game.

[pBmMalaysia]

tbgoh288, that was great contributions!

[tbgoh288]

PbmMalaysia,
glad to share the article with U and other badminton fans.
Tago did well in the AE because he exploited his tight net play to the maximum to force his opponents to lift the shuttle for him to do his fast kills down the lines. In Zhenming he found an opponent with just as good touches at the net, if not better. He was beaten in his own game. Zhenming can cover the court better with his fluid movement and better physical attributes . His beautiful footwork and better reach means he need not expand too much energy. Zhengming also has a good defence in addition to his booming smashes and his repertoire of strokes. His main weakness is that he tends to loose easy points through unforced errors. WZM, Tago, Tian HW,Gao Huan, Zhang Shen I believe represent the future of Asian Badminton, if not the world.Follow the link below to watch Gao Huan and Zhang Shen play. There are both 19 years old.
http://v.ttymq.com/index.php/video/index/1102
Click on the Guo Nei Pi Sai icon.( 国内比赛)

[Thom_bad]

tbgoh288 i guess your Location isn't Malasia but Malaysia no ?

[tbgoh288]

Yes I Am in Malaysia

[ctjcad]

For those of U who missed the Tago/Zhengming match, here is the link.
http://watchbadminton.com/video-Zhen...pionships-2010
...

... WZM, Tago, Tian HW,Gao Huan, Zhang Shen I believe represent the future of Asian Badminton, if not the world.
...

- I saw the video of his match vs. Tago (finally saw him play) and from what i can conclude, he's court movements and reactions are not as fast. Or maybe he was pacing himself/that's not as fast as he could go. Yes, his footwork and court coverage are not bad (partly because of his length & reach).
- Is he as tall as Chen Long? In some ways, WZM's style of game reminds me of Chen Long's. In some ways, remind me of BCL's style of game, except WZM is a righty.
- Yes, i believe those young players will represent the future....after LD, BCL and CJ retire, of course..
* thanks for sharing the video links..

[ctjcad]

..i thought this thread should be put in the China Professional Players sub-forum??..

[volcom]

- I saw the video of his match vs. Tago (finally saw him play) and from what i can conclude, he's court movements and reactions are not as fast. Or maybe he was pacing himself/that's not as fast as he could go. Yes, his footwork and court coverage are not bad (partly because of his length & reach).
- Is he as tall as Chen Long? In some ways, WZM's style of game reminds me of Chen Long's. In some ways, remind me of BCL's style of game, except WZM is a righty.
- Yes, i believe those young players will represent the future....after LD, BCL and CJ retire, of course..
* thanks for sharing the video links..

CL's footwork is worse than WZM in my opinion.... and he never gets in a good position to actually smash strongly. CL's smashes are similar to CJ's, both lak real killer sting.... and a bit like BCL with good angles.

[Thom_bad]

Yes I Am in Malaysia

You can change, in the user CP, on the left, there's an "edit profile" button

[ctjcad]

CL's footwork is worse than WZM in my opinion.... and he never gets in a good position to actually smash strongly. CL's smashes are similar to CJ's, both lak real killer sting.... and a bit like BCL with good angles.

..perhaps...
Or perhaps it was KT's lack of pace & more lifts/clears in the game which allowed WZM to deliver those thundering smashes..I thought KT looked 1/2 a step a bit slow and was the one reacting instead of dictating the pace..Or maybe he's just not familiar with WZM's game, yet (first meeting between the 2)??..
On the other hand, i'm not sure how much "faster" WZM can scoot around the court..If it's of any use, perhaps his result vs. LinDan in the BAC Final is an indication??..

[volcom]

..perhaps...
Or perhaps it was KT's lack of pace & more lifts/clears in the game which allowed WZM to deliver those thundering smashes..I thought KT looked 1/2 a step a bit slow and was the one reacting instead of dictating the pace..Or maybe he's just not familiar with WZM's game, yet (first meeting between the 2)??..
On the other hand, i'm not sure how much "faster" WZM can scoot around the court..If it's of any use, perhaps his result vs. LinDan in the BAC Final is an indication??..

I watched the final, overall LD's skills were better at rallying and controlling the game forcing WZM to more errors. But WZM at the beginning of the game and in some parts of G2 was able to out rally LD with spectacular stroke play in terms of netplay and extremely powerful smashes, but in between those he played a lot of mediocre shots and gifted a lot of points.

I think he looks a lot better bet than CL, who really seems slower from the video against PG in the swiss open.

[ctjcad]

..(will watch his match vs. LD if i have time)..
From your description, WZM definitely still has more learning to do/higher competition hrs to accrue..and like a lot of you guys already mentioned, we'll see how he progresses in the next couple or so yrs & see if he will indeed become "the next super king"..

[Makkem_1]

Terrifyingly powerful smash, good netplay. Also uses his height well to get into net to set him up for the kill. Think he's a bit languid/ slow.

Tago was poor against Wang here, and IMO, his good run at the AE was mostly courtesy of an injurEd CJ, BCL (bcl was also a bundle of nerves as was LCW in the final). I don't think Tago is truly world class - I rank him with Nguyen Tien Minh as players you wouldn't want to meet on their good days, but limited technically.

Wang - Most like BCL, who is also capable of the same kind of play. For a set, BCL kicked Tago's arse the same way. It's really difficult to tell how good he can be at this stage. A lot will come down to handling the pressure when he's an established Top 5 (he has the ability unquestionably). At the very top, its who handles the pressure. CJ is such a limited player but is more successful than BCL, BCL has a good badminton brain, but doesn't cope with pressure. Lin Dan, is the master because he has a good balance of head and heart, and has dominated LCW who is very self pressured (but I believe LCW has comparable ability.) BCL was the better player than Lin Dan in the juniors, but his injuries also have prevented him getting and keeping the physical level of Lin Dan.

My prediction: WZM will win a lot of tournaments and has some X-factor. He'll win a major title and have a short spell at World no 1, but he'll be injury prone and have a relatively short career because his play style is power and because he's slightly built. like BCL. It's impossible to say how well he'll maximise his gifts because, IMO, this is not a pressure situation, but rather just his time to shine and take a few scalps. And, other players haven't started to train and prepare specifically with him in mind. Misbun once said about specifically targeting training for countering the games of the top 10 to be a champion.

[tbgoh288]

You can change, in the user CP, on the left, there's an "edit profile" button

Thanks Thom,
I am in Malaysia because my other half is a malaysian.