http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7TRGyrOOX0&feature=share Intv with LCW, after his book came out, sometime Feb-Mar 2012. Including on the chinese title, cover photo(the shirtless part),2012 OG
Just wondering if yesterday's lost to SWH will put a big dent to LCW's confidence. Personally, I wasnt really disappointed with his lost, perhaps I look forward to TC and of course OG, more important to me. Too many unforced errors from LCW. Good thing was he and the coaches saw these, then they can work hard some more to iron these out before TC and OG. Hope LCW can brush this aside and just focus on OG. GO LCW!
SWH performance yesterday was superb. All credits should be given to him as he was the one who is dictating the paste and outcome in yesterday final against Dato'. SWH also showed huge courage to dominate the front court despite knowing Dato' constant present. SWH defense and offensive were mostly winners but it is his calmness in the end of the 3rd set from the pressure of sudden rises of points accumulated by Dato' has rewarded him his first SS title through 3 straight unforced errors by Dato'. Dato' rare defeats yesterday also was contributed by the fact that he made numerous errors, his line judgement was way of course and that "injection of paste" in his style of play was not regularly present. Obviously he has lost some of his "touch" in yesterday final but i am confident that this is just temporary and he will gain momentum back at the right time before TC and OG. I'm not sure if it is just me who noticed but it seems Dato' facial and physical posture and expression lately shows that he in lot of stress. Understandably that knowing OG is near, hopefully that his mind is at the highest state of confidence and all the best to him in his preparation for this year OG.
SWH performance yesterday was superb. All credits should be given to him as he was the one who is dictating the paste and outcome in yesterday final against Dato'. SWH also showed huge courage to dominate the front court despite knowing Dato' constant present. SWH defense and offensive were mostly winners but it is his calmness in the end of the 3rd set from the pressure of sudden rises of points accumulated by Dato' has rewarded him his first SS title through 3 straight unforced errors by Dato'. Dato' rare defeats yesterday also was contributed by the fact that he made numerous errors, his line judgement was way of course and that "injection of paste" in his style of play was not regularly present. Obviously he has lost some of his "touch" in yesterday final but i am confident that this is just temporary and he will gain momentum back at the right time before TC and OG. I'm not sure if it is just me who noticed but it seems Dato' facial and physical posture and expression lately shows that he in lot of stress. Understandably that knowing OG is near, hopefully that his mind is at the highest state of confidence and all the best to him in his preparation for this year OG. SS
I think he just had a bad day and so happen it was Shon's excellent day. As you noted, it is better to make mistakes now rather than at the OG. Everyone who plays certainly can relate to this, there will be some off days where nothing really works. Did you see LCW playing the net return again and again, I hardly saw that before. Lets hope he was just training Anyway, let not take anything away from Shon it was an excellent performance from him.
LCW's comment about the match, looks like his shoulder is okay : “He played well,” said Chong Wei afterward. “I’m coming from an injury, so it’s a good result for me. The shoulder did not trouble me, but after the All England I’ve not had a lot of practice. I wanted to enjoy this event.” Read more at http://www.badzine.net/news/the-yonex-shon-rise-india-open/19475/
Soundbytes with LCW at the India Open [video=youtube;zDbwD2OhhH8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zDbwD2OhhH8[/video]
After watching the final, I was wondering if LCW was testing some sort of fighting-in-the-Olympics-final mode. A player of his class should be able to adjust very quickly according to how his opponent plays, but throughout the whole match LCW was simply stubborn and kept smashing no matter what.
Haha.. Yeah that thing comes across my mind as well, when i was wondering how LCW could perform in this India Final.. We would still don't know, he played really eager to win, or he wants to see how his stamina going to perform after shoulder injury... During an interview before the India Open he stated that he wants to see how far could he push his body & stamina after the injury.
Does anyone here think that LCW changed the tension in his strings prior to the finals, or maybe even before? Maybe to adjust at a slightly lesser tension to prevent further aggravation to his arm? His clears were going out, smashes were strong, net play was not as tight as it should have been, and some blocked returns lacked the precision we normally associate with him. It might be interesting if we could somehow find out if his string tension was the same, or changed.
The Star Online > Sports Tuesday May 1, 2012 Chong Wei to work on weaknesses that cost him title at the India Open By RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei will not allow his shock defeat at the India Open to disrupt his preparations for the London Olympics. The first thing he intends to do is restore order by defending his title in the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold in Johor Baru starting tomorrow. On Sunday, Malaysia’s Olympic gold medal prospect Chong Wei went down to South Korea’s Shon Wan-ho 18-21, 21-14, 19-21 in an error strewn final in New Delhi. Out to make amends: Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong lost in the quarter-finals of the India Open last week and will be out to make good in Johor. It was his first defeat to world No. 17 Wan-ho, who is being groomed to take over from his more illustrious compatriot Lee Hyun-il when he quits after the London Games. Chong Wei, who was competing in his first tournament after picking up a shoulder injury at the All-England in March, gave due credit to his South Korean opponent, who will turn 24 in a couple of weeks. “I went to India without any high expectations after the injury and the outcome clearly showed that I still have some work to do,” said Chong Wei, who arrived home yesterday. “This Korean player defeated Peter (Gade Christensen) and showed steely determination throughout the tournament. “He deserves all the credit for it. I didn’t help myself by making a lot of mistakes in the final. I plan to bounce back as a stronger person.” Chong Wei, who started the year by winning the South Korea and Malaysia Opens, said the setback would motivate him further to strengthen his preparation for the Olympics. “The qualifying period has ended with the India Open and I’m happy that I will be going to the Games as the top seed. The India Open showed that I still need to work on certain areas of my game and I will continue to do just that,” he said. “My priorities right now are the Thomas Cup Finals (in Wuhan from May 20-27) and the Olympics.” Top seed Chong Wei will be gunning for his third Malaysia Open GP Gold title to maintain his impeccable record at home in this second tier tournament. “I do feel tired but I always look forward to playing in front of my home crowd. I will carry on with my plan to defend my title,” said Chong Wei. “Besides, all my training partners will be in Johor and it is only right that I’m there as well. The tournament itself will be a good training platform for me,” added Chong Wei of the tournament, which has not attracted big names. He should accomplish his mission successfully as his two main challengers are Indonesia’s Sony Kuncoro and second seed Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam. In the men’s doubles, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong will also get a chance to make a quick rebound. The defending champions, who lost to Angga Pratama-Ryan Agung Saputra of Indonesia in the quarter-finals in India last week, will have to fend off a host of back-up pairs from the local and international front. http://thestar.com.my/services/printerfriendly.asp?file=/2012/5/1/sports/11209087.asp&sec=sports
The one in LCW's hometown, Penang, was reported to have gone smooth and peacefully. Penang is ruled by opposition party, they support Bersih
I have been following LCW progress in most off the tournaments. Just would like to share my insight of his playing. Hope he and his coach TSB could have the same thinking as mine. LCW have to pay more attention and trains on the follow up after his smash has returned by the opponent (noticed he always lost the point if his opponent could return his smash), he should sharpen his net play as to create more attacking chances and, he should polish up his defense to more solid. Hope these thoughts are also in TSB and LCW mind. Cheers.
Maybe it was because he is just coming out of injury. I recall I had a mental phobia of putting too much pressure of my knees for weeks even after it was completely healed from an injury. In his case he might be putting too much into the shot or ... You could be right, lowering the tension to reduce the effort required to smash, makes perfect sense.
I didn't follow this tournament because I was closely following the developing news of Bersih hehehhe.
