I have some doubts on Wang Yi Han. She seems to be a great athlete,tall, good strokes etc. But she seems to lack variety in her game and seems stereotyped and doesn't seem willing to mix her shots. in the AE she kept serving high to opponents who gained easy points by smashing them down for easy winners but she still would not serve low, for eg. She looks too dependent on speed,fitness and skills to play but watching her play against compatriots, I think players like Li Xueh Rei, Liu Xin, Wang Xin, Wang Shi Xian or Jiang Yan Jiao seem to be better ball players and have more variety and strokes. She seems to struggle against people she plays for the first time like the Thais or Koreans and only good against familiar team mates, I think that's why she did not perform in the Uber Cup. That is only my observation though, if true, she can only be a Bao Chun Lai.
Wang YiHan has shown us that she is one of our top WS players . Disagree with the comments. WYH has shown us that she is one of our top WS players; and she has won the World No.1 position and stayed there. BCL is good, but he has always been playing second or third to Lin Dan in the CHN team. .
She's good of course and will probably remain no.1. But will she ever win the big ones like Olympics and be able to beat good players like Tina ? What I mean is whether she will make the transition to legendary status like Lin Dan or Zhang Ning.
Ye Zhao Ying for eg has so many big,and I mean BIG titles to her credit, World Champion twice,AE champion thrice, but she did not have a very good head to head against Susi or Camilla and could not be said to be the player to beat in her time and is not even in the list of China greats in badminton. I'm not undermining her, just questioning where she is heading and how she will be remembered.At the moment she does not appear to be someone who can take on all comers.
Now I realise why some are unhappy with my comments. Actually it is in response to some statements made by the commentator in the Denmark and French Opens. Seems like LYB is not happy with the world no 1's recent performances and issued her an ultimatum that she had to WIN both Denmark and French superseries or face being dropped from the squad in addition to being dropped from the Asian Games. I think this phenomenon of Wang actually happened before to LD or Xia Xuan Ze in their early years and there may be some element still missing from Wang's game that can be exploited by opponents for. eg weak defence, the faster you hit the shuttle the faster it comes back to you etc etc. China players have been dropped before eg. Ji Xin Peng or Zhu Lin or even Lu Lan.
Bbn, I totally agree with you after watching the 2 finals. Her opponents for sure are not at WL, WX and WSX yet, but they can still out-manoeuvered her so many times, and they lost mainly because of lack of experiences, not because of skill. Other than lack of shot variety, I think footwork is WYH's another major problem. She is kind of slow moving to the net or backward compared to the other 3 Wang's.
I hate to have to say this, and hope someone might want to correct me, but players trained in the 90s by Li Mao or Li Ling Wei tend to more versatile ,better stroke makers and smart and able to think independently eg.Sun Jun. Maybe the current emphasis is too heavy on churning out consistent results or playing safe and training is all Singles-focused . Thailand and Korea appear better at producing great players but they dont win so consistently.
I think Wang Yihan had done admirably under the circumstances. She is a gifted athlete, but her physique is not so typical of most badminton players. She leans more towards the gangly, angular physique, and no trainer can change that. At most top levels of athletics and sports, they will first understand your absolute limitations, and then work on a strategy to ensure that any effect of those limitations are reduced to the absolute minimum. If she is incapable of being as smooth as say, a Susanti, or aesthetically pleasing as someone else, why hold it against her? She has still delivered a slew of winners for China, and can continue for as long as she is allowed to. There is at present a glut of very good, even great WS players in Chinese badminton, and WYH has managed to hold her own even so. It's natural for any young girl (which is what most of them are, face it!) to experience doubts, fears, bad days, loss of confidence etc.
It is clear that since the beginning of 2010, WYH has not played to her 2009 level, in the footwork specially. According to an interview of Zhang Ning I saw some months ago, there is two problem : mental stability and training. ZN said that she was given advices about her shortcomings and special training was given to overcome them (ZN did not say which shortcomings, but perhaps footwork and defense), but she would not obey and just reply "I won everything the way I play, no need to change". So her present situation is certainly very humbling. Which lead to the confidence problem. But her attitude in the Dan and Fr opens was very good, she run and not just stretch, she played the drops and not just clears-smashes, so there is hope. I think everyone see that she has the potential for being better then all the other girls, so I think the coaching staff is trying to figure the best way to improve her, and that is being a bit harsh right now.
Based on this finding, everything seems to add up explaining LYB's threat to drop her. She wins everything,becomes complacent, opponents read all her moves, her coach a legend with rich experience and foresight plans ahead for her, she is slow to respond and gets humbled. The boss delivers an ultimatum and she responds. So it is not true that the Chinese system produces rote learners at high level with players waiting for coaches to tell them what to do like Bao. The coach offers advice and a plan, whether or not the player follows up on it is up to the player, and she is responsible for her own failure or success.Goes back to LD's motto of not only being the best but of getting even better. I think the formula is the same everywhere in order to attain success and explains why some players remain at the top and others dont and also the function of a coach at advanced level.
Off topic a bit but I wonder why little attention has been given to emerging stars like Li Xue Rui,Liu Xin, Ratchanok and Pornthip. I think they are great players. The 4 Wangs will have a tough time keeping these 4 players at bay in the near future.Never has there been so much talent around, I think.
..recently. WYH had beaten JYJ 3 straight times prior to her loss last week..H2H tourney record, WYH 4-3 JYJ..