There is no problem at all for fans (including GC) to wish a more even distribution of good players from all countries. However, this wish should be achieved with the efforts in sport itself from the other countries and their badminton players. As a badminton fan, there is no problem to have personal bias, but as the offical commentor representing BWF whose voice is heard by millions of fans, personal bias against Chinese players just does more harm than good in promoting badminton sport. Chinese players are working hard to get the chance to demonstrate the best of badminton sport to the fans over the world. It is simple unfair for them to receiver personal emotions projected to them from BWF official commentators.
i would only have a problem if she does it openly. but one cannot simply control emotions by will. and she doesn't do it openly. in fact, she has much praise for the many chinese players.
I didn't notice GC's bias against Chinese badminton players until I started to watch Youtube badminton games commented by her as BWF commentator, and I am not the only one complaining about this, on the forum even in this thread. One example i can give about GC's biased commenting is that I heard many times in Youtube broadcast GC critized Chinese players for suggesting out of bound or celebrating victories before shaking hands with their oponents, but never heard similar comments against any non-Chinese players when they behaved similarly. GC did praised Chinese players sometimes, given there are so many outstanding Chinese players there, but her praises for non-Chinese players are usually much more affectionate and emotional.
CL has put himself at the top of the badminton MS. he has many years of good badminton and even maybe become one of the great. He has match the strength of LCW already. But LD a bit far off. However, LCW and LD are a special breed of players not seen before. They constantly evolve their game. The AE in 2014 shows a bit more relaxed , a bit more purposeful LCW. There is a change in style of play. Remember how he changed his style in mid 2010 to a bit more attacking style and left everypne in his wake except LD? Now he has exhibit a change. For CL, just when he thought he had grasped LCW's game, there is a shift in the latters style. CL should not chase after LD or LCW shadows but developed his own game and make adjustment if need be. His game is still too predictable and in "beat LCW" mode so much so that he can sometime find it difficult to play other players in the circuit.
Has CL beat LD before? According to Gill he did in the China Games (2009?) but I can't find any record of it or video. Source - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UEwCUunbjI#t=1249
Chen Long was featured in the latest edition of Badminton Unlimited. Alos featured was Viktor Axelsen. It is a pretty good show that should not be missed by badminton fans. [video=youtube;hjjYFfL7ToA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjjYFfL7ToA&list=PLA7ZcagI0frDFe7Lo4_8IK2e IJWanQY3E[/video]
I agree that the official commentator should be not biased toward any country. But the problem with Chinese is not only it is dominating badminton circuit, but the wide disparity between professional badminton players. In China, the national team fund everything, whereas amateur players in most other countries work another job to support their dreams. China, though not the only one, is the epitome of government funded sports where kids are plucked at young age to attend subsidized sports schools and badminton becomes their only job. In Canada, our best players are amateurs. Paying for coaching and going to tournaments are very expensive. For me, I will always cheer on the amateur athletes, at least non government funded athletes, when they make it to the top. For that reason, I will cheer for European/North American players rather than Asian players because most Asian players are government funded. I don't really agree with government paying for sports performance in generate, travel expenses are fine, but wages are not.
Goverment fund or not , the players still have to work hard. The students in Canada are all from government funded colleges. They still need to work hard to graduate.
Sorry, I did not catch your point? What does government funded colleges have anything to do with badminton? Governments all over the world subsidize education, not many subsidize sports the way China does. Are you talking about sports scholarships? I am sure they are not enough to allow a person to play badminton for a living and feed him/herself at the same time. In fact, my university does not provide a badminton scholarship. I also do not understand the "working hard" point. I were merely making the point that most non-asian players cannot afford to spend all their time playing badminton.
He means that just because the government funds something, that doesn't mean the athletes don't have to work hard. At the end of the day, the athlete's success is determined by their own hard work. It is certainly true that government support can further the general success of a sport, e.g. China and sports like TT or badminton, but for any individual athlete, their success is determined by their own hard work. Government support is most important in producing a large number of good athletes rather than the success of any given athlete.
Canadian colleges and universities are actually not funded by government, only K-12. There are however, scholarships to subsidize the cost of education. I think what soulless is trying to say is that most players around the world except for a few in countries such as China are given the opportunity to solely focus on their badminton career without having to worry about living expenses, education costs, training costs, etc... Compared to someone in Canada where they would have to worry about all those things on top of trying to reach the same level of play the Chinese players are playing at.
It is true that hardwork and individual motivation is a necessary condition for a successful athlete but time is a limited resource and you cannot manufacture time no matter how hard you are willing to work. Chinese badminton players just have more time to practice, that is a fact. I will always cheer for the Norwegian hockey players, Jamaican bobsledders, etc. I admire those who are willing to sacrifice other parts of their lives to pursue a sport knowing that they cannot be as successful as the top / well-funded athletes, but doing it for the love of the sport. I think government money should be better spent on providing better health care and education so that the poor can save more of their earnings and decide whether to pursue a sport as a passion, rather than as a way out of poverty by becoming a state-sponsored athlete.
It's top level sport and we want to see good games and for example not something like AUS vs Indonesia on the TV court and have the game finished in 15 minutes.
True, I agree that for maximum entertainment we want to see the top players. Notice I only said that I would still cheer for the underdog. I am not against professional sports, only if the government is too involved. I think the Chinese Badminton Super League is a step toward the right direction to have the funding come from corporate sponsors and fans, and away from government coffers. Government involvement can also attract corruption, see the Chinese soccer league. I am also against government funding for sports stadiums which happens often in North America. I am not going to force my opinion on you, we will just respectively disagree on somethings.
I agree that those athletes who have to sacrifice more often have it harder, and to see them become top-level does make for a better story. As a spectator, I'm interested in watching top-level sports, and individual political views or beliefs about what the government 'should' or 'shouldn't' be doing should factor into this. Quite honestly, state sponsorship of sports, in the entire space of options for government $$ to be 'better-spent,' occupies a very small portion of that sum.
Do you really think 6000 dollars for univ. Of Toronto and 3000 dollars for Macgill can cover your expense without government fund? Check tuition fee in any USA private university.
government fund attract corruption? Hope you are not against Canadian public university, health care, public transportation, social insurance, .....
I think you maybe doing this thing called 断章取义。 Government are needed to provide public and social goods such as roads, public schools, social insurance that would not be provided otherwise because the economics problems called free-riding and the 'tragedy of the commons'. However, when you have bureaucracy over things there will be chance of corruption because the lack of competition. We accept these risks because there are no better alternative to the government for provision of these services. However I don't see sports (professional athletes) as a public good that need to be funded by the government. So the the risk of corruption is not worth it. Canadian government are not without corruption, but we rely on a vigilant media to hold officials in check. I cannot say the same for the Chinese media though I certainly hope it gets better. Sorry for taking this thread off the conversation about Chen Long, I actually find him really enjoyable to watch. Nothing too fancy, and I would like to model my game after him. Best of luck!