Usual excuses when players lose. Marin and sindhu played well to beat yihan and shixian respectively.
Though I accept that Sindhu played brilliantly and to me, Shixian was almost her normal self. Yihan was just off dude! I remember the Badminton Unlimited Episode in which players were asked the most feared opponent, and almost all pointed out Yihan. Have you checked the her H2H record against fellow people? Saina is yet to win a match from Yihan(barring the one where she withdrew retired)
See the effusive praise for Lee Yong Dae, I want to see this once in my lifetime for Lin Dan. Those two are my favorites for MD and MS respectively. But, irrespective of that it requires a lot of effort for Gill to come up with any praise for Lin Dan.
WYH injured her thigh muscle which affected her systematic training and hampered her movement and speed while WSX was sick and had to rest for 40 days and only resumed intensive training 10 over days ago before coming to this tournament (no wonder she appeared unusually tired in her match with Sindhu as someone here pointed out). As for your grouse on Morten Frost's and Gillian Clark's biased commentaries, most of us are used to it, nothing new and the topic has been discussed before elsewhere in this forum. If you wish, you can try writing to BWF but I'm sure they do read our forum as a source of information for their commentaries.
Even the younger generation aspires to be a Lin. In the Nanjing Youth Olympics, there was a short bio for all players which had an entry for their favorite sportsperson. Among those who have filled, it was unambiguously Lin Dan, with some players choosing players of their home countries. (Some, not all, Malaysians and Indonesians chose LCW and Taufik respectively, with Yamaguchi choosing some obscure player from her nation)
So what....?.. what do you mean...?.. pointing out excuses for her loss would not do anything.. both sindhu and marin had beaten higher ranked opponents especially sindhu who is ranked 12 and has beaten shixian 4 times so far. She is just now turned 19. Man... you think china will send yihan if they know yihan is off?... nothing can carry away the victories from both sindhu and marin.
I want to make sure that Morten and Gill have read it. Can't we have a fan's letter of sorts, something of a signature campaign who feel the same?
I wouldn't sign it. Don't see it as a big deal if commentators are a bit biased, even if it gets a bit tiring to listen to Gill rave about LCW for the 853th time. I think most people are just afraid of chinese vs chinese finals, those are always a nightmare.
Relax dude, I have never said that Marin or Sindhu didn't deserve it. I have a firm philosophy that it's a player's responsibility to ensure his/her fitness. That said, it is not an excuse to say that a person underperformed because he/she was injured. Also, I have nothing against Sindhu, I almost always expected her to win. Shixian is just too passive. But yes, Yihan has not only lost, she has been obliterated. And as far as entry is concerned, the entry cann't be changed after seedings. There is only withdrawing. (As far as I know) So finally, yes nothing can "carry away" the victories of sindhu and marin, but we can always evaluate what went wrong.
Really? And watching LCW demolish almost any other player in countless tournament finals is exciting?
You can decide after reading the article once I write it. I don't intend to argue that Chinese hegemony is necessarily desirable, but credit must be given where it's due. Also I am highly critical of some fiascos in CHN VS CHN matches, that everyone riles about. But in the end of course, it is your prerogative.
IMO, I don't mind CHN vs CHN final, if it is the real battle, like LXR vs WSX vs WYH it is so great to watch. But WO and practicing on court for 30 minutes is shameful.
Can someone tell me why the two KIM's in the first MD semifinal gave up (walkover)? Or let's say: Can someone what's the official message for the walkover? (I mean if it was intended by the KRN coaches, the KIM's must be very angry now for not being able to get the chance for the MD finals. And honestly, the probability that their mates (Lee and Yoo) get to the finals was very very high. So a faked walkover wasn't necessary...)
Actually, both MF and GC are very much involved in professional badminton in the past and had competed fiercely against the CHN as rivals, so understandably they still harbour deep personal feelings about it whether positively or negatively, and that's only human. I guess we just have to bear with it. And naturally,like everybody else, they have their preferences and favourites including biases for or against certain players/nations. Still, I concur with you that they shouldn't make it so obvious as in the way they often heap praises on LCW that you justifiably felt is over the top as compared with what they say of Lin Dan. However, I fully agree with you that as BWF commentators for an international audience, they are expected to maintain neutrality, take a fair and balanced stand, and report things factually based on evidence without being unnecessarily judgemental or too emotional about it. Of course, they can and should be allowed to add a good dose of humour or spice things up in a fun and tasteful manner, for which Richard Kaufman and, to a lesser extent Jim Laugesen, are good examples in this WC.
it is understandable that MF has a special relationship with LCW as he was the one who picked LCW to join the national team when he was the head coach in M'sia. But I disagree on the part that he dislikes LD. Face it, I myself and a lot of members here get bored watching China win everything. Not that they don't deserve it but more like I love the sport too much and it will be healthier for the sport if players of different nationalities were winning. I can recall Morten saying quite a few times that LD is the best of the best. He even said that LD is the best badminton player that ever lived.
Zhang/Zhao are just too experienced for the young pair Liu/Bao; moreover they train together daily and know their game too well.
