Of course there are always a ton of talented young players but are there any young (say age 16-21) guys that could potentially reach the level of lin Dan or LCW? they are both getting up in age now and I'm wondering who might be able to take their spot. Is there currently a lack of top notch talent?
You are asking for too much, LCW and LD are rare breed, being able to witness one of them playing is luck, let alone two. It happens only once in a life time or two, enjoy while we still can. The world has changed, the kids nowadays have too many distractions and could not be trained as hard. The chance of this happening is slim.
maybe that is asked too much. but right now there doesn't seem to be a new young chen long or peter gade which should not be asked too much, right? of course players of that caliber are also rare but you would expect such a player to come up every 5 years or so, no?
Every 5 years or so?????? In the world of sports, there are so many one hit wonder and only a few shinning stars.
Peter Gade is another rare breed, a true gentleman who could never have a bad word to say about anyone. Dedicated to his training until his last session and always out to give 100%. By far the most talented player in the modern era to not have picked up a Olympic Medal or World title. Taufik is also another rare gem, a backhand that most pros would be happy if theirs was 70% as good as his. Such impeccable technique and talent, flawless effortless strokes. Honestly, these two coupled with Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei are rare superstar athletes who I doubt you'll see anyone coming close to repeating their individual attributes and achievements. There's plenty of talent coming through, but nothing as close as to these four legends.
yeah maybe I was not appreciating how good taufik, gade and LCW were because they were dominated by dan so much. defintely great players. I was just wondering why no young player is really challenging the top2 guys. they are nearly 30, shouldn't they slow down already and being overtaken by some 20 yo guys soon?
No young players have the experience of LD & LCW, people underestimate the importance of experience of different situations. I guarantee that LD & LCW have experienced all possible situations on a court and therefore have been exposed and know to some extent how to deal with it. Their dedication to the game over such a prolonged period of time has and will continue to pay off. A positive, dedicated attitude is needed to succeed at the very highest level in this sport. If you're not 100% committed and willing to give up everything to pursue the dream to the top, then you'll fail. This largely explains why there's no real breakthrough.
Young people of this generation are impatient in general, badminton is a game of repetition. In order to master a shot, one has to practice thousand thousand of time, try to find a kid who would want to do this before getting bored. They are also don't have the drive as the older generation because the world has changed. You can find a lot of more reasons, the main one is different era, different people.
If you're looking for a guide to players who are still juniors who have the potential to make an impact at senior level, then I've provided one player from each country which has a chance to become a top 10 players in the next 10 years if they're dedicated to the game. China: just turned 19, but Xue Song definitely has the ability to become a quality player. Chinese Taipei: Wang Tzu Wei has been really impressive lately and is a good bet. Hong Kong China: Ng Ka Long, another 19 year old who is really impressing. Indonesia: Jonatan Christie, already won an international challenge event, but needs to keep focused. Malaysia: Soong Joo Ven/Soo Teck Zhi, included both as they both have potential to go far, if they are trained properly. Thailand: have good young players, I'd write their names but there's no way I could write them correctly without checking first! Japan: obviously everyone knows about Kento Momota, Akira Koga is another one with potential. Korea: kwang Hee Heo and Jeon Hyuk Jin have great potential to do well, and with Korea's strict policies with training, you'll know that if they don't make it, it's cause they didn't put the effort in. I won't write for European players, but there is potential out there from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, in fact, I'd watch out for the French. The French juniors I've seem play seem to bring genuine hope and promise for European badminton outside Denmark!
Ratchanok is 18... Though if we're talking about just men singles, I too have wondered why there have been a lack of talents. All 4 Legends achieved a lot of success early on and were threats by the age of 20-21. Taufik was on the international circuit at the age of 16. Really, really talented guys At the moment I don't see any youngsters at the level those 4 were. I don't know, maybe bad luck? I expect one will pop up in the next 10 years...20 at most. Though currently Kenichi Tago is one of my favorite "next generation" players Just wish he could win more
Just because Chen Long is having a bad patch lately doesn't mean we can ignore his true potential. No less a legend than Morten Frost himself - and I'm inclined to agree with him - recently said Chen Long has what it takes to rule the badminton world and his reign is likely to be a long one as he possesses both the physicality and the right temperament to excel and stay at the top. Don't forget, all the four maestros mentioned here have each suffered catastrophic results at some point(s) in their respective careers, Chen Long is no exception. Of course, Chen Long is no longer a youngster but already when he was around 21 he has started to beat Lee CW as hardly anybody else at about that age could (the other one was Tian Houwei who did it once at age 20 early this year ). It's a bit unfortunate though that Chen Long nearing the mid of his career - he's 24 years old now, born 18th Jan 1989 - still have both Lin Dan and Lee CW around to contend with, more the former than the latter whom I believe he can deal with now. I daresay if not for Lin Dan, Chen Long might have won the world championship this year but that's arguable and speculative talk, to each his own. Back to the topic of upcoming young superstars aged 21 or under, personally I'm not sure of anyone yet, not even Tian Houwei or Xue Song or anyone else at the moment. At first I thought Tian Houwei could be the one after his much talked about spectacular victory over Lee CW at the Aussie open in March but considering he's still a University undergrad which affected his full-time training and competition as well as his seeming inability to handle back-to-back tournaments as was evident twice recently, I would just keep him in view for the time being until further developments. My 2cents.
I'm surprised there has been no mention of Viktor Axelsen yet. He is very talented and he has the mental toughness and desire to win that is required if you want to go far.
Well,we each have our favourite up-and-coming youngster(s), just that none of them impress us so much that most of us agree he is the next superstar on the level of Lee CW or Lin Dan (even harder). At least no one yet, to me.
Lin Dan was already whooping Wong Choon hann and Peter asses at 20 in 2003 and giving Chen Hong and XXZ tough fight both were 24/25 at the time and top singles. LCW went to final of MO the same and gave Chen Hong scary moments. by 22 he won MO and not lost ever since. Hafiz won the AE at 21 in 2003 beating Chen Hong. Bao C L too was No.1 for brief period in 2003 at 20. XXZ and Chen came to the fore in 2000 both 20/21 and Taufik much earlier. Peter G won the AE at 20 beating 16yr old taufik. So I dont know why those 20, 21 yr old juniors couldnt dislodge LCW and LD. Those in mid career , 24 and 25 also finding difficulty to dethrone these two.
i think there are more talented girls for this generation than boys....think sindhu, the thai and japanese girls, kirsty gilmour and carolina marin