Best hope she is not in a relationship with Chen Long ! That will be so cruel to all her die-hard fans including mua
The main issue with her game is she refuses to adopt a similar offensive display of shots like Wang Xin and Wang Yihan. Both these players have demonstrated a variety of strokes and shots that can be threatening to their opponents that's why they are fearsome until today. One thing these players lack from Wang Shixian is mental fortitude in crucial stages which is a jewel to her game. Her last two games against Tine clearly shows she never learnt from her lesson. Free points were given away cheaply from her loose high serve and lifts that gave Tine Baun the chance to attack. Tine is not that good to be honest as her main strength comes from the hard and steep smashes thanks to her god-blessed height. Wang Shixian for her level has no reason to be defeated by her and should in fact capitalize on Tine's weaknesses for instance her defense and speed as she is the youngest and fittest among the two. I hope she has to accept the fact that in a modern badminton game it is never possible for you to secure victory if you don't play aggressively or better yet be adaptive on court. Similarly the Chinese coach must find ways to add dimension to her game otherwise she can kiss her status as OG title contender goodbye.
From watching her playing in the last couple tournaments, she did smashed more often. But the problem is that her smashes were just not as powerful as the other 3 Wang's. It's her physical limitations.
A smash is an isolated stroke and useless if you don't have an offensive game plan that can complement it. Her limitation is the lack of such a game plan. I always hark back to last year when WYH's game had become predictable and was so passive. She basically got kicked off the team by LYB and took it upon herself to to retool her game. She became a much better all round player and can call upon her offensive shots when needed. Right now she is just a mean and tough customer on the court. But enough of WYH. Maybe WSX needs the same treatment to boot her into action. Maybe a bit of time away from the team to find herself and her game. In her current state she is vulnerable against any of the top 10 players–SJH, BYJ, Eriko, Rat, Saina, TTY, Tine, Schenk, Yippy to name a few. Can you imagine someone saying that a year ago?
Even she has a good attack plan, she still needs power to carry it out. WYH, WX, WL, LXR's stokes like punch clears, drives, backends and smashes are much more powerful than hers (somehow even the tiny WX is stronger than her). Stronger players like Tine Baun and Juliane Schenk able to push her back to the 2 corners, and all WSX can do is drop shots. A few times WSX's half court smashes were so soft that the opponents could return easily.
Even if she can get a tad stronger, it would help her be quicker to follow up an offensive shot or sustain an attack. If WSX is willing to put in the hard yards, there will be immeasurable gains. Right now she is treading water while others have passed her. Really, she doesn't have much to lose. The top 10 players have found her out already.
She is one of my favourite badminton players and i dont want to live the day to see her falling too far behind from her compatriots. Her career had kicked in a stunning fashion by winning the All England and let's not forget the most coveted title other than the Olympics: Asian Games 2010 gold medal. It will be so sad to see such a player to slide downwards because of these unnecessary shortcomings preventing her from being a player to beat now. In all honesty, I would like to see her win the Olympic Games rather than Wang Yihan but my instinct tells me it's going to be Wang Xin since she is Li Yongbo's favourite player among the three.
She got kicked out not only because of her predictable gameplay but for causing China to lose the Uber Cup to South Korea of all rivals. That result was so unbearable for Li Yongbo as we all know LYB is anti-Korean. Once you pissed off LYB, it should be the exit door shown to you. WYH eventually took it as an important lesson and rebuild her reputation by winning more tournament to prove everyone that they are wrong about her. Losing the Uber Cup was the biggest mistake WYH ever made.
WSX is ranked No.2 (as at 15-Dec-2011) . As at Thursday 15-Dec-2011, WSX in ranked World No.2 (while WYH is at No.1). 1. WANG Yihan......92470 points... 13 tournaments 2. WANG Shixian....86037 points....16 tournaments Source: http://bwfbadminton.org/page.aspx?id=14955 Should WSX be kicked out from the CHN team by LYB? I would think not. .
Yes, that was one reason that contributed to WYH's demotion. But her play during the Uber Cup was poor and predictable. I was there; I saw it with my own eyes. After the Uber Cup, she spiralled downwards to a point where she lost all confidence. But her determination to rebuild is a testament to her tough character and I'm delighted WSX has risen to the top of the mountain again. WSX's situation is not much different. Her game had become easy to read and better players are either beating or pushing her to the limit. She has a choice–reassess her game or fall by the wayside.
How to change an incorrect posture that you have slipped into for years? She needs to be more upright with her spine, she is almost always leaning/bending forward instead of holding her upper body upright. This reduces the reaction time she is allowed to deal with clears, attacking clears and sideline drives/pushes; as a result, the only safe option left for her in most cases, is the high clear. The leaning forward posture is fine for doubles because you mostly don't have to bother with direct backward movement; ony sideways and forward. But in singles, you have 8-way movement at any time. Your posture becomes central to your game. Your core becomes central to your posture. My 2c. If CBA wishes of course, they may deposit my analyst's fees ($250,000) in my PayPal account.
How did 2c = $250K ? In that case I should be due a tidy sum for my contribution towards the betterment of WSX's game.
Well, you've come to the right place to detox! Back to WSX. IMO she needs a spinal tap-tap-tap, and some intensive anger-management sessions. Over to you, Bob.
Wishing every BCer a very merry christmas and to the players too. It has been the best year yet so far for the Chinese camp. I can't wait to see more titles to be won from WSX in future tournaments to come. Maybe WSX is hiding her weapons until London 2012.
