15-17. no match fixing this match. in fact, the Chinese has been warned and now they are behaving much better in this regard.
Whatever the outcome...I do think the SS format has to change. These players look so exhausted by the grueling schedule - it's a wonder that they can stand at all by the end of the year!
Whatever, WSX's fitness nowadays is admirable, in view of the number of matches and tournaments one after the other. And WYH's fighting spirit is remarkable, impressive.
i don't really agree. the amount of physical exertion is almost nothing compared to an endurance runner. an hour worth of competition everyday and the training off court is not that much.
WYH admitted that the foreign players are getting more familiar with their game and the CHN players must prepare better against them nowadays.
they really need to give the players time to towel down and groom themselves a little bit before throw them up in the podium to be seen and photographed by the rest of the world.
how many OSIM chair do they have in the Chinese team training center? i bet each player have one in their own room and a few more to spare!
For badminton players, apart from endurance and unlike marathoners, it is more strenuos and physically demanding than , say tennis; the amount of court coverage, the running and sprinting back and forth, the twisting , turning and pivoting, the lunging, jumping and diving(for some) - all these contribute to a lot of stresses and strains, both physically and mentally.
Take nothing away from WYH but I can't help but feel that a less physically stretched WSX might have taken the match, considering the number of uncharacteristic mistakes she made at the final points of G3.
Well, I've never played a badminton match in my life so I've no idea just how strenuous it can be, but I've read a number of articles where the players themselves complain about the scheduling and the resulting burnout. They should know best, should they not? And I don't think it's really fair to compare badminton to endurance running - so, just because an endurance runner can "take" more, a badminton player should just suck it up and be able to take more as well? They're both such disparate sports, and the athletes in both have such different limits/capabilities that are cultivated by the natures of the sports themselves as well as other associating factors.