It seems not this time as the score shows 16-7, he wants to be champion. He's patient, moves very fast and kills very fast at the net, 18-7.
A missed winner opportunity at the net by CL 19-9. And SK hit out 20-9. And then 21-9, a disastrous G2 for SK. MF: With a lead like that (SK's G1) you can't let it go.
Think he needs a bit more confidence yet. even when he had big lead it was like he was just waiting for CL to come back and stopped controlling the rallies. As long as he learns the lessons.
I count this victory as overpowering for Chen Long, esp winning when far behind in G1, and then completely outplaying his opponent in G2, far better than his previous win over the same opponent as I discount that 3rd set assuming SK's ankle problem then. Am very glad to see Chen Long such a good student this time, using his brains not just his brawn to overcome a strong adversary. Still his greatest challenge will come when he faces Lin Dan in future.
I didn't think SK can win today because of his unexpected "roller-coaster" performance against JOJ yesterday.
For me, Chai/Hong's performance so far took me by a bigger surprise altogether. Frankly, I'm still not sure if they can do it to the JPN pair afterwards.
I think many of us are surprised by China's 2 MD pairs here. Hitherto China's weakest link, they must have concentrated on building up their MDs with such delightful results as shown here.
As an Indian badminton fan I am satisfied with SK, he has made us believe that he can win, though we have had England Open champions or Man in top 10 before but this lad is the only one after SN who instills hope that he could be the world champion... SN I am pretty sure is going to come back strong, PVS is inline for the Olympics too, if they conntinue to perform as per the promises they show, atleast in the singles discipline India would have a formidable contingent for some years to come...
SK is the brightest star that blossoms into the international limelight this year. We have high hopes for him provided he takes good care of himself and continues to improve in his game, his motivation and self-belief. The other badminton powerhouses are sitting up to recognize his talent and will surely try hard to produce a star of their own in all disciplines and this makes world badminton far more interesting.
