After 3 hours of studies, is there something more refreshing to hear about Chen Long? Hoping a Chen Long vs Lin Dan final in China Masters.
http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/badmin/2016-05-23/doc-ifxsktkr5917888.shtml How's Li Yongbo taking it, CHN's shock defeat at the quarterfinals to KOR in the Thomas Cup and his reaction to Chen Long's disappointing defeat to Son Wan Ho ? [My translation follows - Justin] On the question whether CHN's failure to enter the semifinals was unexpected or not, he expressed:" Of course it's unexpected, as far as CHN Men's Team is concerned, it's not like our standard is not good enough to be among the top four, quite an uneasy feeling. Because we aren't of such standards. Of course, the competition is over,if we're to blame the team members, the judges, or the players' forms or the opponents, I felt it's meaningless. At least it says one thing, you prepared up to a certain level, but you lack the real abilities." In two successive Thomas Cup editions, Chen Long as MS1 suffered defeats. It's clear that in individual competitions, Chen Long has no misgivings whether he can play to his level. But the ability to resist pressure is deficient, especially when it involves team results, Chen Long's performance would let his fans lose hope. Even so, Li Yongbo's attitude towards Chen Long is supportive as before. Li Yongbo said frankly :" There's no need to worry about him, next week when he's at the INA Open, you will still see the usual Chen Long. Let's show him more understanding, give him some support, criticize him a bit less, no problem then." [Li Yongbo, instead of coming down hard on Chen Long, is still willing to stand by him, and this is not the first time. On the contrary, it's Cai Yun who openly and unrestrainedly lambasted him.]
Good job Cai Yun. Chinese fans do remember Thomas Cup results for long time. I thought Lin Dan would bid fairwell to this particular tournament on an extreme high in front of his home fans.A huge roar to follow when Lin Dan would recieve his gold medal but Chen Long had other ideas. His post- match interview was hilarious. Too nervous, Too scared, Too slow......well,I thought these attributes belong to those who sit in the crowd.
Chen Long himself attributed his defeat to an attack of nerves whilst the legendary Yang Yang put it down mostly to employing the wrong tactics. I'd say, it's a mix of both, perhaps a little more of the latter as I believed the shadow of the previous Thomas Cup fiasco still haunt him, and also the thought that CHN couldn't afford to lose any of the three MS must be weighing heavily on his mind going into the kick-off match, thereby crippling him somewhat.
Of course LYB is not going to bash CL in the public/media right before the Olympics. Especially considering that after Rio LD will probably retire and Chen Long is pretty much the only MS player that can/will win titles for China. Of course there are up and coming players, but they're not there yet. Neither is THW.
Sounds plausible, which means Chen Long had better perform remarkably well at Rio, say beat LCW and not lose to anybody else other than Lin Dan or he's in for a lot of brickbats..
Honestly speaking, Chen Long's performance in team events is a letdown, he failed to play the leading role, breaking down under pressure. I'd expected Chen Long to come out of the 40 plus days winter training at the beginning of the year on top of his game playing a sharper and smarter game. Instead he learnt nothing, still the same old simple, straightforward game, and to make matters worse, his ability to read his opponent's game and hence anticipate more of their shots is surprisingly deficient for a top player. I daresay, if not for his exceptional physicality, athleticism and agility, I doubt he can ever be one of the Super Trio, together with Lin Dan and LCW. I'm dismayed whenever I see him scrambling to the net or dashing to the back to retrieve his opponent's shots as if he didn't see it coming time and again. Contrast him with , say, LCW who always appears ready to receive his opponent's net shots or returns and lifts, more often than not giving himself sufficient time to play the shots he wants with options, his footwork fast and smooth. And, until today, Chen Long's deep backhand corner is still a weakness often exploited by most of his opponents, forcing him to turn his back to play the backhand whilst his opponent usually just have to stay near the net to anticipate his return and put it away. True, he occasionally plays his backhand clears and cross-court drop shots but still they are often not unexpected, esp his backhand clears which are more often than not a bit short or well-anticipated such that the opponent can quickly back off and get behind the shuttle in good time to jump-smash it, sometimes steeply, for an outright winner or at least elicit a weak return to follow up with a kill or another threatening shot. In short, Chen Long usually, too often, plays textbook shots with little or no deception and most of the time not able to keep the opponent guessing; as a result he's the one who is more often than not reduced to passivity and becoming reactive rather than taking the initiative or being proactive and dictating the rallies as much as possible. Only his athleticism, agility , speed and power, height and reach can get him out of trouble but it's energy-sapping and physically more demanding to do that consistently and long enough to tire out or weaken his opponents. The question is how often can he save himself like that ? He just have to be a little off form, a little more tired, a little unfocused as when under the burden of the pressure of expectation, and we'll be seeing him being pushed around by players he's expected to beat, not to mention his archrivals LD and LCW, and suffering the occasional humiliating,shocking, defeat. That said, I personally doubt Chen Long can remain a real top 3 or 5 player once he's past 30 years in age, provided he learns to play like Hu Yun, Wei Nan and Sho Sasaki, who are, in my opinion, very smart, thinking players and they also happened to be extraordinary late bloomers. My 2 cents.
lin dan was also depends on his superior physical to destroy opponents in the earlier of his career. only lately now, he's style has been changed to rally and control. chen long will go far and only needs more experience to dominate all.
Frankly, I hope you're right about Chen Long. Like you, I used to be quite impressed by him, but now I'm not so sure. In the Olympic year, I actually expect him to peak and even raised his game another level, but , unfortunately, since the beginning of season's campaign this year, from his tournament in March, the All England, he has been mostly off the boil. Nevertheless, that's not to say, Chen Long is no longer one of the Big Trio, comprising Lin Dan , Lee CW and himself, just that he has yet to be on par with what is expected from him so far, quite concerning, I must say. Personally, for now, I wish to see Chen Long reach his pinnacle at Rio, certainly not ruling it out; hopefully, his debacle at the Thomas Cup serves to spur him on, driven by sheer determination, relentlessness and grit to redeem himself and prove his detractors and critics wrong. At least, besides Li Yongbo who continues to stand by him, the legendary Yang Yang just the other day still considered Chen Long as one of the Big Trio who together have the highest chances of gold at Rio. Even the MAS Wong Choong Han a couple days ago also spoke highly of Chen Long, considering him as the main threat to both Lin Dan and Lee CW. Let's wait and see.
Even without the back injury excuse, I'm sure Chen Long is at the moment in no mind to play at the INA PSS so soon after his disastrous showing at the Thomas Cup, expecting that he could put it behind him so quickly and treat as if nothing has happened, impossible. I can only hope Chen Long transforms that sorrow into strength in time for redemption at Rio. I believe he can do it for his beloved Wang Shixian who continues to stand by him also serves as comfort, encouragement and motivation for him. May Chen Long succeed in scaling the summit.
2 years ago CL had also failed in Thomas Cup losing out badly to Tago. At the Indonesia open 1,5-2 weeks later he lost to Jorgensen (the only time CL lost to him) so maybe he was pulled out to get time to recover mentally for the bigger upcoming event.
Shocking results from CL lately. I predicted him to win the Olympics, but the last months have been utterly disappointing from the (then) No. 1.
He was very slow in losing the AO QF yesterday. Really not in form. Only 2 months before the Olympics. Wonder if he can get back in form in time. Otherwise, LCW may finally get a gold in Rio.
