That Thomas cup flop couldn't have come at a worst time for Chen Long, he's probably in depression for the time being at least. Worrisome.
But Some bandwagon fans claimed that Chen Long would beat Peak Lin Dan in 2016. What happened to him ?
It looks like the Liu Cheng/Zheng Siwei partnership is not good enough. IMHO the combinations they used in the Thomas cup is more suitable for the future.
Typical li yongbo strategy; don't show true strength for non-major tournaments. Quite sure Chen long will thrash lee cw in rio. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S7 running iOS 10
Sure. Climate change is also Yongbo strategy. Make everyone feel the heat then cool down at major tourney
It's not quite like that, imo. You could see the bewilderment and insecurity from Chen Long, whereas with LD you always feel like he is in control - although he is losing - and knows that he could win it, if he really wants it. If that is the case I don't know, but it looks like it.
Perhaps all is not lost for Chen Long. Remember, he was devastated by his humiliating defeat to Kenichi Tago at the 2014 Thomas Cup , yet he recovered himself in time to win the World Championships months later beating LCW in the final. Let's hope this Thomas Cup second debacle of Chen Long's acts to spur him on with great determination to redeem himself at Rio. Right now, his immediate problem and most important battle is with himself, once he conquers himself, he will be the Chen Long of 2014-15 again ,winning two WCs at LCW's expense and once beating him four times in a row and even besting Lin Dan at MAS Open 2015 while garnering the most Superseries titles ,six (was it seven ?) for the year in question as well as WR1 to boot. For Chen Long it's really mind over matter as I believe he still has what it takes to challenge Lin Dan and LCW though I 'd at the moment rate him a close third behind the two aforementioned. Chen Long is at the height of his powers in terms of age, physicality and sufficient experience, 'only' losing out to his two 6-7 years older archrivals in terms of technique and greater experience with Lin Dan alone having another advantage in superior mental toughness. Of course, all this is just talk. Let's wait for the answer at Rio.
Chen has lost his form and no longer the force, he was before. He is now losing in early rounds and now LCW is the main man, having beaten him in past matches and his arch rival LD. I now strongly fancy LCW to win in Rio.
Yup, Chen Long performance becomes worsen priors to Rio, suffered four consecutive defeats to Lee CW (CHN Premier, HKG SS, MAS Premier, BAC) then lost to Angus Ng KL (SIN SS), Indonesian rookie Ginting (AUS SS) and a big blow is definitely Thomas Cup quarterfinal, succumbed to Son WH. Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan are strongest candidate to nail Rio Gold, both of these current best MS have different motivation, Lee will never forget his failure in previous two Olympics and Rio 2016 will be the last attempt for him to clinch the elusive Olympic gold while Lin will hunt new record, being first badminton player to create Olympic Games hat-trick.
I am not sure about LD, when he loses, he loses really badly. His recent form are not good and his recent defeats have become very embarrassing. I don't think he has the energy and stamina left in him, but who knows he could give all he has in Rio, for that Olympic record!
ChengLong still is one of the favorite in Rio. The loss in Thomas and Asian game might not be such bad thing for him. And least these losses took some pressure off him in Olympics so Chen could see him as an underdog going into Olympics. It is better lose now than losing at Olympics. But in order to beat LD, LCW or even VA, Chen has to get his attacking game going. He can't win against these people by playing too passively.
Almost anyone can beat LD this year, even J Christie smacked LD silly in the last tournament before RIO. But which LD is everyone beating? I say when RIO starts, we will see a different LD, most likely not the 2008 LD but a better player than the LD in CO and AE this year. As for CL, it is whether he can get out of the early rounds, especially if he meets players like Son Wan Ho who plays a similar style like him. If CL gets to the final and plays LCW, it really is 50-50, as every time CL plays LCW, it brought out the best in CL, seems like CL or almost all CHN MS players play their best against LCW. LCW has a way of inspiring and motivating CHN MS player to play their best against him.
If you watch LD who lost badly to the LD who played in CO and AE, you can see there were 2 different persons. One dived, smashed and dearly wanted to win, the other going through the motion dearly wanting to lose and to catch the first flight home. LD has signed a record breaking endorsement contract with Yonex, 5 WC and 2 OLY golds, do you think he would stay on playing so badly and let just about anyone to beat the heck out of him and tarnish his name. I don't think so.
UK's Telegraph predicts Chen Long as one of the 100 guraranteed gold medalists at Rio along side Usain Bolt, USA Basketball Team, Mo Farah. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/20...als/badminton---chen-long-china-mens-singles/
The Telegraph obviously favours Chen Long at age 27,the younger man at the prime of his life coupled with big-match experience having won two world championships the previous two years, over the several older,fully matured man past his prime coupled with greater experience, Lin Dan at age 32,despite his past unmatched record, as far as physical sport is concerned. I guess it's for the same reason that LCW's name is not mentioned. I wonder how the Telegraph comes out with their picks. Do they consult the experts in the various sports or simply used their own criteria based on age, track records in recent years and the relevant experience ?
Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei are also one of the 100 guaranteed gold medalists per Telegraph. Interesting,only 2 names from Badminton. No WD,WS and MD.
Pullela Gopichand and Taufik Hidayat also mentioned that even Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei is favorite, one just can't rule out the back to back World Champion.
I agree with Telegraph. Anyone can beat Lin Dan nowadays, he won't be in the finals I predict LCW - Chen Long to kill each other for the Gold. And the latter will win it because LCW will never win anything big
