LCW is trying to change his style. In the WC, he played defensive and at a slower pace because he wanted to conserve his stamina and energy until the later rounds, especially against LD and Chen Long. But LCW ended up in 3 sets and got knocked out by Bryce. LCW has always relied on his speed and smashes to overcome his opponent. Yes, LCW is skilled, but he is not as skilled as LD. That's one of the differences between him and LD. The other difference is, LD switched to a defensive style back in 2013 when he won the WC. LD suddenly became a very defensive, rally styled player at the 2013 WC and he won with it. So LD has been practicing the defensive, rally style, for 4 years. LCW just started switching to a defensive, slow paced style this year. It's great if LCW can win in 2 sets. If the match goes to 3 sets though, LCW's stamina is at a large disadvantage because of his age. If you watch the 3rd set against Prannoy, it's clear that Prannoy is the faster player and Prannoy has more stamina and energy compared to LCW. In the past, LCW was rarely the slower player in the 3rd set. LD is one year younger than LCW and LD is also more skilled. This will allow LD to play at the top level a little longer. But even age is working against LD these days. The last time LD was truly the best player in the world was 2014 when he beat Chen Long at the Asia Game finals (LD did not play at the WC that year). I don't think LD has been the best player since then and his game has been dropping too, although LD is better than LCW at this moment of time.
I don't think his speed matters much in this issue. It goes to his crappy intuitions and spatial awareness that gift free points. Not to mention his weird smash, sometime goes in, mostly goes freaking out all the time. Put LCW in G3 and he surely will lose nowdays.
If Abian wins 16 point against you, you better change whatever style you have adopted Abian doesn't get more than 10 points against Marin I believe
I can guarantee that Marin can and will beat Abian under 10 points, If anyone from France/Spain think he can beat you like eating fried chicken, maybe you should do something.
What is Hendrawan thinking, allowing LCW to play his same old crap style and crack under pressure when leading 13-10 or 15-8 in the G3? Huh!
Do you know what prannoy said after his win? LCW didn't have his original speed . And he has a huge respect for him. Sent from my SM-G600FY using Tapatalk
Do you know what is obvious? His speed doesn't mean a thing because it isn't not a factor to his loss. His shot making suck and always hit the net, his smash so terrible it hit out all the time.
So mean !. I respect him. If his shot making sucks, how he attained huge success so far? . I think I end my discussion here. His speed is reduced. That's the main reason. Cheers Sent from my SM-G600FY using Tapatalk
This is not about respect. Please assure yourself, I respect HSP. His shot quality has reduced from 2016 version, making him full of errors. HSP talked about speed, but what I and countless other saw is bad shot selection and petty mistakes. How he attain success? That is when he is young and peaking. This is LCW OLD version.
I dont see LD as more skilled (except around the net and on deceptions), but the important difference is that he's constantly been adapting his style for the least 8 years, and more drastically so since 2013. He was complete garbage when he came back in 2014, then had his miracle AG win, then took an injury break and went back to inconsistency and slow, slow pace. I think he only got his current style mastered as much as he can in 2016, and since then his performance is largely a reflection of his physical level at that point in time. His WC run was very impressive, and VA played the best badminton I've seen from him since he beat LD at the Denmark Open some time ago, but now he plays less risky shots and has improved his defence and court coverage a LOT so he doesnt have to attack as much as before. Anyway, LCW finally seems to be slowing down a bit, and doesnt play with a lot of intensity most of the time, but he doesnt appear to have adapted his shot selection much, and his technique is not suited for deceptive play at this point in time (as Steen Pedersen pointed out in his 2016 BAC match vs LD - too big of a movement). Lets see if he can adapt.
LOL. He wasn't really. He completely dominated Lee Chong Wei and Chen Long in Asian Games and lost only 2 matches that year out of 50 odd matches he played.
