He had stamina issues again in the 3rd set today against LCW at the Dubai SS finals. On one of his lunges at the net, he looked extremely tired and the commentators made a note of it. Lucky for Viktor, he was playing against a 35 year old player who doesn't have stamina either. I don't see the same stamina issues with other players in the 3rd set, say Chen Long. Even if Chen Long goes through 2 difficult sets to reach the 3rd set, Chen Long rarely looks that tired.
Axelsen is nowhere near as fit as prime LCW and LD (Even compare them at the same age, LCW and LD were way fitter and faster), and certainly nowhere near as fit as CL. Neither Momota or Srikanth are anywhere near as fit as CL either, CL seemed to have rediscovered his game in China. It is amazing with how all the modern sports science available compared to back then, nearly 15 years ago, the old time players, the ones who used traditional methods, are still fitter. Axelsen, Srikanth and Momota may work "hard" but the big three (LD, LCW, CL) Must have worked HARD, if you know what I mean
Completely agreed. But Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei are very special and unique. I'd place Chen Long in another category, though. Hard working, yes, but not as talented as the other two.
I guess man, but does it really matter, all three are the top three players of all time. I really do respect CL because he did it through pure grit and determination. he didn't have any special quality like LD or LCW in the beginning. He was considered slow and bad defensively when he was first coming up. Through sheer hard work, he made his speed and defence into his own special quality (That is insane, turning your greatest weakness into your greatest strength) and the rest is history
Perhaps you're right, but only in the 3rd game and that's because LCW was able to keep VA guessing and moving all over the court, otherwise, like most other of VA's opponents, he'd be at the receiving end of VA's barrage of attacks with devastating effect. Imagine, if the 23-year-old VA is exhausted at the end of the match, how much more so the 35-year-old LCW.
Well, I think it is embarrassing that a 23 year old has trouble keeping up with a 35 year old, I mean he looked so tired, there is a 12 year age gap between the two, and yet both looked about the same level of tiredness, LCW slightly more, but I think it speaks to how great LCW is, because imagine what he would have done to Axelsen in his prime, just scrubbed him off the court
I think that he can live perfectly well with that enormous embarrassment today. I've watched most of game 2 and the whole decider but haven't seen any of those service faults you have mentioned. Have they all been in game 1? And what did the reviews show, were they called correctly? 5 service faults in a singles match is definitely remarkable. Are they trying to show the players what will be happening next season as soon as the fixed height rule will be introduced?
VA said in his Danish post match interview that he has intensified his training in the last weeks in order to "build himself up" for next year. That might include stamina training.
Everyone coming through the Chinese sports system is 'worked hard' from the time they can walk . Do you think anyone with poor/less than excellent stamina would be picked at all in the first place?
Disrespectful to LCW and VA. Also, you forget LCW at 23 (2004) didn't have nearly the same skills nor attacking play at the time. He was a defending machine with a lot of stamina. Only midway through his career did LCW develop a world class attacking style to complement his insane defense. We need less biased and hating comments about players just because they may have beaten your favorite player on a given day. Remember that badminton is supposed to be about enjoying the match between the two players.
It's great that LCW, LD, Lee Hyun Il are keeping younger players like VA on their toes. If VA is getting tired, he had better think about adjusting some elements of his game and training to stay at the top.
Congratulation Victor Axelsen ! His winning at Dubai Super Series finals has proved that he has a right to "Danish Badminton Throne". He is competing in a more competitive badminton than Past Denmark Badminton Kings. He is better than past Danish Badminton Kings, like Svend Pri, Flemming Delfs, Morten Frost Hansen, Erland Kops, etc. He could beat all of them. But Hey ! He is better because he is standing on the shoulders of His predecessors. Denmark badminton has the best regeneration system in the world.
Nowadays players has better nutrition and training system, so they can compete longer than past players. Morten Frost Hansen beat his senior Flemming Delfs easily but Axelsen can not do the same to Lin Dan or Lee Chong Wei as Frost Hansen did.
Sat 1/8/2011 VICTOR-BWF Superseries Finals 2010 MS LONG CHEN [2] China - Denmark PETER HOEG GADE [3/4] 19-21 18-21 Whoops ;0)
Good win for Axelsen at Dubai SSF, but somehow I never think of him as a "Special" talent. I just don't see it in Axelsen. He's good and probably on par with CL, but not at the level of LD, LCW, PG, TH in terms of talent. The era of Men's singles golden generation is truly over now with the obvious decline of both LD and LCW.
But I thought the point is Chen Long at 21 with nothing much to show for yet was never that tired-looking in his match with the legendary 34-yr-old PG, their age difference notwithstanding. And as we now know, Chen Long later went on to capture three major titles in WC and OG in a row from none other than the mighty LCW whom during those years was a fearsome player very much on top of his game.
If I were to place the top players atm, I would put Chen Long>Viktor Axelsen>Lee CW, then comes a couple others like Shi Yuqi, K Srikanth, Son Wan Ho, in disorder; not sure where to place Lin Dan but certainly not in the first two positions. Purely my personal opinion.
the year-end rankings and 2017 season of ss/p tournament results disagree, and so do i. the order is va>lcw>ks>cl. part of being a top player is staying healthy. if you're not healthy enough to be ranked #1 or win more than 1 ss/p title in a year, can you really be considered the top player? it's hard to dispute actual results. having the best skills and/or natural talent isn't enough in professional sports. you must also stay healthy enough to achieve results. current rankings tell us the order of, and who are, the best players atm.