I think Lin Dan can outwit Momota. I cannot say for sure no hesitation. But if it is close then Lin Dan would make the difference. To me it is like this: Stamina and net belongs to Momota Smash and deception belongs to Lin Dan Defense they are pretty much equal Whereas with Chen Long, I think Momota will have the upper hand. Unless Chen Long decides to become a monster that he was not too long ago.
I don't think Takuto Inoue/Yuki Kaneko will be fielded today. I give 90% JPN will give the duty to Endo/Watanabe.
after losing the uber cup, they just have to bring home something. manytimes, the chinese players under estimate tgeir opponents and start to panic when things aren't going their way. maybe it is due to too many tournaments. today will be different especially it is japan. i want to believe all will come out aggressive and very serious on bringing home the cup.
Lin Dan will not play Momota, for China to play Lin Dan as first player it would mean Chen Long and Shiyuqi not playing, there is only one other single player in Chinese team and that is Qiao Bin. This leaves China not having a third single player.
I usually watch from youtube bwf tv. Depends on which country you are in, some get blocked some aren't. Or you can try videostream.dn.ua
@Master Inoue / Kaneko - MD 1 - do they have a good h2h against Zhang / Liu or what?? I'm surprised it isn't Sonoda / Kamura pair against them. Sonoda / Watanabe - MD 2 - what is going on with this pair? Is either Kamura or Endo injured? Unless something went wrong with tournament software. @kurako
The record for Tsuneyama is the same, 0-2. Inoue/Kaneko have a 1-0 H2H over Zhang/Liu. Sonoda/Watanabe could be interesting; I hope that they have had some practice together.
So it looks like JPN is taking chances with their MDs after all. Interesting how they chose Sonoda/Watanabe instead of Endo/Kamura the more experienced one for MD2.
@kurako Oh I see that makes sense now. But the MD2 pair is quite surprising lol. I hope Japan prepared a surprise attack with this odd combi. I've become a fan of Watanabe so all good for me Although i'll be damn fine as long as the MS1 is in Japan's favour
Maybe Kamura is injured... Kamura/Watanabe might make sense...but Sonoda/Watanabe is like two back-court players without a playmaker.
CHN v JPN => https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/...0057097B-20D5-4CF4-8E22-7138EE7565DC&match=65 MS1, Chen Long v Kento Momota MD1, Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan v Takuto Inoue/Yuki Kaneko MS2, Shi Yuqi v Kenta Nishimoto MD2, Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen v Keigo Sonoda/Yuta Watanabe MS3, Lin Dan v Kanta Tsuneyama * As usual no surprising line-up by China team while Japan is trying to gain point thorugh MD1, Inoue/Kaneko have 1-0 h-2-h stats against Liu/Zhang then scratch pair Sonoda/Watanabe as MD2 to confuse China pair due to unfamiliarity. If Chen Long lost to Momota, it will boost Japan confidence to score two more points in MD1 & MS2.
The Order of Play revealed at TS : http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/s...0057097B-20D5-4CF4-8E22-7138EE7565DC&match=65 1. MS1 : Chen Long vs Kento Momota 2. MD1 : Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan vs Takuto Inoue/Yuki Kaneko 3. MS2 : Shi Yuqi vs Kenta Nishimoto 4. MD2 : Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen vs Keigo Sonoda/Yuta Watanabe 5. MS3 : Lin Dan vs Kanta Tsuneyama Yesterday mixed line-up for double categories likely inspire Japan to try the same strategy for this afternoon. In fact, they choose not to field their senior player Hiroyuki Endo. The single players remain their best on both Japan and China team. The dynamite will start at the early tie between their each spearhead. The winning on the first tie surely will boost their next on duty players. Double categories in between classics strategy versus tweaked strategy. When it is going to have the fifth tie to be played, then China have their best player, the Super Dan is there. But don't underestimate Japan, since they eye their victory and to repeat their 2014 success. 3 hours and 15 minutes countdown started...
Exactly what I was thinking. Or Inoue/Watanabe. Pretty sure Watanabe will be playing front court with Sonoda though. He has a nice touch.