@antssantss , your take on Zhou Zeqi and Lu guangzu? For me, Lu guangzu is more of an attacking player .
Lu Guangzu and Zhou Zeqi. Two different players. ZZ started as a "natural" singles player but had to change out of his natural instincts to what the coaches wanted him to be. He has done very well to get to where he is and he plays instinctively now but I am afraid he has too many thoughts when he plays his matches. Very manufactured so to speak. Lu gangzu is what I call a natural singles player. He is hungry to win points and is always thinking how to achieve that within hs capabilities. He enjoys his matches which is the trait of a good singles player. Both have strong smashes but LG has better patience and times his attack well. These are my personal observations and I accept if I am wrong.
interesting match between Lu Guangzu and Ren Pengbo tomorrow. But I feel LG has the advantage of experience . But can RP do a Liu Haicho and beat the seeded players?
The female commentator is pretty grating, and also just plain wrong at times. Personally, I find the endless praise and adoration heaped on these players a bit too much, it's like the commentators have never seen international badminton before... That explains it....she always struck me as a bit of an airhead, at least her way of talking obviously not a judgement of her as a person, since I dont know her at all. But her way of talking about and 'analyzing' badminton is very simplistic to say the least.
Yeesss . Well done R. Pengbo. Now we have two gifted singles juniors. Maybe its a one off as LG just played in India but then RP has already played two qualification matches. Looking forward to his progress in the tournament.
A new batch of China youngsters, Liu Haichao (20), Sun Feixiang (20), Zhou Zeqi (21), Ren Pengbo (21), Lu Guangzu (22), Zhao Junpeng (22), who's the best prospect to accompany Shi Yuqi? Lin Guipu (21) has yet to play in BWF circuit, we'll expect to see his comeback next year.
After watching Ren Pengbo's match with Son Wan Ho at the KOR Masters 2018, I must say he acquitted himself well despite defeat in three games. I think of the current lot of CHN MS second stringers in your list, I'd say RPB is the most promising, no wonder Sony Kuncoro singled him out for praise after losing the only encounter to him last year at the China Open in two straight sets, 21-16,21-19. I'm not sure when RPB will finish his university education so that he can devote himself full-time to professional badminton. The other one I like is Liu Haichao, an exciting attacking player but against an excellent retriever like Son Wan Ho,he had better learn to be patient, construct the rallies well and time his attack at the right moment coupled with sudden injection of pace; at the same time, his defense must be up to it,esp when the opponent counterattacks.
Lu Guangzu is not bad, just that when he can't get his game going as when his attacks are repeatedly repulsed, he tends to lose his way and his heart instead of regrouping himself and regather his thoughts to tweak his game and start all over again. Somehow I feel that his attacking game is a bit one-dimensional, even so as he matures and gain experience, I believe he will learn to use the right tactics at the right time against the right opponent. Zhou Zeqi reminds me of Du Pengyu but not as steady, consistent and experience yet compared with prime DPY. Similarly, he's also a thinking player like DPY ,even sharing the same shortcoming in lacking a killer weapon, the cracking smash. Still, he is capable of upsetting much higher ranked opponents, I recall how he got the best out of Tommy Sugiarto at the Aussie Open earlier this year in two convincing straight sets.
Don't worry, by end next year we should be able to know who would have the last laugh, you or CLELY. My bet is on her.
Because you're relatively newbie here Interesting explanation about the youngsters, we'll see then. I prefer Ren PB & Liu HC instead of Lu GZ & Zhou ZQ.
Yeah, I am considered newbie based on how long I am as a member. But, I am a visitor since last year. Even I know that kurako is a female before I join as a member. To think that the members who are the most detailed in explanation and always give the news in detail (you and kurako) are actually females really surprise me.
Agree with you. LGZ, as Justin says has a limit to his game currently. He can't lift it to anther level. But hopefully he will up his tempo and get better like Xue Song. As for ZZ and the rest, they have reached the "boundaries" of their skills and can't progress any further. I wonder whether LH and RP have a different set of coaches as they have veered away from the CL and SYQ style? Eagerly looking forward to see their next tournament, including the other juniors as well.
Yes, the CHN second tier players has a different set of coaches (offhand, I can't remember their names but I'd recognise their faces). In the past it used to be Chen Yu but he has since been promoted to 1st tier coach. From my understanding, most coaches don't try to change the players' style too much but concentrate on improving their strengths and minimising their weaknesses and shortcomings. When Zhang Ning tried to instill a more attacking game into Wang Shixian,she gave up trying after a while and decided to let WSX be and work on her physicality a bit more to improve her stamina, esp after WSX once complained to her of fatigue after losing to Lu Lan and was told off by her. Chen Jin, OTOH, as I understand it, tried a bit too hard to make all the elite CHN WS play more like MS which, if I'm not wrong was also what Li Yongbo wanted him to do as he believed WS is becoming more and more like MS, not so much in the physical sense which is not that practical but tactically; however, apparently, the results weren't too good. For example, He Bingjiao at one time was smashing ferociously (as in her match against Marin before) but found it strenuous as she is not that fit to do so continuously. In the Chinese camp, Li Xuerui is often taken as a fine example of a WS playing like MS. But, as we now know, it's difficult to change one's nature and character, though possible, it takes hard work and effort to make big changes. A few do succeed, such as Sun Jun and Dong Jiong who alter their playing styles mid-way through their career. That's just my opinion.
Han Yue's victory over Nichaon Jindapol today at the KOR Masters QFs is remarkable in that she could come from behind to win the decider despite trailing most of the way. What's more she didn't seem to show much fatigue in the final few points, reeling off four straight points from 18-20 to come out on top, 22-20. In fact, I was surprised that the established and much more experienced NJ could lose G2 so badly and even mishandled the crucial points in the last quarter , from 18-13 up, then 18-15 18-17, 20-18, only to drop the next four points to hand the match to HY , 20-22, just when I thought NJ was making her experience count in G3. I'm glad Han Yue has shown tenacity and fighting spirit to turn the table on her opponent in the decider, an experience that should stand her in good stead in future.
Disappointed about gao fanjie & chen xiaoxin. Specially about gao fanjiee. Many people thought she will be the one to watch from china after reaching the china open final in last year beating pv sindhu,marin
Even Gao Fangjie is disappointed with herself, saying she has not been able to raise her standard and improve her form this year. That's why she didn't play the last few tournaments. I think Chen Xiaoxin is slightly better off, cold comfort for us CHN fans, I supposed. The bright spot , apart from Chen Yufei's major breakout at the Fuzhou China Open, is Han Yue's steady progress this one month - three finals, one title at Macau Open, and enters another final tomorrow at the KOR Open in an all-CHN affair with Li Xuerui.
We can't forget cai yaiyan also. She also 2 titles thia year. She nearly miss the world tour final also. She was behind the beiweng zheng in the rankings
