Yeah.. I was a bit worried things might go ugly when Kevin showed some annoyance in G2 but phew. Minions were too quick for Lee/Wang and Kevin's variation of attacks left their defense frail at times. All my favorites won their matches today. Quite happy
Kevin's too good with his attacks, yay to him. Angles, directions, placements top notch nothing Lee/Wang could do.
Yeah, I agree. They practically destroyed Lee/Wang. There were some good rallies, but minions are just one level higher than Lee/Wang.
I'm sure nobody cherishes being drawn to play Lin Dan in R1 of any tournaments from now on, might even dread it. R2, not so bad, best is to play him in the QFs or later, provided he gets that far (quite unlikely).
The hype is real. Lin Dan won a first round match against opponents who mentally collapsed after leading 19-13 in second game. One match or even one tournament does not change the big picture, he is ranked 16th in the world for a reason. You also said Chen Long is back to his very best after winning one tournament last year. And what happened after that? His results were as poor as before winning a tournament. I would be very surprised if Lin Dan wins next match in this tournament.
His next opponent is Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA). It shouldn't be that hard for him to win the match tomorrow.
Let's not get to carried away true. Yet the Olympic qualification cycle is about to begin and surely LD will start to intensify his effort. I don't think he can win a super 500+ tournament but he might get a few decent results along the way. We'll see in 12 months where he's at but if one player can win that crazy challenge against himself and age, it's him.
Honestly, while I concede Lin Dan is more or less passe, for Chen Long, he's not finished yet, still too early to say, I believe. Be patient, wait for the OG qualification cycle to start. By the way, I'm sure Chen Long didn't beat Momota decisively for nothing the last time they met, and that after beating Shi Yuqi as well.
Saina rested from her home tournament last week but it didn't help her cause here, unfortunately, as Chochuwong Pornpawee ended Saina's campaign early in R1.
At the moment I consider Chen Long to have realistic chance of winning in Tokyo 2020. Last time they played that was China Open and Momota won, having lost to Chen Long few weeks earlier. In my opinion all last season tournament results after world championships are quite irrelevant when considering head-to-head statistics as some players had clearly lost their best form.
I must say, Intanon's stamina is not bad in R1 after two day's rest, the way she kept attacking Tunjung. Remarkable.
Please don't use this as to backup your theory on HBJ's lack of physique and therefore the stronger physical advantage of RI in last week's final. I'm only (half) kidding hehe
Looks like most of today's matches are quick. Only 2 matches that are over 1 hour. It's almost 9 PM local time and only 2 matches left. These last two matches will be over soon.
