I guess we'll never know. It's not 0%. Anything can happen just like MO. All top seeds stumbled. LD could get lucky again next year.
But the entry hurdle of being the 2nd best Chinese MS over 12 months seems pretty impossible in combination with that. At least imop. Ofc the chance is never 0%, but the combination of a 1% event like LD winning a premium tournament combined with a measure of his worst characteristic, consistent performance.....thats pretty damn close to 0%
LCW has just announced his retirement today. I wonder how LD feels about this or if they had been talking privately about this. Nonetheless, I sincerely hope LD wouldn't think of retiring yet now that Olympics is coming next year.
Actually, I think that LD will retire quite soon since one of his reasons to not retire is because LCW isn't retire. Now, that reason is no more, probably it will make LD less motivated a bit.
Possibly. But somehow I have this strong feeling that LD will not stop until Olympics since he has come this far. I could be wrong but I hope I am not.
Yes, it's one less motivation for Lin Dan to carry on at a personal level, but, on the other hand, it could serve as an impetus to continue doing what his greatest rival promised but failed to accomplish with him - to meet at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics for the fourth time together on the world's highest stage in badminton. For sure, Lin Dan won't call it quits yet, he will soldier on for one of the two OG spots to the very end. One can only hope, he has no lack of willpower and determination though, realistically, it would probably be a case of the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Still it is an admirable quest, one that defies the ravages of age, a historic accomplishment if he not only qualifies but goes on to medal with any colors at the Olympics at the advanced age of 36, unprecedented in badminton history. As we know, breaking records is Lin Dan's specialty, too many to list offhand. While the odds are getting heavier as he ages far beyond the normal retirement age for most players, he is , nevertheless, a noted prodigious talent with immense experience and proven track record second to none, there is I wouldn't say a remote possibility but more than that for he might just barely overcome his 'physical limitation or restriction' and, perhaps,coupled with a little luck go where no man has gone before, who knows. Call it wishful thinking if you like, naturally. Personally, I wish it's a case of mind over matter and history is made ?! At the moment, he can at most hope to chase Chen Long and overtake him, admittedly, I doubt he can touch Shi Yuqi who is currently just too good for any of his fellow teammates to dislodge from the CHN MS1 position.
I think he will follow lcw once he knows that the og2020 dream is over. CL is the defending champ. He wants to emulate LD.
LD will definitely try his best to get a place in next year Olympic. Ill predict that the Olympic mission will be his last and only strong reason why he should still remain in the circuit. If he cant make it, added this with the recent retirement of his only genuine nemesis, Datuk LCW, then most probably he will likely retired. Put aside those Olympic quota rules, we ALL know that if superdan is at his best...he is virtually unbeatable. Ask Datuk or Taufik or Gade. Same answer. Despite his current age and physical condition, he is still the man to beat in any tournament he's participating and importantly, still a crowd attraction. We know that he still has all the qualities to be as good as he was before. If he's in the Olympic, you maybe will probably be living now in an air conditioned cave far deep in the Amazon jungle or migrated to the Andromeda galaxy if you're not giving any hope to superdan as one of the gold medal contender. I hope he can play as long as possible. We must admit that for this past nearly 2 decades, both Datuk and superdan has single handedly lift the spirit on how we watch badminton. They unite all badminton fans in this entire globe and everytime they're both participating, the much anticipated Datuk vs superdan is a must in our wish list. The media hype and tense add more flavor to their stories. It's just like our planet earth and its entire habitats suddenly gathered to create that specific environment and focus if both of them were playing....... let alone if its in the final of a major or big tournament. Not to disrespect but you wont get that similar scenario at this present competition most likely. I remembered when i was there watching Datuk battling against superdan in the Malaysia Open final where superdan was at the brink of becoming a champion while Datuk was miles away trying to catch him......the atmosphere was just beyond words. Every point that Datuk collected from superdan and everytime superdan attack in hoping to take a point from Datuk was cheered so loud that i prayed that the roof didnt fall. If thanos was battling with the Avengers outside the hall, i can be confident that no one would bother............
Considering he still has his contract with Yonex... can he just retire based on what he feels though? Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk
As long as he is in World's top 16 and top 3 CHN MS by the time the qualification period ends. He will also have a chance if he could climb up to China's top 2 MS and within World's top 16 without SYQ or CL injured. I think it was top 16 for singles and top 8 for doubles, iicr, for a country to send two representatives in one category?
Yes. Makes no sense, but basically it's the Top 16 players you need to be in to send more than 1 representative