I mean, that altercation between Li Mao and Lin Dan happened about 11 or 12 years ago, Li Mao is 61 years old now and Lin Dan going 36, you expect them to still bear grudges and not move on ? As I've posted above, if Lin Dan can write about Li Mao positively, acknowledging the latter's outstanding coaching abilities, in his autobiography published in August 2012 at the end of the London 2012 Olympics, it proved that on Lin Dan's part it is history. And I believe the same for Li Mao as otherwise he would have reservations about accepting the coaching offer. Personally, I'd credit them with magnanimity and enough high-mindedness as they both have greater goals to pursue in life.
True. @Justin L gave a pretty good summary. It was a long time ago now. One other thing is if you get a situation here where they are working for the country, chinese people are really really patriotic and will certainly put their personal differences aside.
Depends. Li Mao is without question patriotic, but no way he would come back if LYB is still at the helm
Totally agree. LYB ignored the signs which were there during his time. Didn't bother about the juniors. So glad when he was replaced.
Is that really true, though? I was under the impression that Li Yongbo was behind the effort to groom that generation that finished juniors from 2012-2015. Remember that Bao Yixin, Chai Biao, Tian Houwei, Deng Xuan, Suo Di, Zhong Qianxin, Wang Zhengming, Chen Long, and Liu Cheng never got to play more than a China Masters or China Open before their last World Junior Championship. It was the same for the kids born in '94 but in 2012, you started to see things like Chen Qingchen playing overseas at age 15. When was the last time that had happened? And it wasn't because of a dearth of senior talent, either. Remember, China was still ruling the Superseries in women's and mixed doubles from 2012 to 2015, at the same time that these juniors were getting overseas exposure. Lin Guipu, He Bingjiao, Chen Yufei, Liu Yuchen, and Zhao Junpeng all got the chance to play abroad much earlier than their predecessors on the national team. I know there is more to training juniors than that but it does seem to be one of the key moves that can be made at the national level.
Thank you for your comments. Its only my personal view on the matter. Now that the juniors are out in force in the Vietnam Open its a great battle for them. Its a tough qualification as most of the juniors are featured. And after they qualify K. Vitidsarn is there in their way, Wa. Looking forward to it. Its so nice to see the CBA exposing the top juniors in so many tournaments. Well done.
At the Vietnam Open, Lei Lanxi and Sun Feixiang progressed to the quarterfinal. LLX has impressed. Surprisingly Koki Watanabe lost tamely in the 2nd set to SFX. Hope he is not suffering an injury. The 3rd junior Li Shifeng has a tough opponent in Thien Minh Nguyen. Unfortunately, LLX will face SFX in the next round.
As expected Lu Shifeng lost but gave a good fight. This is the first time I am seeing Lei Lan Xi playing. I like his speed, anticipation and placements. A quick thinking player. I expect him to win today.
Oh dear LLX lost in 3 sets to Sun Feixiang. Well done SFX. There doesn't seem to be a leader of the pack re the juniors. Best of luck SFX against Lin Yu Hsien whom he is 1 up h2h
At the Vietnam Open'19 S100 , Zhang Yiman showed improvement but I'm not convinced yet until she wins the final. In yesterday's match with Sim Yu Jin, she suddenly became error-prone again in G2 before reasserting herself in the tiebreaking set. Also in R2 against Yu Thi Trang, ZYM was nearly knocked out in two straight sets, barely survived G2,22-20, despite a hefty lead at 19-13, then ran away with G3, 21-6. Today's semifinals against her fellow teammate, Wang Zhi Yi, Zhang Yiman played well in G1 for a decisive 21-13 win but in G2 while leading by 18-11, she let WZY pull back to level at 19-all before taking the next two points and the match, 21-19. Her male counterpart, Sun Feixiang, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble beating Lin Yu Hsien for a place in the MS final to face Sourabh Verma who had a slightly harder time disposing of Minoru Koga in the second semifinal, 22-20, 21-15. SFX also appeared to be an improved player at this tournament.
Agree re Zhang Yiman. She has a good attacking game but she hasnt got it all together. Too error prone as well. Granted she has played better in this tournament. Similarly SFX has improved but h2h he is 2 down to SV. So its a tough call. Best of luck to him tomorrow. He has pedigree amongst all the China juniors so hopefully his talent will show.
What a surprise Zhang Yiman prevailed over Sayaka Takahashi. Her smashing made the difference as ST overhit too frequently and gave away free points. ZY made less errors. Congratulations to her. But she needs to be patient and use her power when its presented if she wants to go far. As for Sun Feixiang, the loss was expected. His first game was truly pathetic. I am afraid he has some obvious weaknesses. The first is his very poor retrieval of smashes,. Every time Sourabh smashed, even to the same side SFX is in sixes and sevens. He needs to study how Kento Momota puts off his opponents by this skill. Secondly he is not a thinking player. He won the second game by playing it slow which frustrated SV. But he suddenly speeded up his game early in the 3rd set and lost 4 points in a row and couldn't make up the difference. Thirdly he doesn't possess a powerful smash to threaten his opponents. I am afraid the Juniors haven't progressed well enough. Every time you watch them you get the feeling of deja vu, they are going to lose. I just hope there will be more juniors in the pipeline who are talented and exciting to watch.The present group are all quite ordinary, I am afraid. Although I still look forward to watching them play, and hope one of them will suddenly shine. Ha Ha
It's Asuka Takahashi, not Sayaka Takahashi. Asuka is in JP B Team, while Sayaka is member of the A team. If it was Sayaka, I don't ZYM could win, but anyway congrats to her. SFX is just so boring. He doesn't have any change from when he was junior zzz
Oops. Sorry. I agree with you on both. You are so right about SFX. He is better than when he was 18 but his approach to the game hasnt matured. He is not in command of his game and reacts rather than control and manage his shots. I just wish a new set of coaches are given to the juniors.
There are a number of Chinese players taking part in the Sydney international tomorrow. Provincial team?
Lu Guangxu beat Chen Long. Quite an upset. Its their first meeting!! Hope its not a flash in the pan.
Absolutely yes, he doesn't have any improvement, looking at his peers Lee ZJ & Kantaphon who developing enormously, starting to trouble the world top 10 rank. It was Chen Long who didn't play his best, Lu GZ stays the same, quite blank and ran out of idea, not suprised that he lost to Rhustavito in last sixteen. Well, an arduous task for Li Mao to transform those mediocre MS players to be world beaters, still miles away to go.
I have a feeling that li jinhui is hating liu yuchen. There is less communication between them in matches. I think that is the reason for most of their losses. Also han & zhou, he & tan also seeming to have this communication problem.
