Since 2018 he reached 2 finals only. Lost both. The rest of his tournaments are mostly 1/4 finals or a few semi finals exits. By no means those are bad results but combined with his injuries one can wonder if we will see again KS on the top of a podium one day.
I feel sad for all these Players like Kidambi,Peter gade,Mia Audina,Gong Ruina,Morten Frost,Wong Choo han,Lee Chong Wei,Wang Shixian And so many more who despite being no.1 and all Just Couldnt get in the club of ULTRA Legends. Like Mia Audina My all time fav neckbreaker ..everytime I watch that Uber cup I get goosebumps...She has two olympic silver but sadly No WC tittle..I so badly wish she had gotten at least WC Gold cause she really deserved the Tag to be Called A CHAMPION Then Peter Gade obviously a great player and a legend to Denmark however I saw his interview and heard his sad voice and sadness where he expressed how he couldnt win an olympic medal which was his dream..I wish he had won at least an OG medal or a WC tittle...he also deserved at least an OG bronze..sadly he also never got to be a True Champion Wang Shixian..who is the most beautiful Badminton player Ever..Former World No.1 I hoped so bad that she had won an OG medal or WC tittle but...Well thats just destiny I guess. Then theres LCW...and we all know about it..His tears said it all. Now Srikant With his injury spree ..I just feel hes unlucky..thankfully VA already has OG Medal and World Tittle so he doesnt need to worry..My fav current dane is already a legend. I hope TTY wins a medal next year or I cant express how devastating it would be for her. This for us is Sports guys...Im already heartbroken because of Shi's injury..I cant even express how depressing it is. Its the saddest thing to see your favourite player with injuries and out of the compitetion where you know they could have won it.
That goes to show how incredibly hard it is to earn a major title. For the Olympics alone, it's almost unbelievable to earn a medal. First you have maximum 3 chances in a career. Realistically more like 2 solid chances. Then you have to face adversity, injuries and manage your form to peak at the right moment. You can add pressure, fatigue, nutrition, travel, hall conditions and any other little things on the way that can distract an athlete at this level. Winning a medal at the Olympics is just unbelievably hard. No wonder some of the names you mentioned, few of them being top athletes in their category, still didn't get the medal they wanted during their career. Yet in my eyes they are still true champion. I'll take TTY as an example, personally even if she never get a WC or Olympic medal I will always count her as one of the legends of the sport. Her style of play alone makes her a legend and her name will be remembered by the true fans of the sport.
Only delusional people who would not regard TTY as one of the greatest or a legend when she retires. I don't think anyone will ever stop mentioning her when discussions of who has the better (best) racket skill in WS take place.
I agree 100000% with you Mr.Lenai..like itsso hard to even get a bronze at Olympics and the sheer speciality of the game tht it takes place every four years...makes it so hard for players cause you never know what may happen just like Shi..i mean I was so confident and everything but he got injured. I agree TTY is unique and honestly I will have to make an exception for her even though Im Bound by my own rules to only love and follow and research about OG and WC Medalists but TTY is such a player that she just makes you fall in love with her game...And She will be a legend for me too and I know there will not be anothet tty her legacy and tricks are so good that even Me being an OG WC fan wonder how on earth is this lady not the world Champion lol. The reason I feel sad for her is becuse deep down I know she is sad too because she is human too and now with media calling her having Mental block or Major Phobia and other useless stuff that media people always say..im sure it must be hurting her..but As she said in the interview her aim is the Olympic medal and I will pray to see her at the podium because she really needs it and she should have it.
Can also be the opposite. Early rounds are usually super easy; if a major opponent is injured and you get a good draw, things can go your way. Bronze medals are especially easy to earn and rarely require more than the beating of one competent opponent. If anything, there's also a whole lot of luck involved in winning these tournaments, which is why they should not be regarded as highly as they are. Consistent performance over years is a much better indicator of quality than winning one or two "majors". In 2017 two points seperated Sindhu and NO in that final. Was Sindhu a worse player overall than Okuhara because of it? Of course not. Momota won his second WC in totally dominant fashion, but his opponent were quite easy, tbh. I find his consistence in perfoming at the highest level much more impressive than this single win, because anybody can win the occasional tournament, but hardly anyone can win consistently over the course of years.
When it comes to the athletes I appreciate, I don't limit myself to any piece of metal one athlete carry for a few seconds around the neck. I also appreciate the values one athlete can carry through his achievements and whole career, like LCW and his never ending perseverance, determination and quest for improvements. In an extreme way, I appreciate seeing athlete from small countries where funds and facilities are scarce but manage to break through in the sport, even if they just win one match here and there during big events. Look at Ygor Coelho from Brazil. His story is pretty amazing too and he might never win any major title or super 500+ (who knows!) tournaments but coming from a place where badminton is far from being popular, learning it in the favelas and still manage to be a top 50 player in his category and travel the world to pursue his dream... just wow! Well I'm sure some kids in Brasil consider him a true legend. It's all about perspective for sure and very subjective to consider someone a legend but I definitely don't stop myself to only WC or Olympic medalists. It doesn't mean I don't consider a player like Lin Dan a legend...
I dont agree with your statement about bronze Olympic medal being "especially easy to earn"... but I totally agree with the rest when it comes to athletes performances as a whole during their career. I'm for example much more impressed by PVS amazing consistency during major events than I am from her latest gold medal at the WC or the whole career of LCW even if he never got the Gold.
very very wise word indeed, yes totally agree that 1-2 tournaments does not show that player impact on the sport, or fans attitude towards sport and that player, but yea this is off topic. Does Kidambi will be replaced by someone else? Or Sai just will go through to next round?
