I hope that's not her own analysis. She didn't as much as "stumble" at the final hurdle, she is thouroughly outclassed whenever she plays a top player (and I don't mean HBJ or SJH). She's won just one game against a top player this year (an out of form PVS in Singapore), other than that is has been seven losses, all in straight games, at times with embarrassing scorelines. This year has been horrific for her prospects in Tokio and the two recent finals can't gloss over that.
Okuhara just so defensive. as she gets older, it will be really hard to play retrieving type of play and trying to drain opponents. Maybe she can succeed today eventually, but not next time. Marin and Sindhu has such a good attack .
Let me correct my statement to "some things are good" then. She still has the persistence which is great to watch. Not worrying about Tokyo to much yet as it's months away and a lot of things can change but being consistent and staying injury free is number 1 priority right now.
What type of injury which allows her to play in tournament? Doctors allowed her to play ? But i felt that her movement was not as fast as before. She used backhand which i never ever seen her using it. That could be the sign of her fitness , maybe. But i don't see any injury.
Marin visibly more cautious though in the round the head position, not aiming to get below it all the time and choosing to clear instead of attack at that position more often than not.
If Marin can beat Okuhara then thats huge upset, she only played 1 competitive match in 8 months. geez.
There's something about Okuhara's net kill that is just wrong... not enough power... wrong placement. I just notice it too much for it to become a lucky shot by the opponent.
Marin's team is really really good I must say. Regardless of whether she wins today or not. That match in Vietnam was clearly just to get into some groove but the priority is definitely these higher tier tournaments.
I want to know what they do for practicing, Marin. She is playing as if she is continuously playing without a break. Her game has not changed at all.
I agree....To play against Best attacking players like Sindhu and Marin she needs to be as quick and agile as these two. Their smash speed are about or near 400Kmph and to that there can be two outcomes of that either the player gets thrashed or if the player tries to play it accidentally it will go out by its own speed. NO needs to get on attack but the problem is how does she do that..thats the biggest flaw for shorter players though yamaguchi does it nicely but we also have to remember that shorter players also have to move the court much compared to taller players and therefore they exhaust more energy which is not the case with Marin and Sindhu i guess.