Looked to me that LD wanted it the easy way, expecting the opponent would just make another mistake. After all it was 14-20, he had plenty of match points, or so he had thought. When the opponents were persisting enough and able to catch up, he would go "oh, crap" and at that time things had already gone the other way. This has happened quite often, and I am afraid it will cost him more matches than conserving his energies as he might have planned.
Well, there will be one person watching Lin Dan's progress intently, wringing his hands and feeling anxious day by day, who else but Shi Yuqi, for if Lin Dan actually wins the Korea Masters and qualifies for the WTF, he pulls much further ahead of SYQ in the race to Tokyo 2020 Standings. It's now up to Zhao Junpeng, Lin Dan's semifinal opponent, and either Lu Guangzu or Kanta Tsuneyama in the final to stop Lin Dan in his track.
For the sake of the future of Chinese badminton and the big picture, it's better for the youngsters, Lu Guangzu or Zhao Junpeng to step up to the plate, and that, as I understand, is also the views of the CHN coaches, as Lin Dan has already done more than his fair share of contributing to the nation and, realistically speaking, he is way past his prime to expect anything more from him. But, if Lin Dan can still make it based on his own merits, why not? Personally, don't expect any quarters from his teammates,as the CHN coaches have already made clear, every CHN player, young and old, will be given equal opportunities to play and prove themselves worthy of the accolades earned based solely on their performances (I mentioned this before citing the source of the information). Personally, for the Tokyo Olympic quest, I'd rather have Chen Long and Shi Yuqi than Lin Dan (I'm sure there's no need for me to elaborate why, having expressed my views more than once previously). For me, Lin Dan will always be The GOAT and his immense accomplishments are very unlikely to be surpassed in the foreseeable future. It is high time for the younger generation to take up the mantle.
Race against time, it's tough reality that Shi YQ must face, he needs to comeback with the bang started from January 2020 otherwise don't be surprise to see Lin D who will accompany Chen L to represent CHN in Tokyo 2020. But unfortunately very slow progress and their standard is quite far from top 10 MS players.
SYQ is fine tho. no one read CBA announcement about China coaches selection criteria for olympic qualification on that posted on 15nov? imo that criteria list basically created more favorable to SYQ .SYQ still have a lot chance if nothing bad happens again , even Lindan wins this korea masters and qualify to the WTF. beside that i'm not sure Lin dan will have opportunity to going so far like this time next year.
The problem is Lin Dan is 36 already, an 'old man' in badminton terms, physically he is down about 10% in strength/power and stamina/endurance, a fact no one in his right mind can deny. Just compare how he plays nowadays with what he was like, say, 5 years ago, let alone in his heyday - it will immediately strike you that he is no longer the Lin Dan we know, that is, Super Dan, as famously dubbed by Peter Gade, himself a legendary great. I guess, at most, we can hope that he gives us a most pleasant surprise once in a blue moon, like he did early this year at the Malaysian Open Super 750. Dare to dream.
Yes, curiously enough. As of now, Lin Dan is qualified in the World Tour finals for next month, and Shi isn't. Shi also isn't in the Olympic qualifiying rankings. Wonder how the four or so months will turn out. Who will have the better performance? It might just end up being the coaches' discretion. I'm torn between this scenario; I want all three to go to Tokyo, lol. As much as I like LD, Shi has to have this opportunity too, being the future and all that. OG happens only in every 4 years which is a lot of time. But since we're talking about his game right now, Lin Dan seems to be more attacking these past few matches. He would smash every chance he gets, especially in the round-the-head where we've grown accustomed to seeing him clear back cross.
Not yet. Lin Dan is one step away from qualifying for the WTF, he has to beat Kanta Tsuneyama in tomorrow's final; otherwise, it's Wang Tzu Wei's spot at No.8 in the Race to Guangzhou Standings. Also reported here http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/badmin/2019-11-23/doc-iihnzhfz1161243.shtml
The more people think you lose at the 1st round. The higher chance of winning the Tokyo Olympic Gold you have.
That's all, folks. We won't have LD in WTF.. sigh. Felt like he could have won it. I supposed that final was the last we will see of LD this year. I don't remember seeing his name in Syed Modi.
It's a shame, really. Had it not been the silly mistakes in G1, the match could've turned out differently. He will really need to step up next year if he really wants to get in to the OG qualifications. Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk
Shocker. I really thought he had a chance during the first game. But he ended up losing it and the whole match as well. Didn't look energetic at all; he looked like he didn't sleep much the previous night. During breaks, there were hardly any gestures of coaching and/or discussing about game tactics and all that. Him and coach just seemed to 'talk' in short bursts. Compare to the Japanese side where there was a lot going on. Dunno if much has to be made out of that but that was my takeaway.
So did I. Looked like he hadn't much left in him physically nor mentally in G2 after losing G1. Watching him in the last several tournaments, I felt like he really needed to find that "extra gear" to win tight situation at the end of a game. If he could do that, it would increase his chances winning more matches. How many times he couldn't convert game points in deuce situation, I have lost count.
WTH? So even if LD won today's match he wouldn't have qualifed to WTF? WTF?!!! W.T.F??? BWF gave the confirmation yesterday that LD wouldn't be awarded the points from this tournament. Only for WTF I supposed not for Olympics qualification I hope?
Well I guess that explains where all the effort was coming from and why he didn’t really give it all in the final.