MS: Lin Dan Vs Chen Jin Boring match. Kudos to CJ for reaching the final, and Beating LCW & Sony.........but IMHO Lin wasn't injured. From the very begginning he was shaking he Left leg, but During rallies he was his usual self, the only difference I notice was he wasn't injecting pace into the rallies to finish them. When exactly did he get injured? he was showing top gear against BCL yesterday, so persumably he must have injured his knee in the warm up this morning. In the very begginning of the match (I think 4-3) He had a Mid court high shuttle, did a huge jump then pulled out to drop it, and mishit it. This set the tone for the match. He didn't seem interested in winning, only making it look good. In the second game in setting he gave the points away. on the match point he had numerous oppurtunities to attack but didn't, preferring just to clear and invite CJ's attack. I will say only this: When people are injured and they want to win, they don't give away easy points, they go for winners, and hope they fall in because it hurts to move and play properly. Lin did the opposite, he played a long game of clears and no attack. Especially with a knee injury you would just not do this. XD: Zheng/Gao vs Nova/Lilyana ZB/GL were clearly the better pair, but for a few minor ammendments to their game this would have been a comprehensive victory for them. They are more mobile and better defending than Nova/Lilyana but were much slower on the return of serve and because they backed off the net area NW/LN controlled this area. As soon as they stopped blocking to the net (which inevitably meant them lifting) and started pushing off and attacking it, they put INA in trouble. CHN are not powerful but are consistent and work their opponents. CHN unsettled INA in the Latter 2nd game and G3 by flick serving their opponents who had been very aggressive in their returns earlier in the match. WS: Lu Lan Vs Tine Rasmussen If I were LYB I would worry. Previously when CHN WS players lost it was because they were either unlucky, their oppnents were in the form of ther life or they just had a bad day. In this match Lu Lan lost because Tine is simply a better player. Lu Lan could not rally with Tine, beacause she struggled to cover the whole court. Sometimes even just 3 consecutive clears and Lu Lan was out of the rally. LL had at least 8 points from Tines' simple unforced errors, and still she was well off the pace. LL was also unable to cope with TRs' attack even straight from the serve she struggled to return it, and when she did she was forced to lift it, when blocking it and moving tine away from the rear court was the better option. TR is very strong in the rear court, either drop, clear or smash, so the first tactic should have been to take her away from this region. LL Didn't and se has paid the price. WD: LHJ/LKW vs DJ/YY Du/Yu were on fire in the opening exchanges of the first two games, and the match was actually very close in the end. The critical period was at 13/14 all in the third game. LHJ made a string of unbelievable smash returns and winners and those 3/4 points left Du/Yu with too much to do. Du/Yu are much faster and powerful, but the only problem with this game is that it cannot be maintained throughout a full 3 set match, even in RPS. When Du/Yu tired, the smashes were less penentrating and the increased rally length favoured the KOR Pair. A deserved victory, and quite emotional for LKW who has tried for many years to beat the CHN WD pairs and finally has a big victory to savour. If they play like today she may have another in the OG. MD: Lee/Jung vs Lee/Hwang A good match which was well fought by both pairs, similar as the WD the match was very evenly balanced up until 14 points in the thirds when a few lose errors from LJJ gifted LYD/JJS a cushion which they did not relinquish. For most of the match though Lee/Hwang were the better pair, the two KOR Pairs are quite even in defence, but Lee/Hwang are definitely superior in attack at both the front and the back they have more power. Ther was also an intresting battle at the net between LeeJJ and Lee YD, and I think LJJ shaded it slightly. Out of the four players JJS is the weakest, and this puts pressure on LYD to do sometihng special, which he often can do, but it should not be relied upon. All in all a good days play, but the MS was a real dissapointment for me.
totally agree with you on the MS final. I couldn't help but feel, because i had read something like it in another post, that CJ was destined to win (because of LYB's decision) and LD was just playing along trying to make it look like he was trying. i'm trying to get the MD final. you make it sound pretty good
yeah ill agree on the MS final as i just saw it... i can only really sum it up by this = ... i dont know if lin dan was really injured as some of the shots he pulled off were pretty impressive and usually people who have injuries on the court try not to show it off as sometimes he was stretching it out or limping or something... in my opinion that was just to play to the crowd. quite a disspointment and this is why i hate all chinese finals as they usually dissapoint the fans but oh well what are you going to do.
Absolutely agree. As far as OG08 points are concerned, I think 90% of BCers could predict that CJ would walk away as a winner. Thanks to the "director" behind the scene and the "Oscar Winner for the Best Actor".
it was extremely noticable from Chen Jin's reaction afterwards. I mean, come on, if you win the all england you should at least celebrate, shouldnt' you? his reaction was near nothing.
I've found this years AE is not as good as previous ones: with less competitive and thrilling matches our appetite has not been fulfilled even after the finish.
since u had watched it live, i have to give u more weighting on your review. It goes to show how good LD really is right now compared to his peers and opponents. I did not watch the semfinal but at least from other people comments, LD did played seriously against bcl and the audience got to see him in top form. Thanks for the live wrap up.
It's reported that CJ said AE is just another SS and is not at the same level as those "big" tournaments. That's why he barely celebrated. Personally I am surprised to hear that. We can just find the AE04 final video and watch how LD celebrated his first AE title. And don't forget LD before AE04 is already among the very best and CJ hasn't yet.
Well, 2004 is also Olympic year. Either there is something suspicious, or CJ is the most ambitious young man of all times in badminton circuit (to "celebrate" like he did after his very first AE title!).
Both players said it all in their postmatch interviews (can be found at sina.com.cn). 令人意外的是,陈金在赢了后并未表现得很兴奋:“林丹受到膝伤影响,发挥并不好。而且全英赛冠军也不是世锦赛冠军。”林丹却很为队友高兴:“我更看重中国队整体实力的提升,陈金获得积分对于国家队备战奥运很重要。”至于伤势,林丹表示早晨起床时就感到左膝盖疼,目前尚不知是否会影响自己参加下周开战的瑞士公开赛。 Surprisingly, after winning the title, Chen Jin did not look too excited: "Lin Dan was affected by the knee injury and could not perform to his true potential. Anyway, the All-England title is NOT the World Championships " However, Lin Dan was happy for his teammates: "I put more importance on the overall rise in the whole Chinese team's performance, Chen Jin's victory and the points that come with it WERE IMPORTANT TO the preparation for the Olympics." As for his injury, Lin Dan expressed that he felt a pain in his left knee when he woke up in the morning . It's still not clear at the moment whether that will affect his preparation for the Swiss Open next wee. That was pretty clear, isn't it, coming from the mouths of both players??? Chen Jin felt that his victory was "gifted", while Lin Dan obviously put the Olympics pts above his own personal glory...really a team player!
He certainly celebrated with style after beating Taufik Hidayat in the Macau Open Final Oh...he must be worried abt Lin Dan's injury