Li Shifeng didn't play as well against Koki Watanabe as he did Sourabh Verma. He was in his old mode in the first set and lost a big lead and the set 22-20. In the next two sets he played a steadier game and used his height to advantage. KW has beaten many of the Chinese juniors including LSF. His nemesis is Sun Feixiang who is 5-0 H to H. KW's weakness is clear from this match and the juniors should be able to win in future when facing him, assuming they have the strokes to lift to the baseline. LSF is now 1-1 H to H with him. Frankly I thought LSF would lose today as KW is a seasoned and experienced player. And he has lost to KW in their first encounter. This match has shown how well the coaches have worked on LSF. He has matured and is clearly heading to be the best of China's juniors. He still has more to do as the first set shows but he overcame the jitters and stuck to his game plan. Well done and best of luck for tomorrow. Parupali Kashyap was one of the top players not so long ago and its a very good test for LSF to move out of the junior mentality and move to the next level. If he can remain confident tomorrow he has a fighting chance.
In first and second set his smashes were very weak and poor but in the third set his smashes were somewhat better. He has to improved his smash which lacks in power
Indeed, Li Shifeng has shown overall improvement. I happened to watch his match against Sourabh Verma and didn't give LSF much of a chance at the start but he proved me wrong. In G2, he even came back from a bad start 5 points down and ran away with the game and match. Compared with what I've seen him play before, LSF is now faster, a bit more aggressive, has deception, improved tactical awareness, and knows better how to make good use of his height and reach now. I believe he will continue to improve, quite promising. Getting more exposure and gaining experience are vital for young talents to learn, grow up quickly and be more consistent in their performance. I'm sure, apart from LSF, the CHN coaches have also identified a few other second tier and young players who have the potential to develop into top-ranked players if given ample opportunity to compete with the best in the world. For no matter how well they seem to perform during training, it's only in tournament conditions that they are put to the real test and,to paraphrase Cai Yun's words, that 's what they are, what their standard actually is.
Somewhat unexpected for me that Wang Zhiyi could overcome Kim Hyo Min in two convincing straight sets by the identical score of 21-13. But I have no confidence she can beat the wonder girl An Se Young who is stronger in her attack than WZY is in her defence, esp when the latter is a more of a stroke player who also doesn't smash much, reminds me of Wang Shixian (actually, WZY can smash better than WSX, imo). We'll see.
Yeah, LSF is considered tall at 1.8m and a bit on the thin side (though not as thin as I've seen him previously), I was thinking while watching his matches, if he can bulk up a little and has a physique close to Chen Long's, he'll be intimidating. Still young, ample room for improvement overall. I look forward to seeing him realize his full potential one day. Way to go.
Its noticeable that in the 2nd and 3rd set LSF quickened the pace with good anticipation. In doing so he made KW rush his shots. KW was perspiring a lot consequently and made numerous errors. Usually its the other way around with KW speeding up the returns. LSF has now found new confidence in this style of play. He did it very well against Sourabh Vermeer. But he lost the plot halfway through the 1st set against KW. Reviewing the MS performance today. Most of them are still in what I call the junior mentality mode. Maturity has not found a place in their game, except maybe for LSF who is finding his own style of play and can move on confidently with that. Lets see tomorrow and next week.
I feel Li Shifeng's play is kinda similar to Shi Yuqi - double-action hit, x-court net shot, etc. Don't know whether he's learning from his senior
Congratulations LSF in winning the Canadian Open. Parupali Kashyap is a very good player and this is a very big win for him. LSF has certainly made a move towards being second MS to Shi Yuqi. Time for him to join the seniors in future tournaments. He displayed maturity, confidence and patience and deserves promotion to the national squad. Lets see how he performs in the US Open
They have a similar style. Precise and patient with good anticipation. Of course SYQ has much better execution and deception having worked on it for a longer time. LSF needs to work on certain signature shots which are his goto play when he wants a quick point. He has a thunderous smash and his crosscourt drops, at the moment, which are his favourites but its rare. SYQ has his goto reverse drop and reverse smashes which have wrong footed his opponents often. He also has his crosscourt smashes as well. LSF's strength is his speed helped by good anticipation and reach. It forces his opponent to rush their returns when they are not in position and are unbalanced; for example Koki Watanabe. Sorry if I am over extending my 2 cents worth, but I have been following the juniors for a long time and can't help pouring out my comments. Have a good laugh over it when LSF gets knocked out in the first round next week.
Li Shifeng, CHN's newest sensation, a raw gem albeit still young and inexperienced in the senior circuit. Kashyap is in excellent form in the Canada Open despite his 32 years of age, old but not so old that he's declined substantially and with his extensive experience and a 13 years age gap over the youthful Li Shifeng in his nascent pro career, PK is expected to have the edge. To his LSF's credit ,he rose to the occasion. In G1, he was outfoxed by the crafty PK to lose narrowly 22-20 but came back to equalize with G2 convincingly when the older man sensed that the young man was eyeing the net and changed tack with less net play to his own detriment. In the decider, PK reverted to his strategy in G1 and it worked well at first with a 4-0, 6-2 lead. However, LSF soon wised up and began to hunt the net again as well as engaged in fewer net exchanges by clearing and driving to the two back corners a bit more to score a commendable victory and capture his maiden senior title. It's a fine win for the budding talent and a good learning experience , esp in G3, from a senior, highly experienced and well-established once WR top 8 player. The battle of wits is excellent training for the youngster, which should stand him in good stead going forward. Hope to see LSF growing from strength to strength in the years ahead. Well done. Keep it up. Jiayou !
As for Wang Zhiyi, she really must learn to attack more, particularly the smash is wanting in her arsenal, need not be a killer smash , just good enough to do the job will do in WS. Indeed, she's somewhat too passive and defensive, playing too many clears and drop shots though punch clears and steep drop shots can be offensive, it's becoming a bit too predictable when executed too often. And her younger talented opponent, ASY, read it with good anticipation, often forcing WZY onto the defensive. I'm sure this final match with ASY exposed WZY's shortcoming conspicuously, more so than her other matches with less offensive opponents. I believe her coaches are well aware of it, WZY herself too, and they will do something about it. Once she's able to seize the initiative more to go on the attack, specifically with smashes,I'm sure she will raise her game another level unless she becomes another Wang Shixian who simply couldn't or stubbornly refused to incorporate that smash stroke as a regular weapon, hope not. At the start of G2, WZY actually tried to force the issue by going on the offensive but mishit the shots. At the same time ASY began to slow down a bit showing some signs of fatigue and was less aggressive but , even so, WZY failed to capitalize on it until the final few points when she managed to save four matchpoints, still to no avail in the end, generally for lack of an adequate offense. In fairness to WZY, she didn't lose too badly, it was a well-fought match, and her redeeming feature is her fighting spirit and tenacity as evidenced by her saving four matchpoints though losing the deuce in the end. I recall it wasn't the first time she managed such a feat. Indeed, mental toughness coupled with a thinking, analytical mind is the hallmark of a champion, her shortcoming notwithstanding.
I just want to say some thoughts of mine regarding Li Shifeng and Wang zhiyi. Wang zhiyi is a lower version of Wang shixian. I don't think she will be able to overcome the current top players even in the future if she follows shixian's path. That path has nothing to do with current top. (Her resemblance makes me think of Chen Yufei. But not in her game) Regarding Li Shifeng, he is a replica of Shi Yuqi. But his inexperience shows in his game. He will overcome that in the future. I don't know how many replicas china will xerox it and let them play . Why can't there is someone who is truly a unique player like Lindan . Even for Li shifeng, it will be difficult for him to come out of the shadow of Shi Yuqi if he plays exactly like him. He has to come out with his own unique features. Just my thought. Nowadays, i rarely get time to write here.
Wang ZY body frame and fighting spirit reminds us to Chen Yu Fei, China is lack of natural gifted player. He Bing Jiao is promising at the beginning but she has problem with body weight, agility and moody character. Lin Dan is exceptional case, one of a kind, special talent can't emerge in every decade.
He's already join CHN national team right? Still long way to go, his WR jumps to #85. China is preparing for Thomas Cup 2020 young squad, hard to believe if they still banking on two old guards, Chen Long-Lin Dan.
The Shi Yuqi style of play is certainly the mode for the Chinese players. It emphasises accuracy of placement, good defence, excellent footwork, deception and occasional strong attacks. It needs patience, confidence and good anticipatory skills. With this in place only players with very good and strong attacks can cut through and break the defences. Players like Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei and Kento Momota can do this. Sameer Verma is another player in this category,as well as the Indonesians, Jonaton Christie and Anthony Ginting. LSF is not there yet but he is working on it. LSF's match against Liu Haicho is a good one to see the different styles. The contrast in footwork between the two is also very clear. Yes I agree that LSF has to find a style that can make him a top class player, different from SYQ. More speed and power perhaps, to add to his current armoury. Its interesting to see the style the juniors taking part in the Asian Championships will display. The players are Liu Liang, 16 years, Ren Chengming, 17 years and Li Yunze 18 years old. Kunlavit Vitidsarn world ranked no 1 will be there. But Lakshya Sens is not in the Indian team! An See Young of Korea is also absent. Kodai Naroaka will represent Japan and Christian Adinata a good Indonesian junior. Looking forward to see the matches and I hope China will show all 4 courts? or 5 even
At the US Open 2019 QF rounds, Liu Haichao after a long, grueling close battle with fellow teammate Ren Pengbo, winning it in 1hr 14 mins, a few hours later lost to a TPE player , Lin Chun Yi, also a three-setter. I think the first match with RPB took a toll on him more than on his TPE opponent who had a straight two-set victory over his earlier Mexican opponent. Having to play two matches within hours of each other as usually required in qualification rounds is physically demanding for most qualifiers, esp young, inexperienced players, including those in their 30s as it's quite challenging not only in terms of strength/power but also stamina/endurance, not to mention experience in knowing how to pace yourself well in both matches. As for Li Shifeng and Weng Hongyang, they both had easier opening matches with their respective opponents as well as longer rest period before they played each other later, and LSF came out on top after two tight sets , winning one each, and then taking the decider in lop-sided manner, the score 19-21,24-22, and 21-9 in an hour and twelve minutes. I wonder if the 19-year-old Li Shifeng can handle back-to-back tournaments after capturing the CAN Open last Sunday. Let's wait and see.
Both the China MS are out. Sun Feixiangs match against Tanonsak can be seen on Shuttle Amazing on youtube. There are many recordings of the days matches so livestream must be available.
Sad that the MS are not represented in the semis. I think the Taiwanese player Li Chun Yi will win the Open. Also surprisingly An See Young lost to Kim Ga Eun in two sets! The next time we see the juniors will be in the Thailand Toyota Open on the 30th of July. Ren Pengbo , Sun Feixiang and surprisingly, Liu Haicho are taking part. But I am also surprised that Zhao Junpeng and Zhou Zeqi are there as well.
Not too unexpectedly though a bit disappointed, Li Shifeng lost a close three-setter to TPE Lin Chun-Yi who overcame Ren Pengbo in the qualies. As it turned out it was LSF's 10th match in two weeks, rather in nine days to be exact, in the back-to-back tournaments, including the qualification rounds. So it's quite likely the toll of accumulated fatigue has some effect on the young man. As I've said, I think LSF needs to improve his physical condition; fret not, he's still young. To be fair, his opponent, Lin Chun-Yi also played just as many matches, including one in XD. LCY may be another TPE up-and-comer to watch, having disposed of Liu Haichao, Ren Pengbo, Li SHifeng, Ygor Coelho, and Lee Dong Keun , so far these two weeks.
