Lin Dan is so slow now, most of the shots that he could play and return in his younger days, nay just two or three years ago, are now a struggle for him. It saddens me to see him left stranded so often at the net, scrambling to the backline and even misjudging the shots now and then, wrong-footed occasionally, unable to retrieve cross-court smashes let alone dive for it, etc, etc. Yes, he is old and slow, no doubt about it. If not for his consummate skills, vast experience, immense knowledge of the game, superb reading of the opponent's game and anticipation ability second to none, he would've been humbled in two straight sets without a chance. As such it indeed speaks volumes of the maestro's class that he could still take G1 despite it all. Still, there's no denying Lin Dan is a pale shadow of his former self. I'll go so far as to say that for some time now and into the future until he finally hangs up his racquet for good, we can only see Lin Dan booted out in the first two rounds of every tournament he plays in and simply not going beyond the quarterfinals stage regardless of the draw or the opponents lined up for him. If I may venture to put a figure on it, I'd assess his chances of winning in R1 as at most 50/55%, R2 at 40/45%, QF at 30/35%, the rest need not be said, pointless to speculate. Suffice to say - taking Kantaphon Wangcharoen's case as an example,losing twice in a row to Lin Dan - the great majority of Lin Dan's opponents are only most at risk of defeat largely in the very first round. It used to be that ardent fans of Lin Dan would harbour the belief that Lin Dan will deliver when it matters, in the tournaments that mean a lot to him, the majors or what he sets out to accomplish. But the cold hard reality has proven otherwise time and again, and we fans had better come to terms with it sooner and stop deluding ourselves. For quite a while, every time he lost badly, we would console ourselves with the thought that the next time he will prove his detractors wrong but, apparently, that has stopped happening far too often and for long enough that , willy-nilly, it's high time we simply stop deluding ourselves. The question remains, when will he quit ? Will he do it of his own accord or be forced to do so by CBA as his world ranking continue to slide as he suffers one early exit after another ? One thing I'm very sure, we won't see Lin Dan at Tokyo 2020. Since that's going to be the case, assuming he will just fail to qualify for one of the two Olympic spots , I'm thinking it might be a good thing for the living legend to just call it a day before the start of the Olympic cycle next year, for what else is there to play for ? (Honestly, and I believe most of you can sense it, I'm writing all this with a heavy heart, not as criticism but as facing reality. Life goes on.)
Good News : Lin Dan leaves Top 15 after strong showing from Antonsen, Sameer Verma and Khosit Phetradab 在安东森，Sameer Verma和Khosit Phetpradab的强势表现之后，林丹离开了前15名
Ufff... that's harsh. Then LD knows what he should be doing. Lucky for LD to meet Momota in earlier stage
It always makes me laugh when people say LD is old and slow. He is slow no doubt about that but he is certainly not old. And his age is definitely not the problem, its just his level of motivation and commitment. If he wanted to, he could easily get back his speed, I am certain of that. I guess we can't blame him for the lack of motivation given what he has achieved but for me, I don't see the point in prolonging your career when you're not going to commit yourself to performing well. Why travel around the world to lose in the first round of tournaments? He needs to either pull his socks up or retire - that's my harsh view on it.
Sure, but I think he also said that his motivation to continue came from allowing his son to see him play. Though surely his son's not going to enjoy watching him play like this.
His son is probably still too young right now to appreciate his game. give him a few months or half a year he might get back shape by the time his son understand badminton
My honest view is that he doesn't seem to be motivated enough. Either he should commit himself to the task or retire from the game. BTW, I still love him.
quick survey: If he fully committed to trying as hard as he can how high of a ranking does everyone think he could get?
Ranking. (edited original ?'n) Could he beat three to five of the top 5 ms players over 5 nights in a row... That would be kidambi srikanth, CTC, axelsen, shi yuqi, then momota...
Hard to tell without seeing how good his form could be when he is fully committed and trying as hard as he can. We know he is no LCW. Maybe 7th or 8th?
Indeed, the lack of sufficient motivation is his greatest enemy, actually more than age. How could it not be otherwise when he has won all there is in badminton at least twice and many more several times over. I supposed, if I may venture to say, the main reasons for his carrying on for so long and despite repeated setbacks are, one, his 10-year long contract with Yonex which may include certain terms agreed upon between the two parties that require Lin Dan to fulfil (as the full details were never disclosed including the exact sum, I can only conjecture or speculate); and, two, his longtime perpetual archrival , Lee Chong Wei, who somehow often serves to motivate him to give of his best and, therefore, in a way spur him to prolong his career for as long as LCW is still in the game; however, the former probably forms the larger part of it, justifiably so. As for wanting to play until his son is old enough to see him compete, that would've to wait maybe another three years as Xiao Yu is now only two years old, and even at the age of five , I'm, not sure if he's old enough to understand what's going on in the badminton sense, that is , whether his dad is playing well or not, or winning or losing, unless just watching daddy on court prancing around hitting the shuttle is cause for joy in itself. Even so,I doubt it serves as motivation enough for Lin Dan to slog on until 2020 or 2021 when Xiao Yu turns five. Now, if only Lin Dan has as much motivation, discipline and dedication as his 'old foe' LCW..., 'old age' notwithstanding.
Hard to tell... Are there any statements from Lin Dan himself about his state of mind, form, motivation and current training effort? Without any inside information I think he could approach sth between 5 and 8. If we consider how he can play if prepared (all England this year or wc 17, even 18 if he hadn't inform Shi yq in the qf or last Olympics) he could go really deep in at least 5 tournaments in a year (peaking for them), but he was never lcw, playing consistent over a season... So no higher than 5 I would say.... Damn I would really love to see him invest more. Propably have to wait for AE and Tokio qualifying period...
