Sigh, what you said about Li Xuerui is sad but true, until now at least, that is. First, I'd like to see her remove that left knee brace as it serves as a reminder that she has still not gotten over the ROG'16 injury. Second, consciously or unconsciously, I suspect it's become some sort of a mental handicap restraining her from going all out. Third, her stamina leaves much to be desired (perhaps, her training has been unwittingly affected by her 'knee problem' for far too long, just saying). The last point is no doubt her major stumbling block, in my opinion. The only bright spot now is she's just started to beat a real top 3 player ,namely, Akane Yamaguchi, and that is unmistakably a positive sign that she may finally be on the recovery road to her former prowess, hopefully. We'll see.
Why does England play Ellis as well as Chloe twice on the same day? It worked out for them in the end but it can't be good having a player on the court for so long in one day as we saw with Ellis collapsing in pain at the end. Aren't the Adcocks a decent mixed doubles pair? Meanwhile Japan rests their big guns
It is very sad indeed. To see a player with so much glory like her being like this is just heartbreaking. I’m glad she chose to come back in the game though. Knowing that WS pace nowadays is a lot faster than she used to but she still decided to work her way back after a really bad injury to this level is really inspiring. She might never be the same again but I admire her for all that. Hopefully, we’ll see more of her in the tournaments. I agree that the injury is still playing a big part in her mentally. It kept her from going after certain shots and she just let them go. We don’t know how much she have recovered over the years. It might not be fully healed yet or it is but she’s still afraid of going with it naturally when she plays.
You were underestimating top 8 single women ^-^ Taking Olympic medal is just like eating a cake, hahaha
They are just like Indonesia, post 2008. When Taufik and Kido/Hendra declined, and LN just changed partner after Nova Widianto retired. But in a much severe situation
Maybe they just want to give their all, it could be a last day for them and adcocks have tasted victory.
INA vs DEN (may, 22nd) the odds 60:40, well, I can assume INA would get points from MD & WD sectors. The wildcard would be on MS or XD (ignore the WS sector lol). I would say 50:50 chances on wildcards.. Axelsen seemed not too promising on the last match against ENG. and both Ginting/Christie once their had good record against Axelsen (regardless H2H)..and reminding Christie is at his best performance lately (despite he has issue on group matches, so Ginting is more likely "preferable" in this situation) that so i think the odds 50:50 still quite fair. on XD if INA decide to play Haf/Glo the odd still 50:50. Praveen/Mel is not really a good choice. Quick word for WS, Gregoria is not at her best performance (for sure) although she has good records to play as group matches.. Fitriani is not a good choice. I'd say the odd 45:55. Worst case scenario the final results 3-2 for INA. What do you think, guys?
I have high hopes for An Se Young. But I can't help feeling that there's way too much overhype around her right now. It's like the overhype around Goh Jin Wei a short while ago, which then subsided as she proved to be no match yet for the real WS elite players.
Everyone should watch England vs Denmark on the BWF channel: this is what team badminton is all about. Five 3-setters, four players doing double duty, including one WS+WD (I didn't even know that existed), Ellis collapsing in cramps in M4/MD: total commitment! Thumbs up to both countries for the show.
Just woke up and WOW! England won against Denmark in a VERY thrilling battle. Against the best badminton team in Europe, England fought it out and WON! Overall, England sport is SO AMAZING this month. EPL title race is fantastic with two of the Big Six fought until the end while separating themselves from the other Big Six. UCL and EL have became England football's playground with all of these finals consist of the battle between EPL clubs. And, finally, just as I said earlier, England won against Denmark. What's more amazing that the tie was won in a very hard way, hard-fought battle. All of the matches ended up in rubber match with 3 ENG players played double duties. This is a very good chance for ENG to qualify from the group stage. It will be confirmed if INA can beat DEN, which I can see INA beat DEN.
I saw some of the match. There seems to be something wrong with Cheung. Somehow her legs look a bit weak and unable to push off when changing direction.
2 days full of recovery. England won't play today and tomorrow. If England reaches QF, it will be on Thursday night or even better, Friday afternoon.
Team England makes headline to beat more fancied opponent Denmark, 3-2. The tactic works well for ENG which supported by their strong-willed and energized players, Marcus Ellis, Chris Langridge, Lauren Smith and Chloe Birch. Denmark is lack of positive mind, look struggling to find fine touch including Viktor Axelsen who pushed into the limit by Toby Penty, followed by Mia Blichfeldt also had hard times to overcome Birch. A very hard mission for Danish team to topple frontrunner Indonesia on Wednesday. Defending champion Korea has convincing start for Sudirman Cup campaign, 4-1 over Hong Kong. The only losing point is Heo Kwang Hee who slipped in the middle of deciding game and asked for medical treatment, Ng KL seized momentum subsequently to seal the match, 21-19 / 17-21 / 21-16. A close contest for TPE-KOR tie, who will determine group 1C winner, Hong Kong suffers defeat twice and can't progress to knock out phase. On group 1A, top-seed Japan got small hiccup, didn't expect Russia would lead 2-1 earlier. Vladimir Malkov surprised Kenta Nishimoto in two straight-games, 21-18 / 21-17, thanks to his training in one of Chinese club. Then former All England champions Ivanov/Sozonov subdued Endo/Watanabe, 21-19 / 21-16. But no longer worries for Japan as Nozomi Okuhara and Fukushima/Hirota did their job well to trounce their low-ranked rival. DAY 3 - GROUP STAGES (11.00am & 06.00pm) => https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=A61FA1A9-CDE1-4700-B03E-3E7CF2C992ED 1D - IND v MAS (Court 1) A very crucial tie for both teams to maintain their chance into quarterfinal round. Malaysia fields different players with Sunday's encounter against China including taking a gamble in men's doubles scratch pair Aaron Chia/Teo Ee Yi. India choose Sameer Verma instead of Srikanth Kidambi, Ashwini Ponnappa as expected will play double duties. 1A - THA v RUS (Court 1)
Why did they choose Sameer over KS? No H2H advantage, no cross-of-style advantage, no previous Team events record to back him up. Even an on again off again KS is India's best bet on any day. If they loose MS, they'll have themselves to blame. Also, I know Satwik ain't at his best, but I was expecting him doing double duty today, they could've given him an off day tomorrow against CHINA which will be one way traffic. But I am guessing the knew match scheduling rules are responsible, MD in almost a confirm point for Malaysia, and Gopichand would want to delay it as much as possible. Come-on Sameer don't let us down.
If India win 3-2 today, 100% India will go to the next round without taking care of the match tomorrow with China. Why don't they choose all the best players ?
I believe Sameer is a sensible choice against Malaysia, Malaysia current S.Cup squad do not have strong men singles, Lee Zii Jia is young and promising but it seems better to put Sameer against him and save KS against China, only KS has a shot against either Shi Yu Qi or Chen Long.