Another BWF Special Feature episode with Michelle Li. This time about her journey towards the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics and how she has to deal with an ankle injury that actually needs surgery... Never heard her mention this during interviews or on social medias. Those athletes always surprise me, they're all heroes. And what about the para- athletes... they are simply superheroes!
The new BWF Badminton Unlimited episode is fully consecrated to Michelle Li. Worth the watch for her fans or for whoever is interested to see what's going on in the life of an athlete at this level.
It's very disappointing to see Michelle Li plays the way she does now too often. During her match against Kim Ga Eun in the semi final of the US open 2019 she seemed like she did not want to give her best. She never made that extra effort to get the shuttle on drop shots or in defense while her opponent is on the floor defending like her life depends on it. Not enough will from Michell Li. She is dealing with an ankle injury but if it's the issue why not fix it now instead of waiting Tokyo 2020 is finished if it refrains her from playing at 100%. I really don't get how she throws away too many points and matches lately.
She said she made a decision to continue to play and manage the pain until Olympics. Otherwise the surgery to fix it would put her out of commission for 6 months. Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
She is carrying this injury since before the Olympic qualification cycle, I question if it wouldn't have been a better choice to get it done already and be able to play at 100% for 6 months instead of managing her pain and limiting her physical performances on court. The way I see it she just aims at qualifying for Tokyo 2020 without any real objective. Michelle Li at 100% could have been a potential medal imo. She looks like she does not want to be on court those days.
She always looked kinda laid back on court, I wouldn't equate that to her not wanting to win at all. Also I don't think you're in much of a position to question her career decisions, no?
Let's replace "I question if " by " I wonder if" . Sounds better you're right. Not my intention to literally question her choice it was just a word. Probably wrong though my bad . Anyway, there was obviously something wrong though. Not sure you saw the match but that was not her best performance. Right after the match she even posted on her Instagram story she was "not feeling good on court" with the hashtag #Alittlesad. So I guess that was not just her being laid back which she is but that was really different and it's been a little while now.
Thinking about it... one possible reason why she keeps playing with an ankle injury that require surgery intervention is that she might actually hang her racket after Tokyo 2020. Based on her interviews recently (ie: she often mention the long travels, being away from home and how hard it is for her as an independent player) and her age that is a possibility.
Maybe she did not want to drain her energy as she will need to fly over to Jakarta for Indonesia Open next week.
I wasn't aware she's having some ankle injury problem. Agree, it's her decision to make but I concur with you, it's better to thoroughly treat her injury prior to the start of the OG QF even if it means six-months injury layoff and be ready to give her best shot at Tokyo 2020 than be at second best all the way esp when she has a mind to retire after the OG. By not treating her ankle injury, there's the added fear she might aggravate it and, worse, disable her going to the Olympics at the wrong time. The six-month rest might just be what she needed most to recharge, refresh and re-motivate her to go further.
As we're not privy to the details, it's all just guesses anyway, but it's certainly possible that the 6 months were a very optimistic time frame, with the very real possibility of recovery taking longer. Additionally, you're all disregarding that she wouldn't start at 100% right after, but would have to recover from this lengthy break - resting an ankle would also prevent any sort of running, footwork, leg strength training, so you have to almost start from scratch after that time. That would mean an 'affected' period of at least another 3-6 months. Overall, we're left with two risky options. One is risking aggravating the injury, but guaranteeing an acceptable start into the qualification period (in terms of her own performance/level/...), the other risking a bad, late start of the qualification period, with the potential upside of being fitter and healthier at the end of it. Not knowing how bad the injury is, I wouldn't judge from the outside.
Good thinking. Thus one option is more about short career perspective while the other is more on the long term. Since she chose not to fix it now (short perspective) we can assume she will fix it after the olympics, heal for 6 months and like you mentioned take another 3 to 6 months to regain physical abilities that means she would be back in 2021 when she is 30. She would need another 3 to 6 months or more of competition to really get back at her previous level too. Knowing how in Women Singles most players retire rather early I think she is going to retire from the professional world after Tokyo 2020 and I guess that's why she decided to toughen up and play with the injury. Somehow I understand her choice it's just I thought she could have had a chance of medal if she were to be fully fit and able to improve her condition before the Olympics. She has the technique and skills and this effortless presence on court I think she just always missed a bit of physical abilities compared to the top 5 but well... it is what it is and she is doing amazing considering she has almost always been on her own during her whole career. May be she will suprise us during the next tournaments!
rarely are athletes 100% after 1 year post surgery on your achilles. play through/manage it vs. surgery is the ?'n. surgery = a high % chance of missing too many qualifying opportunities. if it was me i'd play through/manage it. re. u.s. open semi-final: players will often sandbag a semi to get away a day earlier when their next tourney is half-way around the world. in her case the indonesia open. i'm not saying she did nor do i know otherwise. again, if it was me i would've tanked my semi. the $ and points from indonesia open are worth the risk. imagine leaving los angeles, california after the final on sunday and having to play sung ji-hyun tuesday morning in jakarta... not easy for her.
Yet being out of the Indonesia Open at R16 means less points than she scored at the US open (correct me if wrong) going to the semi and even less if she would have win that semi and eventually the final. I'm afraid her US open semi final performance isn't only a priority related issue.
add her u.s open points [4,900] to her just earned i.o. points [4,800]... is the total [9,700] more than a 1st place u.s. open point total [7,000]? plus she gave herself the opportunity to earn more points from the i.o. had she won. i'd say the strategy/risk paid off... if that was her intention. a player in a similar situation, beiwen zhang [usa], may have skipped the u.s. open to rest(?) with the intent of being in a better physical condition for the i.o... so far she has advanced to the 1/4's and earned at least 6,600. i'd say this also paid off. the 400 point difference [7,000 max @ u.s open less 6,600 from i.o.] is insignificant, and she has the chance to earn even more if she wins her next round [8,400 pts]. these are the choices of today's badminton professionals. don't you wish you were one?
Not easy I know... especially in the case of independent players outside of the top 10. Add the financial aspects, injury management, training without a structure and personal issues and that's what they have to deal with to manage their career. Well good to know she managed to score good points in order to maintain her top 20 status but in terms of pure performance there is also a choice to make (ie winning some titles). I think she isn't playing at her full potential but like I mentioned in my previous post it is what it is knowing her injury and I'll still enjoy watching her matches whenever she plays.
Michelle! Scalped TTY in Japan open QF rubber match by 22-20! Knew she has it in her when she wants it. Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
Excellent job, Michelle Li ousted the WR1 WS Tai Tz Ying albeit a tight three-setter by the slenderest of margin, 22-20 in the decider. Apparently, her (minor? nagging?) ankle injury woes is no obstacle, no wonder she chose not to go under the knife for treatment.
