Well done Ren Cheng Meng beating Brain Yang, the no 2 seed in two sets. BY is a seasoned junior and I am surprised he lost.The last time they met, BY won in 3 sets at the German Open in March.Its usual for me to feel that Chinese players will lose so I am happy with this result. RCM makes very few unforced errors and his stroke play is very good, even under pressure, he doesn't hit the shuttle out. So different from many of the juniors who rush their game. So far from what I have seen of the juniors playing, RCM has the best game ; its mature and he doesn't lose his composure. Looking forward to his next match.
I haven't watched Ren Chengming played yet (keep missing his matches) but if he is as patient, even composed, and makes few unforced errors as you said, then that's remarkable for a 17-year-old kid.
Does Ren Zhengfei like badminton? Can sponsor Chinese badminton. Huawei logo will look nice on the T-shirts. Love it.
Liu Liang lost to Yonathon Ramlie. He deserves to lose as he made so many mistakes. He doesn't have control of his strokes. On the other hand Ren Cheng Meng started 6-1 down against Rohan Gurbani but played a very good game to win the first set. He won the second set quite easily. Now if you had seen the RCM match you will agree with me that he doesn't make many silly errors. Give him a chance and he will kill the shuttle. But LL will hit the shuttle out. RCM's next opponent is Christo Popov, a very strong and skilful player. It will be a close match.
The only positive is that they have given the younger players a chance, specifically Dong Tian Yao. He took Ye Haokuns place as well as Li Xiang. I feel they are thinking of the future and not so much about the results. But DTY was a little disappointing yesterday. No firepower and a little lethargic. What we need to see is a whole new batch of juniors playing in tournaments from now on. Yes I agree this batch is pretty average except for Ren Cheng Meng, who I feel will go far. His game is so much better than the others. He is" hungry" when he is on court. Lets see. At the ABC he lost to Li Yunze in the semifinal.
True, several of the junior team members are barely 16 years old or thereabouts. I suppose you're right in saying CBA may be starting to nurture the teenage players at a younger age, and, yes, a couple of them do show potential. A good sign going forward. Even 16-year-old Tan Ning who played WD in the mixed team event was entered for the WS and nearly knocked out the JPN Riko Gunji.
Ren Cheng Meng met his match against Christo Popov, who played very well. If RCM wants to move up in the rankings he needs to improve his defence against smashes. He also sweats a lot and keeps changing the shuttles. So mentally still not ready. Been watching Li Shifengs matches at the Dutch Open.He has learnt how to play like a wall, not a 6 footer wall like Chen Long but not bad, maybe a 4 feet tall wall. His returns have great length and e makes less mistakes. So his opponent has to play shot after shot and gets frustrated by his returns. He has an interesting match against the Japanese Yusuke onodera. Lets see whether the wall is high enough.
The 1.8m tall,19-year-old Li Shifeng has shown good potential but somehow, after watching some of his matches in a couple of tournaments, I sensed that he needs to strengthen his physicality a bit more. As Ren Chengming, he actually started to get impatient , esp in G3, and made quite a few errors. And I doubt Li Yunze (never seen him play before) can handle Christo Popov who appears fast and strong. We'll see.
Just watching his game now, not too bad but he must learn to adjust to Popov's lefty game, not keep playing to his forehand but mixing it up well.
Right, Li Shifeng, Wang Zhiyi, Li Yun, Zhang Yiman, all of them would do well to work on their stamina. What are the CHN coaches and physical trainers doing?
Yes, include him too. By the way, had Wang Zhiyi lost G2 to Pai Yu Po at the Ditch Open, I think G3 would be out of her reach for lack of stamina.
But at the ongoing world junior championship chineese players are exhausted. Most of them are doing dubble duties & looking so tired. I think that is a issue for their losses also.
Wang Zhiyi has great stroke making shots. She places the shuttle to all parts of the court. The junior MS players should take a leaf out of her book. But of course in the mens game its not so easy just with that. You need a good attacking game and a good defensive one too. KM is a great example of defensive badminton and good stroke play as well. CL at his best is a shining example as well.Lets see how WZY deals with her opponent in the final. Is being a wall enough?
Yes, you're right, partly the reason, also for the singles, particularly in the Dutch Open. Having the mixed team almost immediately followed by the individual tournament disadvantaged those who played several rounds or went deep the previous week. I recall that's what the CHN coach in last years WJC explained why Wang Zhiyi in the individual championship final was exhausted against Goh Jin Wei, esp when she had tough, grueling matches the previous week in the semis and final. But what to do, WJC organizers can't afford to have even several days break in between the two events, too costly for most of the participating teams as well.
