As I've implied, Lin Dan at age 21 and Lee CW at age 35 were not in their prime, far from it, unfair comparisons
Momota losing to Heo in OG can also be said he was not prime Momota as he came back from life threatening accident which changed him. Also, LCW at age of 35 was off prime but still kicked asses of players much younger than him. So yeah, saying LCW losing to Brice isn't as shocking as VA losing to LKY (who is btw a very improved player) is itself a shocking statement.
wc only matters if they remove those stupid mouth wrappers where the umpires don't wear them and the service judges wear them maybe the virus does not exist above 1 meter, so the umpires are safe
Have to give it to Li Shifeng though. The guy played with blister in the third game and lead until Srikanth changed the game.
At the Sudirman Cup final with Jonatan Christie, I also noticed Li Shifeng was somewhat wanting at the net area, outplayed in that area after taking the opening set when the opponent started to change strategy by controlling the net - that is what Kidambi is doing to LSF more or less in the 2nd and 3rd sets, in addition to defending better after dropping the opening set. Work harder, keep improving on all aspects of the game, Li Shifeng. There is really no shortcut to experience.
Oh, I didn't know LSF had a blister, happened in G2 (?), as I missed watching the 2nd game to attend to something else. Anyway, as LSF himself admitted prior to coming to the tournament, almost the whole CHN contingent for this world champs isn't well prepared though well-rested owing to the mandatory 21-day quarantine upon returning from the European tour, which disrupted their training, and that he himself is at best at 80% conditioning. Indeed, the global pandemic had thrown a spanner in the works of every contestant coming to this major tournament, what with all those many withdrawals affecting all five categories, not a few of which would be counted among the top contenders.
I also noticed the net play issue since the Sudirman Cup and I was surprised the coaches did not fix it before this tournament. I also think Li Shifeng needs more international experience to get to the next level but he doesn't get a lot and it's not good for his development. There's a lot still to improve,his netplay,even his judgement,several times he left the shuttlecock because he thought it was going out but it wasn't. I'm not convinced his defense can hold up against faster and stronger players yet too. But he has potential. Sent from my SM-A307GN using Tapatalk
So much hype only for him to fall at R32 to K. Srikanth. Another seeded MS - Kenta Nishimoto also fell to Lakhya Sen. With Viktor Axelsen's defeat to Loh Kean Yew yesterday, it's anyone's guess as to who will end up as World Champions.
Things could have been different if he didn't have that blister. He played whole third game with that condition. It was nasty.
What’s this obsession comparing players against your idols? No one is the same and every player’s path and journey are different. Discrediting players by comparing to another great player from different eras is pointless and just idiotic. That’s like saying Kobe Bryant or LeBron James are feeble because they couldn’t measure up to Michael Jordan in certain ways. Edit: It’s annoying and downright disrespectful so drop it.
Erh, no, we agree on this. Which excuses did I make for his loss? None. Other than his opponent played well and VA was not as his best. I just don't see a reason to use this match to paint a picture of VA's general level or career as a whole. His loss was indeed much bigger than LD's and LCW's early losses (that you so much like to compare to), but I would also argue VA's opponent (LKY) was way better than than at least Brice. We are already talking about a medal candidate in LKY. No one talked about Brice being a medal candidate after beating LCW. Not even close. My reaction is also partly due to a tendency on this board (not aimed at you particularly) to focus on the loser; why XY lost. I'd rather give LKY some credit for completely out-playing the OC.
Still hoping Kevin cordon to win this and with axelsen out, I think he has a good chance. Then Netflix to make a movie about him
The reason why LKY even is a medal candidate is because this year is the by far worst year in MS history. The reasons are manifold, from Covid leading to whole nations being unable to train properly (except for Denmark it seems, see the three Thailand tournaments in January), to Long Covid in certain players, to lack of match practice, to China being absent basically the whole year, to many senior players retiring, to the by far best player being injured and/or out of form for the entire year, to the youngsters being not good enough to take advantage of even these beneficially conditions. In the end, players like Brian Yang, LKY, Heo Kwang Hee were/are being touted as exceptional (LZJ sort of belongs in that category too, imo.) players, despite not achieving anything and not being young anymore either. Viktor has clearly been the best player, but three of his "1000" titles were absolute Mickey Mouse tournaments with the WTF taking the crown in an already weak as f... year. It can only get better.
