If Lin Dan is serious about his Olympic Quest for Double Gold, he had better wise up and start playing and winning a few big tournaments at least, never mind the ire of others at home and abroad. By going overboard in trying to help his colleagues and getting too distracted instead of honing his skills and competitveness at a sustainable high level, things might just backfire,something unexpected crops up, and before he knows it,too late - he's pushed his luck too far. Ultimately,no matter what he does or what overall strategy he adopts, he just got to train and play and win to be the Lin Dan that he is. The London Olympics is only about 8 months away, Lee CW has caught up with him in terms of skills and now Chen Long has suddenly emerged another serious contender (don't expect them,Lin Dan and Chen Long that is, to give way to each other for this once in four years prize - afterall,LD has already won it once and China presently need not have to depend on him alone). Just look at Roger Federer once he's been overtaken by Rafael Nadal or,maybe not an apt comparison but my point is the same,Tiger Woods after his sexcapades. Nothing matters more than for Lin Dan to keep his physical and mental states at tip-top condition all the way, for that he has to stay focused,be disciplined and feel challenged or it will be the slippery road to history in no time. Hardly ever do ex-World Champions(and I don't mean winning just one world title tournament) regain the title they once held when they were hailed as unbeatable,invincible,the best,etc... Believed me,the best of plans do go awry and things can unravel very quickly,leaving only what-ifs,what-has-beens and longlasting regrets. Somehow, I can't help feeling Lin Dan's iron grip on the game beginning to slip away - the last world championship win against archrival Lee CW was too close for comfort,for all you know it might very well be his swansong,I certainly hope not. And Chen Long,Chen Long could be his (LD's) undoing - don't just concentrate on Lee and unexpectedly,but not unknowingly, somebody creeps up to him and knocks him over. The Greatest Player Of All Time, The God Of Badminton,Lin Dan - who can stop you if you put your mind to it? :- prove me wrong; I'll gladly place you on a pedestal and worship you.
why does everyone seem to think that lin dan chooses when he withdraws, and that it is his decision to withdraw at all?
When the game really matters, you will see a different LD just like last year's AG final. LD does not really care much this year's WC from his after match interview. He said he need to motivate himself. I admire him. If I won one alympic gold and 3 WC, I would had retired.
Noticed there is a redraw updated on 9th Nov, one day after the 8th Nov draw was put up. Now Chen Jin,originally in the top half, has switched places with Sho Sasaki,originally in the bottom half, i.e Chen Jin will now face Chen Long in the earlier round (QF after meeting Wang ZM in R2) instead of Sho Sasaki who now has to face Lee CW. Surprisingly,that leaves Lin Dan as the only CHN player in the top half and slated to meet Lee in the SF, which means Lin Dan can only throw matches to non-CHN players if he wants to avoid Lee;interesting, will that stop him from doing so? - hopefully yes but I doubt we'll get to see LD vs Lee CW in the SF. And what about all the 4 CHN players in the bottom half, namely, Chen Long, Chen Jin, Du Pengyu and Wang Zengming? How will it pan out? Especially for Chen Jin who needs more points to boost his ranking from 5 to 4 eventually in order to assure his OG qualification. The changes to the other players I'm not too concerned.
The redraw looks fishy. What are the rules for redraw? Looks like they make an exception for CHN. Suddenly so many CHN MS in qualifying. Then 3 CHN MS to play qualifiers instead of strong opponents. The redraw means CJ will have a chance to reach finals whereas in the original draw, either CJ or LD can reach SF but not both. So now with the redraw, LD can reach SF and CJ can reach finals. At PG s expense. Well, 3 CHN MS for OG12. No worries. The games CHN play...
2011 China Open SSP: Chen Jin has a good chance of reaching the FINALS . Hope that you are not getting too worried about Chen Jin. I am sure that CJ, if playing at his best, would certainly make it to the Finals (with this redraw). .
From now on, laughing is better. Without playing his best, CJ would parachute into the finals, no problem! We should just enjoy CHN creativity in ??eating. I feel sorry for PG.
. I believe that PG and most other non-CHN MS players are trying their best to eliminate CJ from making it into the 2012 OG (so as to disallow CHN to stage any manipulation in the MS event at the Games). .
I believe self interest will make nonCHN players want to beat any chinese players they happen to play against.
MD also being redraw and the worst is Koo/Tan will expect to meet their nightmare and boogeymen Ko/Yoo in QF...!!
Ya hor, now we have to rely on other MAS MD players such as Goh/Lim, Mak/Ong, HTH/TWK, newly paired OYH/TKS and newly crowned WJC Nelson/Teo to uprise...
. You sounded like you have given up on them already. But BAM intend to work on them - for them to be better at the 2012 Olympics, so that they can bring home a medal. .
Lost Tapes For those itching to see another LD-LCW which they have not watched before while waiting for another future encounter, here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWvESOk1dAA&feature=related I think it's the specially organized tournament by china who invited the 4 players namely 1. LD 2. LCW 3.TH 4.PG
Ulterior Motive While it's exhilarating for us to watch, china is paying money just to study and beat LCW with experts. Now does Malaysia have the capability to do that? Look at how LYB is intensely concentrating on the match from the bench.
According to BWF official explanation, the redraw was necessary due to a bundle of Korean players' withdrawal...
