He's actually arguably right from a neutral perspective. Of course, if you're a fan of somebody etc, then you'd disagree with him. I mean, look at the other matches. There are two China vs China matches, so those are going to be fairly boring in principle - difficult to know who's actually trying etc. Then there's the 4-shot rallies MD match (I mean, Ahsan/Setiawan is my favourite doubles pair, but their brand of badminton isn't exactly the most exciting). Then there's the XD, which is probably the 2nd best match of the finals.
Anyway, I see nokh88 is here, so it's time for predictions. Chen Long will be victorious. Never been wrong (for a while hehe), and never will be again. You can put your life savings on this prediction. Please quote this if I'm wrong and rub my face in it - don't worry, I won't be wrong. That's how big a gap Chen Long is from LCW right now. Anyone who thinks otherwise will find out the truth tonight.
Agree with you totally. That's why I said last night : "looking forward to 2 1/2 of good matches". See post #285 : http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...SS-Premier-SEMIFINALS-(8th-March-2014)/page17
I don't think WS will be boring. WSX vs LXR will be a very interesting game, both trying to show who's superior in team China. Don't forget that WSX was not happy that she lost the chance to play in London Olympics because of then lower ranking LXR took the spot. Since then the games between the two have always been interesting. WSX is at her top form in this year's All England Open. I even think WS will be the highlight of the finals.
I am a MAS supporter but not LCW fan. Based on his performances so far, LCW has lost his invincibility. Look at yesterday's SF against SWH. SWH returned and retrieved many of his shots and he had to work hard. It's easy for him at the earlier rounds with some of the players but as he reaches those matches on Saturdays & Sundays the opponents are more formidable. As for today's match against CL, I have to say he is the underdog. With his age, he can't rally with CL who is very fit. If he goes for the fast attacking game, it is difficult for him to penetrate CL's defence and in the end will work against him. It's CL's to loose.
Very smart of the organizer to squeeze in the MD between the WD & WS with MS & XD last to keep the crowd from leaving early. Got to take an afternoon nap now 'cos it going to be a long night.
Tweet from Vittinghus yesterday: [TABLE="class: tweet, width: 0"] [TR="class: tweet-header"] [TD="class: user-info"]@hkvittinghus[/TD] [TD="class: timestamp, align: right"]11h[/TD] [/TR] [TR="class: tweet-container"] [TD="class: tweet-content, colspan: 2"]"It’s all about beating the others so as long as China wins we’re happy.” - Wang Shixian. One quote that says so much about our sport... [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] I'm starting to get paranoid. Lix would usually be a great bet today, but I have a feeling Shixian may have already won. Maybe she'll be gifted All England title for Lix taking her place in Olympic squad? Only a theory and I hope i'm wrong. We'll find out later.
He just uttered his own very personal taste here, a bit sour one, how on earth a final between the world's #1 and #2 in XD is not interesting for a badminton fan? An All-Chinese finals between the world's #1 and #3 in WS is still fascinating to watch if WSX displays her excellent plays as in the previous rounds. Even the rather imbalanced MD between INA and JPN pairs and another All-Chinese finals in WD are entertaining to watch for a true badminton fan. Well, All England is an SSP class tournament, not just another grand prix, a truly badminton fan will surely enjoy the finals! Thing will be totally different if one has the bitter taste of losing his or her roots in this tournament and is unable to accept the reality then just bitching here!!
Most people believe it would be imbalance. I think the Japanese are improving and with PJB coaching they might make the match closer. But INA still the heavy favourite
I'm very much looking forward to the MS and WS Finals followed by the XD. What's the possibility of Chen Long beating a player of Lee CW's caliber for the 5th time in a row? Hard to say. Both of them don't seem to be in top form, still it'll be great match to watch. With WSX in fine form and LXR beginning to find her footing as the tournament progresses and, on top of that, their contrasting styles of player, I believe we're in for a treat. Off court the two are friends but once on court it's a different matter and in view of the new BWF ruling for Olympic qualification, their mutual rivalry can only intensify, willy-nilly. So expect no quarters to be given for self-confidence and inner belief can only come from winning by being actually better than your competitors not anything else which is self-defeating,self-delusional, leading to self-ruin. What WSX said quoted in HKV's tweet can be viewed positively or negatively according to the individual reader's intent and motivation. Positively it can mean that she is saying:" If I falter and lost to the others but my colleague(s) succeed, we're happy". It's like the ROW players saying, as long as we beat the Chinese, we're happy. Don't forget, in their previous three encounters, at the the SSF'12 (not long after the LOG'12), CHN Open'13,and the MAS Open'14, it was LXR who prevailed, need I say more? Moreover, the AE is not a major as far as CBA/LYB is concerned and, besides, both LXR in 2012 and WSX in 2011 have each won it before. This time round, WSX is in fantastic form and she will definitely try her level best to get one back. With LXR not in her top form, her chances are reasonably good, I hope so.
I'm now watching yesterday's SF which was somehow not telecast on TV. There must have been a screwup somewhere to cause this delayed telecast. But I'm being compensated with a Finals telecast today at 8 pm on a different channel 202 on StarHub. Son has taken G1 21-14 against LCW who scored heavily with his accurate smashes in the initial stages but somehow lost his momentum in the end to allow Son to take over as the aggressor. We knew Son lost in the end but he has proven as good an attacking player as LCW. I'm waiting till these SF events are finished in about 2 hours to watch the finals.
Maybe Intanon during her match with LXR yesterday had flashbacks of their recent CBSL (based on 11-pt 3-set) encounter on 25th Jan '14 where she used all her trademark shots but they were mostly effectively countered by LXR who emerged victorious. It could be playing at the back of IR's mind for I saw her trying to make her shots less predictable which made her somewhat tentative and more erratic than usual.