WMC actually beat 3 world champions on home soil to win her one and only SS trophy....this must be a record to beat or never be broken. As for TTY winning IO, hmmm, I put on my Einstein cap thinking hard and here is my thought As someone posted, LXR threw her match so that WYH/WSX can challenge for their RIO ticket, that make LXR super generous when IO purse was USD900K. WSX lost knowing no matter how she perform in RIO, LYB will still pick WYH and WSX cannot accompany Dragon Long to RIO so WSX was heart broken WYH was totally exhausted mentally and physically after coming from behind to beat CM and WYH had nothing left in her tank, she was worn out ready for a steam sauna. Summarizing, a combination of super-generosity plus broken-heart plus worn-out gave TTY the trophy....
Nothing wrong with the score. At 12:10 in the match video Tai served at 5-6, then Wang Yihan challenged unsuccessfully and so Tai got to 6 all. Just Gill Clark messed it up. And what is with the phrase green umpire.
I guess if anyone loses at 2016 Olympics, we can say all is suspect before World Champs 2017 and Olympics 2020 hehe. I agree though, for the WS discipline, to unequivocally label the China domination era over, either Okuhara, Ratchanok, Marin or TTY have to take home the Gold.
It would be a big surprise if either of those two win Olympic Gold. Everyone I mentioned before, wouldn't be surprising at all.
Of course, pressure is on them. China have won Olympic Gold the last four times in the WS discipline. China's expectations are high.
I wouldn't be surprised if any of the following WS get Rio gold: LXR WYH NO RI CM Anyone else, including TTY, I would be, more or less, surprised. That's actually quite a lot, more than the other events. e.g. for MS LD LCW Slightly surprised if CL wins That's it
Incredible isn't it though? You're saying you won't be surprised if Japan, Thailand or even Spain win Olympic Gold in badminton! Quite amazing times we're in!
It's June now and here are 5 champions of the last 5 superseries this year : 1. AE SSP Nozomi Okuhara 2. IND SS Ratcanok Intanon 3. MAS SSP Ratchanok Intanon 4. SIN SS Ratchanok Intanon 5. INA SSP Tai Tzu Ying. It's interesting fact that Carolina Marin and the Chinese trio didn't win any title yet.
You have a point. That's also one of the reasons I'm a bit worried about Zhao Yunlei and Zhang Nan and their double duties. Perhaps a reason why the BKA let the Korean athletes play in two categories, is to train them in multiple game scenarios in which (different) techniques/tactics/skills might improve or develop.
Zhao Yun Lei may be better off to focus only on Mixed Double. Badminton Association of China, on the other hand, thought that experience matters when it comes to compete in major tournaments. My take is that skill, experience, physical strength, speed, and stamina play their roles. What ZYL has lacked is she is no longer as strong or having weaker stamina compared with four years ago. It's a big gamble by BAC; they still dream of 5 golds.
My take is that it's ok to let the woman play in both XD and WD, because she has the more passive role in XD. But it's more challenging for the man to play in both XD and MD. Just look at the XD world ranking list. There are glaring exceptions (like top 2 XD - ZN and KSH), but the norm is that the man tend to focus on just XD, while the woman is more likely to play both events.
Some players are exceptional and they peak at the right time for the Olympics. There are a few of them who won two events at the same Olympics. Of course this is rare and the quality of today's players and standard of play have generally increased, thus making it more difficult to achieve multiple titles.
