I still believe Lin Dan has an extra gear. It may be just a gimmick but no one should underestimate Lin Dan especially in Olympics. He has proven it before in previous Olympics. He will switch on his Super Dan mode on friday LCW can be a top form in his previous matches but crumble when facing Lin Dan. Otherwise LCW may give the game to Lin Dan instead of Lin Dan earning it.I do hope LCW can go all out this friday and show the world he is the best
I felt that LD was actually nervous, he seemed to doubt himself at times and wasn't really playing his usual game. Kidambi was playing very relaxed and was actually playing to the max. But either LD had worked out that he mustn't give SK any angles to work with or his coaches did, but it seemed to work very well against this superfast and consistent Indian. Much respect for SK who was very sporting and relaxed, never does he lose his cool. I wouldnt' call LD's win today luck, he wasn't as good as SK but he had the better strategy which he executed very well.
Not impressed with LD's performance. He was more convincing against TMN. But then again, maybe because his opponent was TMN.
Because Lin Dan lost his accuracy....No accuracy, then he will have to be on defensive mode and prepare to save Srikanth's smash. It's really a gamble to rely that much on accuracy and not change your game plan even when you are 8-11 down in the decider.
As a LD fan and somebody who picked LD to win the 2012 Olympics and I also picked LD to win all the WC up to this Olympics, I don't pick LD to win the gold this time. He has stamina issues and I don't think he is at the top of his fitness. It explains why he didn't really smash in the 3rd set. It also explains his poor performance throughout the season. He also didn't look to be in the best of form. To be frank, it was Srikanth that made the mistakes in the 3rd set. Srikanth could have taken the 3rd set if he had held his cool and didn't make those errors, many of them unforced errors. The one thing LD has though is defense. His defense was superb against Srikanth. But is his defense enough to be LCW and then Chen Long? LCW and Chen Long also have excellent defense when they are at the top of their game. I'm skeptical if LD can do it but we'll see.
Maybe in the LD - SK match , for a period of time when LD was in trouble, LCW was entertaining thoughts of LD being knocked out but when that didn't happened in the end, it's back to reality.
