CHINA 4 THIRD TIME Badminton powerhouse China looks on the awakening track to strike back in their preparation for OG, winning four of five titles in BWF top-tier, Super 750 tournament. It's not the first time China scoop four titles in MAS Open, they did same feat in 1988 and 2011 edition. The real Lin Dan is back, this Chinese badminton mega star had struggling form in last 12 months, losing regularly in first round. He reached final of Super 300 tournament in Thailand but got shocking outcome, defeated by Singaporean qualifier Loh Kean Yew. A superb performance by Lin in final to eliminate Chen Long underlines his intention for Tokyo 2020. Losing badly in opening game, Lin changed his tactic to outmaneuvers Chen who's widely known for solid defense with mastery technical skill and excellent placement plus too many unforced errors by Chen Long in deciding game, 9-21 / 21-17 / 21-11. Lin Dan was so emotional after win the match, hard to believe that he did it. And surprising guest Lee Chong Wei appeared to give pay cheque in awarding ceremony, took photos with Chen & Lin on podium, his two arch-rivals in major events, what a memorable moment! A headache for CBA to select between the three players, Shi YQ, Chen L, Lin D, who will be dropped? Tai Tzu Ying completes her hat-trick mission, overcomes Akane Yamaguchi with two quick games despite the Japanese enhanced the pressure to the world number one in second game. It's under pressure situation, Tai started to make errors and hard to see she produced deceptive shots but luckily she's back to focus in time to nail it, 21-16 / 21-19. Li JH/Liu YC played really well, defense and attacking shots that bombard Kamura/Sonoda, the Japanese made great comeback in second game, 4-10 to level scoreline 16 all, but the Chinese regained their concentration to smash fast furiously in end of match, 21-12 / 21-17. First two finals, mixed doubles and women's doubles practically are exhibition match where the higher-ranked pair prevail.
exactly! I wouldn't have had my hopes raised if they didn't show a brilliant display against the on-form Alfian/Adianto! I honestly thought they will go out yesterday.
Yup agreed. ZSW is faster in his movement laterally from side to side, so he’s able to smash from absurd positions to catch you off guard. You don’t see that with Wang Yilyu as often, he blocks a shot more often if it gets too uncomfortable for him to smash, to wait for a lift that will allow him to smash from a better position. But with ZSW/HYQ’s counterattack abilities, that opportunity often never comes. I like both of them, enjoy the double Wang’s animated expressions more too. Wish their H2H could be more even though
ZSW's smashes power can't be rivaled, I am afraid. I think it's the combination of power and speed that makes his attacks so deadly. I like Wang YL more too. He's more a complete player compared to ZSW in my opinion. A few things that worry me about Wang are that he has the tendency to lose focus or concentration during the match which could be quite frustrating. His weak judgments and indecisiveness mainly at the back court line cost him a lot of points too. HDP can have a lot of day offs too which doesn't help his cause as she confuses him often. But when they are in sync, they are formidable. Just that in WTF finals last year, HDP was doing very well against HYQ at the net. Probably because I felt HYQ looked quite tensed and nervous somehow. She made quite some uncharacteristic errors at the net. ZSW didn't get as many chances to hit the shuttles down, got forced to play below the tape. They did in later half of G2. Too late for that.
Since like suddenly the competition landscape changes when the olympic qualification period starts Very interesting development heheheee
Expect the landscape to be changed so often. The one at the top can be brought down. The lower one can catch up.
Honestly, India and Malaysia have offered us rather boring finals (all in straight games aside from the dragging CL v LD match). Not willing to pass judgment yet on the situation until the qualification starts. Things should start heating up at NZL Open.
I totally agree. Today was another example on how stamina cannot just be the only element affecting the outcome of a professional match. Most people on here praise CL for his superior stamina while they insist LD doesn't have it anymore - those two statements are correct btw - yet that is not the only element that can decide who will win or not a game or LD would have never stand a chance today, especially after loosing the first set.
How did LD won? thats the last livescore i checked after 21-9. What the Happen! skipped all the finals but surprised it was Lin who carried the fatter cheque lol.
I can't agree more. I'm not the only one who thinks this way about Wang YL/Huang DP. haha. Their on-screen/on-court bickering makes them quite likable too Most of the time, their weaknesses are not exposed due to them being a level above most XD pairs - even Watan/Higas. Their out-of-sync antics show when they are against Zheng/Huang.
Oh I love watching their animated interaction with each other. Their endless and non reserved bickering make them so endearing to watch Not only Zheng/Huang, they mostly struggle against a pair that has a female player who dominates the net really well that HDP can't do anything about it. As a matter of fact, they were in trouble against Goh/Chan too in QF. Goh was totally owning the net, HDP was struggling both at the net and defense. But fortunately they managed to hold their nerves at the end of the final game and survived the match. (Thanks to Goh/Chan nerves too)
Zhang nan isn't really my favorite player, even since back then I always prefer LYD over him, but how can you call zhang nan overrated ? 2 OG gold & 4 WC gold, he was winning the world title with liu cheng ffs.
