Not forgetting Kodai Naraoka who actually has a better H2H against both players. All the same age but have benefited immensely from early exposure. All three are streets ahead of the other juniors.
Women's team final matchups do not bode well. Few years back, the team would've been consisted of Wang Yihan, Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli, Li Xuerui, Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei, Wang Shixian, etc and would be automatic winners by just on paper. This time it's the other way around. I hope Chinese Women's team can upset this. Good luck to the team.
I can't believe how much CYF has improved. She exhibited strokes in her game that I never thought she was capable of. She had attacks which caught both RI and AY by surprise. There was also deception, calmness and mental strength which she had never shown before. I had written her off often as someone who can never cross the bar to be among the top 5 WS players, but if she continues with this kind of badminton its a joy to watch. Well done CYF and the coaches to bring her to this level. On the other hand I feel HBJ hasn't risen above the level that she can punish her opponents with power, deception and accuracy. I am afraid she needs to go back to learn how to vary her existing strokes i.e. excite us with new strokes that can penetrate her opponents defence. Finally I think the womens doubles pairing of CQ and JY should be broken up as I feel they are not effective anymore. Their opponents have studied and know their game as well as their weaknessess. My 2 cents worth
Still h2h is 3-1 shi yuqi seem to be not in good touch in this tournament. Today also looked very tired in the third set. Lucky due to the retirement of anthony
When considering about early retired players tian houwei and wang zhenming,though they were top 10 players but didn't liveup to the expectations. Both these only win one super series in their carriers
Congratulations to Chinas Mens Badminton team. They won the Thomas Cup beating Japan and the Asian Games Gold beating Indonesia on their home soil. However the losing team comprise youngsters whilst China still depended on C.Long and Zhang Nang, with Lin Dan in as the 3rd singles. Lets hope there will be more young players, especially in MS playing for China next year.
I think ZN holds more importance for China than Gideon to Indonesia. So yeah those 3s are old Pa. They already lost grip in WomensTeam and at any given day , SYQ can be beaten. Without CL LD ZN re assurance , we know who will win.. They are under siege from left and right. The way i look at it , the Mens team will be very balanced for years to come.
Doubles will be good with 3 young pairs in the rise. But singles will be in a greater trouble after the retirement of chen long & lin dan
Shi yuqi lost was on the cards as he lost to chou tien chen & played awarkdly with anthony. In the match with anthony he seem to be so tired in the third set. Today also he seem to be so tired. No smashes seen. In the 3 set he was only looking points from drop shots & net shots. But christie got winners with smashes. I think he had a fitness issue in this tournament as I mentioned earlier
The CHN WS have a lot to learn from the newly crowned Asian Games WD Champion, Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan, in terms of mental toughness and fighting spirit - dauntless, true grit, tenacity, a never-say-die attitude, veritably a personification of 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going' in view of their recent unflattering tournaments results, near misses and disappointments. What a transformation ! Just look at the way Chen/Jia bested , first, Fukushima/Hirota yesterday, then Matsutomo/Takahashi today, both of whom, among a few other pairs who have troubled them lately. That is just what the CHN WS lack, generally - what the Chinese called 'Qi' or vital energy, life energy, life force, or life spirit. I simply don't see it in Chen Yufei, He Bingjiao, Zhang Yiman, Han Yue, and to a certain degree in Gao Fangjie, but, perhaps less obvious in Chen Xiaoxin, Cai Yanyan and Wang Zhiyi, the last three named I hope may prove to be the exception though it's still somewhat early to say. The only bright spot is that CHN WS have many young, promising prospects, heartening to see, much more reassuring than their male counterparts. Glad to see there's another junior CHN WS, 17-year-old Zhou Meng, to look out for. Apparently, CHN MS is showing unmistakable signs of trouble, a worrying state of affairs in view of, say, Lin Dan being over the hill, Chen Long still struggling to regain his form of yesteryear as well as in his twilight years at age 29 , and Shi Yuqi not reliable enough and not fully ready to take over the mantle from Lin Dan and Chen Long, and the only other possible bright, young prospect, 21-year-old Lu Guangzu, still quite some way to go before we are convinced he has what it takes to break out into the top echelon of world-class players. On the whole CHN MS do have successorship problems.
Yes it was a good turnaround. I had written off this WD combination due to their defeats against the Japanese and Indonesians. They didn't have enough firepower. Congratulations is due to them for winning the gold. In WS like you mentioned, China can only hope that the younger players you mentioned will take up the challenge. But like the MS they need to be strong in attack. Look at the semi final lineup for the MS. All of them are strong smashers. Chen Yufei won in the team competition because she smashed very well and played many deceptive shots. But what happened to her after that. The SY and Cl style of play is good as they conserve energy for the many rounds to the final, but smashing their way isn't the norm for them. They hope that the tiring opponents will make mistakes and provide sitters that they can put away. You need both a good defence and a strong attack. So CBA you need to start the youngsters with good technique in smashing early. That skill puts the opponent under pressure and affects their game. One only has to look at the young Indonesian MS players, ASG and JC. They performed very well in the Asian Games. China's young MS player was knocked out in the first round!! Also if you look at China's Table Tennis gold medal winning team in the Asian Games, all the senior players who took part in the previous Asian Games, notably M.Long, J. Zike and X.Xin were left behind and new junior players took over. In fact the championship point was clinched by an 18 year old playing in his first major team championship. And they have many more in the pipeline. Its about time the CBA's poor record in badminton is made known to the public. Pathetic. No excuses for their poor performance.
