Good match by the England pair. Made some mistakes int eh 2nd and 3rd game. Looked like they got a bit tired, weren't taking their shots as early and sharply, and therefore gave away some points. They weren't doing that in the 1st set.
China was playing with lots of errors in game 1 yet manage to keep the score close. The opportinuty was there but the British didn't capitalize it, what a pity. In 21-point system, you don't just win by power and speed, unforce errors is very big part of it too
I was highly anticipating for the match.... hoping the England pair could upset the Chinese...but, During the beginning of the 1st set, I was like... "Wow...Kellogg's good! If they keep up like that, they could actually win" But........during the 2nd set and 3rd set, I was like... "She's making too many mistakes! Clark's the hero!" then, he started to do mistakes.... so I was like....."Man!"
I thought the English pair played really well, but they didn't have quite enough experience or composure to defeat Gao Ling. Clark and Kellogg were both great in the first game but then a few mistakes started to creep in. Also Clark seemed to stop using as many of his deceptive drops and just tried to batter the hell out of everything. His was really catching the Chinese pair out in the first game but seemed to change his tactics for some reason. That said though the Chinese pair were very good, especially Gao Ling who seemed to be the brains behind the tactics on court. It was a shame that the English pair lost (from my point of view) but I think in the end the Chinese pair did enough to deserve the victory. Brilliant game and congrats to both pairs!
Gao Ling played poorly throughout the game, backing off the net and lifting off the net more than attacking and pushing flat. Zheng Bo/Gao Ling are very different from Zhang Jun/Gao Ling as Zheng does not have a huge smash, and is relatively defensive in his shot selection. They play a more patient game rallying and playing fast drops and moving the opponents out of position.
Well its the experience that speak for itself. I'm sure the Brits will bounce back. Now they have learned their lesson. Dissapointed? Yes.. but they are happy to be in the Finals.
Clark/Kellog are much more experienced than Zheng Bo. This was the biggest match he has played in-A major tournament final against a hostile crowd and the home favourites. Gao Ling is more experienced, but IMO she was the weaker link in the final. Zheng is very motivated, and composed in defence, patient within the rallies.
From the semi-final match... Kellogg was in the back court doing so many jumping smashes and jumping drop-shots, + the fierce fight at the net with ZYW had got to tired her out. It doesn't matter how physically fit you are, if you don't know how to conserve your energy well, you will feel the consequences. Watch how smart Lin Dan is when it comes to conserve energy. He hardly ever get tired unless he played against Gade in the old scoring system... after those grueling matches, he always seemed to be slower the next match he played.
yes, very correct. the most experienced players will alway try to defeat his opponent using the least amount of energy since they have confidence of winning it and has a sense of how much it takes to beat him. Quite often tho, playing 3 sets can be part of minimizing energy strategy although on the surface it doesn't look that way ex. LD often loses the first set to some less known players kekeke
Kellogg is strong from a female player in a mixed double perspective, but if you watch any of really really good mixed doubles team ie.Kim/Ra, whenever the lady is push to back court, they always clear to the other team's lady or do a less energy demanding shot and move back to the front court. Kellogg on the other hand, would stay in the back court jump smashing and stuff!!!??? I know Clark isn't the hardest hitter in the world, but still he has a better chance of hitting winners from the back court than Kellogg. Jump smashing takes energy, and repeat jump smashing is especially energy demanding for a female athlete... and if you don't get a winner out of it, it takes its toll on you mentally as well. The only explaination is that Clark is not physically able to draw enough energy to cover the back court all day, and require Kellogg's assist, but I honestly doubt it... so what in the world were they thinking??? To show off to China that Kellogg is a better mixed double partner because she can play better than ZYW and Gao Ling in the back court??? I, myself really dislike club level mix doubles matches, as most ladies prefer to stay in the back court and be tortured by the other team. I love playing in the front court setting up the attack, but not when I know full well that no matter how good my set ups are, my partner can't make the best out of it... forget about weak returns... I am happy enough if I don't take the shuttle in the face after. Singles is the way to go!!!!!!!!!!!
Completely agree. The English played better than I've ever seen them play before but I think there were times, especially in the second and third sets, that Kellogg really needed to get into the net ready to kill loose shots off rather than doing all of the smashing at the back.
Yes, Kellogg at the back actually allowed Gao Ling to return and dominate the net. If she had maintained her towering presence at the net, Gao would have been kept quiet the whole match. Energy and tactics mgmt issue .......
I think the key to the Chinese winning was their change of tactics. Once they pegged Kellogg to the back that was it.
Can a British crowd be hostile? How are they hostile? Thought I often heard the CHN Jia You. Are you saying ENG lost rather than CHN won? Have to say that Kellogg's pretty effective at the net but it's got to be more like the mosquito bite than the bee sting.She's lethal coming in from nowhere like the silent mosquito rather than buzzing like a bee at the net giving ample warning. Is the umpiring standard better this year compared to the last three years?How about enlightening us on "Lessons from AE07 :The best and the worst" ?
May be hostile is the wrong word. I meant that the ENG fans and noise levels far outweighed the CHN support.
The fact that CHN beat ENG with ENG home court advantage proved that CHN is a better team overall tactically, technically, and physically. Period.
Conversely, have you seen Kellogg play ladies doubles with Gail Emms? Donna Kellogg is very capable at the back court and can jumpsmash. She didn't play in the ladies doubles semifinal so theoretically should have been fresher than Gao Ling. It's quite clear to see that the the english pair do not have the same technique as the chinese pair. However, they were still able to take the first game. With the clever change in tactics of the chinese, the balance shifted. I hav my doubts Kellogg got tired physically in a direct fshion. I think she got tense and anxious and this showed in her legs. This tenseness affected her speed and then ultimately made her tired on court. I don't quite agree. They could still have won on tactics and technique even if their physical condition was not as good as ENG. We see that many times in other matches.
At the start of the match, the ENG pair was fresher than CHN, Gao Ling was a bit off probably as the result of the long WD semis the day before. When ENG got the 1st few points reasonably easily, the crowd was ecstatic and ENG played at a very fast pace to pile pressure. So I still say energy mgmt is part of ENG loss, the other part is the change of tactics by CHN midway 2nd game. Kellogg/Clark had better energy mgmt in World Championships Q-finals, beating Gao Ling/Zhang Jun in another long drawn battle. Their skills are spot on though, so for now it's gonna be 2 CHN pairs vs 2 ENG pairs for XD supremacy.
