During the Thomas Cup SF against Ahsan and Hendrawan, I thought Yoo was targeted by Ahsan as he hit smashes directly at him even though they're not straight smashes. I thought in that match Ahsan was on fire, he was the best player on court. There were other times in the past where Yoo was targeted by opponents as he was seen a weaker pair in terms of defensive skills. I think this pair lack mental toughness and if Ahsan is on fire in Rio like he was in the Thomas Cup, then the Indonesians would win.
At one point I thought the Indonesians were clearly the best, but they haven't managed to get consistent results. That makes it harder to guess who'll win the Olympics. Also, I think they have a thoroughly boring playing style.
Hilarious, especially to see LYD and YYS joke around. ROFL when they started to compare LYD's rough callused hands from hours of practice with YYS's smooth hands.
Wow with the intense of the match coming and the events of Olympics starting soon, hopes will be high once again on LYD / YYS to bring back the MD gold medals just as usual. So as I am also a great fan of LYD / YYS I certainly also hope that he can bring back the much coveted MD gold medals. Well LYD / YYS have both been practicing very hard and both of them certainly hope they can hit the right note come Olympics time. So I just want to wish both of them good luck and hope they can really bring back the much coveted MD gold medals this time. All the best. I believe you can do it.
That was way too defensive of a game vs Chinese Taipei. Looked like they were trying to win points through opponent error, rather than imposing the play and attacking. YYS's defense is not so robust as to use such a strategy. + LYD also has his off days. I hope they adopt a more pro-active and offensive attitude as top opponents will not be as generous (i.e. error prone) as Lee/Tsai. + not a single drop shot from LYD. They both need to drop more, esp LYD to confuse opponents' timing.
RIO: Match vs Russia (Sozonov Ivanov) Every time Lee/Yoo employed a drop shot it put them in a favourable situation, many leading to wins, esp for Yoo. More importantly, I can't avoid being critical of the coaching. I couldn't make out all of coach Kang's instructions, but he did not (as far as I could tell) instruct his players not to lift. Russia made points when static front/back. Russia lost in transition/movement. Normally, Lee is the best in the world at turning defence into offence, but the Russian attack has such a wide vertical angle (super steep to flat) that it's completely foreign to Korean expertise (which is also the key to Boe/Mog's success). Hence Lee, much less Yoo, could turn the play around as they normally do. Now, I have seen video of their training routine where they do not lift; 3 vs 3 with only drives and blocks. They are fully capable. Especially on the 3rd shot. But instead of the coach directing them away from Russia's strength, it sounded like he told them to lift high above the front player, side to side. (If anyone could make out the coach's words better please advise. Audio is low and he has a strong accent.) Also, not a single long serve from Korea. Russia did the opposite using it effectively. The second Russian stands so close that a long serve along the center would cause interference. But instead, the Russians KNOW that a short serve is coming. Russians made a ton of serving mistakes. And they still won. Definitely NOT good strategy from Korea, and esp coach. Let's go Korea 대한민국!
To be honest though, the Koreans already played a flick serve this tournament. Not sure we're going to see another.
I can't say I would agree with you there. I think if coach Kang's advice was to lift higher/deeper, this is perhaps the best they can do given the circumstances. Just like when playing against Ahs/Set, they need to take the net player out of the rally. The russians win most of their points by getting Sozonov involved. Although LYD is considered to have the best defence in the game, YYS's defence is not. He cannot neutralise the attack like LYD can nor can he defend consistently enough, so the best he can do in that scenario is to lift deeper. But that's easier said than done. The russian's attack is very strong, so lifting deep is not always possible. I think LYD/YYS need to take a look at how Endo/Hayakawa played against the russians in AE16. Yes they lost, but they were better defensively than LYD/YYS against them, and they seem to do it by simply by standing a foot or two closer to the net not only to get to the steep smashes, but also to give less time to Soz to intercept. LYD has incredible reaction speed, and I really don't think he would struggle to defend standing further forward. Also, they need to take note of Soz coming closer into the net even when the koreans have the attack. I think they should keep an eye on him and occasionally play an attacking clear to keep him guessing. Also. Ivanov takes a very wide stance, particularly during the service situation when not serving or receiving, it would be interesting to see how well he moves straight backwards. I would also be tempted to play a flat drive serve directly at Ivanov when Sozonov is receiving. High risk, but might be worth mixing in. One thing I think the koreans have tried to do is to increase the number of soft drives/blocks, and not giving the russians much power to feed off but it can be dangerous with Sozonov closing the net. LYD/YYS have clearly struggled with this pairing, so I hope coach Kang is doing his homework!
Now that they're out, LYD is young enough to return to the Olympics but YYS is a bit older. Are we going to see them at the next Olympics together?
It is clearly difficult to find a partner for LYD who is so ridiculously good in defence. Ko was not able to match LYD's intensity and consistency (though he has improved since). YYS is much, much better in those respects, but given that smart opponents target him, he becomes overloaded and succumbs to the pressure. It might be neutralized if he played like a mix player where he favoured lifting to LYD's side, but I have not seen him purposefully doing this. I don't know if this is a coaching problem, or an ego problem. It is admittedly a recognition of weakness to do so, but factually, his defence (and 99% of all other players) can't equal LYD's, so forcing them to smash cross (and practising returning them) would alleviate some of the pressure. It is, on the whole, unfair to be so critical after all the success they have achieved. But if they are to rise and succeed on the biggest occasions, they will have to address this, as other teams will see and increasingly utilise this weakness against them. In this particular match vs Goh & Tan, it seemed to me that Yoo's shots often put LYD in trouble (from counter-attacking shots). Goh has a wicked wrist and Tan is quick to pounce around the net. Lee & Yoo had to adjust to this, and Lee was often doing so blocking to open spots or even lifting over encroaching player, but Yoo did not appear to be able to adjust his play. Again, not sure if this is player, or coach related. I suspect the latter. During one of the breaks, LYD was telling Yoo to leave the shot to him. I think the context was when Yoo is serving and the return is just passing Yoo. LYD behind would have the time and vision to make a good shot, while Yoo's attempts often led to an error (often frame). Instead of playing within his strengths, I find Yoo trying too much to equal Lee at the front, leading to errors. Yoo isn't bad by any means, and far better than Ko at the front, but I suspect playing with LYD all the time and watching him dominate the front making it look easy has led to Yoo thinking he can do it too. Ahsan does not think he is Setiawan at the front. There is so little time at the front, it is very easy to make a mistake. Given that both Lee and Yoo looked good overall in this game, I have to question the coaching and wonder if he gave insightful enough instructions and adjustments to lead the players into a more favourable pattern of play. There is a huge difference between a good teacher (who teaches and improves skill) and a game-day coach (a master tactician who maximises his players and minimises his opponents). As a coach/trainer, I have had the opportunity to work with players who went on to surpass my limitations as a teacher. It was time for a new teacher. But likewise, I have also seen great teachers who couldn't coach during matches / tournaments. Hence my doubts about Lee/Yoo's game day coaching.
It was unfortunate for them to be eliminated from the group stage by the RUS pair. Somehow they were out of their elements and weren't able to play their usual game and ended up being dominated by Ivanov's crazy steep angled smashes. The only hope of winning the RUS is by focusing all the attacks on the lefty Sozonov, who tends to make more errors, which will usually end up with him being scolded by Ivanov and then things would go downhill from there between them. But nope, the KOR didn't do that. Too bad.
I think they often struggle against pairs that can get the steep smashes going. Doesn't adhere to their defensive style.
