hot-turtle
Regular Member
also extracted from BadZine:
http://www.badzine.info/index.php/n...-2010-semifinals-malaysia-why-so-serious.html
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It looked like a painful moment of truth for Malaysia’s golden boy Lee Chong Wei: After two years, the distance between Lin Dan and himself hasn’t been bridged despite the fact that the Chinese has significantly cut back on competing in the international circuit while the Malaysian has been unbeatable in the Super Series this year and even scooped his first All England title.
The 21-17, 21-8 score-line bears resemblance to the 2008 Olympic Games final between the duo, which Lin Dan won in scores of 21-12, 21-8.
Revealing that it was a mental battle that he lost, Chong Wei said: "When I went onto the court, I wanted to win the first point for Malaysia so badly. In the first game, when nothing worked for me, I lost my confidence. Then, I made many mistakes and didn't play my usual game. The crowd pressure is not an excuse for my defeat, I just lost to myself.”
In terms of technique, Chong Wei does believe that he has caught up with the Olympic champion but of course winning a match of this stature requires more than just a high level of technique. As it was at the Thomas Cup finals, it boiled down to the hosts being mentally overwhelmed.
Chong Wei shared: “Each time a shot came at me, I thought too much and had no idea where I should place my shot. My strategy simply couldn't work today. The occasion plays a big part but I do think that the disparity between our individual skills and techniques has narrowed.”
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It is a charge that Malaysia’s head coach Rashid Sidek can’t deny. Rashid said: "We lost to a better team. China deserved to win. We thought that our preparations were solid, but they beat us to it.”
“The Chinese don't seem to show their true colours at the international tournaments: today's Lin Dan is not the same Lin Dan as was at All England. We are now pressed to develop and raise the quality of the young players in our squad,” concluded Rashid.
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Rashid statement to say "we lsot to a better team." is abdicating his duty as coach becasue that statement pushes all responsibility to a poorer team ie MAS.
He should have simply said "I have failed becasue ......"