So are you saying that even if the linesmen made a few dubious call, LD's walking out action should be condoned? I know he's the GOAT and all. But to turn a blind eye to obvious bad behaviour/sportsmanship.. is just staggering.
The success getting to him once again? I doubt he would have done it if he hadn't won the Malaysia Open last week.
That he is protesting the umpires is exactly my point - he is dragging Victor into it, instead of playing one measly point more (assuming he has no will to fight left). Personally, I find it desrespectful towards the opponent, who didn't do anything wrong himself, and more importantly, it shows a lack of professional conduct. Now, I have only seen a short video where he protests the line call, and he able to Strom towards the umpire just fine, so giving up at that point due to injury is certainly not really because of any injury he may or may not have. While I'm not aware of the full story either, I strongly doubt that there were a large number of truly wrong calls against him, and still, even then I'd argue that at 13-20, you should just play it out. He has a large platform due to his fan base, and can make his frustration known after the match in a less petulant manner. If he gave up halfway through a game because he felt the entire team of officials were actively ruling against him, that'd be a different story, but 'protesting' at 13-20 by giving up due to injury is simply unprofessional imop.
Well, we've known of players who have thrown tantrums on court. According to the video posted by Nine Tailed Fox above, he protested the last linecall to the umpire and then retired the match pointing to his leg. That's all. How bad is that ?
With all due respect, that's the official line touted by the organizers.. IMO, a face-saving gesture for the parties involved. I guess we will never know the real reason for the retirement. But for the 4k spectators there, the above reason sure doesn't seem plausible AT ALL. I was there when he retired from "food poisoning" in the '11 finals and conceded to Chen Jin, and I was there today. For both instances, I had the same sinking disappointed feeling in the pit of my stomach after. In fact, I commented just now to my wife and compared it to a hot date who stood me up - a mixture of broken promises, incredulousity and dare I say anger.. mashed into one.
Theres no way to dispute a line call after the fact. LD simply had a diva day, that's all there is to it. Other players have been done by far worse (him in the 2008KO, LYD in the 2008 AE SF, Brice Leverdez in the 2013 Scottish Open Final, to name a few). It'll never be perfect until we get to the point of fully automatic line calls - and we're far far from that point.
The last dubious linecall was at 13-19 in G1, an accumulation of the previous few disputes, the straw that broke the camel's back,I repeat. And you're splitting hairs, it's gamepont, not matchpoint, what difference does it make to VA ? Or, you expect him to finish the entire match, throw G2 to VA (wouldn't that be worse?) just to give him the satisfaction of beating him good and proper when that wasn't the issue at all? And suppose, a few more bad linecalls in G2 again, then what take it lying down ? That's professionalism and sportsmanship for you ? Any disrespect to VA is purely unintended, it's called 'collateral damage' or just accidental, the issue is with the linejudges/umpire/organizer/whoever-it-may-be. Besides, who is to know he didn't have any slight injury or discomfort with his leg, the umpire can only give him the benefit of the doubt, short of summoning the tournament doctor to come over and examine him on the spot ?
What I find really interesting is that the Singapore Organisers were putting random qualifiers on court 1 and stars like Momota, Chou Tien Chen, Axelsen and certainly Lin Dan on practice courts like Court 4. Did they get caught in their own act by fooling the audience or was there simply a disconnect with reality for a brief period when the decision was made?
I remember it was 'stomach ache caused by drinking cold water in the hotel room', if I'm not wrong. A different different matter altogether, not to mention it happened so long ago, and there are still some who bear grudges until today. I say, the wise and business-savvy organizer wouldn't hesitate to seize the rare opportunity of Lin Dan coming fresh from his sensational and headline-making victory at the MAS Open to milk his presence and participation at the SGP Open to the last drop of publicity. It's a golden chance missed. By the way, if your hot date just stood you up once and you gave up, then she's not worth it. Forget about trying to date her again. Where's your sincerity and persistence if it's well worth waiting for, so keep trying. Faint heart never won fair lady.
Good to see, one point of today's match, when LD introduced Axelsen to his Malaysia Open form. Then, from there, we get some random despicable line calls and weird chase of a person trying to interview LD.
I venture to say, if the linecalls weren't that upsetting to Lin Dan, he , unlike his younger days, wouldn't act in that manner and simply retire the match after protesting in vain. What does he stand to gain ? Remember, last week at the MAS Open, in R1 versus Chou Tien Chen, he was one game down and trailing by a hefty margin of 12-19 , yet he stood his ground, never-say-die and succeeded in turning the match around. If not, it would've been another R1 exit, no fairytale ending, no exultation, nothing but further despondency for us fans and quiet desperation for Lin Dan, maybe. You, know, he's been mocked for his 15 1st-round exits by Chinese netizens, and called names like "one-round Lin" that he sank into self-doubt. The MAS Open stirring victory is a timely morale-booster to uplift his spirit and spur him on to aim for Tokyo 2020. The last thing that he needs is to battle not only his opponents and vie with his fellow compatriots for an Olympic spot but also to take on the tournament officials. Let's hope there is no more such incidents going forward.
Well whatever people think of LD's behavior. But I think it's about time BWF and the organizers get a slap on the face too about their poor tournament planning or managing. They thought the players would all be too care about being "sportsmanship" to say anything about the lousy job they had been doing.
