thanks for the support and 'likes'. my translation is not perfect so hope i didn't misinterpret some of LD's words.
Yes, his hard-to-top achievements and grandiose is what we will remember.. he will be the gold standard for future MS players. I mean, look at Michael Jordan for example, no one remembers his last season
Not at all, you did a very good job, we all appreciate it. Hope you will continue contributing in this regard.
A win against Vittinghus yesterday, I feel should not have gone to 3 games. A tame performance against Antonsen. Lin Dan! We need results! Come on man!
It's sad - he just can't finish rallies like he used to. When opponents give him enough time to get to the shuttle, especially in his revered high forehand, we're used to seeing him finish the rally in the next few shots. That's seldom seen now; it's like his mind wants, but his body can't... His movement going back to the baseline ain't what it used to be. On top of that, his 'safety' shots are now being read well by opponents... who are like ten, fifteen years younger. I seriously hope he gets a favorable draw in these next tournaments... And let's just enjoy watching him in action until he plays his last. This is a type of player that comes maybe every 10 or 20 years. Hell, we might not see anything like him ever again. GOAT
If he can just make it to Tokyo, pull off a Malaysia Open there, that would be perfect. Anyways, off to Gwangju! Lee Dong Keun awaits, and if he can get through him, there stands the winner between Sitthikom Thammasin and yet another Dane, standing 1.94 m tall.
No matter how bad LinDan has played this year, he is a Champion. and Champions finds habit of winning a title. and he won MalaysiaOpen this year. The only time i watched badminton live in stadium, LinDan ended up winning it (against LCW) at MO2017 Kuching (1 of the best atmosphere in badminton). Silencing home crowd is cool, i have to say. Some kid in front of me went berserk after LCW lost, need the parents calm him down.
Lin Dan about to play vs LDK with a 10-1 advantage. He is one of the four players currently in position to take Wang Tzu Wei's 8th spot on the Race to Guangzhou and qualify for the World Tour Finals. Let's hope he can make it!
Looking at his results over the last few weeks, we can say that he is no longer 'first round Lin' and that 'pre quarter Lin' should suffice for now!
LD has now won 2 straight matches.. that's a lot of months since that happened. However, he has to spend 70+ minutes on court to win.
87 minutes yesterday. 84 today. Only a couple wins away from a ticket to the World Tour Finals. Last time he even qualified for the season finale was 2011, when he won. He's 36 now. Show 'em what you've got!
Right, that's the worrying part, both three-setters. Wonder if he can he survive tomorrow against Tangnonsak.
I was worried about today. Look at the records against Saensomboonsuk, very reassuring. Is it something to do with his style of play?
If it's any consolation, in today's match, in the first game he was playing safe a lot, clearing and rallying. In the third game, when the match has been somewhere around the hour mark, he was all out smashing often when he gets the chance, seldom clearing. Still a worrying conclusion to the match though if y'all have seen it.
Worrying why? He won and was in control all the way through. Yes he took his foot of the pedal for a few points, but you always got the impression he had another gear when he needed it.
I think he was up 20-14. Then it went all to 20-19. He won off a wild, flat smash by the opponent (barely ranked 50), so off-balance that a block was the winning shot. And in the third game too, in a match where all games were decided by two points. If he were in control, he'd rather win it in a simpler fashion than that. And I think that 'another gear' either does not exist anymore or we've already seen it. It's not 2010. Remember, he's still chasing Tokyo and the chances as of now are slim; he's got to be giving it his best already.
Looked to me that LD wanted it the easy way, expecting the opponent would just make another mistake. After all it was 14-20, he had plenty of match points, or so he had thought. When the opponents were persisting enough and able to catch up, he would go "oh, crap" and at that time things had already gone the other way. This has happened quite often, and I am afraid it will cost him more matches than conserving his energies as he might have planned.
