I like your point So the number of 10 tournaments for ranking should be used as the base to determine the number of mandatory tourneys The only downside is that with 3 tournaments for wt750, with 10 compulsary players, there will be about 30 participants (10 x 3) for 5 tournaments the whole year from top 10 players Each tourney will only have 6 of the top 10 It is a bit small for my taste, that's why I prefer 4 But that's only my taste, more research should be done more by BWF in this matter...
Agreed 100%. And I can't really blame anyone for dropping one tournament strategically for recovery purposes. But just take a look at CL's current tournament records (sorry for going OT a bit...): That's clearly one step beyond what I would consider reasonable and acceptable to cope with the high number of mandatory tournaments.
Of course, it's not guaranteed TTY would win last year's WC, but by skipping it, she's guaranteed not win it. Obviously, the TPE (pro-independence) government wants to make political capital out of the Universiade held on home soil at the expense of the professional athletes' wellbeing. TTY is the clear favourite for the 2017 WC, not Wang Tzu Wei and Lee/Lee who can afford to choose or give in to the politicians' special request. In the end, what did she really gained ? Regarded as a hero in (half of ?) Taiwan and some lucrative sponsorships ? Wouldn't she gain much more by clinching the world championship, a greater hero and even more product endorsements and bigger sponsorships ? Not only that, her name would go down in history as the first TPE (or Taiwanese) world champion. In contrast, sorry, who's the 2017 Universiade WS champion ? Which professional athlete in his/her right mind will regard the Universiade as greater than the World Championship, other than those self-serving politicians making use of and misleading the athletes concerned for their selfish gains. And don't get me started about patriotism or, worse still, nationalism, totally misguided, Taiwan is not recognised as a sovereign nation in The U.N. and not even by their Master, the U.S. of A. I can only say, all those crafty, wrong-headed politicians and their deluded supporters are on the wrong side of history. Back to badminton, TTY may not regret that decision now, but, who knows, in the future, she may look back and rue it, esp if she repeatedly fails to win any major accolades. Naturally, it'll ease the pain if she succeeds in acquiring one or two down the road, then she can conveniently keep her true feelings to herself without being judged for it. In future, how many of us badminton fans would even remember she was the 2017 Universiade WS champion, or thought it worth mentioning as something to be proud of ? In fact, if she failed to achieve a single major title at the end of her career, some of us might even recall how she could have won the one 2017 WC crown had she not chosen to skip it in favour of ...err...what tournament was that ? Oh, the Universiade, hmm.... We talked so much about not mixing politics with sports, isn't that a classic case of doing so ?
I'm from Taiwan, and I can tell you that when TTY chose to skip the 17WC, a lot of people were NOT happy with her decision, and believed that she would gain further recognition if she went to the WC. She wanted to play in the Universiade because she wanted to play in front of a home crowd, and most fans respect her choice. Your speculation about TTY being persuaded by the government or any politician is well, just speculation. There's NO evidence. According to TTY's own words, it's rare that Taiwan can host an international competition like this, and she wants to play when there's the opportunity. The WC is held every year, but this is just once in a lifetime. After the Universiade, she had stated she was happy about staying for it, and even remarked that she enjoyed getting the teddy bears that come with the medals. Compared to some (or most?) athletes who are intensely focused on winning medals, TTY is more interested in playing her best in the game (she herself stated it too) and when she dropped to no.2 this year, she said everyone is pretty strong in the top 10, and the only advantage of being no.1 is that she can choose the color of her shirt. So yeah, it IS possible she would choose to skip one WC because the glory and fame aren't everything to her. Besides, TTY wasn't in her best form during summer last year. She caught a severe cold during the Indonesian Open and lost to Nitchaon Jindapol, and then after the Universiade, she had a serious injury in her shoulder, which first caused her loss to Minatsu Mitani in the Korean Open, and later she quit the Japan Open altogether. So even though many people thought she had her chance last year when she won almost every tournament in the first half of 2017, it's highly doubtful that she could've performed superbly in the 17WC, since she wasn't at her best during that period (though obviously it was enough to win gold at the Universiade). As for bringing in politics with sports, tell that to the Chinese netizens who're bemoaning the rising of the Japanese flag during the WD and MS ceremonies.
Actually...the little boy is supposed to be TTY when she was a kid and the dad is supposed to be her dad (there's a resemblance) Basically the message of the video is "it's nice to be able to do what you love."
I was kind of assuming that. But thanks for the assurance! And besides - hard to get why we are discussing things that happened over a year ago at those lengths, including political suspicions that lack any evidence. That's neither appropriate nor useful in any way.
Are you TTY's spokesman ? A lot of people in Taiwan were not happy with her decision, are you sure it's entirely her own decision ? I doubt it, not in Taiwan which is politically divided, polarized and fractious, a highly politicized society, need I say more. I'm pretty sure there's more than meets the eye. She's into badminton as a professional career not so much for (personal) fame and glory, yet trained so vigorously to build up her physique and started her winning streak in tournaments to become world No.1 and declared she's gunning for the world championship this year ? Whether she was at her best at the time of the 2017 WC, still it's an opportunity not to be missed, the status of the WC and the Universiade is worlds apart. No professional athlete who has a fighting chance of winning it, even if s/he is not among the favourites would forgo such a truly representative world event. What has winning the biennial Universiade given her, or Taiwan, for that matter, which winning the World Championship could not ? I'd even go so far as to say, just a silver, nay, a bronze, at the world champs is worth more than Universiade championship, there's simply no comparison. Bear in mind, she is a top professional, world ranked one, not any also-ran who may be forgiven for thinking it's better to just settle for the more realistic goal of Universiade champion, some consolation. But do you realize even a certain unfancied Brice Leverdez who in Round 1 sensationally knocked out the famous LCW at Glasgow WC last year has made a name for himself worldwide more than he would if he had merely emerged the Universiade MS champion (assuming he's qualified to participate), never mind where it's held, so what if it's in France, his home country, once in a lifetime? Talking about playing in front of her home crowd, hasn't she done it before at the previous BAC events ? What's so special about the Universiade held in Taipei as compared with the BAC also held in Taipei that year 2013 ? And I hasten to add, the BAC is more highly rated than the Universiade as far as badminton is concerned. The BWF WC is held annually but it is the blue riband event for badminton professionals. Just ask LCW what he would give to win just one, but I digress. As for your last statement, I'm taken aback by it coming from a Taiwanese as if you are ignorant of the historical baggage and controversies involved between China and Japan. But let's not go into that area, it's completely different from Taiwanese internal politics.
You're welcome : ) If there's anything else in Mandarin you'd like to know about, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to translate it.
Of course I'm not her spokesman, just a loyal fan who enjoys watching her play. I didn't really care for badminton actually, but TTY's creative style changed my mind. Never imagined that badminton could be played from so many angles and different ways : ) Yes, I know well that the BWF WC, BAC are considered more important, prestigious, greater than Universiade, but if TTY wants to play the latter, then we support her. She's the one playing, she has the right to choose what she wants. We're sad and disappointed that TTY didn't make it past the quarterfinals this year, but we don't look back at last year and wonder what might have been different. What's important is that she's stayed healthy and injury-free, so we can look forward to more spectacular matches to come in the next few years. Personally I'm hoping to see a match between TTY and Nozomi Okuhara, it's been so long since they've played each other. And yes, of course I'm aware of the history between China and Japan. I was only trying to make a point. But yeah, let's not delve further into politics and keep the thread focused on the sport.
This is my first-ever post here. I come from a tennis background and have only followed badminton for 2 years. But I now enjoy it more than tennis and have especially become a huge fan of TTY, as well as Momota and Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino in mixed doubles. The one striking difference I find between tennis and badminton is that in the case of the former you have 4 major tournaments each year. Even great players who were considered "chokers" at one point in their career like Ivan Lendl and Andy Murray won 8 and 3 Grand Slam titles (and possibly more in Murray's case), respectively, mainly because of the sheer number of majors they competed in. Murray will probably end up playing 65 or 75 majors in his career. Compare that with badminton, where TTY will finish her career having played 6-7 WC/Olympic tournaments in her absolute prime and maybe another 6-7 before and after her prime. LCW has never won a major and probably never will. But how many golden chances has he had? Maybe 10? It seems impossible to me that LCW could have played 60 majors (even if LD was in every draw) and never won one.
Very true. This is an important point. Nevermind the additional sponsors in the short term TTY would get if she won the WC. If you win some of the most prestigious titles, it will further your career after you retire as a professional player. Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen was a great player during his era and won many international tournaments during his career and was ranked very high. But his most prestigious title is winning the gold at the 1996 Olympics. Today, he is the president of BWF partly because of his legacy. I can't say whether winning or not winning the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics would have made a difference if he became the president of BWF or not, but I'm certain that his Olympic Gold medal enhanced his legacy and his legacy is what partially got him the job at BWF. TTY needs to think of her future after badminton. If she is going to pursue a career in badminton after she retires, her legacy is important.
For Women's Singles in badminton, most female players have a much shorter career span than men. Female players in the top 5 in the world rarely go past 30 years of age. Compare this to Men's Singles where LCW and LD were top 5 players after they turned 30. In fact, most top female players retire by the time they approach 30. So the clock is ticking even faster for TTY.
Since you're not her spokesperson, you shouldn't speak on behalf of TTY without quoting her own words and citing reliable sources to back it up. Even then we may not necessarily know the truth. I can assure you no MA would allow their player who is a main contender to skip the WC for the Universiade, that would be just plain irresponsible putting her own interests above the 'country's'. Sure, we can respect her choice but that doesn't change the fact that it's a wrong, unwise decision. That the CTBA actually allowed it smacks of outside intervention by a higher authority, I can't help but wonder. Never mind, it's her loss and it's water under the bridge now, for most of us here regretted her decision - at that time, I myself was hoping for her to make hay while the sun shines and strike when the iron is hot. Even Nozomi Okuhara who emerged the 2017 WC was humbly admitting she felt she's not the true world champion as someone else (she didn't mention TTY's name outright but we all knew who she had in mind) was absent from the tournament - I salute and respect her even more for her true modesty. Lastly, you're aware of the historical background between China and Japan yet you purposely brought up that inapt analogy to make your point, how insensitive of you as a Taiwanese, the more so when it's totally irrelevant and inappropriate as it has nothing to do with Taiwan's domestic politics interfering with their sports. Back to badminton, personally, I'm even more keen to see TTY play Carolina Marin, not just Nozomi, as I think she's the only one at the moment who can take Marin on. Too bad it didn't happen at the Nanjing WC, thanks to He Bingjiao, and when HBJ lost to CM, I was even wishing for TTY to be the one playing CM instead. Now I can't wait for a TTY vs CM face-off, the sooner, the better. Enough said.
Cheers to Colombia and welcome to the active side of BadmintonCentral! You just got me a bit sentimental there. I grew up spending long hours in front of the TV with my dad watching these epic battles of Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg (both my childhood heroes), Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Yannick Noah, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi... and not to forget the women with Steffi Graf (Golden Grand Slam in '88), Martina Navratilova, Gabriela Sabatini, Monica Seles... Bloody hell, what a great era for tennis that was! As I said before, the whole Grand Slam thing in tennis is a great thing to keep the tension over a whole season. The downside is that besides those 4 tournaments there are only very few other events in which all the top stars participate. I still think that BWF was on the right track with the SuperSeries(Premier) structure. But back to topic. I have to say that with modern day media you have to be unbelievably strong mentally as an athelete to resist all the pressure that is imposed on you by your socalled fans. It's like a bunch of hyenas following you permanently, only waiting for you to show any sign of weakness to tear you into pieces. Perfect example which was posted by HKV after his Malaysian Open loss: You have to have a strong armour to block out things like that completely.
With fans like Sovi, who needs enemies, haters, anti-fans, doubters (I'm trying to find an appropriate word for it)
I suspect that after the WC, CM will go back to her old SS form. CM is a lot like LD - they only show up for the biggest titles, that is the WC and OG. You can see CM didn't care much for the SS throughout the year and then she suddenly becomes superwoman for the WC.
I should say CM is more like Chen Long than the 'old' Lin Dan whose age, accompanying physical condition and lesser motivation forced him to slow down more than he would like to. Lin Dan in his heyday, from Beijing'08 up till the LOG'12 was still able to win a number of the normal prestigious titles to maintain his world ranking within top 2 - prior to Beijing Olympics, he was in fact winning most of the tournaments available (thanks to @Fortune who provided the stats), more than anybody else actually, until he decided post-Beijing'08 to give more priority to the majors. In other words, CM's career achievements seem to parallel Chen Long's ,their age differences aside, almost like a mirror image. Both CM and CL won their first three majors in exactly the same years, namely, 2014 WC, 2015 Wc, 2016 OG, flopped in 2017 WC and their respective best year was 2015 when CL won like 7 PSS/SS titles including the WC whilst CM won 6 PSS/SS titles including the WC. Incidentally, Chen Long was also voted BWF Male Player of The Year 2015 as well, and coincidentally for CM, voted the Best Female Player of The Year 2015. In the other years, their respective tournament victories were infrequent, even lackluster. I think it's not so much that CM 'only show up for the big titles', it's just that , more often than not, she couldn't summon the form to be in her winning ways, and, I believe, the same goes for Chen Long. No doubt, CM has now gone one better than CL (who managed only a bronze this time) by attaining another WC crown although both were resurgent at about the same time. To me, Lin Dan is really a hard act to follow for anyone, nobody even comes close. That's just my opinion.
That's just preposterous. It's an excuse and absurd on the face of it - CM cares about pretty much every tournament she plays in, it's in the nature of being a competitor. She just sucks 11/12 months. Just like CL since 2016 (who appears to have upgraded to 12/12 by now).
