Well Scorpion would like to tell you that.. Thanks to me atleast my school's news corner was full of refreshing enthralling badminton news.. With SN and KS's triumph written in all bold.. No matter if the giant media network covered 1.5 mins bulletin on this great accomplishments atleast everyone in my school is well aware about everything.. Don't worry folks I have written all those shimmering and extra virgin adjectives before writing LD's name and also mentioned about his casualty and his quoted words..
Good work . Keep it up. It starts from the school. This sport need to get more attention. Already some of our players are doing their part to popularise it by creating history .. kudos to srikanth.
Kudos to SK I've watched the MS Final again on YouTube and am in no doubt that SK won the match most deservedly. LD did not show any sign of knee injury. No sign of the slightest pain. He wasn't limping of course but was able to move about freely to retrieve even some of the most difficult shots from SK. In fact, LD's quick smashes caught SK a number of times. So LD was not thinking of losing the war. But SK was equal to the task. His tight net play caused LD to make a number of unforced errors like hitting out and long or lifting slightly higher for SK to kill. The young SK was more focused and very strong physically, almost menacing to LD in his leopard-like fatigue, and he moved about the court as easily as LD, even faster. However SK too made a number of unforced errors like smashing out along the sidelines in his eagerness to win a point. But he took his chances better than LD and caught the latter with his fast clears even to LD's forehand and forced weak high returns from LD for the kill. The first game was pretty close with no more than two points separating the two, I think. At 19-all, SK challenged a baseline shot from LD which was called 'in' by the linejudge. Hawkeye reversed the verdict and SK was successful and given the point instead, 20-19. SK followed up with a body smash to take G1. G2 started off about the same pattern. It was another ding-dong battle for the most part until the score reached about the 15-point mark when SK showed his urgency. LD seemed to slow down a bit and allowed SK to take the initiative and he duly obliged leading 17-16, 18-16, 19-16 and 20-16 before LD managed to salvage a point 17-20. But SK was in attacking mode and finished the game and match off at 21-17 with a fast cross court drive in anticipation of LD's short lift. It was clear that SK was in no mood to delay the close encounter any longer and walked away as the hero of the evening with a decisive victory over the Olympic and World Champion. Kudos to the young Kid of India who just made badminton history in his own country by beating the world's best badminton player in a venue none other than in China.
Very good analysis, Uncle Loh. It's good to watch it again and the 2nd time always give you a better account becasue the tension wasn't there anymore.
Thanks to the videos provided by our BC friends, I've got another chance to watch the historic battle between David and Goliath. I also want to satisfy myself as to LD's condition.
Those crying over Lin Dan's knee injury please watch the match again ! Thanks Loh for your analysis. I request all to again watch video of the China SS Final and do not discredit worthy winner under the excuse of LDs so called knee injury. I would like to say that, probably LD approached this final as a 'walk in a park'. But young K Srikanth was very focused and confident in matching skills of LD. By the time LD realized the resolve of his opponent, it was too late. Well played K Srikanth.
agree. but it's ok if they wanna celebrate their very rare victory in China open enjoy it ok. it's time to move on from China open 2014...let see how many tournament needed by India MS and WS to claim victory in SS / SSP level oh yes, with the draw like this : R1 vs rank 15 R2 vs rank 239 QF vs rank 179 SF vs rank 17 F vs rank 35 I think Li Xuerui can win all 13 SS / SSP titles plus the UC / SC and WC / OLY in the same year if she had the same luxury I can't imagine with the luck of the draw like this
Well, it's very obvious, isn't it? Just human nature at work, choosing to believe and see what they want and conveniently ignore and forget they they don't want. What I'd call selective reading and analysis of facts in a self-fulfilling manner, the staple of religionists and politicians, the stuff of zealots, fanatics and bigots. For me, Lin Dan, knowing who he is, never gives excuses for his defeat and only speaks what he believes and says it like it is, true to himself. For him who has been there and done that so many times, he wasn't the least bit concerned about that defeat under circumstances he and many of us are aware of. Like he said, even he himself, apart from others such as the able sport commentator, Gong Weijie, an ex-CHN national player, was amazed that he could advance to the final carrying an injury which is the worse he has sustained in the 14 years of his career, synovitis is the name. I repeat, I'm most impressed by Cheung's impartial,objective and accurate view of the of the said match, see post#477, worth quoting again:- "LD manages to get to the final even with a recent knee problem and frankly, that's amazing enough. Sure, if KS sends LD scrambling; that's good play but was it the quality of the shot or because LD has some restriction.(?) Difficult to seperate out the reasons. Undoubtedly, KS is an excellent player amongst the Indian ranks. One that really looks to have the skills to take into the top five. Yet stability in a game is an important quality in a player. Your post only reaffirms he can be up and down in a game. In some games, the ups don't compensate for the downs. For LD, I reckon he shouldn't play in HK. Strengthen the knee and make sure it doesn't react badly. Make sure there are no other injuries. Yes. LD almost never loses a final, but he has never been hampered by a knee injury either." - for which it elicited this comment from me about Cheung:- "I gathered you're a competent badminton player yourself with a good grasp of the game, and your understanding and knowledge of Lin Dan's capabilities qualify you to make a correct,objective assessment of Lin Dan's performance match by match taking into account the relevant circumstances." So don't even question whether Cheung, or myself, has watched that match - we certainly did and do watch all of Lin Dan's matches, for me several times at least. Personally, I'd be letting my superhero down to even attempt to find any excuses for his defeat(s) except to state the plain facts, much better to let Lin Dan speak for himself, I dare not be presumptuous. I believe nobody here, including myself if you care to read my posts without reading too much into it - that we deny Srikanth's win or discredit it. At the same time,for us to pretend ignorance of Lin Dan's knee problem, to deny that he was sluggish, his movement was hampered, the way he played was far below his normal capability , in fact, the final match was the worst he played as compared with his earlier matches with Hsu JH, JOJ, Sho Sasaki, Chou TC, all of whom have the capabilities to beat Srikanth, mind you - is to be disingenuous, to say the least. Let me be blunt, any warrior worth his salt would want to beat Lin Dan when he's not off-form, not having a bad day, not unwell or injured in any way but when he is at or near his best. I recall when Sony Kuncoro once beat Lin Dan at the Thai Open GPG when LD the week before had just successfully conquered the Thomas Cup and he exhibited unmistakable signs of ennui and fatigue which elicited my comment that it's not the 'real' LD and, well,you guessed it, some people took issue with me, understandably - but you get what I'm trying to say. Just ask any player, they know when they are playing the real Lin Dan and derive much satisfaction from it; LCW, more than anyone else, has the distinction of having done so, albeit infrequently, and he proved his mettle by beating everyone else consistently to this day. As we know, one swallow doesn't make a summer. For the nth time allow me to repeat Tian Houwei's story - after sensationally beating an uninjured LCW who apparently wasn't at his best, THW excitedly called to report the excellent news to his mother who, instead of gushing praise, simply said "One match doesn't prove anything. Strive on with diligence." - what a good and wise mother THW is blessed with. Btw, remember JOJ beating the rusty Lin Dan in April who just came back after a long hiatus, need I say more ? It would do well for every world class athlete to do an honest self-appraisal than to be self-deluded or in denial of glaring facts and end up deceiving himself. As the Chinese saying goes, true gold fears no fire.
What is the point ? Yes, victories in finals by non Chinese players and other low ranked players are very very rare. But whenever such upset happens give some credit to winners. India and many other nations are not well established like China and hence their victories are indeed rare and hence more enjoyable especially when they upset any highly ranked player. Are you aware that, draws of any tournament are not decided by players or by India. One has to accept those the way they are. One can get easy draw once in a while, not always. Li Xuerui would have also experienced easy draw once in a while. You wish to have easy draw for Li Xuerui, so that she can win all titles in a year. But sadly it is not possible. Easy draw is a once in a while possibility and one also needs to capitalize it. Has she not ever lost to any low ranked player in her career ? To conclude, give credit to winners and keep away from excuses like easy draw and injuries.
ok, I already said it before. (post 550). enjoy the victory. it is enough, right ? yes, they why I said, enjoy it I know it. I only envy it surely LXR can lose to low ranked player, but this year, she is excellent...4 out of 4 in SSP Final, plus WC and AG final...and with this kind of draw, she can win all 15 titles (SS, SSP, SSF, UC / SC and OG / WC) it's hard to keep away from excuses of easy draw when the fact is she defeating 3 china players (in china) whom are ranked 239, 179 and 17...very lucky if only China SSP 2014 held 2 weeks from now...
well said. judging THW form right now, it is difficult for many fans to say he played well instead of lucky at that time (THW was world #100 when he defeat LCW cmiiw)
I watched LD vs Sasaki LD was slow, very rare to smash, hesitated to move around the court...and at the end of G2, he was lucky to win 26-24 or something, or else, he will lose in G3 it's lucky that LD can win in QF and semi
That coming from a badminton player with decades of experience, a decent one I supposed, Loh himself, I mean, baffles me. Surely, as you've admitted, you don't have to be limping to show knee injury - it's the extent and nature of the injury or, conversely, the degree of recovery that is the question. Similarly, you don't have to see blood outside the body as proof of internal injury which may cause internal bleeding. In Lin Dan's case there were undeniable, incontrovertible evidence that he underwent two effusion extractions by the doctor - once on the 23rd Oct, the second on the 29th as I've posted in Lin Dan's thread plus a video somebody posted earlier. In top level professional sport, even a slight discomfort or mental disturbance can spell victory or defeat. I recall the scene of Wang Xin vs Saina at the London Olympic bronze medal match. It didn't look serious at first, TV replay only showed her lifting off the ground and that's it, the tournament doctor had to be called - next she had to concede the match after returning to the court to play and win one shot in G2. During the break in between sets, some people in this forum even accused her of faking it, that it was a delaying tactic, and whatnot. Later, what happened? Just when I thought she'd be back after a few months recuperation and rehabilitation, it transpired that it was much worse than we'd expected, it destroyed her career and subsequently forced her to quit for good. I can assure you, even a doctor watching the Lin Dan or Wang Xin match on TV or computer screen on livestream won't dare to say it wasn't that serious or there's no sign of injury until a thorough medical examination is conducted on the athlete concerned.
I hope this thread is not closed. It's only starting. The funny thing is LD was magnanimous in defeat. It's only his fans are ranting.