No you are wrong, it is already Europeanised (just count the no.of European countries participating in the WC) but it did not work (but maybe it is too early to tell, especially when Kournikova is rumoured to take up badminton and giving up tennis).
I think CHN badminton team is facing another time to "adjust" to the new things, such as NSS and SS. Clearly, the non CHN veterans adopted to the new things better than the CHN younger generations (especially MS and WS). Why? Because such non CHN veterans have more chances to get a taste of higher level competition. For the CHN young generations, either they don't have enough chance to play due to their older brothers and sisters, or they don't have consistant performance due to NSS (require more experience and mental strength). However, with a rich history of how they adopt to a new system, CHN has its chance to storm back to re-capture their flag of "dominance". Remember, besides WS, their prime power are still in prime age, and 2-3 yrs more, you will see some young guns capture the gold medal, which we hardly even knew their name today.
Serve. Rally. Point won. *music jingle, "SSSSSmmmmmasshhhheeeddddd!!" * Serve. Rally. Point won. *music jingle, "Yo, word to you momma!" * Serve. Rally. Point won. *music jingle, "Ella ella ella eh eh eh eh" * Spectators chant. *favourite player under attack "Deee-fense, boom boom, deee-fense!". Serve. Rally. Point won. *music jingle, Addams Family as rally goes on* Serve. Rally. Point won. *music jingle, announcer goes "POWWWW into the upper ninety!" as the shuttle hits the baseline right on the corner point* Match won. *cheerleaders (emmmm....) and mascot dance in center court* Lucky spectator selected to smash a shuttle into target *loud music jingle* On television commentators take a break as the main sponsors had their advertisment on repeatedly for a couple of minutes, "The 2009 China Open was brought to you by Gillette, the best man can get". Superimposed advertisement graphics float over courts with drop shadows. Spectators make a beeline to the fast food kiosks at the end of the stadium, buying and eating their overpriced burgers, chilli dogs and Diet Coke. Little ones pranced around happy with Mr Baddy Bear plush toy in their hands. -- 6 months later stadium organisers go bankrupt.
Simply put.. ..CHN squad, esp. the Women's field, IS NOT going anywhere and they'll still dominate the rest of the competition..
They still will..CH got one definite advantage than others..young great seeds,that's good enough to replace the older ones.But i am preety sure,that LD's era gonna end sometime soon.Either he's gonna be replaced by CJ or BCL. My opinion: MS:The biggest competition in CH team got is this MS.U can name the players,like TH,PG,BP,LCW.The man,LD got skills,speed..everything physical that an athlete needs..but he's lack of will to win.One thing for sure..LYB doesnt want that.Besides,it's not hard to find a replacement for LD.They have 3 other players that stands in the world's big 10.=P.Just hope that they can also stand the competition. WS..no heavy opponents that scares them enough to get them off this dominance.They dont have any strong competition in WS. WD..This young pair is definitely the strongest of all rite now.The great offense lead by FHF,and a great defense by CY,that's all u need in the double.However,the competition is quite tight in WD.But somehow,i think they can maintain their position as the top at least till after the Olympic. WS:The competition might be exist from some opponents..but they will still survive n stand at the top. XD:INA is still their biggest opponent in the game.But they still have an advantage in this.Their performance is more stable than the INA team. So,i guess,if the other countries r trying to take over CH domination..do it exactly on the rite time.Do it in the Olympic,rite at their homeground.Bring the biggest force to compete with them.Break LYB's arrogance,thinking they're the best n no one stands a chance to compete with them.
Some corrections: MD..This young pair (not so young anymore...esp Cai Yun at 27 yo) is definitely the strongest of all rite now.The great offense lead by FHF,and a great defense by CY,that's all u need in the double.However,the competition is quite tight in WD.But somehow,i think they can maintain their position as the top at least till after the Olympic. WD:The competition might be exist from some opponents..but they will still survive n stand at the top.
This is for those China Fans : Seriously, I think china will still a dominant force in badminton for many years to come.. I believe only a minority of fans jumping of the boat now... Let me share something else than badminton here : In the SEA games , even the committee members has set a rule to bar MAS top players NICOL DAVID & ONG BENG HEE for competing. They even threatened to withdraw this event from the SEA games ... MAS, as the regional powerhouse in SQUASH.. are expected to romp home TWO GUARANTEE GOLD Medals in MS & WS events respectively. SRAM never over react on this & instead sending their Backup Squad players for the sake of gamesmanship ... Eventually, both their Men & Women singles returned home with a gold each... Never forget, Singapore & INA also do have several promising Squash players in the region......
If the "combo title" analysis does stand, then I don't know how ZN's resume will look. She might be able to claim 10 WC (as 8 or 9 from others), 5 OC (4 from others), 8 SC, 10 UC, 10 AC, and unlimited Opens. Of course, the next one beat ZN is even more impressive, as she then has ZN + 1 titles...
It is nice sometimes to make China's fans feel a little bit worried about their players.something that can make me feel so good. China now is the power of recent badminton world. and i dont think there's is anyone who can doubt it. And what other countries have to do is BEAT them.in all aspects.how they trained their athletes?i cannot compare it with malaysia. China's time will pass on.they will one day.and i hope it is malaysia who broke the tradition.i hope it is malysia who replace china. and linDan will be always remembered as a legend . but to say that the time is NOW,are u sure ?i dont have that confidence.
off -topic sikit.. in squasy,Singapore and indo still cannot beat malaysia.Have confidence on that and believe our players.
the next powerhouse in badminton after china will be.......................................................INDIA! haha
India? Sure! I think your point is a serious one. In another 20 years maybe India can become the most dominant badminton powerhouse... and surely not impossible given their country size and increasing economic power. However, in the coming 10 years, INA and MAS are the closest contenders that can remove China as the dominant powerhouse... I give a slight edge to INA because we are already contenders in more categories [MS, MD, XD] than MAS [MS, MD] today... I am one of those badminton fan that hopes India can become another powerhouse... because a rich India [20 years from now] will be a fertile ground for badminton business... which means more $$$ for everybody! Badminton needs the massive countries [like India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, USA, etc.] and continents to improve the overall badminton economics...
While I concur with you that for baddy to grow, it needs to break out from Asia and to penetrate north and south america, Russia, india etc. But I am pessimistic, yet I hope it will happen, that baddy becoming a mainstream sport and attract the $$$ needed to attract star performers anytime soon. India has lots of rich people and computer related firms are prominent in India, so there should be no reason why the money is not there to support baddy players. India has the second biggest population in the world and how many great players she has produced...3 male and no female players so far if my guess is correct. We would expect Anup to get the $$$ support for his great performance in WC07, yet internationalbadminton.org reported Anup struggled to get a $9,000 sponsorship from a small software company in India despite his WC07 performance...sad. My respect and admiration to all baddy players who put so much of themselves into this sport for us all to enjoy for so small a reward.
