I have just watched the MS final, and I don't think LCW was too slow. He lacked stamina perhaps, but I saw technical and tactical failures above else. 1. He returned almost no smash from CL. CL's smashes are fast and accurate, but LCW used to have a defense capable of returning them. It was not the case in this final. In the second part of the first game, only one smash was returned, and it was and half-smash. All the others were going through easy. 2. At the beginning, LCW did smash a lot, and he was scoring. But as the match progressed, he stopped smashing. Maybe because of the stamina issue. But if he is to retain hope for a gold, he needs to attack much, much more. 3. So many very unforced errors. Specially on drop shots. CL is giving no gift, and LCW needs to stop sending so many! 4. Net play by LCW was below his standard. I don't know the reason, perhaps he is afraid to drive-lift when at the net, thus letting CL staying close. 5. I think LCW do to much classical back court-front court combinaison. With CL's big leap, he gains nothing with that. All this make me thinks LCW should not give hope, his short comings in this final are all things he can mend.
How do you rate this..during the MS final ..LCWs first few (probably 5 or 6) smashes neutralised..CL first few smashes were aces..sorry to say it..LCW SS champions only..could not make it in World/Asian championships and Olympic games..
Hendra Setiawan will not only try to battle Rio 2016 gold with Fu Haifeng next year, but the title of "best men doubles player of all-time" will be on the line to whoever could get 2 OG gold in MD.
No, at the beginning LCW's smashes were scoring points. In the second game it took more, like four smashes, to get one through. But that is not abnormal, and if LCW has the stamina, to do so is a good tactic. But I agree that most of the time it took only one smash for CL to get through. That is a problem LCW has to solve. LD's smashes did not go through so easily when playing LCW.
The second point is totally wrong. Even in his heydays, LCW wasn't able to survive against Lin Dan by just continuous attack. While he can get beyond lower ranked players by continuous attack, with Lin Dan, if he kept very high pace for a certain time, it would affect his energy for latter half. Energy, specially in the 3 set matches, isn't an infinity, it is finite. And this was when he was at his peak. Today, he is arguably less fit, and hence won't be able to sustain ultra high speed for long. And both Lin Dan and Chen Long will thrive on high speed, with their excellent defence.
Agree with you. LCW was soundly beaten on the day but has the tools to fix the situation. LCW seems to revert to type when he goes under pressure and gets predictable. Like a boxer that has only a few combinations. I liked how he played the first few points tho. aggression and deception. I thought he would win when he was doing that. Wish he'd stuck to that approach. Keep the points short and focus on being as explosive with movement as possible. Instead he goes for these long rallies where its like a world class 800m runner rather than a sprinter, wearing guys down. Gives CL too many opportunities to attack and doesn't wear CL down enough. CL was getting slower as the match went on, but not enough.
LCW did not have the stamina to keep up with CL. As the match progressed CL's speed/pace/focus was going up while LCW was going down. That was a huge pressure. Every time LCW added speed he was using all his energy for his attack and put little pressure on CL. He could not penetrate CL defense unless putting his 100% pace and energy. So for the first few points of the match it was okay (and CL also has diesel engine, taking some time to heat up his engine as usual). LCW simply could not keep this up.
I think both VA and Momota improved in last 12 months, JOJ stay the same, after check H2H score it turn out true, most of WZM positive scores were before 2015, some back to 2013.
Post-match, LCW said: "Chen Long performed very well in every aspect, particularly speed. For the whole match I was quite passive,couldn't match his pace." Despite his dream unfulfilled, LCW's conviction didn't waver," Right now, the most important thing is to regain my self-confidence, I will persevere until Rio Olympics."
It's true they have not got the opportunity to meet each other in recent times so we can't be sure about the outcome of their clashes. However, if you do watch the match of WZM vs LCW in the R16 of this WC whereas he lost 17-21, 19-21 in 0:48, he did give a good, respectable fight there. WZM is improved as well. Can't really blame him for the rather early exit, just lacked of fortune had to meet LCW in R16 indeed which player can really beat the Grandmaster of SuperSeries? Even Jorgensen was trashed in the SF: 7-21, 19-21 in 0:42 ----- Regardless whatever folks do say here to belittle LCW in some sense or the other after his lost in this WC, I still regard him as one of the best players in the current era... Lee Chong Wei is just so unfortunate that Lin Dan at his peak crossed his career path in the first stage and now again Chen Long crosses his path at his terminal career phase. Beyond these two stumbling blocks, the ROW are still easy deals for Dato Lee...until today!!! And in the absence of two arch rivals Lee Chong Wei definitely will have bagged every major titles incl the Oly & WC!!! So unfortunate for a player with such skillful talent!
Will we see LD, LCW and CL in Japan Open next month? I am kindy disappointed not seeing LCW vs. LD in the World Championship.
For sure, it's the OG qualifying period and every aspiring Olympian will want to garner as many ranking points as early as possible.
