What now for Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei?

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galaxyduo

Regular Member
LD and LCW have arguably been the best badminton players of their generation. Some say LCW was unlucky to be born in the same era as the GOAT of badminton, LD. The two players have had the most epic head to head matches for badminton fans to watch over the last decade.

After winning the Asia Games gold in 2014, LD's drop in play became noticeable as he struggled to win more SS and in 2015, his drop in play lead to him exiting early at the WC. LD notched a Japan SS win in 2015, but to most observers, it looked more like Viktor Axelsen imploding and losing his cool, rather than LD raising the level of his game. LD would struggle in each successive SS until he saved his energy to win AE in 2016, proving to Li Yongbo that he is deserving to represent China at the Olympics. And LD did deserve his spot at this year's Olympics, pushing LCW to a 3rd set, 20-20, before succumbing to LCW. By the Bronze medal match, LD was out of gas and reverted to his defensive form, and Vikor Axelsen gained revenge for his loss in the Japan SS.

Unlike LD, LCW maintained his form throughout 2015 and 2016. Getting to the finals of the 2015 WC, he would lose to Chen Long once again. But LCW found success in many SS throughout the year, including beating LD and Chen Long at various SS during 2015 and 2016. But just like LD in this Olympic semi-final, LCW spent some of his stamina defeating LD and came up short against Chen Long.

LD is 32 years old, LCW is 33. LD will be 36 and LCW will be 37 if they decide to go for another Olympics. While LD seems to be regressing (especially in stamina), LCW has maintained a high level of play throughout 2015 and 2016.

Should LD or LCW retire? Should LD and LCW go for another WC? What do you think the both of them should do?
 
I found this on twitter. Lin Dan letter to LCW:
Not sure the authenticity. But it has been spreading in twitter



 
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I feel like LCW should try his luck in the next two WC. I think he will still have the level to win this (and there is a possibility that Chen Long will slack off a little now that he has won it all, while the youngster are still not up there yet). But in the end, it is his choice.
 
I do want LCW to at least get a WC for once before he hang his racket. He is still in a good shape to compete for next WC
 
qczhao said:
As nice as the letter is, the source seems to be from here;
http://2016.sina.cn/china/2016-08-20/detail-ifxvcsrm1990978.d.html?from=wap

It seems to be the SINA writers concoction and not a real letter from Lin Dan, they write: "What if Lin Dan / Lee Chong Wei wrote a letter to each other?".

Still, very touching!
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That's why I doubt its authenticity. Anyway, very well-written and could've expressed their thoughts, esp Lin Dan who have expressed some of those views before in interviews and in his autobiography, if I remember correctly.

Heartwarming to read.
 
Lin Dan, I'm quite sure he would retire from active competition but not completely; he may still play the occasional team tournaments the next couple of years if his services are needed. I mean Lin Dan has so much in his name, there's simply nothing more to prove. But, I believe, he will get involved with badminton-related activities, not as coach as he has expressed no interest for it a number of times, more to do with commercial activities with a badminton theme and as a celebrity.

Oh, I won't be surprised if he takes part in some professional leagues or help to promote one in China, perhaps CBSL itself, to make it grow bigger and better, and invite many older and retired players of his generation to participate, something which he's said before he's interested to do.

For sure, he'll be asked this question soon after the Olympics.
 
LCW, I think, he may not retire just yet, he's still want to chase that elusive major title. This Olympic loss, however dejecting, is not anything new to him. I mean with Lin Dan out of the way, retiring and probably not going to feature at the WC next year, LCW has one less archrival to worry about and only needs to concentrate on dealing with Chen Long as the other younger contenders aren't that dangerous yet, such as VA, KM, SK, CTC, NKL, SWH, etc.

I hope he carries on for another two years, try his luck for the 2017 WC and the 2018 AG an the WC. Who knows, Chen Long might not be at his best in one of the future major championships.

Tokyo 2020 is too far-fetched, whether it's for Lin Dan or LCW. Badminton is a physically demanding sport, age is a significant factor for success at the top though not decisively, those at the wrong side of 30 will be at a considerable disadvantage as compared with those younger than 30, unless you've exceptional skills and vast experience to make up for the lack. That's why I think LCW is the only one left among the 30-somethings who still have a realistic shot at a major title but not for too long; I'd say 35/36 is the age limit (Peter Gade was 36 at LOG'12 losing to Chen Long at the QFs).

Other important factors are keeping yourself sufficiently motivated after more than a decade of constant hard training, living a regimented life more or less, frequently travelling and competing, and often subjecting oneself to the stresses and strains of having to perform and deliver at important tournaments, all the sacrifices and pains with the longed-for successes and joys so few and far between, the risks of sustaining injuries, and so on and so forth. How many can make it that far past 30 ? You can count with the fingers of one hand.
 
galaxyduo said:
Should LD and LCW go for another WC? What do you think the both of them should do?
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lcw:

if lcw only wants to play for wc & og titles. so be it. there's no 'need' for anymore ss(p) titles. naturally you have to play in order to earn points for wc & og. based on the past 24 months it does not appear to be in lcw's nature to just qualify for wc & oly (like lin dan). 'stay sharp by playing' seems to be his philosophy, though he could easily take the lin dan route. think about this: other than chen long, who can currently beat lcw more than once out of 10 tries? nobody. not lin dan. nobody. and again, only chen long. unfortunately for lcw he has no 'major' titles because there has always been one, and only(!) one, player who could beat him regularly during his peak. first lin dan, now chen long.

whoever thinks lcw should retire while he's still the 2nd best player on the planet 1) needs their head examined, and 2) doesn't have the mental capacity to participate in conversations based on reality.

lin dan:

ld would be hard pressed to qualify for tokyo 2020. even if he does, there's no way he would win it. i'd bet my farm on it. 4 years is a looong time from now. not enough left in the gas tank. why do you think he played so little since the end of 2013? eyes on rio, people... eyes only on rio. too bad the outcome was to walk away empty handed. great focus by axelsen for holding it together and not beating himself. ld was certainly in no condition to beat him. a bitter sweet ending to the undisputed ms goat's career.

even though he can still beat players ranked 6 and below w/ consistency (but not dominating), the downward slope of his career is noticeably getting steeper each tournament.

what is lin dan's incentive for taking a shot at 2017 world's? anyone have a logical hypothesis?
galaxyduo said:
'Should LD or LCW retire?'
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only when they start losing the majority of matches they 'should' be winning... i trust you get my point.
 
I totally agree with samkool. And I'd like to add that even if LD get out of the top5, as long hes enjoying himself and still playing to a decent level, why should he stop?
 
Even though LD walks away from Rio empty handed, I think it has been a memorable tournament for him and a good note to end only. Judging by his performance here and in recent times, his level of play and stamina is obviously on the way down. Now is the time to call it quits.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
LCW made a statement in an article written by BadZine that he does intend to play until next World Championships. As for Lin Dan, of course, mystery always shrouds him and he will rest first and make a decision. I'm sure he would continue to play a bit, but slow down on the number of tournaments. He is not entered in the next two SS, so he will be taking a break for now but I do see him playing a bit more while he can.
 
I think the main incentive will be pressure from their sponsors. We need to examine when their contracts end and how they are renewed.

Taufik went way past his sell by date in competitive terms but still pulled the crowds in and that was probably due to Sunrise Yonex. I expect the same.
 
LD:
If it is not due to sponsoring contracts, he should probably retire at the China open SSP... I want him to continue, but I don't think it makes sense at all. He is surely not motivated to go for SS(P) titles (he wasn't in the past 4 years). Even the WC or AG are probably not that interesting to him. Combined w/ the hard training and maintaing form somehow, I don't see any realistic chance LD to continue...

LCW:
I said it in a Rio thread. There is no reason to me why he should stop now. Ofc if he is mentally done after another Gold medal match loss, then he could retire, but I don't think he won't cope with this Rio loss. I mean realisticly oberserved he finally won a very tough SF against LD (finally) and also played a quite good Final taking into account that the SF could have cost some energy (esp. mentally)! And Chen Long played a masterclass. It was not like LCW lost the match it was CL winning it (yes, there were some unforced errors too much by LCW but please remember that CL is so agile and fit, he gets almost everything, so most of looking like unforcered errors are forced due to CLs capabilites imo).
It never seemed like LCW is not enjoying SS and esp. SSP events (different to LD) and he is clearly dominant together with CL. Difference to LD who often has to fight hard to win against "smaller" / lower ranked opponents while LCW normally cruises to the SF or Final...
And opposite to LD some time after Rio LCW should see some (to him) meaningful goals: WCs and the AG...

Also both are 100% fit now (as they obviously trained as hard as ever post Rio), so why not use their current form to continue and make the most of it (instead of just one tournament).

This post OLG period is also interesting to see which youngsters are coming up now. With CL and LCW probably continuing the MS will be dominated by these two. I hope KM and VA can consistently break into this dominance as KM has a lot of star image / posterboy qualities..
Other disciplines get more interesting reagarding its outcomes. MX is way more open now XC/MJ and ZYL/ZN are done (also Natsir and Fischer, if Im not wrong here). Also interesting which WD of China will make it to the top. It will be not too easy to establish a dominating pair again.
MD will lose some great Korean players, I will miss their intense rallying style due to their amazing defence...
 
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