i proposed the following format back in 1998, the ibf days (pre-bwf): no qualifiers at any level of competition tues - rd 1 weds - rd of 16 thur - 1/4's fri - break sat - semis sun - final this is now possible at the wt 2.3 tournaments and higher since there is no qualifier. the logic is if you want to play in the high level tournaments you must chase your ranking by succeeding at the lower levels, and/or maintain your ranking by succeeding at the highest level tournaments. this increases the quality of all tournament levels. it creates a sense of urgency in competition at all levels. regarding the issues of mandatory appearances and protected rankings: count the 10 best results from the prior 18 months instead of 12. this eliminates the need for the upcoming 6 month maximum protected ranking system (which players will use to avoid the mandatory appearances anyway). it also leaves room for team events & professional league play, which also increases the visibility of badminton.
Imo now VA only loses to tall players,LCW not tall enough to beat VA now. Also LCW seems to have a weird respect for world champions and somehow plays below his potential against them.He plays like a tiger against the others.
VA vs LCW is hard to predict. i think VA will win. One thing for sure, he doesnt have to worry skipping tournament if he loses today *eyeblink*
Difficult to rank ZYL and LN objectively. AG gold vs 1 more WC gold. Higher peak (practically untouchable during 2011-2015), shorter reign vs slightly lower peak (unimpressive H2Hs against ZNZYL, CPJFN, XCMJ), longer reign. Doubly successful in WD vs able to win majors with different partners
All the fan boys betting on VA...have they forgotten that CL spanked him at China Open? And then LCW spanked CL in straight sets at HK Open...
Sindhu need to play as if she played Akane in the Group stage. No need to change any strategy. Sent from my SM-G600FY using Tapatalk
I don't like Sindhu's footwork. She runs a lot instead of using those traditional steps that are taught from school age. Hope, she improves it today. Cheers.
Meanwhile KevinSanjaya keeps obtaining PlayofTheDay. Sometimes its not about speed at all. It is just retrieving the ball way below the net, almost at the ground. Just incredible. Did it against LiLiu as well. Feels like this tournament he is the one carrying Gideon. We need to see that cheeky Kevin again. Despite all the magical plays, he is too quiet this tournament.
Lee Yong Dae is another player who is exceptional at retrieving almost anything at almost any height. Zhang Nan also has a similar trait to these two.
My money's on axe-cell-son if he stay cool and don't throw the usual tantrums........for me, lcw losing the fight against Father Time, showing his age, too late to change his playing style. making too many unforced errors.......VA in 3.
I'm taking Yamaguchi......incredibly sound fundamentally, great mental strength....AY will outlast PVS in 3.
Not so sure about that. Lost 3 out of 4 as finals this year, lost a then, relatively easy QF in WC. She's still younger than most other elite WS opponents and I doubt she still lacks self belief. If she has to win today, she must cut out all the errors, avoid overthinking. She's atm clearly better than PVS and almost every other player in terms of fitness. She's also the favorite to win, which adds a lil pressure. PVS has H2H and crowd support on her back. Should be a tight match
My predictions: MS - LCW. His boosted confidence will do more damage to VA than in Japan Open. WS - PVS. She probably wants it more (cap the year better after failing at WC) and has totally demolished AY the past 2 encounters. MD - LC/ZN. LC is the most athletic of everyone in this tournament as Steen said. Hard smash after hard smash as in Boe/Mog SF. Incredible. Add to that ZN's excellent skills. WD - YF/SH. But ST/KY have the skills to take them down. Could really go either way tbh. XD - ZSW/CQC. Although I'd like TCM/TYS to upset, I think the Chinese have boosted their confidence after taking down their nemesis TA/LN yesterday.
What do you mean spanked? CL did beat VA but it was in three sets, 21-16 14-21 21-13. Spanked is something like VA did to CL at 2017 WC where the score was 21-9 21-10.
