I have to say when KKJ is on fire he is just awesome together with LYD! Points coming faster when on a roll and easier than with yys or ksh. They often had to work hard. Problem with KKJ is obviously his tension when under pressure scorewise I think. His gap bt A game and B or C game is quite big. Bigger than YYS f. ex. But it's way to early to make a real analysis or draw conclusions. Still a good and convincing win in game 2 and 3 against Kamura/Sonoda. Definitely a joy to have the Korean great doubles players back!
Agree with you when kim found his touch it's awesome. the thing that I noticed too, he seems to change the pace a lot more compared to yys. so it's not just power, power, power like when lyd play with yys back then.
am I the only one who think they'll beat kss/mfg now ? yes they still lack match fitness a little bit, but still looks great imo. and they match up very well with the Indonesians.
Well they have one huge advantage. No pressure from the association to produce results and stay at the top constantly. They're living the dream. Playing the sport they love and with their skills, still capable of keeping up with the rest of their colleagues at the top. It's really good too see. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
It will be very interesting to see how both pairs perform in a match. Sent from my MI 6 using Tapatalk
when is their next tournament ? i'm still mad they lost that qf match against hoki/koba...should actually win it in straight game.
Yeah, it's rare to see LYD and KGJ both so nervous and make tons of mistakes like that...self inflicted home crowd pressure. Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
Agreed. The imploded so badly it was embarrassing to watch as a fan. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Not to take away from their opponents Hoki/Kobayashi who played one of the best game of their lives, but if Lee and Kim didn't try to force their shots and played with more freedom and enjoyment, then they would have had less costly errors. Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
Too true. The Japanese played solid and consistent. They just kept getting free points at the same time. They earned their final position really. Seems like very slow halls just work for them as a pair too. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Although in the final against their compatriots Endo/Watanabe, despite dominating the first set 21-9, fate reversed it's course and it was Kobayashi's turn to get nervous and return the favour of gifting points away in the 3rd set by smashing repeatedly into the net. Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
I'll give him that one really. Their first ever final and its a relatively big one too. I'd get nerves too in that situation Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
I couldn’t tell whether they were nervous but KJG did play very badly with so many unforced errors which ultimately decided their fate. I think LYD just got really frustrated with the amount of errors which ended up affecting his game too. Not sure if it’s a lack of match play as I don’t think they were really challenged in Spain but nevertheless I was impressed that they managed to beat Ivanov/Sozonov and Kamura/Sonoda. May be those matches took too much out of them? KJG brings a refreshing dynamic to the partnership but despite having a fairly powerful smash, it really isn’t that effective, not enough to engage LYD consistently – compared to LYD’s previous partners. If only KJG can make better use of his smash through better placement and accuracy, it would make a big difference. His “in-to-out” cross court smash is brilliant though. One area I noticed that KJG is struggling with is his low/slow forehand in the mid and rear court areas. He seems to struggle covering the deep forehand corner adequately too. Not to mention his defence was a bit wobbly. LYD has clearly been working on his serve to suit the new rules, but I don’t think he is comfortable with it yet. Hi serves looks like they could often be short given how low and forward he seems to serve now. His old serve didn’t look that bad to be honest, I didn’t think he needed to make such a drastic change to his serve. It seemed he was either serving too high or short, there’s too little margin to get it right. If KJG can iron out the unforced errors and work on his smash and defence, they may stand a chance but at the moment they don’t have much that can challenge them aside from good flat play.
In fact, with the exception of YYS, all the other ex-Koren MD players are playing in the Macau Open. Would be great to see LYD/KJG vs KSH/SBC in the final...
I'm just guessing YYS has other commitments, maybe doesn't want to travel much anymore now that he's married, maybe he has some sort of job that prevents it...
Is YYS still playing with TBH? Anyway I like this Lee m Kim combination and really hope they and KO / Shin climb up the ranks soon. They are needed in MD for spectacular matches. Would be interesting how they fare against the many fast pairs relying a lot on speed and flat game..