Akane beat TTY for the trophy just when I thought the title is TTY's to lose. Great job, Akane. Congratulations. I think WS is also becoming more open now with about 5 or 6 WS in the top rung fighting for supremacy
Super impressive stuff from Yamaguchi!! WOW! Beat TTY for the first time again since AUS Open last year right? Such a convincing victory and CLEARLY outplayed TTY as both were fit and well! Such an inspiration for short players (like me) and wow just wow.
Hmmm backhand should really only be played when under extreme pressure as of course turning your back to the net puts you at a disadvantage. Her speed to get under the shuttle makes up for it. Also, I think that shorter players have more to lose playing the backhand rather than just getting under it which is sort of why I understand why Okuhara and Yamaguchi rarely use it. But I guess you’re right in the sense that whenever she is forced to play the backhand, she could achieve more with it.
What an amazing win for Akane, after a pretty dreadful year, that will boost her confidence up for sure She finally showed why she deserve her world number 2 ranking. After the draining match she played yesterday, it's a wonder she was even still able to move that fast in the third set today. Great for the game that TTY is shown some resistance as well. TTY is amazing to watch, but it's even more amazing to watch when the opponent in front the net is able to respond to her deceptiveness and power and speed, and not just left stranded every point
What if there's coaching for this All-CHN MS match, say, XXZ for Chen Long, Cheng Yu and Li Zhifeng for Shi Yuqi, what might the outcome be ?
As regular sparring partners, they both have to come out with their own strategies and think on their feet, CL and SYQ
SYQ's self-confidence and inner belief won't be test in this match, no psychological pressure or disadvantage for him, as opposed to playing, say, Momota, especially.
@Maurice MJC @Michael V But it's absolutely crazy how different her movement was compared to the Japan/China/Korea tour, right? As I said earlier, like watching a different player. Michael you are right of course. I think being able to get under many shots makes it less necessesary to play the backhand often, even less so when you're the better player. You don't use it as often because you rarely need it and it never gets better, kind of like T-Rex arms. Against top players, however, margins of winning can be small and that weakness is often exploited by TTY and Sindhu, for example. TTY can get out of tight situations on the backhand without problem with a clear. With AY, you can already park yourself at the net when you get her to play it. That's not good enough and it puzzles me that she hasn't gotten better in years.