Ok, maybe the 2nd set will be different for CL. But I doubt it. My guess is, CL is the type of player whose game starts to drop around 29 years of age. Kind of like Taufik, how Taufik's game dropped in his late 20s. Since Rio 2016, CL hasn't reached that level of play. And to be fair, LD tired LCW out in the semi-finals which helped CL in the gold medal match. This goes to show you how impressive LCW was that he could maintain much of his game at 35 years of age. And LD was also quite good up to 34 years old. But not CL, his game has dropped a lot since 2016.
Had the Olympic been played in 2020, i dont think LZJ will be this good. I think he is more watchable than Axelsen and with Momota out, he is bookmakers second favourite to win the title.
Very difficult for Chen Long to peak twice in his career, I'm not talking about peaking in time for a particular tournament in a year but career peak. He's definitely off his prime, besides, he is , to me, not a very smart player and relies too much on his physicality and defensive abilities than attacking prowess. What's more, at age 32, time is not on his side. Chen Long is not without his chances, except that he's against an in-form and rising star, Lee ZJ. We'll see.
Well, well, well. I thought CL was going to get thumped in the 2nd set. I guess I was wrong. Let's see how much energy CL has for the 3rd set. Energy and stamina wise, you would normally favor LZJ, a 23 year old, over CL, who is 32 years old, all things being equal. But I wonder how much energy LZJ used up in the first 2 sets. I guess we will find out.
Woh, Chen Long equalizes and forces the decider. Still, fitness-wise at least, it should favour LZJ in the tiebreaker
I think age is vastly overrated in short tournaments like this. A 30+ year old could have far better stamina than 20 year olds. Just look at what Djokovic is doing in tennis.
Yes but the same concept. Older players can keep up if they commit. Just have to pick their battles and not play every single tournament.