Well you're right. These guys are WR26 at the moment. MD2 was lost purely on their inability to attack like the Chinese. When they get the chance to attack, they can't convert it into winners, unlike CHN.
Despite the initial nerves, Koga/Saito played far better than expected; a much less frustrating match than that played by Hoki/Watanabe. Not a bad show.
As I've posted in the Chen Long's thread, he said he'll be back for next year's Asian Games, and the World Championships, I supposed
I'm unsure of the official rules, but imagine SYQ retiring every time he is on course to lose the game think about tht
China is dare to let Li Shi Feng play MS2, but Japan didn't give chance to Nishimoto or Naraoka. If Nishimoto played MS2 and Naraoke played MS3 today, the result could be different.
TBH, I hadn't expected the scratch pair of Wang Yilu/Liu Cheng to beat the JPN pair. It seems that Liu Cheng is having a second wind or a new lease of life in MD, his partnership with WYL in the Sudirman Cup and here in the Thomas Cup is working all right, better than I expected. But, of course, this is a temporary or ad hoc pairing as Wang Yilu's top prioriy is XD with Huang Dongping. As we know, Liu Cheng's usual partner is Huang Kaixiang.
Oh, so Chen Long will miss the World Championship at the end of this year? I think it's in a month and a half. That's disappointing if he misses it from the perspective of a badminton fan for the WC. But oh well, he deserves the time off with his family.
Yes the pair did not flow at all. Yuta was pressured from the get go by several unforced errors from Hoki and could not quite play to his potential (became more and more stressed and more and more error-prone himself as a result).
I don't know why Hoki is always the constant factor! I fail to understand. Saito and Yuta would have been much better.