And he did against Lee Choong Wei? Oh no, he didn't. And if we should should "face" something, then it should maybe be your minimal knowledge of the sport.
Actually, I felt that Gade played exceptionally well this tournament compared to the last few tournaments he's played in. His speed and power was not at the level of him a few years ago, however I found his mental strength against Sato to be very impressive as well as his stamina (Surprise!) against Lin. Normally these two areas are weak in Gade's game, especially mental strength. If he were to play against Chong Wei, I'd predict a very close match.
I didn't say LCW did. but you cannot say LCW doesn't deserve it on this basis. My comment has nothing to do with knowledge of the sport. It is based on fact and respect for LCW. PG had plenty of chances for OG medals and missed them all. Please do not disrepect player on this basis.
Your comparison is quite justified. At the 2008 Singapore Open, Peter Gade struggled against Nguyen Tien Minh and (for a while) against Poompat Sapkulchananart - not exactly the top rated players on the current competition circuit Gade was a great champion and is still a great player... but that's all there is to him now He could either gracefully retire from competition or continue to be pre-quarterfinal fodder in the international circuit.
Based on fact?. Well, you make me laugh. Your comment is based on nothing but your own individual judgement which in my general understanding has nothing to do with facts. Unless you see your own opinions as something absolute. Furthermore, Peter had one good chance, and that was in Sydney.
The fact is PG doesn't deserve the medal because he didn't win his QF, he therfore didn't get a chace to win his SF, therfore was no where near getting a medal. Like I say & you agree peter had his chances at both Sydney, Athens & Beijing. And the fact is he missed all of them, even when He was at his so called "old Gade best" These are the facts, and those were his chances. Not my opinion
PG is a formidable player, he gave the best challenge to LD but those happened in the pre 2007 era. The two match that LD gave the most attention to and therefore most effort were against PSH and LCW. LD dont just want to beat them but want to prove a point because there were lots of doubt about LD's ability to handle these 2 opponents. No doubt PG gave it all he had in this OG so LD indeed can't be slacking off either. However, he did took 3 sets to close off sato in round 16, i don't think PG is SF material in this OG.
Jaejin Lee / Jiman Hwang don't deserve the Men's Double bronze because if Howard Bach / Bob Malaythong didn't have to face Fu / Cai so early, Bach / Malaythong would have easily won the bronze.
As much as I liked Gade, I would say that the Silver medal is still well deserved by LCW. Peter had his chance 3 times and he can't done it, not to mention his peak has already pass. LCW have tired, and it can be seen on the TV. I don't think PG could possibliy get more points off the LD that is displayed in the final than LCw. And I wonder if PG could make it to the final by beating Sony and LHI straight.
I completely agree, its not an overstatement to say that he does not deserve the silver medal. LCW was so lame at the finals today. I don't know whats in his mind, he showed fear and lack of fighting spirit. He already surrendered himself to LD too early in the game without even putting up a good fight. It a waste of time watching a game like that. In the Olympics, there are athletics who fight hard but lose and there are also those who surrender without a fight.... LCW is the later. I dont mean to offend any Mal fans but thats the impression he gave me.
Peter is a great player but he only has one style of play. Straight ahead attack and skill. He plays high risk badminton w/ little margin for error. It's just not in his nature to hang back and play a more defensive game. Unfortunately due to age/injuries he can't outrun or outgun LD or hit through him for a whole match. As a result the odds are always against him vs. LD.
However, you're missing one very important, and that is that on all three occasions Gade has lost, it has been to the later champion. Unfortunate to Peter. I believe that Taufik and Lin Dan were superior in both 2004 and 2008, but he should have beaten Ji Xinpeng in Sydney. That was his chance, he or no other player had any chance against Taufik and Lin Dan in 2004 and 2008. That is the facts. My conclusion must be that Peter was the player, who on both occasions gave the later winners the most problems, but because of this tough draw, he didn't get a medal. This is of course speculations, and I honestly don't know if Peter was going to be able to beat Lee Choong Wei in the olynpics, but what I do know is that if Peter had played him today, Peter would have won. Lee looked satisfied with silver medal, he looked like Chen Jin, giving Lin the match. This may sound harsh, but this is my honest opinion.
I didn't think the point was that he lost to each of the winners, I thought the points was that he deserved a medal? You are correct in syaing he lost to each of the winners, but what does this mean? Lin Dan beat Ng Wei in 2nd round of this OG, does this mean he deserve medal because he lost to winner? NR/GE lost to LYD/LHJ does this mean they deserve medal? Yes it is your opinion that PG would have beaten LCW today, but if LCW did play PG, then LCW would not have played the same. He would have not been as nervous, he would have been able to control the game and push the pace. Thes comparisons cannot be made factually I'm afraid, they are as you say opinion.
Again, iam afraid you don't catch the actual point. Let me ask, did Ng Wei give Lin Dan a good fight? No, he didn't. But on the other hand Peter gave Lin Dan the most trouble in the whole tournament! and that was the same case with Taufik in 2004 and Ji Xinpeng in 2000, therefore he deserves a medal. Lee Choong Wei would have been similar nervous playing Peter. There is always anxiety before a match of this caliber. I actually believe that Lin was even more nervous than Wei today, considering the huge expectations he had to carry on his shoulders.
Playing in the biggest stage in the world, all players are nervous but LD handled it better than most if not all people...LD is a poster boy tasked by CHN to mine gold at the start, talk about pressure, a lot of players would have succumbed and fall apart...I have said before, making the CHN team alone, you have to be very mentally tough....who knows what The Thing coached LD...if I guess, probably to focus on each player one at a time, one point at a time, do the thing you are supposed to do, blank out the crowd, no distraction even from bad calls, etc....and LD is very prepared for this game as he walk easy through without dropping a set throughout the entire OLY, that must have never been done before, isn't it? Talking about pressure...how about Liu Xiang, current 100m hurdles defending champion, CHN first and only gold medallist in track and fireld...heard a story that Liu was told that if he does not win gold this time, all his previous achievements are nothing...holy banana, my legs would jelly with pressure like that...
You know...if LD prepared with the same effort he put in the LCW match on PG, PG would have been outright demolished just like LCW. Every pro player is probably shaking in their boots when they see LD play like that. Nobody could have stopped him.
i've definitely never seen LD play this well, kudos to him, gold medal well deserved. i've never seen LCW play this badly, oh well, he played superbly up till the final, just lost to the better player this time. i do agree that it's a shame PG has to retire without an olympic medal, he certainly deserves one, but that shouldn't detract us from what has been an amazing career.
LD lost to LCW recently in Thomas CUP. He knows he has to go in full speed - speed + attack - no lay back to read opponent strategy. LD just played his game. In contrast, LCW played more carefully and lost the concentration after LD already started his gear in 120% and move the shuttle in full speed.
Everybody knows you have to take each match in its own perspective. Just because PG did better against LD does not mean he deserves the silver more than LCW. LD's performance against LCW was '3 levels up' than when he played PG. If I did not think he was capable of being that good, I would have easily thought that he had 'things' to help him play so strongly.
LD knows LCW is the greatest treat to his gold medal. Not PG. All this while before olympic, China team have made preparation and homework how to face LCW. When, the time come, it's look easy to LD, not because LCW is weak compared to PG or somebody else, but LD is very well equiped to exploid LCW weaknesses.