Of course court no.1 ! Use common sense ! Its involved most of the Danish Players especially Peter ...
As an INA fans, me myself will only 'complaint' to the players if it is necessary only, not all the time lah, of course i will keep support them. Hahaha.. perhaps a few INA fans might pissed off with current INA players result and fortunately no one bash Taufik, Taufik has give everything to INA and its time for him to enjoy his life and TH arena now, the same goes to Kido/Hendra, they have give everything to INA too.
I don't think the Thomas cup is an issue. And I think the team can send whoever they like. But the third OLY's spot is definitively an important issue, though it will be hard to achieve. If CHN only send Lin Dan and Chen Long, they might end-up in the same half and that is no use. With Chen Jin among them, they are certain someone is there on LCW's route. And a Chen Jin in top form is no small obstacle (as we have seen in the Asian games). But to calculate what it would take for Chen Jin to take Gade's place in the world ranking is beyond my math's capacities I'm afraid.
Im realistic to the current strength but will always support no matter what!! Go Indonesia, Indonesia BISA!!
Hi folks, I wasn't at all shocked by Lin Dan's loss to Wong WK. In fact,I was trying to guess who he intended to lose to. It's getting harder and more embarrassing for him to throw matches to his teammates again, especially when even his coach Li Yongbo was criticised in the Chinese press for allowing his charges to throw matches or conceding walkovers. So LD decided to do Wong WK a favour and made it look real; anyway,LD probably didn't relish the prospect of "losing" twice to Sho Sasaki. I venture to say,if Chen Long had lost yesterday or the day before,it would be a different story - the duty would fall on Lin Dan's shoulders again to do national honour. Whatever it is, it has been obvious to me not long after the Beijing Olympics that Lin Dan is resting on his laurels, having won everything that is to win in badminton. Right now his only goal left is to be the first male player to win the Olympic gold medal twice in badminton - Zhang Ning being the first female to do so. To add further, seeing how he almost lost to Hafiz Hashim and Hu Yun, coupled with Lin Dan's waning passion and lack of motivation,it is just a matter of time someone or anyone take a match off him during this period;if not now ,then when? - everyone who plays Lin Dan should be asking himself this question. Personally,I too if given a chance to play him, will go all out,play with wild abandon,with nothing to lose but everything to gain, and ,who knows,might succeed in making a name for myself in history, as one of the rare few (discounting the early years) to beat The Almighty Lin Dan, The God Of Badminton.
I agree with most of what you say, Justin, but I am not sure about LD's lack of passion and motivation. In some ways, it looks like LD enjoys playing more then when he was younger. I think he has less interest in the 'competitive' aspect, who is the best, what is his record, etc., (in numerous interviews he came back on the topic of "results are not so important"), but sometimes we can see that every aspect of the game is explored - the physical, technical, mental, strategic, and if he is less explosive and constant then before, in some ways he became a complete player. It is better to win "without moving" then by moving faster then the opponent. I think that is the ideal he would like to reach.
As for Datuk Lee who suffers the misfortune of being Lin Dan's contemporary, he still has got a point to prove and desperately wants to retire on a high by winning at least one huge victory cum major title over his arch-rival and nemesis Lin Dan, such as in the London Olympics or the next world championship, which he already said he's determined to do. And for Peter Gade, I salute him with both hands! He is unmatched, simply the most amazing,the greatest, in terms of Longevity,Consistency,Self-Discipline,Grit Determination,Iron-Will, Mental Strength,and suchlike. All badminton players should do well to learn from him and kowtow to him on these aspects,period. In no way am I downplaying his skills and talent, just that he is even more unfortunate than Chong Wei in that Peter's career spans two generations during which he has to first contend with Taufik Hidayat at his best, then followed by Super Dan and Datuk Lee.
that wont happened as the rules stated that players from any one NOC shall be in opposite halves of the draw
In my opinion, for a professional world-class player to lose the "competitive" aspect is equivalent to losing the passion and motivation;only retired greats can say "nowadays I just play and enjoy the game". Just compare and contrast him with Lee CW and Peter Gade, and you would understand what I'm trying to say. But,of course and unfortunately,Lin Dan can well afford to do what he is doing, as nobody else could with such luxury in terms of titles won and greatness of achievements. As a matter of fact, he could just retire now or even earlier before in all glory for himself, except that it would be a loss for the Badminton World with many unwilling to accept it and may even protest it,irregardless whether China still needs him or not. By now,you should sense that,on the one hand,I'm singing effusive praise of him,on the other hand,I sounded somewhat pissed off by his lackadaisical attitude. Personally, I'm beginning to switch some of my hopes to Chen Long who happens to be the one showing the most promise of joining the Super Elite - The Two Titans.
By the 'competitive aspect', I do not mean the will to win. As the last WC did show, LD is still there to win, and has the means to. What I mean is the attention given to world rank and similar aspect, it makes the players a bit like horses or dogs or even roosters for coq fight. There are other ways to approach tournaments and competition and, as you say, LD has the "luxury" to explore them. Every venue is particular, and in each every round also. Besides, there is another aspect : competition can be a short or long race. You have to manage your breath differently for both. As you mention earlier, LD is to emulate ZN, whose results the year before the 08 OLY were quite bad actually. But at the end, at the right place and right moment, she gave us the most wonderful final. Well of course those are only guesses, I'm not in LD's shoes!
For tonight's match: 1) I expect Chong Wei to once again torpedo Chen Jin; 2) Tai TY vs Ithanon R - the future stars of WS, a well-worth watching match that could go either way, but,based on how Tai played and took out Saina, I think she has the edge over IR; 3) Peter The Great is expected to "walk over" (I don't mean walkover) The Young Turk, Viktor Axelsen; 4) The Little Dragon,Chen Long,should have no problem putting JOJ in his place,not necessarily in two straight games,going by his form here the previous two rounds; 5) Late Bloomer,Showman Sasaki - I'm quite sure he can stop the unexpected but lucky giant killer,Wong Wing Ki;don't forget,Sasaki himself was an even better giant killer before, having beaten Lin Dan in two games and Chen Jin in three successive matches; 6) Sweety Pie,Wang SX,my former idol,should brush aside Sung JH; I'd have preferred to see Wang SX played Cheng SC and then Juliane Schenk instead,both of whom having troubled her lately; 7)Would the luckless Jiang YJ, who deserves better results if not for her colleagues, once again trump Wang YH ver2, my soon-to-be new idol? Maybe,but their last encounter was a bit dubious (match-fixing?); 8) Li Xuerui, I've been watching her since her impressive win over Saina in the Asia Championship 2010. This year in the Thai Open,she again beat Saina,then Porntip before taking the scalp of her Top 4 senior,Jiang YJ, for the title. Can she scalp another Top 4 senior,Wang Xin,my present idol? Hard to say.Incidentally,both have the same delightful attacking style that I love to watch;the 3rd one is Tine Baun who is less consistent and accurate but ,nevertheless,possesses the most powerful smash.
Renbo,I see your point and do share some of your views. It is just that my idea of a truly great champion is one who gives his best not just for himself nor even for his country but for all his fans and the badminton world at large, by playing his best to entertain,enrich,teach,be a role model,and create beautiful works of art ,for badminton can be artistic too. He belongs to the badminton world and owes it to all of us to do so. Instead, you find him choosing who to lose to or help, acting like a spoiler, whether to play to win or just go through the motion, stage-managing,play-acting, and only playing seriously at his earnest best when it mattered to him or his country. In that case,when it is a tournament that doesn't mean much to him,he might as well not go (except when he needs to maintain his qualification points for the Olympics) - to spare us his antics and the agony of watching or knowing he loses to some XYZ player unexpectedly due to uncharacteristic errors, 'off-day','out-of-form','not feeling well',and whatnot... Still, all in all, Lin Dan is my idol,my hero,my God of Badminton....but I 'd like to kick his ass once in a while when he "is not playing badminton but fooling around ".
Just wondering,if it was Lee HI instead of Wong WK,would Lin Dan do him this favour? I think not, because Lee is a more dangerous opponent who might thereafter overpowered Sho Sasaki and them trouble Chen Long. But then, you might say, Sho himself is a dangerous opponent too,but,as I've said,Lin Dan hates to lose to the same player twice within a short space of time. Never mind, I'll just wait for the second-best Dream Final: Little Dragon vs Datuk Lee.
No work tomorrow Im so ready to watch quater finals on Astro from 11 - 4am. My big bro is spending the night at the house. Three of us (Dad, big bro and I) already discussing about the matches like we discussing about world peace! Big jug of coffee will be our best friend tonight.
My Dear BCers, nobody should ever doubt Lin Dan is still The God Of Badminton. HE IS,DEFINITELY. It's just that this God is bored and lonely up there all by himself for long enough and needs to amuse and distract himself before he goes bonkers and die of boredom. So, sometimes he plays Santa Claus,sometimes the villain - we have to forgive him,what to do. I suddenly recalled Morten Frost's remark while commentating LD-LCW's WCH 2011Final where he said" it is so unfair that Chong Wei doesn't win a major title just because of Lin Dan". When I heard that I thought the best player should win,fair or not fair. Now I change my mind - if Lin Dan is going to do all this mumbo-jumbo, losing or throwing away matches he shouldn't, I 'd rather he really loses to Lee CW or Peter Gade once or twice in major championships for both certainly deserve it,in particular Datuk Lee.
