Yes I agree, Ma Jin is as good as Zhao Yun Lei or any women's double's players. I think she probably earned LYB's respect and admiration this week. She is a very important player to the Chinese team. To me the top 3 are: Ma Jin Zhao Yunlei Bao Yixin
Great job by this outstanding player! Didn't expect anything less from her.... I'm really glad they persisted her XD pairing with XC; she has been SO instrumental in shaping him into a very effective partner. You could see her pride in his patient play, at the post-match interview. Here you go, MJ, this one's for you...
I never get tired of watching Ma Jin play. Her anticipation and court awareness is best. Can you imagine if she played XD with Lee Yong Dae? They would be an unstoppable team. She has such powerful legs. Superb all-around game in the serve, net play, interceptions, drop shots, defense, drives, smash, clear.
so, she just lack a good-enough partner, in XD and WD? yeah, if she had them, maybe it would be her to make record in 2012 OG, not ZYL maybe? but still, it just another dream for me.
what incredible form MJ is in at the moment. the Denmark Open final match was one of the best recent XD matches. where both the ladies are constant battling at the net with no clear winner between the two but resulting in net exchanges that had my picking up my jaws multiple times. MJ speed, awareness, creativity and execution goes well beyond most other XD ladies and actually places her at one of the all time best in my opinion.
congratulations for another double titles, Ma Jin! 4 titles in 2 weeks/2 SS, isn't it a new record? surpass three SS titles in a row?
Ma Jin looks like the best player in the world right now. I think the whole badminton world is taking notice of her. She is not tall, doesn't seem particularly athletic, but has figured out so many ways to score. Ma Jin and Xu Chen looked very tired at the end of their final match.
The moment that WD fiasco happened at the OG, I had a feeling MJ would be given the opportunity to step into the breach. Boy, did she ever!
She should have been recognized a long time ago. Unfortunately, constantly being moved around in WD and losing her XD partner has really made it hard for her to make it obvious how versatile and talented she is..
For Ma Jin, can't get any better than that, a record achievement by itself - four SS doubles titles in two consecutive weeks ! For me, it's certainly comparable to Zhao Yunlei's double Olympic golds in one edition. At first I thought Ma Jin isn't smashing enough in WD, playing in the same way as she usually does in XD, but yesterday she showed she has adjusted her tactics well in WD, smashing effectively. Excellent indeed. At the end of the XD, both Xu Chen and her looked drained as their younger compatriots made them fight for every point in a thrilling 3-setter. Wonder how long she can carry on successfully playing both doubles in a tournament or two in a row.
MJ being tired is reasonable as she's been playing non-stop for 2weeks... 20matches! but XC?? I thought he can do better than this.. i've seen him smash non stop for 3games and still looking fresh. What happen to him? i'm sure the coaches will work on that area and this pair will be incredible, esp MJ
absolutely stunning!!! WL is my favourite singles player and MJ is my fav mx player!! if WXL is in that pic, all my fav player will be in there!!! Yahoooo
Xu Chen has also been playing continually for two consecutive weeks , appearing in and winning two finals with Ma Jin. And as the man at the rear court doing all the hard smashing, it's understandable for him to be drained yesterday at the end of a hard-fought 3-game match. The previous week,he had a similarly tough 3-setter against Tantowi/Liliyana in the DEN PSS Final. No problem with his fitness and stamina, I think.
im afraid i am totally disagree with you on this one. SS is nothing compare with Olympics. one that comes along every 4 years and the other? 12 in a year. do you think she will swap her 4 titles and the $$$ prize money, together with her Olympics silver for 1 of YunLei's gold?
yeah, must agree with AlanY. the record and titles she made still behind 2 OG golds by ZYL (although 1 of ZYL's gold medal is pretty controversial ). but afterall, what Ma Jin had achieve is still a record on it's own i think? and she should proud of it. not even ZYL can make the same thing happen, at least yet.
I know what you mean. Actually, I have in mind the difficulty of achieving it than the perceived value, recognition and reward. Talking about the Olympics, Lin Dan has expressed some interesting views taken from his autobiography from which an extract was published online among others. First, he lamented the fact that the Olympics is regarded as the defining achievement of a professional badminton player, esp in China. He questioned why it isn't the case for some other sports like basketball,tennis and soccer, giving the examples of Federer and Messi in their related sports. He added these players are admired for their magnificent contribution to the beauty of their sports for the benefit of the world and not so much whether they win Olympic golds for their countries or not, regarding the former as more important than the latter. Second,he asked how many four years does an athlete have in his career.The athlete is effectively gambling his youth on the quadrennial event that gives value to every player only once every four years.'Isn't it too cruel?' he asked. (Some of you may be thinking he has the luxury of talking like that because he has won it not just once but twice; anyway that's not the point.) Am I wrong to say Lin Dan is as good as saying the importance of the Olympics is over-rated? Hmm, even the BWF is toying with the idea of making the World championship a biennial affair instead of annual presumably to increase its status(there are other reasons, of course, such as logistics).
