Jeez. I didn't get to see the matches between Japan and China live, but you can imagine my surprise waking up and seeing 0-3 for Japan. I'm not surprised that Japan won, I'm surprised it was 0-3. Chen Long should be ashamed of himself for putting up such an embarrassing performance. I would have expected him to beat Tago (no offense here). No idea why LYB decided to play Chai/Hong as MD1, is it maybe due to their ranking or something? Because I see no explanation for playing them; they've been average their entire playing career as a pair. Du Pengyu is just a grinder/runner on court. When matched against someone with attacking flair and decent stamina, he will lose and that's exactly what happened today. He shouldn't even be in the team if you ask me. Trying to run the opponent to death isn't the right way to go about winning a match. Sadly, that seems to be a trend with all China's MS players (LD excluded). Chen Long, when he wants to attack and be aggressive is very impressive, but he rarely does this. At some point he will have to realize he is freaking 6 foot 2 and he can use that to his advantage in attacking, not defending. One thing is for sure, LYB will have to answer for this, but the reality is China's Men's Team wasn't that great to begin with. How did we win that many Thomas Cups in a row? On the strength of Lin Dan as MS1 and Cai/Fu as MD1. Look at the team now; Cai and Fu no longer play together, Cai wasn't even picked. Lin Dan can't play MS1 because of his ranking. Our team has NO ONE to give us a guaranteed win at this point. You knew previously, if you played Lin Dan as MS1 you were at least 85 or 90% guaranteed the first point. That being said, there can't be an underestimation on how important that first point really is. Playing behind and with a lead is very different, and not only that, the first point will set the tone for the rest of the matches. Case in point today when Tago absolutely smashed Chen Long. The players after him will take so much belief and confidence from his win that they too believe it's possible to win. And guess what? Win they did. Heads may or may not roll, but you can be damn sure LYB will work the Men's team ridiculously hard. Our team needs to improve everywhere, as we can no longer rely on Lin Dan carrying the team. LYB said he will revamp China's MD. He did that with Cai/Fu, it's time to do it again because our MD is just terrible.
Sindhu will want to bring the shuttle down at every instance, surely Sayaka is aware of that when she lifts.
Absolutely no fight from the Japanese girls - one error after another after another...sad really. Sayaka practically gave away that second game and is now doing the same for the third. Didn't they learn anything from their menfolk?
Tang XH needs to return to the Beijing to help LYB. There is no one who can succeed Lin Dan and FHF/CY.
