Venue : Gyeyang Gymnasium Tournament date : 24-29 September 2014 DRAW : http://badmintonasia.org/wp-content/...Games-2014.xls Schedule & Result : http://www.incheon2014ag.org/Sports/...140922&lang=en KOR time : http://www.worldtimezone.com/time/wt...ma=Find%20Time The last day of badminton event will offer two gold medal matches : MS FINAL (06.30pm local time) Lin Dan (CHN) v Chen Long (CHN), H-2-H : 6-0 All CHN finals in MS happened thrice in previous AG arena. Tehran 1974, Seoul 1986 and Beijing 1990. Hou Jiachang won gold beat Fang Kaixiang and Zhao Jianhua bagged two golds against same rival Yang Yang. Well, it's really heavy task for Chen Long to defeat his illustrious senior with successful CV, he should play his best and nothing to lose against the skillful and near perfect Lin Dan. XD FINAL (08.15pm) Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei (CHN) v Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (INA), H-2-H : 5-5 It's gonna be close encounter and ideal final for this category, will INA sweep all doubles gold in individual event? Like MD final, we hope interesting clash tomorrow! Last time INA grabbed XD gold was 1982 New Delhi AG thorugh Christian Hadinata/Ivana Lie while CHN won it eight year ago in Doha 2006 through Zheng Bo/Gao Ling
Let's see if Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir can break another record: - first AE title also since Christian Hadinata/Ivana Lie when they first won it in 2012 - 3 consecutive AE titles (2012-2014) - 3 consecutive India SS titles (2011-2013) - 3 Singapore SS titles (2011, 2013-2014; and 6 overall for Liliyana Natsir considering she won it 3 times also with Nova Widianto) - 3 times Macau Open GPG (2010-2012) - 1 World Championships (but 3 overall for Liliyana Natsir considering she also won it twice with Nova Widianto) It will be a momentous result for Liliyana Natsir as she has yet to win any individual event medal at the Asian Games. As for record against Zhang/Zhao, it's evenly poised at 5-5 with the victories won at: - All-England SSP 2014 Final - World Championships 2013 SF - All-England SSP 2013 Final - Denmark SS 2012 SF - Singapore SS 2011 SF
It's make-or-break time for Chen Long Yes, he beat LCW. But he also lost to Kenichi Tago in the Thomas Cup and then Son Wanho a few days ago when the team needed him the most. I really don't have much faith in him carrying the team in the future. If he loses to LD this time, then he'll always be #2 under either LCW or LD. And people commented about how good he was against Wei Nan. I'm like "Pleeeease!!". LD also beat him badly in the Badminton Asia Championships this year. They're basically in a different class so it really proves nothing. This is the final test for you, CL. Good luck.
Chen Long can forget about trying to out-rally Lin Dan and hope for cheap points from LD's mistakes - such a strategy is a very bad idea , even suicidal. With Chen Long's only advantage being his youthful vitality, physicality, reach and maybe fitness/stamina, the best option is for him to seize the initiative and go on the offensive as much as possible with good timing,but certainly not attacking recklessly which is to be avoided at all cost as Lin Dan's defence and counterattack is superb. Take into account that both antagonists have played every round in the team event followed by the full distance in the individual, effectively two tournaments back-to-back, so the physical strain should be more of a challenge to Lin Dan than the five years younger and supremely fit Chen Long, I presume. By no means am I saying this is a decisive advantage to Chen Long, just that this aspect is perhaps Chen Long's one and only possible leverage over Lin Dan, in everything else whether it's skills, experience,mentality and court sense, Chen Long is inferior to his illustrious senior. If Chen Long wants to come out of Lin Dan's shadow and put an end to the disbelief that he's ever going to beat Lin Dan, this is it, today is the day. Chen Long must go all out and seize the rare opportunity for as time goes by, it can only get harder as Lin Dan regains his peak form in the lead-up to the Olympics.
Chen Long's main advantages are his reach and height. Must be annoying for Chen Long's opponents when Chen Long can take 1/2 less of a step and just reach out his arm to defend a smash. Also, people in badmintonforum.com seem to say Chen Long doesn't have a good smash. I'm not too sure about that because everything Chen Long smashes is more steep because of his height. Last but not least, despite being less skilled, Chen Long won his title because he was just flat out more consistent than LCW and other opponents in those matches. If Chen Long can find his consistency and rythym, he may have a chance of winning. But if LD brings his A+ game, I don't think Chen Long can win.
OOT: Ping Pong Men's SF1 NOW: CHN vs JPN OOT - while awaiting the remaining badminton matches later in the afternoon (18:30 KOR), those who enjoy ping pong may turn into BigTVUSA for CCTV-5's live coverage to watch the quality Men's Team Semifinal 1: CHN vs JPN now. The fielded players are: A MA Long - MATSUDAIRA Kenta X B XU Xin - MIZUTANI Jun Y C ZHANG Jike - MURAMATSU Yuto Z
I just read head to head between Liliyana/Tontowi and Zhao Yunlei/Zhang Nan, yes they are tied at five but one fact that stand out is how if it's going rubber, Zhao/Zhang would win all but one occasion (last year WC), on the other hand, INA pair would win it in straight but the one I've stated earlier. It's funny because when I checked previous h2h between Ahsan/Setiawan and LYD/YYS, INA would lost all five in straight but they manage to win one at Thomas Cup in rubber (and another one yesterday with another rubber game). So today, I really hope that Liliyana/Tontowi going all out since first point because when it's going rubber, CHN pair has the advantage.
As to whether it's an advantage for a player to have an easy round rather than a grueling match the day before, I tend to agree with Chen Long who said that "after a day's rest, it's the same for everyone." Yes, for these world class athletes who routinely train hard several, at least 6-8, hours daily, that should be the case.
Lin Dan can win even if he's playing at A- or possibly B+ of his very best, provided he doesn't commit too many unforced errors, I venture to say. Needless to say, Chen Long will have to rise to the occasion, play above himself, and not be too much in awe of his great opponent if he is to cause an upset for a historic breakthrough victory.