It was great to see them play together again. I felt that in the first game they looked as though they've never played together! But then they soon found their rhythm. FHF's smash still has a lot of sting and is still a big advantage to have on your side but the Thai's played a very "Indonesian-style" game in that they rarely gave FHF the opportunity to hit a full smash. It was really interesting to see how they do it. If you watch the first 3-4 shots from a Thai serve to CY, CY, almost always drops the return to generate an opportunity for FHF to smash. But against most other players, the threat of CY being at the net would nearly always force a lift. This wasn't the case with the Thai's. They were able to find gaps quickly which neutralised the smash advantage.
Honestly, FHF looks like he's smashing at about 70-80% of what he did in his prime. I'm surprised to see such a big drop in his power. But, he's improved his net game and basically tries to end points quickly at the net.
Cai Yun hinting at retirement ? http://sports.qq.com/a/20160212/010842.htm CY turned 36 last month, Jan 19th, and wrote on his weibo (microblog) dated 12th Feb'16, accompanied by a photo of his younger days:" When my dream came true, I became perplexed. Whither should I go, I stopped, really stopped, I will rest, rest..."
We might see another year of Cai Yun but probably will be playing only a select few tournaments. Joachim Fischer Had a pretty good year and he's older than Cai Yun.
But Fischer didnt have Cai Yun's training when he was younger....(and didnt come close to his success, neither )
Cai Yun is partnering with Mathias Boe for the Malaysia Open! http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...-MALAYSIA-Open-SS-Premier-Entry-List-amp-DRAW
I am disappointed that Cai Yun was prevented from playing with Mathias Boe. I guess CBA was not worried about this particular pair but more concerned that other young Chinese players may partner foreign players which could hurt China. They are setting an unwritten rule, play only for China or retire. I don't blame them but understand why they had to do it. Also if Cai Yun is a possible candidate for head coach in the future, they want a clean record for him. I hope Cai Yun is allowed to play in the next edition of India's PBL as well!
'Clean record'. As if playing with non-Chinese was sth bad....he might actually learn something from Boe. Let's face it, since Fu and Cai split Danish doubles have shown just as much potential as Chinese, with only Fu/Zhang being serious Gold medal contenders (and certainly not favorites). Especially BoMo's more tactical, less physical approach might help some of the Chinese players who are blazing fast and have good smashes yet fail to go far in tournaments... I'm guessing they just dont want to set any precedent for younger players who have yet to find a suitable (Chinese) doubles partner. LD going ahead and getting his own sponsorship was enough individualism for one Olympic cycle
Fu Haifeng Bids Goodbye http://bwfbadminton.com/2017/06/09/fu-haifeng-bids-goodbye/ A professional record difficult to surpass. Highlights: World Champion: 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 Olympic Games champion: 2012, 2016 Olympic Games silver medallist: 2008 Badminton Asia Championships: 2011 Multiple Thomas Cup and Sudirman Cup titles Multiple World Superseries crowns A well-earned retirement Mr Fu.
I think they have already started promoting the Astrox line, so LYD and Cai are both with Yonex, they should start team Yonex to compete with the national teams!
Just waiting for FHF to join team Yonex. A LYD/FHF partnership would be formidable even as retired players!
