Chen Long seems much more set in his defense since his injury healed. At the Worlds and up to French open, he seemed to be so slow in the defence, but in China, he was so solid, a lot of those retrievals were AWESOME, Great Wall of China, can't stop that
Just watched the replay of the CO final. Chen Long's short-ranged drive game close to the net is awesome. Not the most glamorous way to win points, but boy is it deadly. He used to give LCW fits from 2013-2015 with that kind of play, but for some reason stopped doing it in 2016; nice to see CL's drive game coming back. As he ages, this might be a crucial element to help him get points with less effort given his labor-intensive style.
I think it's the lighting and the way he smiles, beaming with delight or grinning.Twenty-eight years old for a supreme athlete is very unlikely to show any signs of age. Chen long is still in peak condition, I believe. An interesting article about aging http://www.businessinsider.sg/best-age-for-everything-2017-3/?r=US&IR=T
Chen Long plays a very physical game, I think after he peaks again at Tokyo 2020, age 31, he might start to decline faster than we expected or not depending on how he continues to train, his motivation, and the state of medical science available (life extension science, anti-aging science, etc).
http://sports.qq.com/a/20171120/014369.htm Danish star Viktor Axelsen this morning also posted on his weibo:" Lost to Chen Long yesterday. He played better than me. Flying to Hong Kong today, got to jiayou (put in extra effort, Come on, Keep it up - Justin). Thank you all for your support. Congratulations to Chen Long for winning the championship on home ground." This young chap is very keen on Chinese culture, full of enthusiasm in learning Mandarin, not only proud of speaking Mandarin in front of the camera, also like to post on weibo (microblog) very much. Soon after, Chen Long responded to VA on his weibo:" The best opponent is one who can bring out the best in each other. Thank you, brother, see you in Hong Kong."
The way Chen Long is playing right now, I sincerely doubt that Srikanth and Axelsen stand a chance. We saw Chen Long conclusively beat Axelsen in China (He dropped the second game on purpose, as he has tended to do for many of his matches, he drops either the first or second on purpose to wear down the opponents, and then destroys them in the other two sets. We saw him do the same to Son Wan Ho in the semis as well). Srikanth is a little worse than Axelsen on the defensive side, and on the same level in the offence, so I am quite sure CL would handle him well. I still think he isn't back to his Rio best, we may have to wait for 2018 worlds for that. However, he still isn't back to the consistent dominating level he had throughout 2015 (5 Superseries if I remember correctly, a truly worthy world number one for that year), but he seems to be going up. There is a possibility for a rematch of the Olympic final in Hong Kong Open, CL will beat Antonsen (I will be extremely surprised if he doesn't), and LCW will beat Shi Yuqi (Again, will be a huge surprise, we saw LCW comfortably beat him in Japan, and LCW was nowhere near as good in Japan as he is playing in Hong Kong). Looking forward to that rematch. Both players in the final will be a sign of resurgence for both, and whoever wins will announce themselves as back on top
Thanks Nine Tailed Fox. If the above pictures were taken before the China Open, it explains Chen Long's return to form which caught Xia Xuanze by surprise too. Hope to hear their wedding bells ringing soon. I think Chen Long's form will continue to improve. Watch out, the rest of the world's players, including his fellow teammates !
Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang's posted video had Chen Long saying (from what I can make out): "I mean, since the Rio Olympics, Wang Shixian is the most important person in my life, impossible for us to separate, she is forever the most important to me..." We can see WSX moved to tears hearing that.
Well, it more or less confirms what I've suspected of the romantic couple recently, that they had a tiff and now has made up. Xia Xuanze's headache gone.
i think WSX is wearing a pair of adidas. I thought she is signed up with Victor. is Chen Long wearing adidas too?
