In WD there was no Japanese players in the final, it's all Chinese, the Japanese tsunami has subsided when they dominated the WD. Considering the Olympics is held this summer in Tokyo, I bet the Japanese team managers and coach are struggling to find answers and no doubt will ask Japanese WDs to do overtime in training! Did anyone notice that LYD has been struggling with his low serve, it wasn't just this tournament but also last year as well. It's good to see him back in a final. In fact the low serve in doubles is such a delicate and confidence thing, that if a player loses confidence in his/her short serve then it takes a very long time to recover or even losing it all. You can't recreate pressure. You can serve perfectly in practice but when it comes to crunch, then the confidence comes into play. There are few top professional players in the tour who are struggling with it.
good to see Korean MD challenging again. they disappear almost totally in late 2016 to 2018 after the 3 top pairs retired.
FINAL (02.00pm) => https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/...74F318-A951-4C8F-9451-5DA3F33DF6C3&d=20200112 China has representative in almost all categories only missing men's singles which outright flop. Denmark, Japan, Korea and Chinese Taipei are represented by one spot each. The fully confident and well prepared world number one Chen Yufei displayed excellent performance yesterday to frustrate Carolina Marin, responding well the Olympic Champion attacking smash, commanding the rallies and rarely to produce unforced errors. Earlier on semifinal day, the terrific Tai Tzu Ying outplays He Bingjiao, 21-17 / 21-12, the Chinese was only capable to balance her skillful rival in opening game then repetition of free points happened in next game. A replay of recent Guangzhou Finals between current world top two, the Taiwanese star is favoured to take revenge and halt the in-form Chen winning streak based on head to head stats, 14-2. China starts to build up women's doubles formidable squad towards Uber Cup Final in upcoming May, the development seems going into right path so far, all Chinese affairs of today's final between their second and third ranked pair. Du Y/Li YH eliminated Japan promising talents Matsuyama/Shida while Li WM/Zheng Y stun more established Indonesian number one Polii/Rahayu in gruelling 85 minutes of play, 21-19 / 18-21 / 21-19. Possibly marathon match at stake, chance for Du/Li to elevate their standard after collecting two Super 300 titles last season. Former men's doubles great Lee Yong Dae who partnered with Kim Gi Jung had rough times in their return last year but they begin with big bang here to cruise into Super 500 event final for the first time, coming from one game down the unseeded pair vanquished Alfian/Ardianto, 14-21 / 21-19 / 21-15, the momentum shifted fastly in deciding game to the Koreans. Another sad news for INA camp, three-time World Champions Ahsan/Setiawan also fail to pass Li JH/Li YH fourth time in a row, 22-20 / 19-21 / 24-22, what a really tight encounter that only separated by two points of each game. The Chinese duo aim to redeem their uninspiring result in 2019. Nothing much comment or analysis about mixed doubles department, the mighty Chinese are back to business, they're too strong and dominant for other participants who only delivering little trouble en route to final including semifinal matches. Both Zheng/Huang and Wang/Huang simply outclassed Faizal/Widjaja and Chan PS/Goh LY respectively with their high speed movement and fierce offensive shots. End of road for the underdogs, Ng Ka Long still can't break the jinx against Viktor Axelsen, the Hong Konger had good start in second game, taking the lead most time but the Dane has consistency and seizes momentum at right time, 21-14 / 21-18. Lee Zii Jia could beat Antonsen and Shi YQ but it's an arduous task to tackle the very consistent and steady Kento Momota. The Japanese has various of strokes, excellent placement, strong defense and mental toughness that difficult for Lee to seek loophole on him. Home favourite was trying to bounce back in second game and almost succeeded to force third game but the composed Momota staying calm to keep focus on his last points. Axelsen facing his boogeyman on finale, will he score second victory in 15th meetings this evening considering Momota isn't at best form?
I think it's unfair to kgj. He really was solid yesterday. And if Kim is heavy , what makes you think Lee was slim like his prime days ?
Tournaments held in Malaysia never been the same without LeeChongWei.. I dont know anyone here visited Axiata when he played Momota in Final or if its fullhouse.. but cars were parked from 1km+ to stadium when he played LinDan in Kuching.. 1 of the best atmosphere in badminton.. If i'm healthy, make me feels id rather be LCW than LD coz im revered.. dont think LD can bring a stadium in CHN to a fullhouse simply because CHN is too good in many sports.
ya, watching the match now and Ahsan was indeed fortunate. an injury at this time will doom their Tokyo dream. just stay healthy and steady.
TTY doesn't look confident at all and mistakes are start to creeping in for her. I think the fact that CYF keep getting everything back with great quality are really bothering her.
TTY is having a Srikanth_like day, all possible kind of error. Yes Srikanth_like is the proper adjective to describe maximal erroneous, nervous play.