Of course Viktor played quite well, and CL had a large and painful blister on his foot since the group stages, which might have affected the result.
Viktor is the better player in the gold medal match. He gained more confidence since his victory in All England 2020 and the tournaments he entered since then. Chen Long had no real gauge of Viktor's improvement without playing him in tournaments and he has trouble adapting to Viktor's game. That's why he lost.
Chen Long is not on the Chinese team of players entering Sudirman Cup. Does this mean he won't take part in some of the other upcoming European events? He's 32, which means retirement talk would not be all that far-fetched. Are any Chinese sources discussing his possible retirement?
Allow me to repost it here: https://sports.sina.com.cn/others/badmin/2021-09-16/doc-iktzscyx4591363.shtml No, Chen Long is not retiring yet, he just wants to take a break and prepare for next year's Asian Games. My selective translation follows: “恭喜石宇奇,他打得非常好。输给了更年轻、更优秀的石宇奇,没什么遗憾。希望石宇奇在决赛中能够发挥出自己的水平,拿到冠军。”谌龙赛后说。 "Congratulations Shi Yuqi, he played very well. Lost to the younger and better Shi Yuqi, no regrets. I hope Shi Yuqi can play his best in the final and win the championship." Chen Long said after the game. 石宇奇说:“这场球对阵龙哥,我全力以赴。赛场上,总感觉龙哥是不是前两场累了,所以跑不起来。” Shi Yuqi said, "I went all out against Bro Long in this match. On the court, I always felt that Bro Long might be tired after the previous two matches, so he couldn't run." 谌龙坦言,打了十多天,时间有点长,但是赛制对每个运动员都是公平的,比赛的时间安排非常合理,只是对自己来说会有一些吃力,恢复得没有那么好。 Chen Long admitted, playing more than 10 days, a little long, but the system is fair to each athlete, the match schedule is very reasonable, but for me it poses some difficulty, recovery is not so good. [Perhaps Chen Long at age 32 is beginning to show his age, slower rate of recovery, esp when playing two such big tournaments within a short interval, the more so in the CNG for more than 10 days in a row competing in both the team and individual events from R1 to the finals - Justin] “人生总有遗憾,奥运会决赛输了的遗憾可能会更大一些。今年对我来说,奥运会和全运会是最重要的比赛。自己一路走来,还不错。”谌龙说。 "There are always regrets in life, and losing in the Olympic final is probably a bigger one. The Olympics and the National Games are the most important competitions for me this year. It's been a good journey." Chen Long said. 对于今后的计划,谌龙表示将会在身体和生活上好好调整,多陪陪家人。 As to what's next, Chen long said he would adjust his body and life to spend more time with his family. “恢复训练当然非常辛苦,但我觉得,只要雄心壮志还在,应该也没什么问题。巴黎奥运会还有三年,(能否参赛)要打个问号,先好好准备明年的亚运会吧。”谌龙说。 "Of course it is very hard to get back to training, but I think as long as the ambition is still there, I should be ok. The Paris Olympics is three years away, so (whether I'd be participating) is a question mark. Let me first prepare for next year's Asian Games," Chen Long said.
As much as I want to see CL back on court and make another impact on the world of badminton towards the end of his career, I am really glad to see that he gets to spend quality time with his son and wife
He is Retired it seems. In an interview yesterday, Lakshya Sen said that he wanted to reach Top 8 ranking ( Now he is in 9th), he achieved that as ' Chen Long ' is retired, he would be seeded in Tournaments so that he dont need to play seeds. Etc. Does anybody know?. Chen long retired ! ?
From an article I read recently (or CL's weibo? not sure where) he ended his vacation which he began after the Tokyo OG. He seems to be back to training now in preperation for the Asian Games which seems to be his last goal. He has done pretty well in the China Open in the past, might decide to play one last tournament on home soil after the AG. So yeah, doesn't seem like LS has to worry about his 8th seed. But with Ginting/Christie struggling atm and LKY being inconsistent he has a very good shot at climbing even higher
He returned to training just for Asian games? Did he say anything? Or is he is juz returning full time?
If he’s gonna wait for the Asian Games, whenever they decide to hold it, he might as well start playing in other international tournaments again. It would be good for his preparations too.