Shi Yuqi putting Lu Guangzu in his place, 21-9, 21-13, a cinch. I must say SYQ is gradually showing more and more glimpses of his former self here, noticeably in terms of speed and agility. Hope to see him back to his very best soon.
Another big blow to Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong, losing two big, highly-coveted titles, the international OG and now the CNG (regarded as China's mini Olympics held quadrennially) less than two months apart to their compatriots, Wang Yilu/Huang Dongping, against whom they hold an overwhelming H2H record and widely touted as the favourite for the two aforesaid crowns.
Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong not quite their normal selves today, not as sharp as they usually are and made too many mistakes, both somewhat tentative in their shotmaking.
At the Tokyo OG final, Li JH/Liu YC just couldn't get their game going against the TPE pair, at sixes and sevens. Today at the CNG MD Final, they are again unable to play at their normal level, prone to errors. Congrats to Zhou Haodong/Wang Chang, may this unexpected but elated victory be a harbinger of greater things to come in future.
Normally Lu Guangzu plays a fast attacking game, but SYQ was able to neutralised that with his own speed and attacking game. SYQ had very good defense today and his smashes, down the lines or cross court were very powerful. The speedy play and aggression also sapped a lot of his energy. At 16-11 in the second set he was visibly tired. I was wondering what could have happened if LGZ managed to close the gap.
Wang Chang also took part in the BWF World Junior Mixed Team Championships 2017 Badminton. If one has free time,I really recommend watching the final China vs Malaysia,quite a lot of young players from both countries are going to play in the Sudirman Cup this year,it's nice to see where they started. The match is on YouTube.
To me, it's a commendable practice and heartwarming to see the coaches standing on the winners' podium beside their respective charges to receive their own medals and souvenirs/gifts, that is, both athlete(s) and coach(es) are each presented the same type of medal. This is a heartfelt gesture of gratitude that players wish to show their mentors/teachers, called 'sifu' 师父, literally, the master in English - a special relationship or bond between the student/disciple and their teacher/master according to Chinese traditional values. My understanding is that in China, it is not only those Olympic medalists who are rewarded for their achievements but also their respective teachers/mentors/masters/coaches, not only the latest or current ones but also all their previous or early/earlier ones who have coached them before, including those who first discovered, recruited or talent scouted the athletes/students. It is in keeping with the famous age-old Chinese saying, "A day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father."[ 一日为师,终身为父 ], or literally, “Teacher for one day, father forever.”
After coming from the recovery, gao fangjie seems to be far behind from her best. I doubt weather future of her badminton career.
Would you know the reason why couldn't SYQ played at such level with the Olympic match Vs axelsen? Injured? Not 100%?
Not too sure about it. I myself was quite disappointed with his loss, so tamely to VA, a shadow of his former self. In fact, just a month or so before the Tokyo Olympics, CBA held a simulation match for their Olympians ( forgot who he played ) but Xia Xuanze commented he wasn't too certain of SYQ's form, as good as admitting SYQ wasn't back to his best yet as duly reported in some articles. At the same time, he opined that Chen Long was doing all right under Li Mao's guidance and Chen Yu's training; even CL himself said he's learnt some things from Li Mao and was satisfied with his preparation. As I recalled, it was reported SYQ was briefly unwell for a week or so in the months leading to the Olympics, not injured but some sickness (not revealed) which required him taking a short rest. My apologies, during the pandemic during which international tournaments were either canceled or postponed, I hadn't been following the news closely, so am unable to tell you much (unless I start researching the relevant news on the Chinese website, too tedious for me, sorry about it). Anyway, since his ankle injury in 2019 , SYQ had been struggling to get back into competition so as to improve his Race to Tokyo Standing. In my opinion, with the benefit of hindsight, he made an attempt to resume competition too soon, barely three months after surgery, but actually ended up exacerbating his situation, creating complications and prolonging his recovery. While I could understand his eagerness and anxiety to improve his ranking and get a seeding so as to avoid meeting the top players in the early rounds, his unwise decision only made matters worse for him as he had to take longer breaks before resuming intensive systematic training. As it turned out, the Tokyo OG was postponed due to the global pandemic for which he expressed relief at having more time to recover and get back into shape. Still it didn't go too smoothly for him as we now know. Well, let's wait and see how SYQ fares in the two major team championships, SC and TC, to give us a clearer picture of his comeback status - will it be a great or problematic one? The answer will be known soon.
Hmm...a netizen posted on www.zhuafan,tech streaming website that Zheng Siwei was nursing some back injury.
Yeah, I remember reading a post somewhere about ZSW having a injury a few months before the Olympics which sicnificantly shortened the amount of time he and HYQ had to prepare and train. He looked fine to me throughout the matches he played, but still, playing at only 98% against an opponent of that calibar...
Ah, yes, I remember now, it happened some months back and it affected his (their) training. Right, for badminton at the top where little separates the two pairs, every little bit counts, whether physical or mental.
HD Videos of Matches for Gold, Silver and Bronze Medels at the 2021 Chinese National Games, from 二郎侃球's Microblog. Women's Singles Chen YuFei vs He BingJiao https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4682451679903848?from=old_pc_videoshow Wang ZhiYi vs Tan Ning https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4682177028489369?from=old_pc_videoshow Women's Doubles Chen QingChen / Jia YiFan vs Du Yue / Li YinHui https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4682469254037584?from=old_pc_videoshow Liu XuanXuan / Keng ShuLiang vs Li WenMei / Zheng Yu https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4682326609952787?from=old_pc_videoshow Men's Singles Shi YuQi vs Lu GuangZu https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4682488589779072?from=old_pc_videoshow *Sun FeiXiang won by default over Chen Long for the Bronze Medal. Mixed Doubles Zheng SiWei / Huang YaQiong vs Wang YiLu / Huang DongPing, https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4682546529894555?from=old_pc_videoshow Ren XiangYu / Feng XueYing vs Huang JiaWei / Wei YaXin https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4682154807066642?from=old_pc_videoshow Men's Doubles Li JunHui / Liu YuChen vs Zhou HaoDong / Wang Chang https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4682517870215183?from=old_pc_videoshow *Zheng SiWei / Wang YiLyu won by default over Liu Cheng / He JiTing for the Bronze Medal.
It's very tight competition there, some younger talents should replace her position, Wang Zhiyi (for sure) followed by Han Qianxi or Dai Wang.