The WTF says road to Guangzhou. Will it still go on, looking at China's Covid-19 policy or will they move to a new venue? If it is the latter, isn't it time to decide now?
tennis uses a shot clock between points. you have to start your service motion within 20 seconds of the end of the prior point.
Haha.. slightly exaggerated but the general level is certainly higher in WS. AY also lost a lot more to lower ranked players this year than VA did. Nah.. CL is still in top 10
eye contact isn't the total point. what's to stop the server from using a head fake, or no look serve like a no-look pass in basketball? in ko sung-hyun's case he would stroll up to his server's position while staring at the floor and then suddenly stop and flick the serve over. it's a classic head fake. under the current rule the server can deliberately create a distraction and fake out the receiver by making it look like the server has no intent on serving yet.
After watching the Anders's match against Nishimoto, what can i say?., he has lost his respect from me. He deliberately avoided playing the shuttle after saying that he is ready to receive it. How come umpire still did not give red card ?. He did it 4 times. First one is enough of a warning. He even played with his racket once and got away without any consequences?. Wow.
Yeah, I already edited that in, because I completely forgot him. Absolute shame with the pandemic, I hope we're going to see him again and he'll have a chance to properly say goodbye.
Nishimoto playing best badminton along this tournament, a fairy-tale run started from opening round to stun a string of current world's top-10 players, Lakshya Sen then Jonatan Christie, Anders Antonsen and culminated in final to outlast the fighter Chou TC to clinch first ever S750 title. He's undaunted when wasted golden chance to convert championships point into victory after he served wide into the back line, mental fortitude keep his plan to stay on and rattle CTC in decider, his superb retrieving skill and net play are on point to force his older opponent working extra hard as physical condition began to wane gradually. An anti-climax and one sided WS final, Yamaguchi displays total domination & excellent game, faster and innovative how she construct the rallies and earn point effectively, An SY can't do too much despite tried to catch up briefly in mid second game. Fantastic feat by reigning world champion in two consecutive weeks! Latest stars emerge in men's doubles category, Liang WK/Wang C snatch maiden BWF world tour title in their fifth tournament playing together, sigh of relief for China who desperately seek new combination to replace Li/Liu. The stocky and more talented Liang WK was better player of China pair, contributed hard smash or unreadable drops that troubling the Danes frequently. Watanabe/Higashino swallow disappointment once again to play at home turf, slipped second game plot and lost momentum in decider as Thai duo navigate reversal of fortune, some Watanabe ambitious shots missed the line several times, too many errors by the Japanese players standard. Marathon WD match to open final day, whether it's a fascinating or boring fashion as two BWF commmentators Gill Clark and Steen Pedersen mostly quiet throughout the match to watch unstoppable long duration rallies which resemblance practice session of two Korean pairs. A quiet September, world tour will resume on third week of October in Europe, big question is looming whether the tours in China (Nov & Dec) stick to the schedule or cancelled at the end.
Kenta Nishimoto, amazing run from start to finish throughout the tournament and lifting the trophy. Congratulations. Team Japan has a successor to Momota now. Either Nishimoto is playing above himself round after round (quite a remarkable feat) or he's raised his game to another level or both (!).
Don't worry, I'm sure Sindhu is no longer a serious threat to this Akane who's at another level now. I understand Sindhu has a +5 H2H against AY but that is and will be history soon enough. From now on it's the future and not the past that count more as AY is still only 25, in her prime at the moment and there's no knowing how many more coveted titles she can garner going forward.
Furthermore, Sindhu's height advantage over such a short player like Akane at 1.56m is nullified by the latter's speed, incredible retrieving ability ,amazing court coverage, consistency in shotmaking, and, to add, attacking effectiveness especially after parrying the opponent's attacking shots (or when the opponent is visibly tired after a long, grueling rally). As it is, WS nowadays is very competitive with intense rivalry among the top 5 to 10 players who are capable of beating each other on a good day, though atm AY appears to have a clear edge over the rest, from slight to significant depending on which player she's facing. Still, how long such a situation is going to last is anybody's guess.
While I agree with Gill that Antonsen should have been ready to receive that flick serve and a couple of short serves, I noticed that Nishimoto is doing it deliberately to throw off his opponents. He tried it a bunch of times against CTC today as well.
I think Sindhu's will need to improve her footwork to deal with the current Akane. Sindhu's attacking ability is really powerful but will need to be able to create the opportunities for her to attack. On the other hand, I think Carolina Marin improved noticeably her overhead and net strokes. She might be the one to watch should she continue to improve on her match fitness. Akane did not just improve her fitness and speed. Her strokes have also improved, her net shots are harder to read, the retrieving quality at the net better, and the sudden attacks seems to come from nowhere and when least expected. It's great to watch this Akane Yamaguchi playing and hope this version will last.
*sighs* . Viktor has dominated the whole badminton scene , he appears invincible. that is because of his alien -like play and not some "decrease" in competition. decrease in competition doesn't just happen . Momota declined ,but the rest are still there. AY beat ASY so easily , so it must be that WS is a trash sector and the competition is very low?? that doesn't make any sense. all the current top 10 MS are very skilled and very good. LS, Kunlavut , Loh , CTC , Christie , Ginting , Prannoy, Nishimoto, LZJ are all extremely good players. VA still has out-of-this-world domination . On merit.
don't be so sure....next olympics could be the same story waiting for sindhu's return! Sindhu is not that old, could carry on till paris at top level ..hoping she finds her form again as well! Sindhu is the only one AY isn't "dominating" ,from their past encounters but sindhu has been on a downward slope - not being able to win against the top 3-4 like ASY, AY, CYF, TTY