My feelings about Bao Chun Lai's performance today: 1) Slow, slow and slow. He had very serious trouble keeping up with Peter Gade's pace. BCL moves too clumsily as its his style. 2) Too many unforced errors. He simply cannot keep his concentration when under pressure from Peter. 3) Not offensive enough. Peter was doing most of the attacking and BCL simply tried to hang on and defend. But you can't defend if you are prone to unforced errors. 4) BCL is simply very tired.
However, by sheer quality, BCL is no way near Peter Gade yet. Gade is simply a fantastic player. I could only truely appreciate his brilliance watching him playing right in front of me (yes, if you watch the TV broadcast, you would see me sitting in the front row and I am nto saying which ). Gade simply moves around so well and his shots are just so efficient especially his drop shots and netplays. The enormous crowd reception after the game says it all, his game is simply too beautiful.
ya, gade is really good especially when he play against Chen Yu. and today against BCL is also a great match.
Sigh, my prediction of the all-CHN MS affair in the SO Final is off.... hmm, not to sound like an excuse, but i think this is the most significant factor, esp. comparing Gade didn't play last week at the IO..Esp. after last week's marathon @ the IO, in the sweltering and humid temperature.....it should be interesting to see how far he can go next week in the MO, if he decides to play there also.......
BCL will be not be in the MO. Only Chen Hong will join the other first team players (Chen Jin, Lin Dan, and a few young players) at Sarawak.
But if you are playing 2 tournaments straight, it drains you out a lot. Travelling, training, playing against other good players, etc... We as spectators attending just one event for the past few days can get a little tiring as well not to mention competing. Its like going for school exams for 2 weeks straight.
Correct, totally agree with your comments. It is not just the physical but also mental stamina required. As such, I hope LCW's dropping out of Indonesian Open so early was a ploy to reserve everything for the MO for which he is a defending champion. He said he was preparing for the MO, so I like to believe him. As for Peter Gade, he knew he had the guys 'covered' since he did not play in the IO -- BCl is a spent force after IO. Chen Hong should go home after SO coz I do not think he will be able to 'raise his racket' in the MO.
I hope Malaysian players will come out with something to do in MO next week... It has been a long disappearance of Malaysian players in semifinals n finals
I was late for the mixed doubles semifinals :crying: Anyway here are the rest of the semifinals photos I took... Women Singles Semifinals
