OK, well, to each his/her own. Suffice for me to say that a WSX who is the same former mediocre, lackluster underperformer that she is/was for that one-and-a-half year period, then she would never be able to beat the present Intanon R twice (should I say,thrice) in one month nor won the French Open title. About the current OSIM SS Standing for CHN WS, Wang Shixian is at no.3 whereas Wang Yihan is at 11 (LXR at 10). As such WYH is the one who needed the ranking points more and would most certainly want to beat Porntip today and, if possible, advance to the final eventually, better still, win it. Whatever, WYH is still one of my favourites, I have faith in her that she can perform up to expectation more often than not. (Maybe she is affected or troubled by something outside badminton ? Never mind, better not hazard a guess or speculate wildly).
Well, and again this is just speculation, maybe WYH doesn't really care to get into the SS Final. You yourself said that the Chinese team doesn't really care about this tournament, WYH has already won it before, and let's face it, Chinese athletes don't get to keep prize money. Maybe she's tired and would love a break at the end of the year, so why not let WSX shoulder the responsibility especially when she needs it? I'll bet WYH's main goal is that big event in Korea next year. Maybe IR let it go for whatever reasons, too - all I know is that both players (particularly WYH) were playing well below what they're capable of.
WYH playing below par to lose to players she is expected to beat is no longer that surprising nor hard to swallow anymore, for me, that is. Remember how she suffered a stunning defeat to the JPN player Uchida at the JPN Open recently? What about her losses at the WC'13 to Sindhu, at the INA SS'13 to Yip Pui Ying in R1, at the All England '13 to Lindaweni Fanetri in R1, at the Korea Open PSS to Bae YJ also in R1 - all of which occurred this year ? To be honest, I really feel for Wang YH and earnestly wish to see her back to her all conquering, winning ways again; the sooner the better because she has proven herself before in convincing manner that she has what it takes to be numero uno. As for Intanon R, she has only just achieved her greatest feat as WC this year but it's also an undeniable fact that she has yet to consolidate her position at the top, far from it. So how can she afford to keep losing , twice at the QF stage and once at the SF stage of SS events, all in the space of less than two months ? And how would her losing to foreign players help her fellow teammates to advance themselves ? Even more ridiculous is for her to avoid competing against her compatriots the next round by contriving to lose to others instead ? Who stands to benefit and how, if not why ?
The all Korean QF was the best macht imho. Long interesting, spectatcular rallies. Good to see Lee/Yoo come through. Interesting that Ko/Lee had less problems with the Kims. But imo Yoo already proved to be way better and consistent in serve, return, third shot and flat game. In longer rallies like today Ko had the advantage over Yoo. Intanon really struggles vs. Wang Shixian, but you have to admit WSX is on fire. I believe she has transformed her game, only rarely shrieking (makes her more focused) and she is on par with her compatriots, or even better atm. Pressure is on Rat. She will need some time to adjust and come back even stronger i hope. It is not easy to deal with this hype of being the youngest WC. She also had to play only Chn player in this tourney. And even the 2nd tire girls are tough tasks. I wouldn´t overrate this lose today and the clear second set (she lost the belief after not converting the first set). Anyway, well played by WSX.
See here as posted by Penwinack : https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151828531013860&set=a.10151819311983860.1073741845.773238859&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-ash3%2F993753_10151828531013860_252790118_n.jpg&size=900%2C525#!/photo.php?fbid=10151828531013860&set=p.10151828531013860&type=3&permPage=1
WSX has never been afraid of "skilled" players. Her troubles are with powerful attacking players. Her record over IR is no coincidence. Despite of the misinformation given by the commentators, WSX is one of the very best in front of the net. IR is better than WSX in the back court where IR is capable of imaginative attacking shots to score directly while WSX may need extra exchanges to move the opponents out of position.
WSX is definitely up there as one of the best WS players in the world, theres no doubting that. To beat her is not easy for RI or anyone today, likewise not easy for WSX as well to beat the other top ranking players unless there is a special motivation like worldchampionship or the Olympics. For WSX, I think, her greatest motivation is to proof again that she is still the best after a lean spell.
