So that is Xia Huan partnering Wang Yilv, almost forgot what she looks like. She went to Germany for surgical treatment and rested for about a year and only just came back to full time training and playing.
Don't worry, friend. There is Lin Guipu and the never-say-die and mentally very strong Sih Yuqi waiting to take over. The best ever, be it lin Dan or LCW is always difficult to replace.
if u watch lin dan vs derek wong of singapore in the earlier round, derek won quite a number of point tru smashes...
Yup, LD bags first title of this year really smoothly, interesting to see his action next in BAC to chase back to back winning. CHN Thomas team needs LD desperately as their unconvincing Du PY and Wang ZM.
So LD won? Was it or should I ask how boring was the game? Only 9 points for the 2nd game. Maybe LD gave some free points. Speaks volume of mighty CHN's MS dept.. They still need this old horse for the major titles. Btw, is he still blowing his nose?
Lin Dan is quite familiar with WZM and THW's game as they train and spar together the last couple of months. No matter how hard both these guys try to beat him, he'd still know how to beat them. So far in this tournament, I'd say Derek Wong stretched Lin Dan the most, as much as WZM but only in G1 as G2 was a clear-cut affair. THW managed to push LD only sporadically and that's because LD was getting better as the tournament progressed. My 2 cents. At next week's BAC, Lin Dan will be further tested. In his half of the draw are K Srikanth in R1, Chou Tien Chen, Lee Dong Keun,Darren Liew, Wei Nan and Boonsak Ponsana - up to QF, then at the SF he may face Kento Momota or Hu Yun, just to mention two, finally at the last hurdle awaiting him could be Son Wan Ho, Chong Wei Feng,Hguyen Tien Minh,Tanongsak, Hsu Jen Hao,Kashyap,etc - any of whom has a fair chance of surprising Lin Dan in his 2nd comeback tournament after another long hiatus. Right, the BAC presents another window of opportunity for more players to take a crack at beating Lin Dan, the earlier the better before he is (at risk of sounding cliche) at the top of his game. All the best to Lin Dan and his most worthy opponents.
After watching all the five Lin Dan matches, it's my humble opinion that Wang Zhengming came closest to beating Lin Dan in G1, not simply going by the score but how he played using his speed and power smashes. In fact Lin Dan admitted that he was aware that,besides the foreign players, his fellow teammates would go all out and play above themselves to beat him, so he reminded himself to stay calm,keep focused and maintain the right mental attitude all the way. That was how in G1 when WZM was ahead of him at 17-14,then 19-16 that he won the next 5 points to wrap up the set.
Don't worry needlessly, LYB will never allow CHN MS to end up like MAS one-man show. With CHN's depth of talents wave after wave, it won't be long before another one or two up-and-comers rise to prominence inexorably. Moreover, it's too pessimistic and premature to even think of writing Chen Long off as far as dealing with LCW is concerned. Bear in mind that Chen Long beating LCW four times in a row , all in straight sets, was an unprecedented feat, one that surpassed even Lin Dan's record against the same archrival - I still believe Chen Long will be back stronger and scaling greater heights. Wishful thinking or not,the future will tell.
I dont want to dwell too much on this but LYB's record speaks for itself as far as replacing the top players are concerned or training the younger players to take over. Can you imagine this happening in China's table tennis team ie bringing back a L.Dan to take part in the table tennis's equivalent of the Thomas cup? There are too many one dimensional MS players in the Chinese team.
Richard Kaufman. He does all kinds of sports, including ping-pong, I think. All in all, it's a very competitive and entertaining final session that any tournament organizer and fans can be happen with. LD looks in mid-season form. Although better opposition is needed for some real test. WZM has the capability to beat the current LD but does not have the heart and mind to do so. The Luo sisters are evils that few can shake off. With them on the team, the Japanese grinders can't beat the Chinese in WD because they got enough of them in practice already. Lu Kai and Huang YaQiong seem on their way to stardom. HYQ needs to cut down on her mistakes. They probably won't split HYQ/YXH now. But HYQ/TYT can be very interesting, until Chen QingChen/Tang YuanTing. Kang Jun/Liu Cheng may be another Liu XiaoLong/Qiu ZhiHan but with a weaker Liu XiaoLong and a stronger Qiu ZhiHan. Shen YaYing has grown a lot since I saw her a couple years ago. She looks a lot stronger now. When she walked on to court, I thought that was Jiang YanJiao. Doesn't Wang Yilv look like Matt Damon?
I understand your concern. After the historic LOG'12 clean sweep,Team CHN has taken her foot off the pedal and 'rested on their laurels' too much for which LYB himself expressed he's partly to blame and as he said 2013 was CBA's worst performance in years. Since then he and his coaches have solved the CHN WS problem as we are witnessing this year. I believe CBA is now working hard on their MD and MS situation, bearing in mind he sees things in 4-year cycles which coincides with the Olympics. Actually, Lin Dan's comeback is a separate issue,believe it or not, just that it happens to occur at a time when CHN MS is in need of reinforcement, thus it fits in with the overall scheme of things strategically. When once Lin Dan plays himself into top form based on his present condition and age, and Chen Long regains his prowess to adequately tackle LCW as well,and you include another one or two high caliber players (whoever they might be) in good time, well... I shan't say more, let the future tell. Right now, I share your sentiment that the current state of CHN MS is a bit stagnant but I'm optimistic it will improve dramatically, perhaps as early as end of the year(?). My 2 cents.
Yes he is still blowing nose though he is gone slick with thick oil on his hair and trimmed beard every time.
