Your statement will have something resembling validity once they've won Olympic Gold (or several WC Golds). Until then, it's just spiteful.
Fret not, Zhang Nan's record is safe, he's proven his topmost pedigree beyond a shadow of a doubt; Zheng Siwei still has a long way to go to measure up to him but he may get there or even surpass ZN one day in the future, who knows.
Im not underestimating it at all. The fact that HBJ seized the opportunity is wonderful and nobody is denying that Japanese ladies are cruising with 5 players in top 20 but there is not denying that the competition was kinda weak and the players from Top 10 didn't perform well or skipthe tournament entirely. Anyway, Denmark SSP will tell us who was right.
Zhang Nan winning the OG is more to do with FHF than himself and the fact MA/HS + LYD/YYS choked. Can't remember what else ZN had won with FHF except the French Open and SG Open. In mixed he was very good no doubt but in dbls he was just nowhere near as consistent. FHF paired with anyone had always done well anyways, even with Hong Wei they got to Korean Open finals. In XD I feel ZSW will surpass ZN, he's just so much faster and more explosive overall while ZN may have better control on his really good days. Not sure which top pair ZSW/CQC hasn't beaten yet.
World Number One Lee Chong Wei, expectedly, defeated the Dane, Jorgensen to secure his sixth Japan Open title. Chong Wei faced his hardest challenge in this tournament, taken to three exciting sets by World No.5 Jorgense who was defeated 18-21, 21-15 and 16-21. Both of them showed promising form in the final, so expect one of them to win the Korea Open, with the absence of Lin Dan and Chen Long. In WS, He Bingjiao defeated fellow compatiot, Sun Yu who ousted Akane Yamaguchi in the semifinal, again in three sets. While Bingjao lost focus in the second set, she found her rythm again to took the third set and securing her first Japan Open title. In Men's Double department, Chinese youngster, Li/Liu successfully defeat the higher ranking Korea opponents, Ko/Kim. Li/Liu showed a great form in time for Korea Open while Korea's MD are still trying to find their chemistry with each-other. On the other hand, home-pair and Olympic Gold medalist Matsutomo/Takahashi failed to secure the win after they failed to find their touch in the second and third set against the Silver medalist, the Danes, Christinna/Kamilla who took the final set to win the final, thus disappointing the home crowd who wanted the home pair to take the Women's Double title. The huge upset is in the Mixed Double, as World Number One and the first seed Ko/Kim Hana was overwhelmed by the upcoming China's mixed specialist Zheng/Chen who conquered the match, winning in two straight sets, 21-10 and 21-16.
Almost. One victory far back, iirc. Lee Chong Wei stays the player to beat, at least for Danish players. They (VA, JOJ and HKV) really struggle to beat LCW, they have no answer to his game, whereas they get the occasional victory over Chen Long or Lin Dan.
Even then, I think JOJ came almost the closest to upsetting LCW this time. After the rubber game interval, LCW stopped playing the net (as JOJ dominated him there) and upped the pace, and JOJ couldn't keep up, making many errors.
Mixed is an incredibly tactical discipline, so being fast and explosive alone will not make you a great player - let's see in these coming years what ZSW has to offer. To surpass ZN in XD, he will have to achieve a lot. Imop ZN's greatest strengths are his vision for the court, his mid-court play and his defense. He places the shuttle very well, not giving opponents a lot of attacking opportunities, and placed the shuttle well when attacking to allow his outstanding partner to get involved at the net. His attack wasnt very penetrating and his movement not the most explosive (by elite pro standards), but if you have other strengths, those aren't necessities in XD. Anyhow. Not saying ZSW cant surpass ZN, just that thats a very ambitious goal.
Zhang Nan's stellar record is mainly in XD, only a little in MD, and he's won practically everything in XD, completing what we call the grand slam in badminton, including a whole host of prestigious titles. In this regard, Zheng Siwei/Chen Qingchen still have a long way to go, a lot more to catch up. I'm equally impressed as you are in the youngsters but I'll give them time to prove themselves and they do have a lot of time on their side, both being 19 years old at the moment. Best of all, they are still growing and developing as a pair although already their prowess is well-known this one year and the scary part is they are on course to grow from strength to strength as time goes by. Nobody knows what heights they can attain in future but their immense talent is widely acknowledged, I daresay second to none.
LCW-JOJ should be 17-1 after todays match, wasnt LCW injured or had some problem the only time he lost? Too bad what happened to Momota, he was better than Jorgensen already at age 21.
And Tago was also an amazing player, JPN system is terrible, cannot even keep their best MS players playing. If Momota and Tago played in Thomas cup and were in tip top shape they will defend the title for sure.
To add, Zhang Nan is only 26 years old now, born 1st Mar 1990 , whilst his acclaimed partner Zhao Yunlei has already retired, and that means ZN still has a lot going for him. I believe whoever is slated to partner him in XD, and we know CHN has no lack of talents to choose from, they are likely to be a pair of world-beaters to garner more accolades in the near future.
Thought the world is catching up. But the Chinese factory is not short of talent. The world has a whole new bunch of Chinese robots to deal with!
