Nobody is saying Lin Dan will reign again in his twilight years, we are not so unrealistic. But who cares about all those losses you mentioned lately and in recent years, what we were treated to by Lin Dan yesterday in the way he came from behind to best a 10 years younger formidable opponent, coming from the brink of defeat, turning the tables on him and eventually delivering the knockout blow was more than we could hope for. It's so exhilarating, joyful beyond measure that everything else receded into the background, faded into oblivion and forgotten. Which player wouldn't give an arm and leg to be in Lin Dan's shoes. To me, he didn't have to go back to playing like Super Dan of his younger years when he struck fear in all his opponents standing opposite him, no, he just played as the 'new' Lin Dan at his best, even minus the lethal weapon, his killer smash, to prevail and put the young upstart in his place. That's more than enough for me.
Don't underestimate Shi Yuqi. The way he despatched Hu Yun, Ng Kah Long and Sakai Kazumasa - just look at the scorelines, all three of them - he is no less tough than anyone in this tournament. And the young man is on a mission to prove and redeem himself after his fiasco at the Asia Mixed team , dismiss or under-rate him at your own peril. I believe Lin Dan is aware of what he is facing later today. I assure you, Shi Yuqi will never let pass such a rare opportunity to create history for himself, his illustrious senior has won too much to be the most decorated player ever and won't need a 7th AE crown to prove anything. For SYQ it's different, his young career has only just taken off on the international stage,he has a lot more to do to carve a name for himself, the stakes are high for him who has yet to score a big ,.much sought-after prize. He would be a fool not to make the most of it, Lin Dan is not going to do him any favours, sure as hell.
I hope neither SYQ nor CTC would deny us a Lin Dan - Lee CW Dream Final. It might be the last time we see them contest a final of a prestigious tournament.
I agree.. First time Shi Yuqi is looking good after the injury comeback. His fwd lunges still seem rusty and I am sure LD will try to exploit that.
Actually I don't want to see a Lin Dan lcw final. I don't see any way Lin Dan can win it. And I don't want ld haters getting any more opportunities to belittle him. My problem with these ld haters is not that they are incorrect about Lin Dan's performance recently. I myself have been too critical of him. The problem is that they use his current performance to belittle the legend that was forged with a decade of victory. With the present, they deny his past.
I understand your point. All I can say is they are being in denial, hypocritical, applying double standard, and grossly unfair to Lin Dan. The truth is incontrovertible.
I have had no doubt ever that he has in him and still does to demolish competition. But I focus on results, not on intangibles. Lin Dan had a VERY GOOD chance at winning his third gold at Olympics. Yet he was found launching cafes, fighting for sponsorships, and launching branded undies. He took the competition too lightly and was never focused. If having your third gold medal, and cementing your status as the undisputed GOAT, isn't enough. Nothing else can be. Simply put, I have made it a habit to put no hope on Lin Dan.
Yeah, yet more pp who didn't even watch the match "generously" offering their expert diagnosis.... It was a close match because Goh was off-form in the Malaysian MD, while Li was off-form in the Chinese MD-- but Liu in the Chinese MD was the MVP of the game because he closed the net to challenge Tan whenever he could! Unfortunately, this usually means (and I predict) more "breakups" in the Chinese pairings because Chinese head coach Li Yongbo only sees "combos" not "chemistry", i.e. he keeps trying to weed out "weaker" players and pairing the "stronger" ones together-- E.g (1) he utterly destroyed Chinese WD's chances in the last Olympics by switching pairings right up to the announcement of China's entries; (2) he also ruined the men's chances in the last Thomas Cup because the MDs playing in this tournament were ALL playing in the last Thomas Cup-- but with completely DIFFERENT partners (playing since their youth championship days and still haven't found their career partners, lol)! Too bad Li Yongbo is still dreaming of "finding" the next big thing instead of updating his training routine/style, etc.... even as the population "bonus/resource" of China starts running out as the "hordes" of poor young children trying to make it or break it in badminton is not quite the same anymore with their growing middle-class. I mean, the fate of his "personally groomed" (known in China as the "wasted") generation of players like Wang Zhengming, Du Pengyu, Wang Yihan, Wang Shixian, is not exactly inspiring (especially since the Chinese badminton federation does not actually permit the existence of "independent players" in the international circuit)... and you can also forget about the possibility of him "grooming" 33 years-old Olympic Champions like Zhang Ning. or 10 years-old stable partnerships like Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng.
Lol, all the salt from LD fans.... My dudes-- even multiple World Championships winners like Chen Long have pp who instinctively DON'T like him/ his character/ playing style/ etc, so stop tearing up like a snowflake just because there are pp who dislike LD. Hint: the popularity of the Legends signed by Yonex is NOT really about the H2H or whatever stats you can come up with-- it's about players like Li Yong Dae, who actually makes people WANT to watch/play badminton...
I empathise with you. Just that ,to put in perspective, the AE however prestigious the creme de la creme of Superseries, is no longer a major on the same level as the WC and OG. So, in a way, the outcome of their AE final should it come about, matters not so much as just seeing them play. I mean, no matter what, nothing can detract from Lin Dan's superlative records and accomplishments, nobody even comes near. Somehow,I have a feeling Lin Dan would rather play LCW in the final , not because he fears losing to any young guns - he is fearless and has nothing to lose - just that he would prefer to match up with an old foe whom he has the highest regard. I mean having beaten LCW so many times and grabbing all the majors from him, I'm sure Lin Dan won't mind another unfavourable outcome of lesser significance. But for us badminton fans, only their face-off can provide us the aura as no other matchups can so far and all the sponsors and organizers know that and wish for it too. Let the LD-haters and detractors run down LD whenever his loss affords them an opportunity to do so, for all I care, it only serves to do them a disservice and reflects badly on themselves. We should avoid being petty, narrow-minded and mean-spirited to any older player past 30 who still want to carry on contributing their part to badminton and enjoying it. Lee Hyun Il, Marc Zwiebler, Hu Yun, Wei Nan, Hans Kristian Vittinghus, Nguyen Tien Minh, Boonsak Ponsana, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Simon Santoso, are some notable examples worth encouraging and emulating by the young ones. Didn't the great Peter Gade choose to retire only at the ripe 'old' age of 36 and in his 30s he didn't achieve anything comparable to Lin Dan's at the same age ? As the Chinese saying goes, true gold fears no fire.
LD is going downhill and has been since 2014. Even if he wins AE, I won't consider him the favorite to win the WC this year. He was not at his best form or shape last year at the Olympics. Do I think his shape is better in an off Olympic year? Probably not. My guess is LD is probably still pre-occupied with being at TV star and he's probably thinking of his next mistress. I would like to see him prove me wrong by winning both AE and WC this year. But until then, I am skeptical. Having said that, it's still great to see a legend like him still playing. Enjoy LD and LCW while we can. Any year could be the last year of their career now.
I hope Shi Yuqi tears LD`s old ass apart in the semis today and make him see the light. But the ever intervening China coaches must have already told Shi Yuqi to play easy against his uncle. What a pity!
LCW's comeback was even more remarkable. He was trailing 13-20 in the rubber and won the match. That too in the finals.
No, the CHN coaches won't interfere, Lin Dan doesn't need it and they have to give the younger players a chance to prove themselves and be ready to take over the old guards.
the thread for semi-finals and finals is here.. http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...-2017-semifinal-final-11th-12th-march.170203/
China coaches interfere everywhere. They must save LDs ass. Shi Yuqi is on fire. It is important to protect LD the oldie for some more time.
Pardon me for butting in,I feel you're the one being salty whatever that means. Chen Long aside, what you say about Lee Yong Dae flies in the face of reality. Is he a bigger star than Lin Dan ? Just ask BWF, the big sponsors, players, coaches and badminton fans everywhere. If you were Yonex, how much would you sign up LYD vis-a-vis Lin Dan ? Perhaps in South Korea, LYD is a bigger star than Lin Dan but in China alone LD fans greatly outnumber LYD's in Korea by far, not to mention the rest of the world. Why don't you conduct a poll here to convince yourself ?
That's your own thinking. Even so, I see no necessity nor reason for them to do so. Lin Dan losing to SYQ is an internal affair, the only way to save LD is for him to prove it himself that he still have it; they don't want him to screw up the Sudirman Cup by not knowing his real capability at this stage.
That's precisely my point isn't it? Name the best badminton player ever, not the most favorite or popular badminton player. No bias or prejudice allowed, get it?
