Pretty confident, KV's game is much solid, easy to consitently maintain, has more weapons. He seem to be more mindful of how he is winning, where as I find KN, LS some how want to win, dig too much, bend too much, jump too much work too hard. KV's win looked much cleaner.
not possible as AE spectators are akin to tennis...too quiet I think you can only hv one, crowd cheering to every shots or sweet sound of string hitting the cock
KV in most of his games, he is the paragon of consistency. He can put pressure on his opponents by upping the tempo a bit, but for the most part he wants to keep the game slow. At that slower pace, there is less risk of unforced errors, and less pace for the opponent to feed off and put pressure on KV. This way KV can play his consistent base game until the lights go out in the evening. So as long as his defence holds against his opponents' attacks, he will frustrate them into error, or simply outlast them. The problem with VA is that he could always get through. His attack was always too good for KV defence. KV's game doesn't work against someone who can consistently get through his defence. If the opponent can score points, then they won't get frustrated and they won't get tired from the long rallies. Usually when a player's defence isn't good enough, that player has to counterbalance those lost points with winners of their own. But VA's defence is very good and KV isn't known as a big smasher. So before yesterday VA's games against KV were all pretty smooth wins. Yesterday, KV's defence held much better than before. KV did a good job keeping the shuttle away from a big smash, lifts were either high and deep(and consistently not out), or they were enough away from VA that he couldn't get under in time to play the big smash. In moments where VA upped the tempo to put pressure on, KV was able to keep playing his high quality shots and his consistency. I think VA realised that KV was playing really well, and felt that he had to play his best. So any mistake or failure to score points weighs heavier on the mind when points are more expensive. KV didn't give many cheap points. All VA's point had to be worked for and scored. He doesn't often face that pressure because most of his games are dominant wins, and few opponents can both defend his attack and outlast his fitness. That pressure resulted in mistakes, and those mistakes mean a lot when the points are so expensive, leading to more mental pressure. Then, when VA started playing a little nervy, KV could also successfully attack. As a spectator, KV may look boring, but as a player you can't help but appreciate how impossibly difficult it is to face an opponent who is supposedly better than you, has a big smash, and then be able to control the length of lifts and clears so perfectly as KV did. He is probably the best in the world in that aspect. Big smashes and attacks are visually impressive, but the focus required to play so consistently and so good for so long under significant pressure is just phenomenal. VA might have been slightly off form, but he wasn't playing terribly that match, and he would have beaten most other players. KV just really stepped up the quality of his game even at a faster pace, and eventually forced VA into more and more errors.
Its always been talk when invincible looking player or pair lost a match but to me its no big deal. Its badminton, a single match something like this can happen.
I would disagree that KV played passively and just counter attack during the final, I think in that match he really showed that he has good attack as well (still not that punchy as VA), but he scored quite a lot if winners with follow up after a smash, and net play was there as well (especially lots of net cross shots), personally for me it was really big surprise, and it was really great MS final for very very long time, quite 'a poetry in motion'! and I am very grateful to both players.
I think the difference between KV game and the game of other more attacking players is its purpose. KV did attack, but only when the opportunities presented themselves and KV can attack safely without losing balance or becoming too vulnerable to counter attack. While most traditional attacking players look to play mostly straight spinning net shots to force short lifts that they can attack, I think KV netplay with more cross shots was meant to put more movement pressure on VA. The purpose of the game of the traditional attacking player is too create or force opportunities to attack, by whatever means work best. The purpose of KV's game as I saw it last Sunday was to put movement pressure on VA to such an extent that VA couldn't attack him effectively. Sure putting pressure on the opponent tends to lead to attacking opportunities and points, but the underlying purpose of his play I think, was defensively minded. His game turned the games into rallies with less effective attacking play from VA and more manoeuvring. If that leads to opportunities for him to attack safely that's great, and he capitalised well, but I don't think he was purposefully looking for it with his game plan. I wouldn't call his play passive either. While I think his game was defensively minded, he played very active defence. He wasn't just lifting and waiting for the smashes, trusting his ability to defend. He was putting pressure on VA ability to attack. I thought it was a very interesting and instructive game for singles players of most levels. It illustrates very well the dynamic between attack and defence, and shows that badminton is more than just attack vs defence. I would put this game on the list for coaches to show players how to play against a player with a strong attack.
I was only able to go for Semis ( which after all the withdrawals, I think was a good decision). Great to hear your experience. It's after a long time so many elite players were playing in India Open and I was amazed to see so many people lining up even without any Indian representation. I had a few friends who were not even casual fans of the sport and they were glued to their seats throughout the matches, amazed by the difference between casual and professional level. However, agreed on the points regarding the management. They were not even letting some people in saying all the passes were already taken, even though half the seats were empty. I also found Siri Fort stadium somewhat better. The seating area was nearer to the prayers and the seats/playing area etc was better. I also found some kids supporting Korea and taking pictures with the Korean flag, which I was later told was due to the K-pop craze.
Mostly agree. However, the way I saw it, KV had long periods without lifts at all, which (obviously) prevents anyone from attacking. VA does not mind moving, running and maneuvering as long as he can lift to the baseline. He could in 2nd game but struggled in the rest of the match where he often lifted either short or long (or even wide).
Even I was there for the semis. Although i was supporting An Seyoung, He Bingjiao's game was more graceful and had a swag. She glided on the court and her footwork was a treat to watch. Sadly, she ran out of steam after the gruelling rallies. Kunlavut is insanely fast and rarely gets out of position. Comes back to his base in a split of a second. I expected Zheng Siwei and Huang to win but Yuta Watanabe is crazy on the court. And so is Arisa. Her smash returns took the opponents by surprise multiple times. Yuta/Arisa were too good on that particular day.
I tend to agree with you. Instead of always or more often than not going on the attack first, KV mostly creates or waits for the right opportunities to atack, bearing in mind VA's defence is pretty good too apart from his devastating attack whenever he can,the more so as he has learnt to leverage on his height and reach as well as keeping his temperament under control better than before. Yes, I too won't say KV's game is passive though he's more of a defensive player but I'd describe it as Active Defense,something akin to this concept https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219198911002812 :- "The article analyzes how a defender determines a balance between protecting an object (passive defense) and striking preventively against an attacker seeking to destroy the object (active defense). The attacker analogously determines a balance between attacking and protecting against the preventive strike. The defender makes its decision about striking preventively based on its estimate of the probability of being attacked. In both cases of preventive strike and no preventive strike, the defender anticipates the most harmful attacker's strategy. The influence of the ratio between the player's resources and the contest intensities on the solution of the game is analyzed." Still, l believe VA hasn't or may not reach that level of near-invincibility as Lin Dan, Lee CW or even Chen Long once did. That's my opinion.
Marin seemed to be back to her former best, almost if not already, the way she handled An Se Young. If not for ASY playing at a level higher than before, the match would more likely have gone CM's way. I didn't realize that during Marin's semifinal match with Han Yue because HY happened to be very error-prone , more so than I've ever seen her, practically gifting Marin the match, with 3 service out errors, repeatedly hitting long or wide when not under pressure, just not what I'd expect from her. The Marin - An SY Final was a cracker of a match. If Marin carries on in this manner going forward, I'm sure she's going to Paris '24 though I admit it's still early to say who will be the favourite until much nearer to the event. Atm, An Se Young, barring unforeseen circumstances , is definitely one of the hot favourites for next year's World Championships and Paris OG 2024.
In the He Jiting/Zhou Haodong - Carnando/Marthin MD Final, I felt that HJT/ZHD were frequently outplayed at the front court, forcing them onto the defensive and lifting and defending smashes most of the time, thus on the losing end. They would have to change strategy and tactics to take the INA pair on at the front court area. I know, it's easier said than done as the INA pair was pretty good in that area and very fast Oops, yes, of course.
