I feel like asy vs ak gonna be a gruesome 3 setter. Hopefully they don’t tire each other too much for AE Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Too bad, LSF not as steady and patient as in the previous rounds, and his inexperience showed at certain moments allowing NKL to gain the advantage by winning the mind games. I feel that he should inject pace more often rather than rallying predictably when NKL is reading his game quite well at some point. If only LSF had won today, it'd be such a morale booster to lift his confidence and inner belief going forward.
Psychologically, LSF wanted to win so much that he's not playing freely. Perhaps he should let his youthful exuberance and underdog mentality take over, in which case he just might be able to go with the flow , occasionally throw caution to the wind, and, who knows, rise to the occasion as a result. Instead we see him a bit too tense now and then, not sure whether to play it safe or go for it fearlessly. It is when victory seems within grasp only to see it fade away that stops an up-and-comer from making a breakthrough in his young career. I surmise that in LSF's state of mind now, this final loss is a sort of setback, it's like he has to start all over again in the following tournaments.
Yes, unfortunately. It has been the best thing in world sports for me, tbh. I can't think of any era in any sport that was this good so consistently.
I was about to say that Saishunkan were single-handedly carrying team japan. But Shida/Matsu lost so hopefully Akane can do it all on her own.
Don't know. She's had the by far hardest draw in the tournament (I guees that is what being #1 seed gets you in badminton, at least in WS) and ASY is on a roll.
I haven't looked at the actual tournament results but LD & LCW felt WAY more dominant to me...it was almost inevitable that one of the two would win almost any SS+ tournament. Or do you mean an era where a big group of players was that good?
I had thought this might be a hard matchup for the JAP pair, depending on the fitness of Ko and conditions in the hall. Both seemed to be pretty favorable for the Koreans, and that match looked absolutely brutal. The length of those rallies...but it also looked like Eom wants to play more even doubles (or maybe Ko isn't feeling quite as quick anymore), she took quite a few clears that seemed like Ko might have rotated out and done something more productive with. Still, really entertaining match. Made me think, what would the doubles world/recent history of doubles look like if Watanabe had elite partners and if the Korean association hadn't alienated a whole generation of doubles players...?
Yamaguchi and ASY once again reaching the finals. Good to see AY win the title, but relatively easily dismantling ASY. We will see how these two hold up at the All England coming up
AY is so good, wow. Asy looks like she figured out formula for hbj and cyf but she can’t seem to figure out ay (although I believe Asy beat her the last match) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Really depends on the string, but 26lbs is plenty for almost anyone...there are ppl playing 24lvs Bg65 that have unbelievable touch. Even the stringers believe that the pros are falling prey to pseudo-science but given that there's lots of clearing going on in singles, good call not to go for too harsh a tension/racket.
Those are two all-time greats. If you factor CL in, three. Maybe regarding the earlier period with TH and PG you could argue there were more than that, even. WS had eight at a time for years, plus many very good players like SJY, who also played at the same time. From the quarter finals on you had several instant classic matches for basically every tournament. I also regard the ladies as among the cream of the crop athletes across all sports worldwide. The men, not so much.
So you mean the 2nd option, a deep competitive field at the top...? Regarding the athleticism - I don't see where the men or women are significantly different. Given the competitiveness, one could make an argument that the men are least as good athletically as the women (MS is WAY more competitive, should make for an equal or stronger selection if anything). Both genders have their fair share of...lets say less than optimally-athletic-looking participants, especially in the doubles disciplines, yet outstanding athletes at or near the top as well, especially in singles. Compared to very physical sports such as olympic lifting or sprinting, most badminton players look pretty average - but then again, I hope they also have far less of a doping culture. Also, the sport being a game allows for more variance in the types of athletes that compete imop, and I happen to enjoy that - it makes for interesting matches when vastly different styles clash. Overall I don't think one can make a good argument for one gender in the sport being much better or worse than the other in terms of athleticism. My own experience aligns to an extent, although the different numbers of participants have a much more noticeable effect at the lower levels of the sport. I'm curious - what do you base that opinion on?
