I think you either have to be a very good stroke player (like Bae YJ who beat her the last time, of course, experience counts too) or possess a sharp, forceful attacking game coupled with a good defence (when your attack peters off or when she counter-attacks) to deal with Akane Y at her current level. But this youngster is continually improving and the future looks very promising for her. I agree that child prodigies tend to rise very fast and then plateau and soon after taper off around age 25 or so, much earlier than most players. We shall see, let the future tell.
[TABLE="class: ruler matches"] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]GS U19 [/TD] [TD="align: right"][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="align: right"]Yamaguchi AKANE [4][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD="align: center"]-[/TD] [TD][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD][/TD] [TD]Chen YUFEI[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD]21-10 21-15[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Score speaks the volume. Congrats to her. We need to praise CY as well. She was able to reach finals despite being unseeded. Good work. I feel really funny when some people still doubting Akane's potential. Lol. She don't need to prove her talent . She has already proved her talent.
I believe Chen Yufei can play much better than what she did just now against AY; otherwise, I don't see how she could beat Aya Ohori and progressed to the final. She is almost 16, birthday on 1st Mar, still a lot to learn; only problem is there are many like her in CHN, so she has to keep improving and contend with her young compatriots as well to consolidate her position in the national team.
Chen Qingchen, double gold medallist, in XD and GD, and she is still only 17, good for two more WJC and next year's AJC !
Actually , I think Qin Jinjing can match Akane, going by the score, esp in G3 where QJJ crept up to 17-18 before suddenly losing the next 2 points, in no small part due to her own carelessness to finally go down 21-18 in the decider.
This BD pair outclassed the field here, winning every match in two convincing straight sets. I have reason to believe CHN MD's future lies in the hands of their juniors, viz. Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen, Huang Kaixiang/Seng Siwei , and the slightly older Liu Cheng/Kang Jun. Zeng Siwei is a much better doubles player than singles, he should stick to doubles. Huang Kaixiang,once handpicked by Li Yongbo as a doubles player to watch, is another double gold medallist here in XD and BD, well done!
I agree and I am not sure if she still can stay in the Chinese national team in a few years time because we all know how hard it is to do that - just ask WXH what happened before the 2008 Olympic games.
She's the next big thing, no doubt. Well, Akane denied clean sweep by the mighty team China who grabbed 4 individual titles here, congrats
china comeback to be dominant in AJC since 2010. this more or less due to the lack of good challenge from other country. we shall see if this continue in WJC
With LYB personally on scene, only success is allowed. Fortunately or unfortunately, this is another feather in LYB's cap. Hate him or not, you have to say this guy knows a thing or two about winning in badminton. The big watch is now on to see who is going to get the golden ticket named Chen QingChen. Akane Yamaguchi's ability is well noted and she will be, or already is, a force. To say that she will be one of the top players (i.e. top 3 vs top 8) is still premature. While she can out-physical the lesser players, it remains to be seen how she is going to deals with the elite players. One of possible outcomes may be DPY-like.
Like it or not, objectively speaking, Li Yongbo has to be the most successful even if you're reluctant to acknowledge he's the greatest Head Coach in badminton history. Indeed, just his very presence at the scene could in no small way galvanize his young cohort to perform up to his expectations - admittedly I was a bit surprised that he bother to turn up at the junior championships. Golden ticket named Chen Qingchen? What about Huang Kaixiang, another doubles specialist and double gold winner here? Akane Y has lots of potential, no doubt; she stands out among the best juniors in the world though not really head and shoulder above - Qin Jinjing gave her a good,close fight as I've pointed out and Busanan isn't far behind whilst at the adult/senior level she has yet to prove herself a top 8, let alone top 3, WS player as only time will tell (how else?). This coming April's WJC will be very interesting and hotly contested, esp. in WS/GS as I expect Chen Yufei (who somehow performed under-par in the GS final earlier), He Bingjiao(who appeared leaner and fitter, a good sign), and again Qin Jinjing as well as Busanan and Aya Ohori (hopefully Liang Xiaoyu too) to be in contention for the GS title though Akane Y will still be the hot favourite. Among the Europeans, I'd be looking out for a certain Stoeva, iirc.
To me, the AJC is equivalent in strength to the WJC as most of the top junior players/pairs are from Asia, and you see more or less the same faces vying for top honours in both the championships in the same year. In my opinion, there's no further need for Akane Yamaguchi to prove herself at the junior level having won both the WJC and now the AJC. It'd be much better for her to concentrate on doing well at the senior level.
Just watched the final. He seems to be a very defensive player, patient with some very nice overhead shots. He didn't show any urgency to attack, which is rather atypical for a young player. I hope that was a sign of maturity. Reminds me of Chen Jin, but Chen Jin had the ability to step up a gear in his attack when he needed to. Whether Shi Yuqi is capable of doing it, we'll see. Not very exciting to watch so far.
Akane Yamaguchi is very good at the junior level. But I don't see her being able to beat to players of the future. I think she will peak early on in her career. Sun Yu on the other hand I think will peak later in her career but will far surpass Yamaguchi. Sun is tall and lanky, so right now she's still has some awkard movement and balance issues. She's still learning how to use her physical assets. But when she peaks, I think she'll have better angles and power and athleticism than Yamaguchi. I don't see Yamaguchi challenging the likes of LXR or WYH on a consistent basis.
