I think one of the main reasons why we find certain players boring despite their coming out on top in the big events, such as Chen Long's and now Chen Yufei's case, has to do not only with our individual perception but also a matter of psychology with reference to a certain image in our mind ,that of a particular player we admire. This is especially telling for those of us who were brought up during the era of Lin Dan - Lee CW, for between them they brought us so many epic battles of scintillating fighting badminton of the highest order of magnitude in quality, even drama, the thrills and spills as they try to outwit each other. And, mind you , they played something like 40 times over about a decade during which their rivalry is considered by most as the greatest in badminton history. I mean, we are so spoilt being entertained by these two magnificent maestros for so long that consciously or unconsciously their matches are taken for granted as setting the benchmark or yardstick for measuring what a first-rate badminton match should be , so much so that anything that falls short is regarded as "boring", no matter who the winner is. That's why, Chen Long is often called a boring player despite the fact that he scored three major titles beating none other than Lee CW. In short, if you don't play like Lin Dan or Lee CW, you are boring, your brilliant results notwithstanding. I suppose, that standard has also been applied in Women's Singles using Lin Dan - Lee WC's yardstick as the basis for our judgement. That's just my personal opinion.
A defensive player’s matches are still watchable when it’s a defensive player vs offensive player. Luckily for WS currently, apart from CYF, the other players are still on the offensive side, so it’s still rather interesting to watch their duels. But if WS transitions into a state where defence is the predominant playstyle, we are in for a snoozefest. Nationalistic sentiments aside, it’s difficult for a defensive player to be as popular as an offensive one, probably something embedded in human psychology. In a nationality neutral sport like tennis for e.g, it’s part of the reason why Djokovic will never be as popular as Nadal or Federer.
that’s in no dispute. The style employed by Chen YU Fei was deliberately boring and designed to frustrate. Mind you, the China coaches got their tactics and pre tournament preparation spot on. See how few times Chen Yufei was deceived by Tai’s forehand cross court flick from forecourt. I can’t recall any.
Just watched the game, I agree with you that Chen YF game was to frustrate Tai TY, but can't say boring. Chen YF did play mainly safe shots due to the quality of Tai's shots and did also vary the tempo when allowed. From the armchair perspective, I would say Tai lost mainly in the tactical area - she played (too) aggressively and mostly in 1 speed.
I would say Chen’s tactics was to play mostly neutral shots, slow the pace of the game down away from Tai’s natural rhythm. Then take whatever opportunity to change the pace up but be prepared to go back to the neutral shots slow pace. I felt Tai was always trying to up the pace to her own natural rhythm but this was proving very difficult against the tactics that Chen was using. The second tactic was to take away the advantage of Tai’s deception shots. It was clear that many times, Chen wasn’t fooled by Tai’s deceptive shots. By taking away another of Tai’s strong points, the places pressure on Tai. This is a classic example of Morten Frost’s tactics from his playing days of taking away the opponent’s strongest part of the game. Once the strongest point has been neutralised, the opponent finds it difficult to keep confidence. Tai’s game was neutralised effectively and so Tai’s goes for the pressure shots trying to up the pace but at a cost of errors. They look like unforced errors but the errors come from the subtle pressure that Chen was exerting. Recall that Chen’s defence was superb. I felt that Tai could have employed tactics of matching Chen Yufei in the rallies to keep Chen moving. Test Chen’s stamina after a tough three games the day before. To me, it looked like Chen was tiring a bit in the second half of the third set. From there on, it’s speculation on the result but all the way through, you get the feeling Chen was totally in control.
In my opinion, Chen Yufei's strategy against TTY was similar in many respects to what Chen Long adopted against Lee CW in their major encounters, except that Chen Long also used his intimidating counterattack when opportunities arose to pile on the pressure, even occasionally initiating the attack to disrupt the opponent's rhythm. In this latter regard, Chen Yufei did not employ enough of, choosing instead to keep the rallies going as long as possible until TTY lost patience and became frustrated as her repeated attacks, including deceptive shots, were neutralized, which pushed her to go for the lines and do a little extra, hence risking more errors as happened. Imagine, had TTY's attacking prowess been as consistent as LCW's, comparatively speaking, I wonder if CYF's overly defensive strategy, esp in G3 , could've prevailed or, at least, the score might be kept close from beginning to end, and it would be anybody's guess who's the one to pip at the post. Yes, I agree with Cheung that not all or most of TTY's errors were unforced as CYF's retrieving ability contributed in no small part to it - I mean, if practically all your shots keep coming back, what do you do? It becomes a matter of who makes the last mistake or who's able to play one shot more than the opponent. Even CYF's quarterfinal with the KOR young talent, An Se Young, was one where both contestants were trying to out-rally each other with neither seizing the initiative to go on the offensive much. The outcome was CYF prevailing in two straight games by making her richer experience, higher consistency and deeper understanding of the game count, albeit it was a close affair by the score of 21-18 and 21-19. Watching that match, I went away actually quite impressed with ASY for acquitting herself admirably despite defeat as I thought the 19-year-old lass showed maturity for her age. I remember thinking to myself, at the rate ASY is going, we might very well see her contending for gold the next Olympics, Paris 2024, or even for the world championships prior to that. All in all, I trust CYF will continue working on her game going forward - in her post -match interview after the gold medal match, she humbly admitted she still has a lot to learn from others and improve on in her game. I'm very sure she will as time is still on her side and , no doubt, her coaches (and I hope Li Mao chips in to help) are aware of the need to constantly work on one's game. For no champion can afford to rest on their laurels and expect not to be overtaken one day, as the legendary grand master Tang Xianhu is wont to say. Isn't the 'old dog' Chen Long, by his own admission, still learning a thing or two from Li Mao? Personally, the one aspect I'd love to see CYF work on is to sharpen her attack, more forceful and relentless. Indeed, I believe very few can become World and Olympic champion a la Chen Long whose offense is stronger than defense. I'd include Momota too who, however, not only has a stronger defense than offense but also his extraordinary consistency in shotmaking is his defining characteristic, which CYF can and should certainly emulate.
CYF has better footwork and balance than TTY, while TTY has more versatility in her racket technique (ie. TTY has a backhand smash, has more deceptive shots, etc). If you watch CYF's footwork and balance, it is a work of art - a work of perfection, I should say. CYF probably has the best footwork and balance among all WS players. So it was a match of CYF's footwork and retrieving, against TTY's racket technique.
A point missing in these conversations is Chen Yufei's net play and the spinning touch which I thought were simply better than Tai Ying. There were numerous occasions where Tai was backpadling to the centre and CYF bit TTY through her nasty Tumbling net play.
https://2020.sina.com.cn/2021-08-03/doc-ikqciyzk9324063.shtml At the end of the badminton competition on August 2, The Chinese badminton team entered the final of all five events and received two gold and four silver MEDALS, showing a good performance. The president of BWF Hoyer also spoke highly of the performance of the Chinese badminton team. Hoyer praised the performance of the Chinese badminton team at the Tokyo Olympics as eye-catching, especially the women's singles gold medalist Chen Yufei. "The Chinese players shone, the expectations were high and they all did it, especially in the women's singles. Chen Yufei was amazing, she played a tactical execution that I have never seen before. She has fully matured and I expect her to reach even higher levels." As the chairman of the Badminton Federation, he naturally thought about the development and reform of badminton. On the matter, he said: "I think we should dare to predict 30 years from now and make long-term investments. This is what I really want to explore, I'll come up with some interesting ideas next year."
Remember the old matches between Susi Susanti and Yeh Zhaoying? I understand this is the fundamental aspect of the game - play your rhythm and prevent your opponent getting into theirs. It really need exceptional ability to get into this department, at the highest level you need to be technically 'perfect', excellent tactical acumen and real-time analysis skills. It needs a clear mind to decide the 'right' shot to execute. Tai on the other hand does not appear to have a plan B for the match. I assume Tai would have expected the tactics employed by the Chen... and I believe we know what happens when trying to play the riskier shots. Chen was in control because in my opinion Tai allowed it to happen by playing the expected shots. If Chen went with the speed game, Tai would have emerged the winner.
Get two suites and million prizes# On August 1, badminton player Chen Yufei won the gold medal in women's badminton singles at the Tokyo Olympics and became the first Olympic champion in the history of his hometown of Tonglu County. #Olympics# Two well-known private companies, Yunda Express and Zhongtong Express, from Tonglu, Zhejiang, announced that they would give Chen Yufei a set of real estate to congratulate her for winning honor for the country and hometown. At the same time, Zhefu Holdings decided to award Chen Yufei 1 million yuan in cash. Among them, the real estate donated by Yunda Express to Chen Yufei is located in Tonglu Fuchun Future City "Tongyun Home", while the real estate donated by Zhongtong Express to Chen Yufei is located in the "Zhongtong Blue City" of Fuchun Future City, covering an area of 170 square meters. According to a Baidu search, the housing price in Tonglu County is about 20,000 yuan per square meter. Not only that, Zhefu Holdings also decided to award Chen Yufei 1 million yuan in cash, and also specifically stated that it was the after-tax amount. Not to mentioned that the bonus she just receive is jot including the goverment , national , province and so on . I believe more to come . Congrate Chen Yufei
Chen Yufei so lucky and worthy . Hopefully she can maintain good result in big tournaments , set another victory in next Olympic 2024 and 2028 become legend in Womens Single . Her young age really in her favor . She can go further and make more history . I believe she can . I saw one of her post at weibo about she flexing her abs belly .Having Tai Tzu Ying as her rival really made an improvement in her stamina and strength .
Three in a row sounds too optimistic. Two in a row seems quite possible. An Seyoung should be a close compatriot.
Wow, I didn't know the Chinese private companies are so generous to her. That's very encouraging but I earnestly hope she doesn't let those material rewards get into her head. She is still young and has a long way ahead of her in her career and life.
The GOAT Lin Dan also fail to do so . Hahaha , Yes I saw An Seyoung would be her next close rival . Not to forget , her teammate Wang Zhiyi too . Its always a close margin of victory and more than hour match againts WZY in the national competition .
Yes , couldnt agree more. Hopefully its would be encourangement for her to be the best and not to be spoiled after receive so much reward and bonus .
to have a realistic chance at 3 in a row you'd have to win your 1st olympics at 20 years of age or earlier. that puts #2 when you're 24 and #3 when you're 28. not saying it's impossible but the game gets harder and faster with time.
Chen Yufei as a cute little baby and her younger days. https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4669847716692151?from=old_pc_videoshow
After watching China National Games the match between CYF vs Han Yue , I have so much respect for her ( 16-21 , 21-19 , 21-14) . The determination to do the best , despite of the injury of her feet , she did really well and work really hard to win every point . Its break my heart to see how struggle she was . You can see from her face the pain that she has. It is not her best game but she give everything to win . I think the main issue was her shoes that bring discomfort and made her feet blistered . After changing the shoes , she slowly catch up the game . I think CYF really the icon of fighting spirit and never give up . Good Luck CYF .
