As i mentioned earlier , Chen Yufei will overtake He Bingjiao in their professional career. Chen Yufei has more patience game than He Bingjiao.
At this stage , it's too early to say who is or will be superior - He Bingjiao is turning 19 years old, Chen Yufei 18, both are still developing their game, acquiring experience, not mature yet. Actually, I've said earlier in the AUS open that after Rio, Sun Yu, He Bingjiao and Chen Yufei will emerge as CHN WS rising stars, the first-named making remarkable progress, the second-named showing unmistakable signs and the third-named looks promising. I sense a fourth one arising from nowhere soon.
Cai Yun's official retirement it seems. Can someone confirm this. Source : http://www.weibo.com/caiyun
Yes, Cai Yun has announced his retirement on weibo(microblog) dated 24th June 2016 http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/badmin/2016-06-24/doc-ifxtmweh2481844.shtml He wrote on his weibo:" 19 years of my career with the National Team has come to an end, alone that day on April 28th 1999 I took a train to Beijing, now I can still remember the feeling of excitement, But at the moment I am serene, instead I'm somewhat looking forward to forging a new beginning, face a new challenge that will evoke even more my fighting spirit." The above official letter is from the China Table Tennis and Badminton Center acknowledging Cai Yun's contributions to Chinese badminton and citing age as the reason for his retirement and returning to his province. As he is a member of the Chinese Communist Party since 2005, setting a good example and for a long time served as a Chinese badminton team captain, the official is hoping that a job arrangement can be made for him. Currently, he's trying his hand at the media as a badminton commentator and is making good progress so they wish him success in his new endeavour.
Adios Cai Yun. Your heroics will forever be remembered. A Golden part of the Golden Generation.One of the Greatest MD player to ever grace the court. I am sure your partner in crime,Fu Haifeng will have few good words for you as well and so will your friend Lin Dan.Thank you for entertaining us for so long.Wishing you Good luck in your next adventure. Farewell. Fox
The Golden Generation is also known as Dream Crushers. Some of the matches they won, like they have ice running through their veins.....Merciless Generation....felt so much pity for their opponents.....
Unfortunately, CHN MD has been too reliant on Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun for too long - often the case when a particular player/pair is very successful - and CBA inadvertently failed to inject new blood in time. Liu Xiaolong/Qiu Zihan who shone briefly at AE'13 and Chai Biao/Hong Wei have big shoes to fill, not of the same caliber. The only hope now lies on the younger cohort, Zheng Siwei, Huang Kaixiang, Li Junhui, Liu Yuchen, Liu Cheng, Lu Kai, He Jiting, etc.
What about Dong Jiong's take on Rio? http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/badmin/2016-06-27/doc-ifxtmwei9310509.shtml (my humble, liberal translation with more details than the one I posted in another thread follows). He also think it's between Lin Dan and LCW but added they are both no longer at their pinnacle which he thinks is in 2008 (I'd have thought that's more Lin Dan's summit than LCW's - Justin). Even more, he hoped to see new faces emerged because in that way after Rio Olympics Men's Singles will be even more interesting to watch. As for his views of Chen Long, he said to give Chen Long more time to consolidate his strengths and become stronger, " Chen Long is at the stage where he should be maintaining his form, not so much to surpass others (implying LD and LCW), therefore give him more time. At this Olympics, perhaps Chen Long can change others' opinion of him. I think Chen Long is still (relatively) young at the moment, he should still need to go through the baptism of big matches, then only can he stand firm at the top." By the way, when asked of the six Olympic finals from Atlanta '96 (where he's involved in) to London'12, which one left the deepest impression on him, he at first said Altlanta '96 , the one he took part in against Poul Erik Hoyer Larsen which he lost. Recollecting that past, he attributed the defeat to his being young, tactically not quite right. On being sked if he would be able to win if given another chance, he said, should be able to as after he had always prevailed against him since, except for that one match. What about other Olympic Finals? Dong Jiong replied," Apart from mine, it should be the 2008 Beijing Olympic Final, I believe Lin Dan displayed the most brilliant form in that match." (I forgot to add) Dong Jiong is currently working as the Global Technical Consultant for VICTOR Sport.
Dong Jiong also have an academy in Beijing (where I went to play sometimes), which organised training camps for youth.
I remember sometime last month Li Yongbo lamenting and chiding the junior cohort, esp WS, for not being able to endure hardship at training, the physical aspect; not willing to train hard enough.Sadly, it's not the first time he's expressed that concern.
It will be very hard for the young players to follow the standards of the older generations. They grew up in a specific context where hardship was the common lot, people were educated to devote oneself without questioning. I doubt today's youth are educated that way nowadays
But I must hastily add that a lot can be criticised as well during this period, but anyway, as regards to badminton, the players were certainly ready to endure a lot
I think it's not just the upbringing and education, as China grows more affluent, these single-child families treat their offsprings like princes and princesses. If the parents were to go to the training center and watch how their kids are being trained, they might flinch , feel sorry for their kids, and even intervene to take care of them, during break times at least. Some might even talk to the coaches and have a word with the Head Coach not to be too hard on their precious ones.
Its so disheartening to see so few juniors being exposed to international tournaments. I don't see why another group of junior players cannot be taken to the Canadian and US opens. Its a great opportunity to gain experience. All the other countries are doing that. Bin Qiao is a good example. He should have been given exposure at 18 or 19 years. He is the best of the current batch of juniors, but at 25 he has very few years left. Very sad indeed. No wonder China is in a quandary!!!
True, those coaches not involved or needed to train the Olympians can accompany the juniors and lower tier players to such tournaments to gain exposure and experience to help them grow and develop their game. Besides, CHN has so many good provincial coaches to do the job, even bring along a couple promising provincial players to test them out. Instead for the next two, three months, there's nothing to look forward to for all the non-Olympians. Where's the motivation when there's little chance of realizing their aspirations. Nothing beats winning an international GP title for these youngsters still in their formative years and also-rans , to boost their morale. It's not as if CBA couldn't afford it. So many budding players and wannabes for lack of opportunities would simply fade away. What a waste.
Well, for one, he lost (significant) to PEH at their last meeting, Danish Open 1999. I saw the match court side. But honestly, PEH simply peaked late in his career, and only for a short period just around 96. No way DJ would have beaten him that year at the OG. PEH had been playing too aggressive and with too much temper and not enough patience, until this point in time. But he suddenly played a more complete style of badminton - it just came together - with back to back AEs and the OG at the same year.
Yeah, memory is not always a reliable thing, and eyewitness account can be inaccurate and misleading; in some cases accurate, in others,not. I once watched a program on the problems with eyewitness testimony which can be affected by psychological factors.
