The draw for the upcoming Korea Open is out: https://bwf.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=64F74681-A9A8-487F-8C60-E1F23803BB7E Lin Dan is in the same half as Momota. While his younger teammates - Lu Guangzu, Zhao Junpeng, Zhou Zeqi- are playing in qualifications. Li Xuerui is back and playing in the qualification rounds too.
Not a good draw, Lin Dan and Momota slated for another QF matchup after the JPN Open. Lin Dan has his work cut out for him in all three WTS750/1000/500 tournaments respectively this month, the first two being the JPN Open and the CHN Open. Tough. For Li Xuerui, assuming she advances to the main draw, is up against Gao Fangjie in R1, and the two are drawn in the same quadrant as Han Yue who will play Akane in R1 and then Chen Xiaoxin, a possible R2 opponent. Out of six CHN WS, four are in the first quadrant as well as another JPN WS, Saena Kawakami.
What I’m most disappointed about is the lack of Chinese participants in the Taiwan Open (politics aside). I really don’t understand why the Chinese badminton association is so selective about sending players abroad. Already they are missing Spain (last week), Hyderabad (this week) and many other smaller tournaments. Surely these tournaments are good for exposure and picking up ranking points. The Japanese, Indians, Taiwanese etc are playing every one of the minor tournaments and I’d say are gaining benefits from the exposure.
Precisely, CBA has so many 2nd/3rd tier and backup players who are eager to play overseas in those small tournaments, yet many aren't given the chance to gain international exposure that is vital to their growth and development, particularly for the young cohort. I'm sure it's not for lack of funds, CBA is well-endowed. I'd have thought now that they liberalised their policies to allow provincial teams to go on their own, they should do even more for their national 2nd team and junior players, esp in view of their current unsettling situation in WS and MS. Disappointing.
Yes the Hyderebad open would have been a great experience and test for the youngsters. What a shame. The CBA's usual excuse is not to have the juniors playing against the senior players. But this isn't a tournament where there will be any seniors. The strategy of the CBA is really baffling to the point of short sightedness. Come on CBA whats up with you guys? Wake up man!!! Show us the juniors please.
Shi Yuqi lost to Khosit Phetpradab in the first round of the Japan Open. What a disappointment!! Cl may survive against T. Sugiarto as he is leading in the 3rd set. China still has LD and HY left in the tournament. Imho SY's defeat by the MS should tell the CBA that all is not well in this Department; he is the future of Chinas badminton, so what hope is left? New players are called for. A fresh start should be taken, for example setting up two junior teams to be sent out to all the minor tournaments. The existing juniors to be part of this group. It is really baffling what is happening to the MS. In 2012 the top 3 MS players were from China!! Its 8 years since and the Coaches have only produced S. Yuqi. Great Performance and well done!!
In 2012, the Top3 MS players were from Malaysia, China, China. Chen Jin managed to get to #4 just barely in time to qualify for the OG, but couldn't really hold that ranking at all due to his injury issues.
Most of China's good MS players are all gone due to injuries. Shi Yuqi is the one of the fortunate ones to survive without any major injury issues. The problem could be in the physical training by the camp rather than with the players themselves.
The better prospects are MIA due to injuries: - Xue Song ( age:24) - got injured in 2016. Recovered and came back. Got injured again. - Lin Guipu (age:21) - was better than Shi Yuqi. Got injured in a freak accident off-court and hasn't been seen since. The other young prospects aren't as good as Shi Yuqi.
Xue Song was fairly limited though, similar to THW - good fitness and court coverage, not very gifted technically. Wouldn't bet on him doing as well or even better than SYQ. Not as extreme as Du Pengyu, although I have yet to see a more extreme player...except Nguyen Tien Minh maybe Regarding SYQ, does anyone else see the similarity between his and Simon Santoso's movement or is it just me? Recently watched a video with LD vs SS and though of SYQ when I saw him, both don't seem to like bending the hip, and have less knee movement/bending than the majority of other players...
In 2016, Xue Song was only 22 years old and still a work in a progress. If he wasn't injured, he could have improved with proper training and on-court experience these past 2 years (2016-2018).
Yeah, but making projections based on potential is always just guesswork in competitive sports. Wang ZM got lauded as a better or comparable player as Chen Long, and look how that turned out....additionally, technical limitations rarely get resolved past 20yo with professionals. At that point, coaches will usually focus on other things than trying to fix technique.
There is a difference between Wang ZM and Xue Song. Wang ZM was relatively healthy and didn't suffer any serious injuries. He was given plenty of opportunities to perform, yet failed to produce results. Xue Song, on the other hand, was hit by injuries twice and didn't really get a good opportunity to grow and prove himself. As for his "technical limitations", he's not that bad. Not everyone can be Lin Dan who debuts and starts toppling more established players left and right. Some players are late bloomers and need more time to blossom. Look at how successful Chen Long is despite not having any exceptional talents. If XS wasn't injured, the coaches could have figure something out for him. It's just really unfortunate that China is having so many promising stars go MIA right when the team needs new blood...
That's not an answer to my statement though. I said WZM got lauded as a future star when he was XS's age, yet didn't even get close to that. So making projections of what XS could maybe have become is guesswork and not really applicable - he could've stayed right where he was at in 2016, he could've gotten better, we'll never know. As for the technical part, it's very rare for players to change anything meaningful about their technique once they're past a certain age/time of playing. He could've improved details, but it is unlikely he would've become a technically great player when his technique (not his overall level of play!) wasn't great. You're equating technique and level of play, I never said he couldn't have gotten better overall, just that his technique looked fairly....simplistic. LD at his best didn't look too different from his younger self technique-wise, same goes for LCW.
Well, here's the thing. My original reply was for another user who was lamenting the state of CHN Men's singles. Literally all I said was Xue Song was a better prospect than Shi Yuqi. But, unfortunately, he got injured. The definition of "prospect": (n) a potential or likely candidate. It's a 50:50 chance. It indicates a possibility not a 100% guarantee. For whatever reason you thought I meant that Xue Song would definitely become a star player. No, he's a prospect - 50% chance he could improve, 50% chance he won't. If you look at my previous comment, I always use the word "if" when I refer to Xue Song. You see Xue Song as a flop, that's fine. Everyone has their own opinion but don't frame your opinion as a fact because it's not.
Agree with you that you have to show the skills at an early age. For example Taufik, Lin Dan, K.Momota and LCW all had that at 17 years!! Which leads to the next point. Except for SY the rest of the China juniors lack this ability. SY has most of the skills except for Power and stamina. If he can attack frequently I feel he can upset a few of the top players. CTC, ASG, KN and JO rely on their attacking game a lot. So the CBA has to expose the juniors on the circuit to see which one has the skills to go further. Its not easy to spot the talent. HY, ZZ and ZJP all had good skills at an early age , and understandably the coaches stuck to them hoping for a turnaround. The criticism I have is that the coaches stubbornly refuse to accept that these players haven't proven that they really can turnaround their skills.The 3 of them seem to be lacking key elements that the top 5 have. Is it footwork, anticipation, timing, deception, mental strength, ability to read the opponents game or stamina. Is there something else I have missed? I am still hoping and praying that the CBA will send many of the youngsters out from now on. We can then judge their performances.
China has so many people, just to discuss this is silly imo. China is not even as developed as Japan. Its just excuse that people said there are nkt enough to choose from.
I also dont understand why there should be injuries. Japan has improved so much in Doubles and there are so many new pairs playing. The turnaround in womens doubles is quite remarkable. You would have thought there would be injuries. If not then their training system is probably more scientific and efficient. In other words the CBA coaching and training is more inadequate and outdated. I feel a fundamental change in their thinking and approach is urgently needed.
It's not an excuse but a fact that CBA acknowledged, voiced by XXZ and other coaches before, that despite China's huge population and badminton's popularity (more as a recreational sport), there is only a small talent pool of professionals to tap from out of proportion to her size, it's actually been shrinking over the years as China's economy continues to power on though the 'new normal' GDP growth rate has come down to 6-7 % instead of the average 10% or higher for decades. Just ask yourself, how many parents with an only child in such a fast-growing economy and the age-old emphasis on education would let their children take up professional sports as a career at a young age and through their best adult years ? And consider what prospects they have after their relatively short career span for the great majority of the professional athletes comes to an end. At least , the situation for CHN WS is beginning to look good with many of their potential juniors coming up after a prolonged two over years slump brought on mainly by the sudden retirement and unforeseen injury lay-off of their top three or four best WS players.
