Just finishing watching the replay of WD Final, the Luo twins played without any burden of expectations, letting themselves go, enjoying the what I called the underdog advantage and appeared familiar with the world champion's game with whom they train regularly, in the end coming out on top.
Having watched the replay of Lin Dan vs Shi Yuqi, I think SYQ was forcing the issue too much, attacking and going for the lines and playing with tight margins, hence more error-prone. Perhaps he thought Lin Dan could be jaded but apparently not, thanks to the one day break, Lin Dan was diving and scrambling all over the court when necessary to get a lot back. The other thing is Lin Dan seemed to read SYQ's game like a book, not surprising as they train together everyday, that appears to be the disadvantage of the junior player at tournaments when they meet (unless LD is physically stretched). But, on the other hand, it can only be beneficial in the long run for SYQ to learn from,excel and, hopefully,one day surpass the great master.
Perhaps he was trying the same strategy as Axelson did against Lin Dan. But i think, at this level, it is all about the strategies. I think LD will come up with a better solution, if VA tries to play with the same strategy against LD and it would not be the same scenario. Will be interesting to see how LD deals with VA in their next encounter. Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
I reckon so. Lin Dan is a thinking, self-analytical player, I'm sure he'll come up with a solution the next time they meet. In fact in that match with VA, he was not playing as well as he did against Son Wan Ho, somewhat fatigued, a six-round tournament takes a toll on him; if only, there was a day's break before the WC final. As he himself said, not being able to convert G1 at 20-19 was the turning point, if he had succeeded, then the pressure would be on VA instead in G2 and there is no knowing the nervous VA (as he himself admitted) would start acting up temperamentally. As for Lin Dan at this CNG, he was lucky to survive against Lu Guangzu in the semis the way he dropped G2 tamely; if not for his wit and experience to change strategy in G3 and turn the match around by exploiting LGZ's inexperience, the CNG MS Final would be contested between LGZ and SYQ. Also the one-day break couldn't have come at a better time after the unprecedented rescheduling of QFs and SFs on the same day. Indeed, often unforeseen circumstances, extraneous factors and even so-called luck (as LCW himself stated is needed sometimes at crucial moments) occasionally played a no small part in the outcome of tough, critical , intensely fought matches. My 2 cents.
If Lu Guangzu were in the opposite half of Lin Dan, the final might probably be contested between him and Lin Dan ( in view of Chen Long's uncertain form and the thigh injury that he claimed has not fully healed affecting his game), in which case I venture to say LGZ would more likely put up a better fight than SYQ, pushing Lin Dan hard with his fast, aggressive attacking game coupled with remarkable defense, not forgetting Lin Dan is less familiar with LGZ's game than SYQ's. Lu Guangzu is, to me, a revelation in this tournament. His match victories over Chen Long, Du Pengyu, Hu Yun, Zhao Junpeng, and , of course, that well-fought three-setter with Lin Dan despite ending in defeat, are praiseworthy. make me sit up and take notice of him. Hope he is not just a flash in the pan. May we see more of him in the international circuit soon.
