Daihatsu YONEX Japan OPEN 2017 Badminton Championships

It's all honors shared at this week's Japan SS 2017, with 5 countries each winning a title. Of course, as an INA fan, I am very delighted at the way Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon responded to the 3 straight losses to their arch rival Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen in yesterday's SF showdown, where the INA pair won relatively comfortably 21-15, 21-14 in just 37 minutes (unlike the long 3-sets matches in the past 3 encounters).

Contrary to last week's Korean Final match where the INA pair seemed a bit cautious & daunted (and therefore they appeared to be less confident) by the Danes, they displayed a fearless attitude this week and was very confident right from the start of the match. The Danes' impressive return of serves whenever the INA pair was serving & the numerous unforced errors were highlighted as one of the main reason why the INA pair lost last week. That was corrected in yesterday's match and you could hear the MD head coach Herry IP giving instructions to the young INA pair during the interval break to be aware of the Danes' return of serves and how to counter those returns. Placement of shots were also a lot better and more accurate this week. Kevin was very instrumental in getting the right shots in front of the net and he was able to cut down on his errors too during the flat exchanges or whenever the Danes forced the INA pair to engage in long rallies. Herry IP also acknowledged that there were some changes in strategy and he was very glad that Kevin/Marcus managed to execute the game plan well!

The Danes had given a free tip to all MD pairs on how to beat the INA pair right after the Singapore SS SF victory, i.e. just lift the bird and let the INA pair smashed. But so far, only they were able to accomplish that feat 3 times in a row. Even the next match was an evenly contested Sudirman Cup match, with the scoreline being 24-22, 23-21 in the last 2 sets despite the huge lead by the INA pair in each of those sets. The other Danish pair (Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen) managed to beat Kevin/Marcus in the first round of the INA SSP but the INA pair beat them in straight-sets this week too. Chai Biao/Hong Wei also managed to beat the INA pair in the World Championships QF match, 22-20 in the rubber-set (despite the INA pair leading 20-19).

Which is why the victory yesterday was very important to the young INA pair as I felt that was a real confidence booster! Today's match was not even a contest as Kevin/Marcus steam-rolled their way to an easy 21-12, 21-15 victory in less than half an hour! So, a nice 4th SS/SSP title in 2017 and 7 titles in total for the young INA pair. 4 more SS/SSP tourneys and along with the BWF SS FInals to come, it will be great to see another title or two to end the year as World No 1 in MD. Of course it's not easy, especially with matches again the Danish pairs being the toughest of all (which include Boe/Mogensen, Conrad Petersen/Kolding, and Astruup/Rasmussen). There will also be tricky matches against the tall Russian pair of Ivanov/Sozonov and the Asian pairs highlighted below.

With Hong Wei retiring, Goh V. Shem/Tan Wee Kiong being split, the only realistic challenge to the Asian Games 2018 Gold Medal (the next target) will be Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen, Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda, and perhaps the reigning World Champion Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan.
 
nokh88 said:
CL is a nice bloke.

But looking at his physique, don't think he can go on for too long before the wear and tear sets in.

Those who play above 30 are the lean types.
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Not quite true Poul erik hoyer larsen who i consider the best danish ms player ever reached his peak at 29-30 yrs and he and CL have similar physique...all i am saying is CL easily has 2-3more at his peak before he fades.
 
I don't know if it's too early to call VA's era has begun. When Chen Long first won his WC and several PSS/SS titles in 2014, then 2015, how many of us here actually proclaimed it's Chen Long's era ?
 
Justin L said:
I don't know if it's too early to call VA's era has begun. When Chen Long first won his WC and several PSS/SS titles in 2014, then 2015, how many of us here actually proclaimed it's Chen Long's era ?
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Maybe that was coz Lin Dan wasnt allowed to play the WC 2014 ...came back like a boss and won the AG gold which was probably harder to win than the WC back then...when a player like LD comes along his shadow looms large on the next big player.
 
But now we are firmly past the LD era ....and if VA continues performing in SS,SSPs and AE his era will be counted from his win at WC 2017
 
I've talked twice with backlink to the article where Chen Long disclosed he was carrying a thigh muscle pull injury that hadn't really healed through the WC and the CNG, that's why he decided to take a short break for a comprehensive therapy. Apparently, it's conveniently ignored, not that his excuse mattered that much as you win some and lose some.
 
paroxysmal said:
VA is playing at another level. The only players who can come close to beat him seem CL and Srikanth.
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I disagree. I think LCW didn't play smart in the third game. He got the the second game and had Viktor in his hand. Lee Chong Wei tried to match Viktor physically for speed and power for the 3rd game. Was he trying to test Viktor's game in other aspects? Like why did Chong Wei still play flick serves in the 3rd game? Why did he go for forceful full power smashes when the 2nd game showed that Viktor was having difficulty coping with being pulled around court and changes of direction?

Not very intelligent or were the Malaysian team trying to analyse Viktor's strengths and weaknesses for a future occasion?

All due respect to Viktor who did well to keep hanging in there and regain his composure.
 
Metaphysician said:
But now we are firmly past the LD era ....and if VA continues performing in SS,SSPs and AE his era will be counted from his win at WC 2017
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To me, Lin Dan's era ended with his Asian Games 2014 gold after which he injured his knee and was never the same again.

Now that age has finally caught up with both Lin Dan and Lee CW, we have to acknowledge the takeover by the next generation though it's a long time coming, a testament to the unparalleled greatness of these two Golden Oldies.
 
Cheung said:
I disagree. I think LCW didn't play smart in the third game. He got the the second game and had Viktor in his hand. Lee Chong Wei tried to match Viktor physically for speed and power for the 3rd game. Was he trying to test Viktor's game in other aspects? Like why did Chong Wei still play flick serves in the 3rd game? Why did he go for forceful full power smashes when the 2nd game showed that Viktor was having difficulty coping with being pulled around court and changes of direction?

Not very intelligent or were the Malaysian team trying to analyse Viktor's strengths and weaknesses for a future occasion?

All due respect to Viktor who did well to keep hanging in there and regain his composure.
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Agree.

Either a wrong strategy or he was looking for some weaknesses but it didn't work where results are concerned.

He didn't looked too intent to win.
 
nokh88 said:
He would certainly want to win his home SS.

Who's taking part and there to stop him?
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Denmark Open is a Super series premier ...
Everybody shows up in an SSP.....except maybe the Indonesia SSP which is generally pretty close to a major event like WC or OLY......
For Denmark SSP ,only CL wont come as fellow forum members have pointed out he has an injury and is perhaps targetting China Ssp as his comeback event.
 
LCW and LD don't need to win every titles and matches now to prove how good they are, unlike VA who still need to win more.
then when VA retire, he will be judged in a true and fair way, how he rank among those past greats.

i'm very sure 5-7 years later, those supporting VA will be defending his status against new BC who support the next gen of players.
 
To me, it's perfectly normal for Bo/Mo to lose this time to Gideon/Sukamuljo after beating them twice in a row; after all, they are at the same level.
 
Justin L said:
I've to admit that LCW wasn't at his best today while VA is in top form, carried over from the WC.
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Totally agree....
As Steen says LCW is at his absolute best when he is playing badminton at a very high pace ...
today we saw that only for 5 points in the first set and 2 points in the last set(both of which he lost)....
Second set he won through superb variations ...moving the shuttle sideways and using the frontcourt more ...just like the WS players do with the tall Sindhu...
3rd set he started terribly and viktor got confident and LCW faded away....
LCW has to go the LD way and play the tactical game and use more variations to survive....having said that he is still in the top 3 in the world.
 
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