I very much hope that this drastic loss in weight accompanied by significant improvement in fitness, particularly stamina, by strictly controlling her diet and undergoing intensive physical training as reported, would finally enable He Bingjiao to play to her true potential for she does have the racquet skills and creativity, even more talented than Chen Yufei in my opinion (CYF herself admitted as much in one of her recent interviews). Let's wait and see, the new HBJ.
Indeed, CYF has consistency, accuracy plus agility that HBJ lack of those aspects. We look forward the super-slim HBJ in upcoming tournaments.
My goodness, after watching the replay of the He Bingjiao vs Nozomi Okuhara Tokyo Olympics quarterfinals match, the second time better than the first time I watched live on zhuafan.tech - I must say I'm impressed with He Bingjiao's game, the way she came back from one set down and then a slow start in the decider to power past Nozomi in style was exhilarating. The new look HBJ, lean and mean, dictating the rallies now and then as she stepped up her game and suddenly injecting pace to finish it off is reminiscent of Lin Dan, I mean the more all-rounded LD post-2008 rather than the young fast and furious LD - to me, a joy to watch. That against one of the two very best retriever cum runners in the circuit, the other being her compatriot, Akane Yamaguchi, is certainly no mean feat, at the same time a testament to HBJ's remarkable improvement in physique, noticeably stamina. As I didn't get to watch HBJ's with Zhang Beiwen where the later was one game up and trailing by 7-9 in the second set when she suffered a left ankle injury and conceded the match, I'd venture to say that I believe had ZBW not injured herself , HBJ would probably still go on to score a come-from-behind victory over her opponent in three games, if the way she disposed of Nozomi the next round is any indication. I suspect that ZBW went all-out from the get-go instead of pacing herself well for the entire match, and in G2 when HBJ was moving her around forcing her feisty opponent to twist and turn, it strained ZBW quite a bit and contributed in no small part to her spraining her ankle as a result. Yes, I'm speculating as I couldn't find the match anywhere to watch as I missed the live telecast and the replay isn't available on the Internet for viewing (please post it here if you find it. TIA.). For those who think Chen Yufei's playing style is boring or just not exciting enough, then watch the "new and fitter" HBJ's game among the CHN WS players, apart from the usual suspects in WS, namely, Tai TY, Intanon R, C Marin. For HBJ , I have in mind her games played the last one year during the pandemic with practically no international tournaments held but internally in China, such the national championships, the quadrennial China National Games, and some specially arranged simulation matches in CBA, eg, her matches with CYF, Wang Zhiyi, and the younger cohort, mostly shown on www.zhuafan.tech. Come to think of it, in fairness to CYF, I was originally sympathetic to those who complained of CYF's so-called uninteresting playing style but I now realised it's not quite representative of CYF's game if we based our opinion largely on that Tokyo Olympic gold medal match versus Tai Tzu Ying, where, in hindsight, it dawned on me that CYF was specifically adopting a particular game plan to wear down TTY by throwing everything back at her opponent as far as possible and keeping mistakes to the minimum, in the hope that her opponent would lose patience, overpress herself and start to commit both forced and unforced errors, which was what eventually happened. In other words, the way I see it, CYF came ready and well-prepared to fight a war of attrition on that momentous occasion and it worked, thanks in no small part to her ability to read her highly fancied opponent's game by anticipating most of her strokes, including her trademarked deceptive shots, thus frustrating her into making a fair number of uncharacteristic errors. By the way, I just finished watching the replay of Chen Yufei vs An Se Young quarterfinal match in the Tokyo Olympics - don't they play a similar style? Not too strangely, I even think CYF's fellow junior, Wang Zhiyi, seems likewise.
Like I've said in the tournament thread, Sindhu wanted it more, having missed out on silver and gold, she's still hungry for a medal, any medal. Less so , or, maybe not so, He Bingjiao, for whom only gold mattered, or, at the very least the chance to fight for gold. I mean, just compare her match with Nozomi and the one with her compatriot Chen Yufei, and you might be able to sense that her heart wasn't in the match with Sindhu for the bronze. That's how I felt. Really can't blame her coming from a country with so many gold medalists in their traditional sports. I simply didn't see the fire in her eyes during the bronze medal playoff, unlike her opponent Sindhu who displayed fighting spirit all the way, even in her semifinal clash with Tai Tzu Ying. Just look at table tennis where their mixed doubles pair of Xu Xin/Liu Shiwen had to apologise to the Chinese public for failing to capture the gold medal when they suffered a reversal while two games to the good allowing their Japanese pair of Jun Mizutani/Mima Ito to turn the tables on them for a narrow 4-3 victory.
Oh, really?? Gold or nothing attitude for HBJ??What would entitle her to think she is a gold medal material? I think you mistook her for CM since they both play left handed Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Totally agree, based on the recent past form HBJ never even looked like she would reach quarterfinal, kudos to her fort her hard work she is able to reach semis, but yeah in this Olympics players like Kevin Gordon and HBJ are able to create many surprising upsets and play bronze match. Beating Zang BW, Okuhara HBJ already created two major upsets, and it she is totally exhausted to perform to produce one more upset. Had Sindhu defeated Tai in Semis, PVS would have trashed CYQ given the fitness and form PV is in.
There I forgot- that match against Zhang B could have gone either way. HBJ was fortunate enough to go a round further Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes, for China's traditional sports, not only for the athletes themselves but also the general Chinese public, they all aim for gold, nothing less. Indeed, in a country known for her long list of gold medal winners, it's not the least bit surprising that fighting for bronze is a non-event, often overlooked, at most a minor consolation, so the motivation is not very high either for the players concerned or the spectators or both. I'm sure it applies to Sindhu too, or you think she's not a contender for Olympic gold? Don't forget Sindhu has the knack of doing well in the majors though not or less so otherwise as in the normal tournaments. As for HBJ , apart from her remarkable run of tournament victories in 2016, practically capturing four titles in a row, namely the Swiss Open, the Japan Open, the French Open , and the Bitburger Open, then in 2018 she ended Tai TY's world championship quest in the QFs, score 21-18, 7-21,21-13, and had to settle for bronze after a three-set loss to the eventual champion Marin in the semifinals, score 21-13, 16-21, 13-21. Also , as I've said, the past six months or so since she shed weight to drastically improve her fitness, even her coach, Xia Xuanze, took notice of her signs of resurgence in the domestic events and simulation matches. Right, if you had watched her game with Nozomi at the Tokyo OG, it was a commendable achievement, a well-played match against an opponent who used to trouble her going by their H2H record, you'd have noticed the renewed zest, the vim and vigor ,the drive and , perhaps, newfound confidence in her game.
CYQ? Or CYF, surely not, when PVS couldn't get past TTY, what makes you think she would've thrashed CYF in the final? At most, I'd have said it might be a close fight between PVS and CYF and though it may be anybody's guess what the outcome might be as we can only speculate, my money is on CYF coming out on top to wear the gold medal around her neck on the winner's podium.
Actually, I'm looking forward to seeing how He Bingjiao would fare should there be a resumption of international tournaments next year, hope so.
CYF, It comes to play style, a fit PV will trash CYF like she did in 2019, but PV was not fit in last WTF and she paid the price. As I said earlier Tai’s game suits current CYF but PV can easily penetrate CYFs defence. I quite like CYFs style though relaxed , risk free. PV easily defeated HBJ against whom CYF struggled.
Originally, you said 'thrashed' (to defeat soundly or decisively), no way, it is an exaggeration,. Now you said " trash" ? At the Tokyo Olympics, who has more credibility in your claim, the PVS who lost to TTY or the CYF who beat TTY for gold. By the way, 2019 is two years ago, for a young growing and maturing player like CYF who, at age 23 now, is still improving; therefore, basing your opinion on the past despite the fact that CYF won their WTF encounter makes little sense to me. Besides, two years ago, the then 21-year-old CYF was still struggling against TTY who has a near whitewash H2H record before the youngster started to break the duck , and now their last eight clashes is even at 4 matches apiece. Yes, it's today and the future that counts, don't live in the past. And you've to look forward, not backward. Furthermore, by the next Olympics, Paris 2024, Sindhu would be nearing 30 entering her twilight years whereas CYF would still be in her prime at age 26 ! Be realistic. Well, let's see who will capture the next world championships for which I daresay He Bingjiao has a fighting chance, apart from CYF and the usual suspects, namely, TTY, CM, PVS, IR, NO, AY. Who knows, even the young up-and-comers like An Se Young, Wang Zhiyi, and who else , might emerge to spoil the party. That's why I very much wish to see the global pandemic easing off significantly , say by the middle of next year if not sooner, to create sufficient justification for the relevant authorities to recommence international tournaments. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
In my opinion, CYF plays a calculated risk game according to her opponents strength. And of course, anybody could say anything about who would have won. CYF places the shuttle well enough to prevent the opponent to attack with success and it will take away the attacker's confidence - and I think that's what happened in the gold medal match. Don't think this conversation should not continue here as this is HBJ's thread. I think this discussion should be continued in either CYF or Sindhu's thread.
In a country capable of mass producing gold medal athletes, I understand how bronze medalists are often overlooked by the general public. However I’m baffled to understand the logic behind a player like HBJ, from her personal perspective, not having the motivation to go for an Olympics medal. The very medal could potentially (I)be the biggest achievement of her sporting career, (II) get her a Paris ‘24 ticket from CBA, if she happens to face a stiff competition from her compatriots. The bronze medal loss could be because of anything, but the lack of motivation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
