Pullela Gophicand on LCW chance in winning Rio gold: "He will be someone who will be really difficult to beat because of his pure speed and sting in his strokes that makes him very very effective." However, Gopichand didn't rule out the chances of China's Lin Dan and Cheng Long, both of whom had troubled Lee for the better part of his career. The current World No 1 had lost to 'Super Dan' at Olympics final twice. "I have a great lot of respect for someone like Cheng Long. He is a fantastic individual, with whatever he has he maximizes it. He goes back and comes back very strongly in terms of his physical and mental preparations. So I wouldn't rule out somebody like Cheng Long ever," he said. Gopi also praised veteran Dan and reminded how Lee always lost big finals to the champion Chinese. "Lin Dan is the big match player and Lee Chong Wei has always tripped at the last hurdle. So I think they have the experience and grit on their side and Lee has the desire to win the big match. All three make it difficult for other players. Both Cheng Long and Lin Dan are the players to beat and they are not going to give it easy to him. "Conditions and preparations make a lot of difference. I think a fully fit and focused Lee is a handful to everybody. It is not going to be easy unless you are prepared to beat him because he has got that consistency where you really need to break him."
Sorry I have to disagree Fox. Taufik Hidayat's Olympic Gold and World Championship for me placed him over LCW, but I might change my mind after 2017 if LCW starts to become the gold collector hehe Taufik is an Olympic Champion and a World Champion, while LCW is still a "always around the corner" "Superseries Champion.
But Taufik has a negative H2H against almost all big players. This is something which bothers me when I try to place him above Lee Chong Wei.
For people who regard Taufik> LCW : Taufik is an Olympic Champion and a World Champion, while LCW is still a "always around the corner" "Superseries Champion. I wasn't even the one who said Superseries is always around the corner non major events
It's complicated when you try to argue in favor of LCW and my friend badlove knows this very well so it will always be difficult to convince him. Taufik won 2004 Olympic Gold.That's a marvelous achievement. Taufik destroyed Lin Dan in 2005 like no player ever did. That is something to be proud of. Taufik won Asian Games 2006 when no one expected him to be which forced Lin Dan to come up with a cocky response that He is the best player in the world claiming how he is the World Champion and how he had the better year compared to any. A calm and calculated character like LD to play verbal battle is a testament to Taufik's abilty. These are few pros of Taufik's career. I am sure you know the Cons too.
Definitely, this is LCW's last and final chance at Olympic gold in three attempts. Not only he but the whole of Malaysia desperately wanted it, I'm sure LCW would be most willing to trade more than half, if not all, his PSS/SS titles for it, if possible. Anyway, I think Rio happens to be his best chance for gold for, one, Lin Dan is off his prime and he is unlikely to be near his best ,say at 95% , if his generally indifferent form the last one,two years is any indication unless he suddenly springs us a surprise which cannot be ruled out, and, two, Chen Long is hitting a bad patch at the moment, worse, he is, I believe, still not out of his depression after the Thomas Cup debacle. Other than the two archrivals mentioned, the rest are, on paper, unlikely to trouble LCW too much, barring unforeseen circumstances. FYI, in my opinion, the one other player who might pose some tricky problems to or have an outside chance of upsetting him , Wei Nan, is not in the R2R list unless either Ng Kah Long or Hu Yun makes way for him, probably not going to happen. Another important reason to me is the degree of motivation, hunger, drive, whatever, for Lin Dan is not as high as LCW's, simply because I believe that going for a three-peat, in addition to already winning everything there is in badminton, is very different from wanting to win your very first Olympic gold in addition to never ever winning any of the most coveted and desired prizes including the World Championships. For me, between two contestants in the same league, the more motivated or hungrier one has the edge, ceteris paribus (other things being equal) unless LCW's nerves act up again like before. One more factor is the luck of the draw as already pointed out by some of you. Suffice to say, if, scenario 1, both Lin Dan and Chen Long are drawn in the same half opposite to LCW's, the advantage to LCW is obvious, no elaboration necessary. Conversely, if, scenario 2, Lin Dan is drawn in the same half as LCW and assuming waiting in the final is Chen Long, then hard to say, perhaps, a lot depends on Chen Long regardless whether it's Lin Dan or LCW that emerges as his opponent. In other words, how the draw turns out might be the spoiler. No doubt we can argue that Chen Long's motivation, despite two WC to his name, is no less than LCW's but he has other problems at hand that are more concerning (loss of form lately), even alarming (his TC debacle, particularly). Even so Chen Long is still the one both Lin Dan and LCW would want to look out for as a threat on top of the lesser ones with an outside chance of upsetting the apple cart. Well, some of you may have noticed that I actually voted Lin Dan to take gold at Rio in the other thread "Who will win MS Gold at Rio ?' Am I contradicting myself here? Seems to be but let me explain. There I'm betting on Lin Dan's astounding record at all the major, most important tournaments that mattered to him, i.e. OG, WC, AG and the team championships, where his success rate is second to none, nay, the best by far, unmatched, unequalled, incomparable, nobody even comes near. True there were two exceptions, namely the 2010 Paris WC and the 2014 WC, but overall, his success rate is , roughly 11 out of 13 excluding the team events or at least 7 of 9 if counting only the WC and OG. The other factor to note is Lin Dan's overwhelming H2H record with LCW at 25 - 11 in Lin Dan's favour. The last two negative outcomes are not big matches, not to mention extraneous factors affecting the match One more point to note is that Lin Dan has won 5 WC but 'only' 2 OG, so it's to be expected his desire to win another OG is substantially greater than for another WC despite the two hiccups which won't dampen his spirit in any significant manner. Needless to say, the stakes for OG is much more than for WC, the more so for Lin Dan who's going for three-peat; imagine the huge premium all the big sponsors would be willing to offer the first one-and-only three-time Olympic champion in badminton history. To sum up, my vote for Lin Dan is based on 50% objectivity and 50% subjectivity, if I may put it that way. The key is whether Lin Dan can spring a surprise at Rio by performing up to or near his best in his heydays. As for my views here on LCW's chances, I can in a way put it to down to 70% objectivity and 30% subjectivity based largely on LCW's form and performance so far this year in the lead-up to Rio. As you can see, LCW is dead serious, even playing fewer tournaments this year - taking a leaf from Lin Dan - to better prepare himself for the ultimate goal. Well, you may asked, why not be more objective then? Much as I wish to, and I'm usually more objective than subjective, Life is Unpredictable, Uncertain, the variables involved in human affairs are not that measurable to a sufficiently high degree of accuracy, so I would occasionally indulge myself by letting my head and my heart play their own balancing game. There's no need to be too serious in life sometimes.
@badlove You are such a nice friend. Such a nice person. So nice. But sorry different people with different views. Trying to put Taufik Hidayat as the best MS player is so inappropriate now. Sorry friend to say this.
@badlove Like this. Koreans like Lee Hyun Il. I favor Lee Hyun Il. Lee Hyun Il is Korea best MS player. But then I can never say that because he is thus far the best Korean MS I say he is so much greater than Lee Chong Wei. No need to be a Malaysian to know this. Lee Chong Wei being old at the age of 34 now is ranked no 1 in the world. Lee Hyun Il was never ranked world no 1 before so how can he be better then Lee Chong Wei? But the way you keep wanting to drag Lee Chong Wei name down all he time belittling all his achievements thus far left me speechless.
@badlove Imagine it if I keep saying Lee Hyun Il is the best MS. He is better than LCW. He is the best MS player on earth. How is that kind of feeling? I guess nobody will agree with me then I keep on saying Lee Hyun Il is the best again non stop repeatedly? What does that mean? It means I cannot accept reality and I cannot accept it cause LCW is just better than Lee Hyun Il. For the purpose of maintaining peace in this forum it is better to think first before writing. I am trying to do that too.
Actually, the Taufik Hidayat vs Lee Chong Wei debate is an old topic and much discussed, often heatedly, before. For me, I find it hard to decide between the two. Without going into details here, Taufik was 'lucky' in that he was a child prodigy who rose to the top when Lin Dan was just starting off in the early years of his career, far from his prime. When Taufik was beating Lin Dan for OG in 2004 and WC in 2005, Lin Dan was only 21/22 years old. What I'm trying to say is had Taufik's career exactly overlapped Lin Dan's as LCW's was, I wonder if he might not suffer the same fate as LCW being denied time and again at all the major championships. In other words, Taufik was still only 25 or so when he was overtaken and surpassed by Lin Dan and LCW who both have an overwhelming H2H record against him. Mind you, Taufik didn't retire until 2012, another 6/7 years later at age 32 (?). Frankly, Taufik's sudden decline and lackluster performance in the intervening years, 2006 to 2012, baffled me. I repeat, LCW is just too unfortunate to be born in Lin Dan's era. Otherwise, Heaven knows, how many major titles he would have to his name by now.
Wait! Is everyone calling LCW the silver collector? There are at least 3 others here who do not call LCW what you call him. So please be respectful not to assume everyone thinks like you. Does Clely call LCW the same way, l wonder? If no other INA fan posts to deny your LCW label, then yes, you can assume you represent all INA fans but obviously not non-INA fans, so it s misleading of you to say ' everyone'. But of course no one can stop you from using it if you persist. It just reflects self centredness and ignorance of the world beyond your circle . Certainly I would only bother to watch players whose game is interesting or fascinating to be worth my time. I do not label players the way you do. So do not use the word ' everyone' when probably you and your group are the only ones labelling LCW so that you can justify Taufik is better than him. In fact, it s amazing that LCW has won Indonesia Open 6x, a Malaysian who has equalled the local Indonesian heroes record of 6x. And if LCW were to win Indonesia Open another time, how would you describe him? How many MS foreigners have actually won the Indonesia Open? Maybe winning Indonesia Open is easy nowadays?
Using football as example, Lin Dan is like Pele, won 3 world cup. In History will always be view as the greatest ever footballer until someone can overtake his achievements. Taulfik is like Maradona, many believe to be the best & entertaining footballer in the world with one world cup trophy. However, his form dropped badly after 1990 world cup and someone with poor discipline lifestyle. LCW is just like Messi, look almost unstoppable & won a lot of trophy, more than the combination of Pele & Maradona. However, he yet to get his hand on the greatest honour of all, The FIFA World Cup.
You mean most powerful, decorated athlete in badminton? He is already with or without winning Rio unless you talk about sports in general, then,yes, if he captures another gold at Rio to become one of the select few in history to strike gold in three successive Olympics. Sometimes I wonder if it's too much of a good thing for him to win a third Olympic gold. Often , the best in any field fails to perform as expected on the big occasions due to nerves or the heavy burden they carry on their shoulders, but Lin Dan is the opposite, he delivers time and time again as if he is born for it, destined for true greatness, and thrives on such moments, a huge phenomenon.
If you ask me that's a pretty bad analogy. For various reasons. Firstly, an individual player is very hard to compare with a team player. An individual player is responsible for his own success to a far higher degree than a team player. Brazil of Pele's time probably would have won it 3 times even without Pele. And it is more appropiate to say that Pele was a member of 3 WC winning Brazil full squads. But technically he PLAYED in only 1.5 of them. In 1958, Pele and Garrincha were both introduced only in the semi-finals. In 1962, Pele got injured in the very first match and Garrincha and co won it for Brazil without pele. In 1970 Pele did play all the matches, but was outshone by Jaerzinho. Even Rivelinho was an outstanding player. Maradona made both at club(NAPOLI) and national(a very weak ARGENTINA) level 2 teams champion that nobody ever expected. In 1986 world cup, Maradona was basically behind every single goal of Argentina in some way or the other. That is the only time any single player dominated a world cup in that way. In 1990 a half-fit, injured Maradona, whose feet was blue from pain, and who had to change shoes during every match, again took Argentina to finals. And since Maradona Napoli hasn't won anything. I personally feel Maradona's achievements were probably the greatest among the 3, not just because his style was beautiful. Secondly, it makes very little sense to compare players from different eras. Pele, Maradona and Messi are not contemporaries. TH, LCW and LD played at same time for sevral years. The age gap between them is small. Pele was the probably the best of his era, Maradona of his, and Messi now. But it is very hard to compare people from different era. One can merely speculate how successful Pele or Di Stefano would be today. Lastly, personality wise I felt Lin Dan's showmanship resembles CR7's or even Mardona's showmanship somewhat. LCW calmness I felt resembles the calmness of several top tennis players like Federer. Moreover, all 3 of Maradona, Messi and Pele were left-handed. But only LD is left-handed among LD, TH, LCW. In any case, I just find that analogy between football and badminton meaningless. ---------------------- Here is my assesment of TH, LD and LCW. LD probably has the best positional sense and the best attacking strokes. LCW probably has the best reflexes and the best defense. TH probably had the best deception and placement. Very unpredictable. But players keep evolving. And I have stated this before also, I can care less about what proves whom to be greater. It's a never ending debate.
Why Lee Chong Wei Represents Malaysia’s Failures 05 MAY 2016, 16:30 GMT MALAYSIA Many would refer to him as a hero, a national hero. Today he is highly respected by many including the youths and politicians of Malaysia, as a result he has been heavily awarded multiple times. He is one of the very few athletes in Malaysia who have reached international popularity by being a two time silver medalist in the Olympics. The only argument is why anyone would be greatly rewarded for failing to capture the gold twice. Yes, Lee Chong Wei is one of the most overly hyped and overrated athletes to ever walk on god’s green earth. Being called “Malaysia’s only hope” Chong Wei has received many awards which he is unworthy of, hence setting very low standards to the future athletes of this country. “Datuk” Lee Chong Wei has received too many awards for his very little achievements. Awarding him for his efforts with RM300,000 after capturing the silver medal in the 2008 Olympics was reasonable. But giving the “Datuk” title to then 26 year old for his efforts is without a doubt pointless and only sets lower standards for the younger upcoming athletes in Malaysia. Chong Wei also received RM3,000 as a lifetime pension for winning the silver medal, so why give him a prestigious title for doing something that has already been done by Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock in the 1996 Olympics. And is it worth it to award someone in their mid-twenties with such a prestigious title only for coming up short in the Olympics? Prestigious rewards should not be given out of mediocrity, it is still somewhat understandable if Chong Wei wins the gold medal in the Olympics (making him the first person to do so in Malaysian History) and gets rewarded with the “Datuk” title, but the hard hitting fact is he lost to someone more superior. People only remember the first place winners, being the second best is still not good enough. All these exaggeration and unworthy awards given to “Datuk” Lee Chong Wei only encourages complacency, this is why we never advance. Its reported in New Straight Times (04 September 2012) that Chong Wei was appointed as KDU University College ambassador which is rather ironic considering the fact that Chong Wei’s highest education level is only secondary school. On an interview in 2008, Chong Wei said that he was drafted into the national squad when he was seventeen years old and never looked back on his education. Chong Wei without a degree or a diploma is able to be the icon of a University. Is it right for university students to idolize a man who had never step foot in any university in the first place? So what if he represented Malaysia in the Olympics, education is out of his league! KDU should have gotten someone with better education background as their ambassador. Lin Dan, Chong Wei’s longtime rival is China’s first active badminton player with a master’s degree, according to the CRI English News (18 October 2012). Unlike Chong Wei, Lin Dan is a two time Olympic gold medalist, defeating Chong Wei twice in a row causing him the gold medal. Despite being more successful and having higher education level, Lin Dan had never got the same treatment Chong Wei had in his home country. Lin Dan wasn’t giving any unworthy prestigious title or appointed ambassador of something which has nothing to do with him. Back in November 2012, Chong Wei’s wedding hogged the headline of many newspapers in Malaysia. His wedding was published multiple times on the front page of most mainstream newspapers. As a Malaysian citizen, I don’t see why an athlete’s (who failed twice in the Olympics) personal life should be so important to the public, especially when it has nothing to do his profession. Why an athlete’s wedding is so important to the public to the point that it has to be publish on the front page of the newspaper multiple times? Lin Dan got married a month before Chong Wei did but the people of his home country did not have an unworthy obsession like Malaysians had when it came to Chong Wei. It’s very clear that “Datuk” Lee Chong Wei is so very overly hyped by his fans and politicians of Malaysia hence making him overrated. It’s fair to say that Malaysia is seriously lacking of real hardcore athletes which is why all the hype goes to only one person. Chong Wei winning the silver medal clearly means a lot to Malaysia but when compared to global standards Chong Wei’s achievement is impressive, but not that impressive. The main problem is that we look at things in terms of the Malaysian standards instead of the world standards. Winning second place is such a remarkable moment for Malaysia but for the world, nobody remembers second place. Our egos has brought the worst of us because we Malaysians keep on embracing what we have instead of having the desire of wanting more. We spend too much money rewarding a two time failure instead of developing and creating new hardcore athletes. It’s very evidential that being number two is the best Lee Chong Wei could do. We should find younger athletes who have the desire and passion to beat the standards which Lee Chong Wei created. There are always going younger, stronger and smarter people here in Malaysia which we have not yet discover, and that’s what we have to work on. We the people should not settle for second place, we should dare to dream bigger, not settle for less and more importantly we should not rely on only one person to be our national hero.
