Something of interest having watched Anders Antonsen's podcast today where they discuss who of the MS players have the best smashes: So HK Vittinghus and Anders Antonsen agreed that LZJ is the best and from a recent interview with Viktor, he has mentioned that faster shuttle speed condition favors LZJ which seems to also allude to that. After the run of tournaments recently, LZJ struck me as having the best smashes/physique in the MS category right now. Setting aside his forehand smashes, his backhand strokes generate noticeably more power and speed than other players from what I see, which allows him to perform lethal backhand smashes quite effortlessly. I think he is incredibly gifted in his wrist power, in fact I would go on to say that physically he has to be THE best among the players right now - tall, strong, fast and very flexible which is uncommon for tall players like that, which also allows him to smash at angle that is impossible for most other players. His only problem is he is too emotional and loses focus pretty easily which is a huge mental block he has to find solution for at the moment if he were to win consistently.
Axelsen probably has the hardest smash but he could not really use them on a regular basis. Sent from my SM-N9208 using Tapatalk
I mean where is this talk coming from. Axelsen has the best hard smash plus he has a variety advantage over LJZ with his soft smash that just drops on the floor from nowhere like a drop shot and he regularly finds line with it from both wings. Momota had no clue what to do with it in the third set of DO Final and was dearly hoping that Axelsen would bomb them hard smashes down which he reads like A, B, C, D. Lee Jia Zia's windmill swing is great and he is probably the second best smasher in the circuit. Although Kidambi can also stand on that claim. IMO, me personally thinks Chen Long is the second best smasher on the tour because of the sheer angles he can produce when playing well.
On the contrary, I think LZJ is the harder hitter. Where VA is better than LZJ is his placement and insane consistency, he is more likely to place the smash on the line and his smashes are steeper due to his height, albeit with a tad less speed and power. However, that could also be due to stamina management if he plans to conserve energy rather than going all out so he can get to the net faster if necessary. The problem that I noticed with Viktor's smash however is that he tends to always go for straight smashes from the overhead position, and favors cross court if he is hitting it from the forehand position, which made it incredibly predictable for Momota to defend in the Denmark Open final. In fact, I don't recall Axelsen ever smashing cross-court from overhead position if he finds himself in even slightly awkward position but I have seen plenty of those from LZJ.
Wonder how long these tall guys can last. Ask Mr. Li and Mr Bao cl from china. At least viktor got his wc and og gold ady.
Absolutely true. I don't think LZJ can last many years. At present , he's using the smash a bit too much and slightly out of position too many times. He will get more injuries earlier unless he changes his decision making.
he can learn from Chen Long, this guy is slight taller than LZJ, he already got WC, OG anyway, play till 32 years old, maybe OG 2020 is his last outing before end his career…
But the thing is CL's game is much more solid, CL doesn't need to twist his body awkwardly to smash every lift, CL can win his points even if he doesn't smash everything. In future not too further people will start chasing his smashes.
Good start to the world tour final. Play smart, wait for opportunity and make the smashes count. All the best.
Much better condition than the previous two/three tournaments, but he sure made a lot of easy mistakes in the middle part of the match. He needs to increase the quality of basic shots first if he wants to win the title. Hopefully, he will improve on that.
Congrats LJZ on topping the round Robin and moving on to the knockout round. Nice strategy: patience, make every strike counts, stay balance and conserve energy for the knockout round. I like the efficiency today. I am rooting for you!
Among the other 3 semi-finalists, LS, KV and VA, I see the only one that would give him trouble would be VA. LZJ has the agility, skill, speed, stamina and size to match any of the opponents. His supreme court coverage is helped by his size and speed. As long as he is in balance, I don't see many attacks breaking his defense. (This is not something that smaller size players have luxury of.) Since he has the luxury of being patience, it will further conserve his energy and help his smashes and attacks when opportunities arise. By being patience and not taking crazy shots will further help his balance, court coverage and energy usage. He is currently the fittest Malaysian player. With his stamina, he can outlast any of the opponents here including VA. So, I think if he plays smart and within his own game, he can beat anyone out there consistently going forward.
He can't continue to play his "bullish" style which he smashes at every lifts and eventually hurting himself.