I believe the big occasion will suit LD, since he has shown to ve quite capable at performing under that pressure. However, saying that he himself is his only obstacle is going too far - he wanted to win the CHN Open and WC as well, but was outclassed on both occasions. LCW never beat him on Chinese soil before, yet he managed to do it there - a big dink in LD's armour. Also, you shouldnt forget how he got humiliated by Victor Axelsen at the DO, another player who will feel confident against him should they meet. All in all, I would say this is the most competitive OG tournament in a while, with less clear favorites, although I admit that I too see LCW, LD and CL slightly ahead of the rest. They should be very careful against any of the other top 8 seeds (except Sugiarto, who they all love to play and beat quite easily normally). Edit: to clarify, personally I would rectify the Datuk's statement as to say that LD is no longer towering over LCW as his only insurmountable obstacle. He has beaten him more than once in the past year, which should give him confidence in their match, should it occur. Only thing missing to make the OG a little creepy is LHI taking 4th place yet again Otherwise it could read Lin-Lee-Chen-Lee 3 times in a row
If that's not supposed to be the 6th WC or the Olympics is held in SEA, what do you think? Didn't Lin Dan win the Thomas Cup 2010 in SEA, in Kulau Lumpur, Malaysia, to be exact, beating LCW in the process ? True, it's a team event but it's the desire and will-to-win that mattered, I mean, not the location or the climate.
If you think LD didnt want to win the 2015 WC or CHN Open, you're deluding yourself True, he lost many matches where he didnt seem to be trying all that hard, but he also lost a few where he wanted it, bad. And still got beaten. And I'm fairly certain he didnt want to lose to VA quite as clearly in the DO - nobody wants to bear the embarrassment of losing in single digits. Anyhow, he seemed pretty fit and quick in that short Facebook video. Less flat-footed than a year ago. Not quite as fit, but reasonably close to his 2012 shape....it's gonna be an exciting tournament
LCW should worry more about Jorgensen and Axelsen than Lin Dan and Chen Long??? Does this BAM guy even follow badminton haha? Axelsen? Axelsen hasn't even won his maiden SS. Ain't going to happen for him to win gold in Rio. Jorgensen, his latest title was a low level tier 3 German Open last year? Ain't going to happen for him to win gold in Rio.
You see, when sometimes Lin Dan at the press conference said he wanted to win the tournament wherever he happened to be, what he didn't tell us is that he wants to do it without revealing all his cards, esp in the Olympic year. What we must bear in mind is Lin Dan's unique situation after LOG'12 when he had already attained everything there is in badminton, unprecedented, and it has everything to do with his growing age, his new goals, his need to preserve himself, avoid injury (remember his knee injury after Incheon AG'14 that took him at least 6 months to recover), prolong his career, and so on and so forth. And Iest you forget, his frequent off-court commercial activities and distractions that evoked some of our brickbats. Apart from his unflattering , a few even humiliating, defeats that some of you never fail to point out, we also cannot deny the notable successes where he proved he's still got what it takes to succeed, such as the German Open and the All England this year as well as the way he played in the Thomas Cup, even if we discount his past records. Even in his worst year, 2015, Lin Dan's H2H with LCW was 1-1. Whatever,when I expressed that nobody can stop Lin Dan except himself, I'm merely making a personal opinion, not a statement of fact, there's no right or wrong answer. There's a reason why LYB once said that Lin Dan knows when to 'explode'.
Yeah, that WC'15 debacle for Lin Dan was worrisome, even LYB was pissed off by him, reprimanding him for lacking the hunger to win, and openly announcing he's going to take personal charge of his training regimen. But to put things in perspective, when LCW suffered a very early exit in the qualifying rounds of an SSP, KOR Open'15, to a certain KOR player Heo Kwang Hee, how come hardly anybody write LCW off or brought that humiliating defeat up to remind us ? How about the Japan Open SS'15 when Lin Dan pounded LCW, 21-17 and 21-10,in R2 and went on to take the title ? Another one, at the All England in March this year, who was it who stunned LCW in R1 ? Answer: Sai Praneeth. Concerning, no?
You are doing it again! So according to you he lost in the WC QF because he didn't want to win it badly enough? C'mon! You wanna know why nobody keeps mentioning LCW's early exits? Because people accepted the fact that he lost to the better player that day despite giving it his all. I'm not going to argue the same and go on saying that LCW lost in those matches because "he didn't want to show his real cards"... He was giving his best at that particular day and lost; happens to the best.
Unless Axelsen or JOJ do a Ji Xinpeng as in Sydney'00, very unlikely or highly improbable, I think. Because for them to clear two hurdles, let alone three, posed by the Super Trio is almost Mission Impossible. They would be quite lucky indeed to upset just one of them, at most.
Yeah, and all the obnoxious LCW hazers came out their holes on those occasions the Korea Open loss was actually no cause for real concern - it showed quite clearly that he was affected by the loss to LD, and that his confidence had taken a hit. I dont think anybody thought he really was going to continue that trend, just like no one thought LD was going to be cannon fodder when he first lost to someone outside the Top5. LD has lost in more convincing and sometimes shocking fashion than LCW over the last year though, especially when you consider that LCW had that forced break for the whole 'doping' affair. Anyhow, I think LD is gonna be prepared incredibly well for the OG, I dont think he'll lose to a no-name. I would be cautious once he meets JOJ, VA, CL or LCW. Those are players that are dangerous to him just by how they play (the Danes) or just have an incredibly high performance ceiling as well (CL and LCW). I think without the team atmosphere, SWH wont manage a W against the Top 3, and neither will CTC or TS (especially not TS). Momota wouldve been dangerous, had he played.
They dont need to win the title to trash LD on the way, as shown by VA in the DO, or JOJ in the WC But I agree. The statement is not quite believable.
Yes, I was quoting LYB and I more or less agreed with him. I would venture to say, the brutally frank, OneToughBirdie, would agree with me too. And may I add that for LCW, who really wanted and had the motivation to win those said tournaments that he lost unexpectedly to Heo Kwang Hee in 2015 and Sai Praneeth in 2016, not to mention that crushing defeat to Lin Dan at AE'15, that's not something to be dismissed lightly as simply losing to the better player of the day. Why do I say that ? Has it happened before in LCW's heydays, from 2008 to 2014 before his doping incident ? No, never, not in the qualifying rounds nor in R1. No, in those tournaments, LCW had no reason at all not "to show his real cards" as he was fighting to improve his WR as quickly as possible, esp in 2015, so as to avoid having to play at the qualifying rounds or his main rivals in the early rounds.
You know, when Lin Dan took a one-year hiatus after his glorious LOG'12, and announced that he's coming back, my immediate concern which I've expressed in no uncertain terms was about his motivation or lack thereof. And I'm glad to say my prescience proved right. But the Rio Olympics is what he came back for as Peter Gade said as much. Therefore, whatever happened in the intervening period is purely incidental, the prelude to the real deal, the ultimate goal. And after watching the one-minute trailer of Lin Dan's training session with Xue Song, thanks to Nine-Tailed Fox for posting it, I'm even more convinced of Lin Dan building himself up to another crescendo and reaching a climax at Rio OG.
How was he outclassed there in China? 21-17, 19-21, 19-21 Total Points won : 59 - 59 Outclass Transitive verb To excel or surpass so decisively as to be or appear to be of a higher class.
Please dont hang an entire argument on that one word. The meaning was that he was outperformed. Nit-picking over single words could prove to be quite distracting in a forum where the language is almost no one's native one
Certainly outperformed on big points hence the outcome in favour of Lee Chong Way but on the whole,by any means,it was a proper 1 hour and 48 minutes battle. Yes,he was overpowered by JOJ in the World Championships but there are many factors to it which won't happen in Rio I believe Yes, he recieved a proper thrashing in Denmark Open but his performance was below average throughout the tournament. 18 and 18 against Raul Must is a proper indication and if that's not enough,him barely escaping with 21-19 in the decider against Hu Yun should be enough to tell that such showings will not happen in Rio Olympics. By the way, I am pretty sure Lin Dan will be playing at his level best in Rio and that's enough satisfaction on my side. He looked great in the Thomas Cup against an average Lee DK but his body language showed that he was ready to score the victory no matter who was on the opposite side. With an extra 2 months Preparation on top of that display. I am sure Lin Dan is ready to entertain us once again for the very last time. If he draws LCW in the semi final but avoids JOJ in the QF.....that would be a good draw for me.
