I'm not an expert on the situation, nor do I pretend to be. I simply observed you making vaguely threatening statements that appeared significantly more ideologically influenced than those of your antagonist in this particular instance. Your posts were long and appeared very passionate to the point of fanaticism, and your immediate attack on me and (incorrect) assumption of my stance on China certainly appear to prove my point. Again, this is not the topic of the thread and should be discussed elsewhere where you'll also be free of my input. Returning to the topic of the thread - LD appeared to be in the best physical condition we've seen him in since his 2014 knee injury, and it was impressive to see VA push the pace above the threshold OF was comfortable at and still keep his error rate low enough to win. That said, I dont think it's a very safe way to play and will be vulnerable to worse day-form, worse/different wind conditions and worse overall shape/preparation, so I wouldn't take this as a sign that VA is going to dominate the circuit from now on. Congrats to LD for reaching the final in the first place - I really didn't think that would happen, same as I didn't see LCW winning the title. Seeing how VS won against China's 2 top MS players and a (seemingly) in-form Srikanth on his way to the title, there should be no doubt that he was, indeed, the very best at this particular point in time.
LD - who I rank as the GOAT - is always portrayed as the greatest, because of his ability to win the big titles. His OG and WC golds. You know, the ones that he got tatoed on his body, and the ones that got him the big sponsor agreements. I have yet to see his CNG tattoos, and the Yonex poster presenting him as the Beijing Team winning MS player. I honestly roll on the floor laughing, when his Chinese fans explains, that he didn't really lose, but simply chose not to play all out in the WC final, because it's not really an important tournament and he'd rather hold back for the CNG... The same fans that ultimately measure players up on their H2H stats (which implies that all matches count) - now VA is 4-3... It's a pity they only meet in those non-important matches, eh? Coming to think about it, no European will ever stand a chance to become the best, since they can't play in CNG, AG, etc. No they have to settle with unimportant things such as WC and AE and other SSP and SSFinals... Basically, if someone says: LCW wins so-and-so many tournaments, they get the prompt answer that LD always win when it's really counting - OG and WC. You are so entertaining. Cheers, FB
Lin Dan is now at highest level ever for a men's singles player as he has won ALL major championships more than once. same like chen long, there is no meaning to pursue another world championship. for them, it's just yet another title. not to say that va doesn't deserve his title, he did prove it by being the best among the lower level players. the best european player is hoyer-larsen who dominated during the dark period of china badminton (before Li Yongbo). he was much better then frost and peter-gade.
I think it is unfair to compare great players of different eras and say one is better than the other. They did not meet during their time when they were in their peak condition. We can only compare what titles they have won. Even then the older players may not have as many opportunities as those who came after them as there were less tournaments, etc.
not only that, the equipment technology, rules keep on evolving. but this does not mean it is impossible to crown the greatest of all time. there can only be ONE and it's quite easily determined by the no.of titles won vs the others. for example during 80s, the dominant forces is han jian, yang yang, xiong guobao who dominated the prestigious thomas cups, world championships. as of now, no other player has been so dominant as Lin Dan.
I agree with you, Lin Dan is THE GOAT. At 34 years of age, he plays like he is 20. If he can improve upon his deception, he can go a long way.
lin dan is motivating himself to continue playing by trying out different techniques and perfecting the sport. there is nothing more to achieve in terms of titles and money. perhaps the next stage in his life would be to surpass li yongbo's coaching achievements.
But LD has now been defeated, his era has gone. So has LCW's. Even LD's replacement, CL, is doubtful as the other young aspirants from all over the globe have become more competitive. We are now watching the era of VA et all. So to compare LD with HJ, YY, XGB or even Wong Peng Soon and LD's mentor, The Thing, is not useful as they have not met. I believe "the greatest player of all time" is itself a misnomer. Simply because time has not stopped and the world goes on. New champions will emerge and some may even surpass the achievements of LD and others. Unfortunately, we may not live to witness all these.
indeed it is not a misnomer. greatest of all time is up to now. certainly, others will try to surpass but until then... lin dan is still unmatched in the men's singles arena, which is unfortunate. this means the overall standard is not improved. but to be fair, chen long indeed comes the closest so far.
If it is not because of contractual obligations, I don't see why he should carry on. He has won every title, some a few times. It doesn't really matter if it's 5 or 6.
Lin Dan loves the sport more than any of us here. This sport has given him everything in his life from money to fame, from wife to Girlfriends. I can see him carry on till Tokyo Olympics and challenege Shi Yuqi for a qualification spot. Who knows, Lin Dan and Shi Yuqi may qualify for Tokyo. Stranger things have happened in the sport.
hopefully he doesn't. must give chance for others to gain glory as well. it's already established that Lin Dan is the Greatest of All Time, should be chen long and shi yuqi for tokyo.
Indeed one cannot claim to know the future. So GOAT should not include the future by including "All Time" since time is still ongoing.
GOAT can still be claimed; and to the extent of what we already know and have on record. after around 100 years of badminton history, Lin Dan is supreme.
Viktor Axelsen didn't beat Srikanth coz Srikanth is in class of his own. He only lost because his shoe laces were not properly tied. After he tied his laces, he scored 15 points compared to Son Wan Ho's 3. Even @nilesh123 and @Fan123 admitted that loose shoes were to blame for this shock defeat.
Indeed, I don't see anyone other than Lin Dan as Supreme GOAT as admitted by the likes of Peter Hoeng Gade, Xuabao of China, Jan O Jorgensen, Hans Vittinghus, Kieran Merilees, Rajiv Ouseph, Badzine , Justin L, Carolina Marin, Kwun, HS Prannoy, Parupalli Kashyap, Kidambi Srikanth etc. His Olympics record is even better than Floyd Mayweather who lost in the Semi final of ATLANTA OLYMPICS.
