I don't think any top 10 players in the world is 100% fit usually they carried one or few injuries. The secret is to play your strength. Sania use the wrong tactics against mitani.
In some kind, this is also correct.. In other way, mitani came with different strategy to play against saina not like as if she played against saina in Denmark open. Have you seen mitani playing.. she never believed in mid court game.. She always went on to push the shuttle to the back court and whenever time comes, she gave a smash to finish the rally. We have to really appreciate Mitani.. I think she is 21 years of age, one year lesser than saina.. She started earning her titles.. I wonder how sweet her voice would be.. Her voice is one of the sweetest voice that i have ever heard.. Whenever she says '' YEAH", it melts.. Hee hee..
I'm not convinced Saina fell into a trap. Looking at the reports (I didn't see the match), probably Saina tried to finish early by being aggressive also hoping Mitani would be nervous from lack of experience. With Saina not being at full fitness, this would also lead me to think Saina trying to kill the shuttle earlier and avoid prolonged rallies.
Was Saina's approach to MM the same as at the Denmark Open against her? I'd be very surprised if it were.
No... I have watched saina's match against mitani.. It was totally different.. Saina's near flawless game gave her victory at that time.. And also, Right from retrieving the shuttle to moving across the court were excellent at that time.. But this time, she miss many smashes out of the line and lost many net dribble points as well. Mintani's game plan is punch clear.. Making the opponent run to the back court and waiting for the right opportunity to kill the shuttle at the right place.. She was extraordinary yesterday.. Her retrieving capacity was like Lee chong wei.. She fell down many times ,In no time she got up and ran over the court to retrieve the shuttle again and won the rally.. She was like paper.. flowing freely in air.. I wonder what boosters she will have to do this..
Well, then it's clear that the wrong strategy/tactics were used this time around. The DO courts were playing much slower, giving Saina time to recover ground. She (and her coaches) should have recognised that advantage and created the same condition at the French by slowing down the pace of the rallies, giving more air, and waiting for the openings to punch through. Instead she tried full-frontal assault! ...and paid the price. MM turned Sainas pace against her, using the force generated by Saina's shots to create winning opportunities from defence. Clever, and executed with extraordinary skill and technique. A masterclass.
An absolute master piece.. I have seen playing so many top chinese players.. Nobody was this much effective like mitani.. Mitani was extraordinary. She did some mistakes and left the shuttle when she was attacked at her left hand side.. Saina should have made use of it or else atleast coaches should have known that . She used her complete energy believing in smashes.. But it was total flop yesterday.. I fear whether all other players would have known this and would come up with such a tactics against saina in the future.. But i do believe saina will learn soon and come up with counter attack to the tactics played by mitani..
Add to this that SN was tired, exhausted with continuous play and wasnt as agile as she was in DO and her smashes were landing a few inches out, those few points let her slip the advantage from 19-16 up to 21-19. Had a couple of unforced errors werent made at this point the match could have been different. But then MM pretty well made SN cover a lot of ground and used her rallys and drop shots efectively. It becomes so easy if you can tire your opponent, push her to backcourt and be ready mid court to place your next shot good strategy... Usually I thought, the shuttle is tossed high at the backcourt when a player is unsure of what to do and wants the other player to make a move first and here I see the counter attacks being more fruitful whoa, the world goes round I must say....
congratulations, Minatsu Mitani. what a fight yesterday, and she really deserves the title. but what is more important thing is that her cute scream/yelling has won my heart! (Ma Jin's too. )
yeah, there is no doubt SN may be not on her 100% yesterday. but hope this won't take away any credit from MM's playings and win. but Saina smile on podium, regardless her runner-up position. nice!
I wonder if they used the same fast shuttles like they did in the semi-finals until Schenk had them changed?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/badminton/Saina-Nehwal-falters-in-French-Open-final/articleshow/16998051.cms "Minatsu had indeed displayed flashes of brilliance in the past when she recorded some unexpected victories against top Chinese shuttlers like Asian Games gold medalist Shixian Wang and Wang Lin. Even in Paris, Minatsu had stunned sixth-seeded Chinese Yanjiao Jiang in the first round before silencing two-time All [FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]England[/FONT][/FONT] champion and third seed Tine Baun of Denmark in the quarterfinals." SN - "I got very tired today. All credit to her, she played really well,"
It's in the Japanese basic curriculum - "Thou must last on the badminton court and still look cute for two hours ......."
I don't think so. If that were the case, both Minatsu and Saina would have been hitting clears beyond the baseline. Saina just lost to an inspired player, and one who was streets ahead of her in terms of physical fitness and court coverage.
streets ahead of saina in terms of fitness?.. Ofcourse , she is playing with her right knee tied up with full of bandages. She was struggling for knee pain right from the starting of Denmark open 2012. We cant judge only judging this match alone. Let her some time for cure and get back with a bang.. But i wont do such a VERY GOOD comparison between a normal player and a player with knee injury. I appreciate saina for achieving such a feat (reaching two finals ) with that bandaged knee.. We are waiting for you to come back soon.. Mitani also did her best in terms of defense. WOW.. What a defense she has.. Is she made of rubber ?.
You're missing the point. When MM met SN in the finals, it was MM who was more inspired, and "streets ahead of SN in terms of physical fitness and court coverage." Simple! Saina may have been carrying injuries, niggles etc, but the fact is that Minatsu was better prepared and better equipped physically, on the day. All players go through some form or amount of physical injury or debility during the course of their career. I'm sure Saina will recover. But take away anything from Minatsu's performance. She held the aces, and Saina didn't have the tools to deal with her on the day.
That could not be typo.. That was the original message your heart wanted to type.. Hee hee. But your mind did not allowed... Mind vs heart.. Mind won it.. Definitely, well said.. Mitani played well on that day. Excellent.. She came with well preparation. She was punch clear in her shots.. Taking saina's weakness as advantage, she made her to move whereever she wanted to . saina wanted to finish the game as early as possible because of physical condition with so many smashes wasting her energy. Mitani was clear to drag saina in long rallies to make her tired as saina was suffering from injury already. Anyhow, win is a win. I came here to tell that physical fitness comparison is made only for the athletes who are normal even before playing the game. Bur saina was already with knee injury. So, no question of physical fitness arises. Only techinque matters. Here saina lacked her strategy against mitani. Whatever she tried, everything was blocked and returned back. So saina got exhausted and gave up fighting hard.
How does a cute chipmunk body aka Minatsu gather so much speed and power? She can run and run. Probably are hybrid engine underneath her. She has good intuition on where the shuttle is landing too.
