As TV guest commentator for the Sudirman Cup tie of China versus Indonesia on Thursday, the legendary Morten Frost commented that China can be beaten. He cautioned against simply copying China's present style of training with great reliance on speed and power. Europeans especially, should maintain a different approach and the secret lies in "anticipation and control" and a very strong defense. One has to play smart, it seems. In the MS match between Lin Dan and Sony, he pointed out that Sony's stout defense against Lin's smashes and his good control at the net especially, have frustrated Lin time and again. I thought Sony should win the first game had he not lapsed in concentration in the crucial moments. Btw, he has high admiration for Limpele. When asked whether Lin Dan is better than the likes of Yang Yang and Han Jian, Frost did not think so, but with more time, a good player like Lin will be able to match the great badminton players of old. What say you?
Totally agree here with the comment about LinDan "better than previous" older players...Today I saw LinDan play, just for the 2nd time ever, the other time was when they played the Thomas Cup last year or the year before..Today vs. Sony Kuncoro, LinDan didn't really impress me...He's agile and fast, but technique-wise was "below" than that of Sony..Esp. when forced to play at the net, I thought Sony was "better" than LinDan where he made many self-errors and seemed hesitant.. For some reason, I felt the fundamental techniques for Sony is overall "better" than LinDan..I thought Sony just simply ran out of gas by the end of the 1st set..Hope Sony can get more playing time before the WC in August, to build up his stamina..
mm i just saw the wc03 quarter against WCH and sony did seem very hesitant in attacking. he is very fast and can produce wonderful angles on his smashes but he didn't actually try to smash that much. Maybe he needs more stamina? He just came back from injury right?
I agree too. LD is fast and agile. As for shot making varieties, not that much of that in his pocket. However, this again reinforces my point made many times before that speed and stamina are still the top skills to have first. LD's trophies are evidence to that.
There used to be a zillion chances in front of Frost to defeat the Chinese in the world championships and alike, and he failed to grab a single one of them; now he is talking about "the Chinese can be beaten". Today's match between Kuncoro and Lin simply disappoints with underpar performance from both sides; therefore, I am not totally convinced whether one can gauge either player's caliber based on this game. Both of them are young and have tons of room for improvement; it is premature yet to predict their future sucess. Besides, comparing players of different eras is silly by itself.
Sure it's much easier to talk than do it. If I have a spider's eyes (which can see things 8 times faster than human's eyes, a 200mph smash looks like a 25mph smash), I can probably be an A player already. Some reporters asked Zhao Jianhua about Bao and Lin Dan. He said Bao has better skill than Lin Dan. But Lin Dan has better killer instints. That alone will win matches for him. Sound like Kung Fu.
i agree with cooler.. if u have the pace and speed to out-maneouver an opponent, ur smashes become twice sharper and ur shots become thrice deceiving, even if the shot quality is the same when u DONT put speed on the shuttle.
Gulp! just noticed chinese badminton army juggernaut the last 3 days.... 5/10 china-sweden 5-0 5/11 china-hongkong 5-0 5/12 china-indonesia 5-0 http://2005sc.163.com/special/s/00231F2C/sdmymqlive.html france seems doing ok..maybe we get another badminton power in the future!!
yes....as EVERYONE here KNOWS....lin dan has LOUSY techniques no beauty nor grace.....especially compared to the danes...but the indonesian guys play like streetbasketball too back to LD....but he shore is fast!!!!! also endurance wise an edge also master the BASICS is just enough?! i notice people tend to look down at his "elementary" techniques....but...he is after all.....still the Champeen!!
Frost did mention that fitness is paramount. He used Lin Dan as an example to show that despite his superior speed, once his opponent is equally fit and can return his smashes, ie, having an excellent defense, Lin Dan will have to think of other ways to win points instead of just relying on his brute power. An opponent who can anticipate Lin's moves and able to control him at the net to reduce his smashing chances, Lin will be frustrated and expose his own weakness. And as some have mentioned, some of Lin's other stroke departments have not been well honed yet to add another dimension to his game. Perhaps that's why he lost to Ronald Susilo at the Athens Olympics and more recently to Chen Hong at the All-England. Remember he has lost to Bao Chunlai before.
i am agreed with most of the ppl ..lin dan is not better than previous legend like yang yang ..zhao jianhua...han jian...lin dan just ..maybe faster ..or smash harder than some of the player in the top form..
My opinion Lin Dan is the exact duplicate of Peter Gade when Peter was at his prime at younger age. I recall Peter was undefeated for very long period of time before hit with injury? Two of them also have simliar style, speed and power. I think Lin Dan still will have 1 good year as this type of playing style most probably won't last that long before injury occur. In China, it's not how long you can play for national team, rather how many medals you can win for that short period of duration of his/her badminton career to determine greatness. Zhang Ning is the only exception.
when LD is winning mostly by speed and stamina since boyhood, his 'other' skills are secondary or not fully developed, not that he can't improve on them at athen, it was LD mental nerve caused the lost to ronald susilo. LD prolly dont have a plan readied for RS where as RD prolly studied LD quite well just before the olympic. When ur seeded low and likely face #1, #2, or #3 player at the first round, u better study them. I doubt RS can repeat a win against LD again
Yes, Sony just came back from a minor injury where he had to undergo a minor surgery on both his foot..Sony is not and has never been known as a "power" player, rather more of a "rally" type..Eventhough he doesn't have "fancy" strokes, his shots placements and overall fundamental skills are very good..Plus he is known as a very diligent and hard-working player, unlike Taufik..Taufik OTOH has all the "fancy" and "power" strokes to rely on, thus most people consider him as not as hard-working or diligent like Sony...Both have equal fundamental skills, but they differ in the "diligent" department..Another thing, in previous years, Sony tends to sometimes play WITHOUT thinking.. Don't know if he has improved or not..
fair assessment. I think LD would peak longer than PG because LD is less heavier so injury would come later than PG I really like PG style, he is tall and can play the fast pace style like the chineses, and imo, has better strokes than LD at the moment.
the idea is total match-tournament effectiveness. there's very LITTLE value in beating the #1 player in the first few rounds when u are still fresh. beating the best players in the semis and the finals counts the most. it shows that not only do you have the ability to beat top players but also the ability to win tournaments and titles. this is LD's edge. the total package efficiency. this is the modern SPORT of today.... not the same GAME people used to play 20-30 years ago. 8man
