Agree, tomorrow might be his first "serious" match here, after all the other CHN finalist is already assured.
I'm puzzled too. Maybe he didn't enter for the INA SSP and SG SS to avoid playing Lee CW so as not to reveal too much of his condition and preparedness, and take part in this Thai Open GPG just to maintain his ranking points and keep his no.2 position which has no bearing on his OG seeding as it's already determined. But for him or anyone for that matter,to come and play immediately after the Thomas Cup Final and stay focused,conditioned and motivated isn't a psychologically easy thing to do. He admitted as much. Which means Sony has a higher than normal chance to steal a game from Lin Dan at least and a reasonable probability of scraping a win over him.
Sadly... [TABLE="class: ruler, width: auto"] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"]WS[/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: right"][TABLE="width: auto"] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: right"]Porntip Buranaprasertsuk [3][/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent, align: center"]-[/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][TABLE="width: auto"] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"]Nozomi Okuhara[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: transparent"]13-21 21-17 21-17[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Little Noz must have pushed Porntip to the limit. An excellent outing for her and I'm sure we'll see more of these types of performances in the future.
This was what I wrote on Wed and indeed, INA only has one SF spot, thanks to Sony Dwi Kuncoro. MS SF Lin Dan [1] vs Sony Dwi Kuncoro - don't think Sony can beat Lin Dan, even though the CHN is only at his first gear throughout this tourney.
all the talks about new game plans or secret weapon are just hot air. simply, you can't teach old dog new tricks, as simple as that. the only reason LD in Thailand is he is probably the only one that heading to London doesn't needs much preparation at all. so much for his confident. he does needs some matches practices, but not the too taxing ones so what better than a tournament your nearest rival is about 20 or 30 ranking places behind you.
will we have an all thailand ws final?hehe let see if it come true porntip need to work harder for it while i guess may can beat wang lin,in 2 or 3. hope to see korea vs tan/hoon in md final
I'm wondering too. Remember,in the 2008 Beijing OG, Lee CW claimed it was a totally different Lin Dan throughout the Games that caught him off-guard. You reckon,this time round, Grandmaster Tang Xianhu has nothing new for him, maybe not technically but what about tactically or strategically? Like stroke variation,mixing up a wide array of shots to make it less predictable,harder to read or anticipate. After all, he is nearing 30 and cannot be like 2008, play fast and furious match after match, age is a factor now.
People here are just thinking too much. There's nothing surprising about Lin Dan competing in THA and choosing not to go to INA or SIN; as the later 2 places are not exactly his favorite places to go and they still remain as perhaps the only two Opens he has yet to win.
Ｐrecisely! Why bother to go to INA or SIN and risk injury? It's practically a stress-free tourney for LD at the Thailand Open GPG. A free 7000 pts and some matches to stretch his muscles and legs.
