he's not even 30 yet...c'mon even for a chinese he should last at leats until 28... unlike mr. I-won-so-I-quit, 24 year old Taufik (yes , that was a joke, don't bask me )
I think LD's backhand has improved a lot. It used to be like, he cannot afford to do even one backhand. Now I think his backhand is OK.
Lin Dan and Taufik are two of my favorite singles player. But I think there are some bias and favoring Taufik because of such things like Lin Dan fearing Taufik. Lin Dan's net attack was non existing but now passability (Dont know what this mean) and a weak backhand, come on. I don't mean to start thrashing but just want to point out something. I don't think a player like Lin Dan would be afraid of anyone on the circuit at the moment. Also he's very good at the net. 2004 Thomas Cup finals against Peter Gade, he controlled the net. OK PG might not be that great at net, but in the Surdiman Cup finals, LD Vs Taufik, Taufik did get LD at the net in the first half of the first game but LD was all over the net for the rest. 2006 HKO LD vs Kenneth, he did a backhand smashed that was really fast. 2006 Thomas Cup finals against PG, LD in an emergency did a back cross court clear from baseline to base line. LD might not be as sharp at net as Taufik I agree, but he doesn't suck either. LD does a lot of overhead shots, but that doesn't mean his back hand is weak. I really like both players a lot and I don't really care who wins. This time however I did wanted LD to win because Taufik has become a complaining B!0ch. Also we know that badminton is a game of luck. Some day you can play your heart out and you still suck. Some day you just throw the racquet out and it goes over. At AG2006, Taufik's luck just showed up.
actually, I find PG great at the net..but I just like to see him play.. for the rest, I agree. LD's netplay/backhand/other skills are superb by any standard..he's by no means a dumb, spastic hulk hogan who by sheer chance managed to get the #1 for the last 3 years... but, There're just some thing taufik did(does? who knows..) better, and I believe it was at the net...(either because LD gave the attack away to fast, or Taufik played better) Though I think I get your point...Is there an echo in here?
I think we all agree that Taufik is supurb at net, and one thing Lin Dan is bad is that he wants revange and he won't back out from the net. He gets killed at the net because he'll engaged into a net battle (not sure if it's a good thing or not). But once when he gets killed at the net, he'll to kill them again at the net. 2006 JP finals, he was playing really well until Taufik got him at the net. He was actually ahead but then he kept on trying to take revenge that he end up loosing the first set. But you're right, it's hard for someone to be number one for 3 years with a weak backhand and can't play at the net.
My 2 cents.. ..i'm somewhat in agreement with the above comment...if you guys won't mind, here's my 2 cents... IMO, LD could've won(or at least forced a rubber set) against Taufik *if* he would follow the same gameplan he did against Taufik in the Japan Open or probably in previous matches..That is to keep Taufik away from the net, lob deeper, clear/rally more, esp. to Taufik's back forehand side...Like they often say, 'if it ain't broke, why change it??"..Did you all noticed how Taufik wasn't able to do much "attacks" against LD when has to deal those shots that are either near the baseline or on Taufik's back forehand side?? As most of his shots are either half-smashes or straight drops or cross-court drops. Even then LD, literally, was able to return those. But for some reason, LD chose otherwise; it never fully materialized and LD, instead, got "buoyed" into Taufik's gameplan and tempo.
some TH fans thot this match was dominated by TH but LD was actually one point from winning the whole match. At 20-17, if LD capture just 1 more rally point and force a rubber, TH is a goner and all this talk of net supremacy, smart serving, master game plan, great preparation by TH would be moot.
Did you expect anything different from most of Taufik's die-hard fans??? Just remember, they praise Taufik if he wins, and curse the opponent when Taufik loses + find excuses. Seriously, by now, if you are still expecting intelligent discussions... you are in the wrong forum... time for me to go back to technique section, search for some useful information and skip all the rest of the garbage.
With due respect, I think some of you here have misunderstood the term "back hand skill" that Quisitor referred to. When it comes to speed and power, LD is by no mean weak. Even when he gets to the shuttle late at back hand corner, he would certainly be able to do a good back hand clear. The problem is LD's backhand netplay is not tight enough (at his level). At the very least, soft backhand strokes are not LD's strong point. In AG final, LD had quite a number of unforced errors when blocking the shuttle to the net with his backhand. On the contrary, TH's backhand netplay is superb and not only LD, BCL is no match to him in this particular skill - just watch some recent TH-BCL encounters. Overall, LD has many things to cover this weakness, and in a good day, he would manage to win against TH. Infact, the AG final match could've gone other way too, if LD had not lost concentration in the last few rallies. Quisitor's post made me review this match, and I realized that TH plays many drop shots to LD's backhand too (besides the serves). He seemed quite confident, as if he knew LD could not deliver a tight net shot, so that TH would have ample time to react.
your advice is well noted it's hard to have intelligent discussion when the other party is on cloud 9
Sorry, i have to disagree with you. LD was one point from winning the 2nd GAME only, not the whole match. if he did, his chance is HIGHER only, but not a 100% sure, nobody knows what would happen if that match would go to the 3rd, same as before the final, some people predicted TH would lost consecutively for 3rd time to LD (judging by their previous enncounter and LD win in SF) in 2 weeks (even I predicted that), but it's wrong, so.....since nobody knows because it didn't happen at all, then pointless to say 'if' and 'if'.
Yah, i'm waiting too.. ...hmm, it's nearly 48 hrs. since he posted; i wonder what quisitor must be or has been analyzing??...hmm
Oh my gosh...you're right.. ..yah, i just noticed it also... .wow, it's another long post, even longer than the 1st scene...hmm, i might have to take my time reading that(maybe 3 or 4 times)...i wonder if the 3rd scene will be even longer than the 2nd??..*gasp*.. Anyways, i just took a quick skim over it, to read parts of it and looks like it has covered a lot of what's already been mentioned by a lot of us posters... hmm, no wonder it took nearly 48 hrs to put all that together..
Lets put it this way. LD will have to play his best and Taufik on an average day and may be make some errors., to win. LD has no confidence with himself winning over TH even before the game start. Just like Donald Trump says, if you want to be succeed as a millionaire, you have to think like a millionaire.Otherwise you are always just an average guy..let alone be the front of everyone...