Momota played two highly intensive games against CTC and LZJ, he was always gonna be burned out today. It's difficult to just say that PJB should play Nishimoto against Malaysia because on paper MD and MS would have lost, it is not unfair to think there's chance of an upset here given how Malaysia played against Indonesia. There's nothing left in the tank for Momota to attack anymore in the third set. I was amused when I saw people downplaying SYQ chance in this tie, SYQ has already beaten peak Momota back in 2019. He even played exceptionally well against Axelsen, it was just that Axelsen is another tier above everyone else right now.
Oh don't get me wrong, Momota was abolutely the right choice, I would argue that Nishimoto is still below Momota even in his current form. I don't think Momota looked particularly tired in G3, compared to Shi Yu Qi who looked dead inside, was breathing heavily, bent double after most rallies. It was all about having the courage and confidence to go for the attacking shots/ extra tight net shots. Shi Yuqi played with incredible confidence in that last set, Momota was only reactive, tried to smash once, went wide and then never tried again. In fact Momota knew SY was tired and tried extending the rally as much as possible to force Shi Yuqi into mistakes but in vain, got a few points but rest of that was straight winners
I think Japan should take risk by sending Nishimoto. Unlucky that Shida was injured and coach Park cannot has any other choices but sending Momota to maximum the chance of win.
Breathing heavily and bending over may not be the only signs of fatigue. Pacing and choice of shots could be clear signs too. For example in AE 2021 final, Morten explained that Viktor was already showing signs of fatigue in game 1 by choosing to focus his smash down the line instead of cross court so he would have a shorter follow-up, and the speed and power of his smash also clearly reduced and got retrieved easily. There's no point trying to attack if you know you don't have the energy to execute quality shots because you would just end up having to run more. Momota isn't afraid of attacking, he definitely attacked whenever possible against LZJ yesterday. SYQ only looked tired in the last few points as he was getting impatient trying to close the game and just mindlessly attacked.
Actually I just back to badminton by seeing Okuhara play with Wang Shixian in All England 2016 (I watched it in 2017 year) and I don't see many Lin Dan's matches. But If I have to choose between humble and arrogant. I will choose arrogant. As I used to said, Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei and Momota was arrogant, but It can be acceptable because they don't show it up at a meaningless match
He could have, but the difference is just losing at the 4th or 5th category. Watanabe has only won 1 out of 11 outings against Huang/Wang, and they were recently blown away by Huang/Wang in Olympics. HDP is unplayable these days, she's playing like MD on disguise.
Momoto could learn some humility after the "stunt" he pulled when he beat LZJ. Oh wait, that was confidence? Color me suprised!
But still has chance. With your mind, Shi Yuqi cannot win Momota at Sudirman cup 2019. Chen Yufei cannot win Tai Tzu Ying in All England 2019 and Ratchanok cannot win Chen Yufei in Uber Cup 2018
I've just open Malaysia's anthem on youtube to know it's square or round. You know what ? I listen to Chinese and Japanese national anthems too much until I know that when does it start, when does it end ? where is the climax ? tèn tẹn ten ten tén tén ten ten, tèn tén tén tén ten.... tén ten, tén ten, ten tén tèn.... 起来!! 不愿做奴隶的 把我们的血肉,, 筑成我们新的长城!!^-^
That was happiness after finally seeing so form following an accident which threatened his career and can still prove to be fatal to his career and early exit from Olympics in his country. What are you on about? Try to think.
I guess that's exactly what PJB was thinking then, that maybe Malaysia could have a chance of upsetting their WD or XD should they risk fielding Nishimoto.
What a captivating Sudirman Cup Finals day! He JiTing and Zou HaoDong are unquestionably the heroes for winning the Sudirman Cup. Once the MD match went to China, it would take a string of upsets, especially in the last two doubles matches, for Japan to recover. CYF has been running non-stop since the Olympics and was simply too tired to withstand a true blue grinder like AY. The Chinese team is strategically suspect in the use of CYF in this tournament. AY thoroughly deserves the win. Momota is not the Momota of two years ago. SYQ has his own trials and tribulations in the last two years. This match is really a toss-up. SYQ ended up winning with some shrewd maneuver but deserves full credits nevertheless. Matsumoto has always been unpredictably hot or cold. She has enormous capability but no one seems to know which Matsumoto would show up on a particular day. Today is not one of her good days and the match went accordingly. All in all, the fans witnessed many great matches worthy of Sudirman Cup finals. Salutes to all the players and the Finnish host! Look forward to more exciting actions from the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup where more secondary players will get their chances and should be even more intriguing.
Watching the prize presentation I made some strange observations. CHN didnt bring the whole team to the podium, are they leaving players out so the fat coach and XXZ can have a medal and some glory? (yes, I know the fat coach is named Zhang Jun). Wang Yilyu was nowhere to be seen in the presentation but two male CHN players had t-shirts with Wang Y L on the back.
I personally think he's done well in most instances but it's just that the Chinese head coach might be strategically better than him so he's always getting tactically "outplayed". Also, it's evident by now that the difference between Chinese players and Japanese players is not so much about the skill as about being able to rise to the occasion and deliver when it matters. Chinese players give me the impression that they cherish every opportunity and responsibility given to them and play like their position in the national team mattered (as if losing the matches would jeopardise it) - unlike the Japanese players who don't seem to exude the same kind of characteristic.
If you can't believe China (the number 1 seed of this tournament with 2 Olympic gold medal players in their team), which team can you believe ? ................................................................................... Congrats Malaysia, Congrats Lee Zii Jia . . . . in another world