Oh do not take me wrong, I completely agree Ma Long deserved even more to go. And Xu Xin is not my afvourite player at all .
yes, they are. neither did i. i know nothing about table tennis... ...nor do i care about table tennis. should i have said 'this is life' instead? i believe your assumptions are leading you astray here. that would depend on whether this conversation is worth continuing. indeed, i can... but there's a problem. no worries. it's not a huge problem we can't overcome. you assume i'm 'white-knighting.' is it because you think i like/care about the chinese 'team'? well, i don't. in fact, i am very much enjoying watching other teams succeed in this olympics, and rise during this past year. i understand 90% of context is lost on msg boards and it's hard for folks to keep track of everybody's 2-cents in relation to all the chirping.** is continuing this conversation going to be a waste of time, keystrokes and pixels? your serve... ** this is why i avoid in-depth conversations on crowded msg boards.
nothing wrong for fans to support Chinese team! but it's good for badminton that other countries have caught up! more fun to watch!
In terms of gold medals, two is a fair number for the Chinese team, given the circumstances. MS LD had not showed any signs of his returning to the top level in the year leading to the Olympics. LCW did a great job at maintaining his level. However, despite of all the drama and sentiment, CL is clearly the best player in the world right now. WS CM has by far the best physical ability among the current players and her techniques are also top notch. LXR is the only credible challenger but she has not in good shape for a long time. There is no surprise, except for PVS who did a fabulous job to reach the final, convincingly. MD The top pair are all getting long in their teeth and bound for upsets. Upsets did happen, in droves. ZN/FHF had a relatively easy path to the title. To their credit, they seized on the opportunity. It remains to be seen whether GVS/TWK can sustain their performance level. They had a good shot but succumbed to the gravity of the occasion. CB/HW rose to the occasion in spots but they could not overcome their fragile psyche at the end. WD MM/AT is the best pair in the world at the right time. LYB's desire to give YY an Olympic gold backfired spectacularly. No matter how good the non-Chinese pairs are, there is no way that no Chinese pair received a WD medal at the Olympics, if not for LYB's selfish and foolish act. XD It had been a long time since ZN/ZYL performed at their top level. As ZYL's personal situation coming to light, we now know why. LN/TA had a well-deserve win. GLY/CPS had a great run, but they are still a notch below the very top level at this point.
