Wow ChenLong and Axelsen snagging all the medals. Only Ginting replaces LCW medal. Nothing has changed the last 5 years. hmm...
A very patient game by CL. That's exactly how CL beat LCW back in the day. I also like how CL picked when to hit power smashes - he only hit the power smashes when the chance of getting a point was high. And up to 14-12, CTC was playing very well too, keeping close to CL. In fact, CTC didn't make many unforced errors up to 14-12. But when CL pulled away to 18-14, CTC started to gamble, and he gambled with that wild wide smash. That was when CTC changed his strategy from staying consistent, stable, and not gambling, to all of a sudden gambling on that wild wide smash. That's really bad for CTC. This was his best chance to win at the Olympics with Momota out. There is no way that CTC would win this Olympics with an "in form" Momota. But with Momota out, I could see a path for him to the finals. Sadly, CL, despite his older age, didn't let CTC get through.
Kevin Cordon in an OG semi-final... yeah - I stand by what I said earlier: these Olympics definitely don't count. All I can hope for now is that China don't gobble up everything.
CL doesn't have too many fake and deceptive shots, like Viktor, LD, LCW, etc. CL likes to play a very straight forward and consistent game. His game is about playing high percentage consistent shots, and letting the opponent make mistakes. When CL beat LCW back in the WC and Olympics, his style was pretty much a patient style, retrieving all the shots, and letting LCW make the mistakes. If LCW lifted it short to the back, then CL would take the opportunity to do a power smash. This is pretty much CL's style. The same style today, and the same style when he won all those WC and the Olympics in Rio. The difference is, CL is older now at 32. Still, it seems like he is moving fast enough. Let's see if he can keep up this style and his fitness/stamina in the remaining match(es) for him.
At 18-14 when CTC hit the shuttle into the net you could see his brain break. He was totally speechless and defeated in spirit by then, 10-0 to Chen Long 100% win rate continues.
You can't just say a tournament doesn't count when an underdog makes an upset. This is sport, it happens.
It's been said multiple times in these forum but I'm gonna say it again: "Just get a god damn coach, CTC".
Only Momota' s patient style can match CL. If Ginting cones out gun blazing tomorrow, he is not going to win.
Kevin Cordon is playing better than most of the other players without a doubt and OG schedule is better for him because there's more than one day of rest. I wouldn't discount any of the athletes that train their whole lives to get here.
Yup, upsets happen in sports. Underdogs win all the time. Look at how Greece won Euro 2004. They were the underdogs in so many matches, but they became champions in the end. Having said that, Kevin Cordon is a bit lucky too. So he totally earned his wins against NKL, Caljow, and Heo Kwanghee and deserved every point of those wins. We shouldn't take away Kevin Cordon's hard fought victories to get to the semi-finals. But Kevin Cordon could have been playing an "in form" Momota instead of Heo Kwanghee. Of course, we know that Momota was not "in form" this Olympics. But I have no doubt that an "in form" Momota, like the 2019 version that was practically unbeatable for 6 months straight (how long did Momota go undefeated in 2019?), would have stopped Kevin Cordon.
Chen Long or Viktor Axelsen are the only (I hope) hopes in MS now. Anyone else and I'd be very disappointed.
I'm thinking that Chen Long might have a better chance against Axelsen than ASG. Unless ASG goes all out. But Axelsen is sitting very pretty indeed with an easy match against SYQ and a Kevin Cordòn
Why are we even talking about "in form" Momota? Momota was in the tournament, was obviosly very nervous and felt a lot of pressure so he didn't deliver. End of story. I believe Cordon would've beaten him too, his game is way better than Heo's (as we saw today). It's like saying Chen Long only won gold in Rio because Lin Dan wasn't in his 2008 form. It doesn't make sense
