After such a rousing performance by the aged Lin Dan against LCW and before that against HKV and WTW, this is the first thought that comes to your mind, how does it reflect on you? We're talking about Lin Dan who often 'helps' his colleagues, not the other way round.
What rubbish are you talking about ? Would you give more to somebody who already have so much spilling over ? Besides, what do you take, H K Vittinghus, Wang Tzu Wei, Lee CW, and the final opponent whoever he is, not to mention Huang Yuxiang in the SF, for ? Show some respect for them, if not for yourself.
To my pleasant surprise, Huang Yuxiang showed grit determination and fighting spirit beyond what I expected of him, an incarnation of the never-say-die attitude the way he came from behind to overcome Srikanth and Prannoy. Hope to see him go further from now on, at age 25, it's high time
There are two more rounds to go, all three remaining opponents for Lin Dan happen to be playing very well, including the unlikely semifinalist, Huang Yuxiang, who exceeded expectations, I won't be too sure it will be Lin Dan standing on the highest steps of the podium come Sunday. To me, the way Lin Dan played and beat his greatest rival, LCW, yesterday is already a big treat, so heartening and gratifying to see, one that I'll remember for a long time to come. Anything more is a huge bonus, esp capturing his 7th All England crown.
He spoke too soon?. Shi yuqi has improved a lot lately. May be only time will tell. But i think the korean player believes in h2h very much.
Even Huang in the interview said that he is happy beating Srikanth. He told that he attacked at the later stages of the match, even when he was 2 match points down, he did not lose his cool and he kept his gameplan (i.e attacking) , that was the keypoint in beating srikanth. We should not forget, srikanth is not in his elements . Even we watched in the first round match itself. But loss is a loss. But this beating gave him confidence for his future endeavour.
With LCW gone, I am gonna support SWH or LD now. I slightly want to favour SWH but LD is on a roll now. All the best to the players.
Huang Yuxiang is not young anymore, he has little achievement to speak of, his position in CBA uncertain, his future is not bright, if not bleak, why not hope Lin Dan be kind enough to do him a favour and give it to him ? Apparently, certain people just can't stand the 34-year-old man is still around and denying the younger cohort of stars from succeeding more. But,honestly, had it been the 35-yr-old LCW who prevailed instead, or the 37-yr-old Lee Hyun Il for that matter, would they be singing a different tune ? You bet.
I believe, for CBA, it means more to them that someone like Shi Yuqi, more so than Huang Yuxiang, rises to the occasion and wins the top tier AE title to prove their worth as it bodes well for the development of CHN badminton as a whole than for their old stalwart Lin Dan to continue in his winning ways.
Just feels like its Boe tournament. Looks like they are set to lose in R2. Now they are on target to Final. The fact that history in MD is against the defending champion. It means their biggest fight will be against ConradKolding.
SEMIFINALS (10.00am & 05.00pm local time) => https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=4E6160C1-6ABB-43CF-A535-2F0175C84D7D Session 1 (10.00am) 1) Zhang Nan/Li Yinhui (CHN) v Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (JPN) 2) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) v Mads Conrad Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding (DEN) 3) Kamilla Rytter Juhl/Christinna Pedersen (DEN) v Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN) 4) Son Wan Ho (KOR) v Shi Yuqi (CHN) 5) Tai Tzu Ying (TPE) v Chen Yufei (CHN) Session 2 (05.00pm) 1) Pusarla V. Sindhu (IND) v Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) 2) Huang Yuxiang (CHN) v Lin Dan (CHN) 3) Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto (JPN) v Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN) 4) Mathias Christiansen/Christinna Pedersen (DEN) v Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong (CHN) 5) Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe (JPN) v Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (DEN) China has three representatives in men's singles, a repetition of 2016 All England edition. A big match showcase is far from expectation, completed by two quick games rather than epic clash. Both Lin Dan & Lee Chong Wei displayed sluggish performance at opening game but Super Dan was better to execute first set, 15-16 down the Chinese locked his long-time foe with 21-16 as the Malaysian produced unforced errors. More interesting fashion presented in second set, they exhibited high quality skill to entertain badminton fans with various excellent shots. The underdog Huang Yuxiang once again pulled out a magical feat to eliminate Indian player Prannoy who fell short in gruelling encounter, 20-22 / 21-16 / 21-23. Prannoy manages hefty lead at early stages of deciding game, 10-3, 11-6 but it's too bad the world number 16 couldn't maintain the winning momentum while his opponent slowly catching up and forcing deuce then it's like dejavu for Huang as he did well to clinch the match in crucial moment. Something weird happens in all Chinese quarterfinals when the Olympic Champion Chen Long is playing like a novice and succumbed to Shi Yuqi meekly, 10-21 / 17-21. Last year beaten finalist Shi will find tough chance Son Wan Ho to eye final spot, the Korean number one tackled the in-form Kenta Nishimoto, Son has positive head to head stats, 4-1 against the Chinese new hopeful. Pusarla V. Sindhu reverses Glasgow World Championships outcome to knock out her nemesis Nozomi Okuhara, the match lasted in 84 minutes to present very close contest between these two elites. What a strong determination in third game by the Indian top-ranked player, trailing behind 12-16, the tiring Sindhu grabbed four consecutive points to level the scoreline and pumped up to seal the match at the end 21-18. She will up against another agile opponent from Japan, Akane Yamaguchi who knocked out Carolina Marin convincingly, 21-15 / 21-18. Defending champion Tai Tzu Ying as usual demonstrates master skill ability to frustrate Aya Ohori, the Taiwanese is overwhelming favourite to enter grand final against Glasgow World Championships bronze medalist, Chen Yufei. Eighth seed Chen enjoys easy ride en route into semifinal, thanks to favourable draw, first round bye due her teammate conceded, met Kim Hyo Min at last sixteen and Danish unseeded Mia Blichfeldt. World number one Gideon/Sukamuljo do their routine to check into semifinal, powered past Taiwanese combination Chen HL/Wang CL comfortably, 21-15 / 21-13. The invincible duo will find Danish challenger Conrad/Kolding who thwart last year runner-up Li JH/Liu YC, the Chinese pair have good chance to take opening game but slipped in the end and psychologically cause effect to their overall performance at second game. Two-time winner Boe/Mogensen continue their dream to reclaim All England crown, defeated former world number one Goh VS/Tan WK in two straight-games, 22-20 / 21-11, they will be tested by surprising semifinalist Endo/Watanabe who ended giant-killer Liao MC/Su CH inspiring run in this tournament. Again, reigning world champion and world number one Chen QC/Jia YF can't fix their slump performance despite had positive start to nail first game 21-14. Koharu/Yonemoto are back to business to force rubber games. In decider, the Chinese pair leads 11-7, 14-13 then practically they lost focus and made a series of errors to contribute for their defeat here. Dubai Finals rematch will involve Tanaka/Yonemoto and Fukushima/Hirota. Pedersen/Juhl have opportunity to deny all Japan final tomorrow if this European best pair could pass tricky test, the promising star Matsumoto/Nagahara who shocked more-fancied countrywomen Matsutomo/Takahashi yesterday. After created headline to stun third seedTang CM/Tse YS in first round, the unseeded Watanabe/Higashino disappoint home fans to defeat The Adcocks in rubber games yesterday and no impossible for this Japanese energetic young pair to check finale, they will challenge China reunion pair Zhang N/Li YH who fought hard to eliminate Indonesian relatively fresh partnerships, Faisal/Widjaja. Top contender Zheng SW/Huang YQ also found stern test to down their compatriots Wang YL/Huang DP and get Danish duo Christiansen/Pedersen to seek final spot, the latter unexpectedly had easier quarterfinal match to beat former champion, the error-proned Jordan/Susanto.
@CLELY PV Sindhu's H-H is 5-5 with Nozomi Okuhara. I wouldn't call that nemesis! It should be -4 or more to call someone a nemesis, like Saina Nehwal with Tai Tzu Ying.
Will the double duty Wantanabe has to do affect his stamina? He is not used to it on this stage. On the other hand playing two SF at the AE should deliver so much adrenaline. Looking for an interesting SF
Wantanabe and Higashino are exciting to watch. If Wantanabe can find a good mix bt experimental shots and less unforced errors, they stand a chance to create an upset (overall in the tournament)
