I believe Chen Long has won against Lee CW 3 matches in a row, and 6 out of most recent 9 matches. Lee CW is now building up his psychological barrier against Chen Long as he built one before against Lin Dan.
I have a dream ... "Psych" is kind of over-rated stuff. My observation when Chinese players play against Chong Wei is patience, let the game grind on into rubber set and Chong Wei will make his share of un-force errors. Even if Chong Wei prevail, the next round is another Chinese player to grind on again ... Solution? We need another Malaysian player capable of escorting Chong Wei to level the playing field else is against all odds when facing these 4(Lin Dan, Chen Long, Wang Zhenming, Du Pengyu) deep into the round. Imagine if we have Chong Wei vs Daren Liew in semi(wishful thinking, I know) and Chong Wei won by walked while other Chinese won by 3 tough games then Chong Wei most probably will win in the final even happen to be in major events like Olympics or World Championship(since it's a wishful thinking, might as well make it big ) . To make the dream come true, first must have a dream and stay coma
Getting a bit fed up with Gill Clark now, didn't want to criticise LCW at all cause of her bias (aren't commentators meant to remain unbiased?) Instead of giving full credit to Chen Long, she stated LCW wasn't 100% fit (but earlier in the match criticised Chen Long for having 3 1st round exits) Secondly, made no comment on Chen Long having to chase LCW to shake his hand, had it been the other way round, her criticism would have been endless.
^agreed. Her commentaries are biased towards LCW. She kept on mentioning the 'disadvantages' that LCW, a back injury or w.e.
Three of the finals results didn’t meet expectations:- LCW (S1) lost to CL (S2) MA/HS (S1) lost to LYD/YYS (S8) CP/KRJ (S2) lost to BYS/TJH (U) Lee Chong Wei could have won the first game as CL's smash at18-16 when LCW was leading, was unexpectedly called in by the linesman. This was a wrong call according to the two commentators who said the smash was clearly out and the wrong call clearly affected LCW. The commentators just hoped that the proposed review system could be implemented soonest possible to avoid more wrong calls. Notwithstanding this, the match was one of the best encounters between these two magnificent athletes. LYD/YYS showed their earlier wins over KKK/TBH (S4) andMB/CM (S2) were no flukes as they went on to beat MA/HS (S1) and won the title. Congratulations to all the winners.
The great LCW and his coaches is fully aware that LCW is now at the tailend of his illustrious career and though his desire, fighting spirit, amazing skills, coolness under extreme pressure when despite his best efforts, CL keeps on retrieving and returning his killer shots - age has caught up and theres no way for him to win the rubber! But he really tried in 2 sets, and CL knew what LCW is going through and is amazed at LCW's never say die attitude and incredible shot making - I think CL admiration for LCW is genuine - but he was created to destroy LCW's game with his amazing footwork, brilliant retrieving ability helped by his height and reach and extremely precise and economical game. Sciencetific analysis and all the videos everywhere this days scrutinizing LCW's play by Chinese coaches have helped them to create players like DPY,ZMW and CL whose job is to drag and tire the amazing LCW so that he is a spent force by the time he reaches the finals of major championships. Its a great tribute to LCW - one of the greatest players ever in world badminton - that the entire China coaching fraternity has to focus and cracked their brain to stop him! Thats why LCW is so popular in China - an oustanding athlete with tremendous skills and a heart of gold...
the linecall against LCW at 18:16 in G1 is a wrong one. but as a top player of the sport and the background that poor linecall is very common in this sport, it will be a shame if you say he is affected.... CL also got a dubious fault call against one of his net kill during the match that CL was surprised, but then went on to win the next point... looks like LCW really need a good sports psychiatrist...
Maybe someone more knowlegeable can enlighten whether LCW managed to beat all his China opponents in a single tournament to win the title? I hope this has happened before when LCW was at his prime.
The worst scenario happened to INA shuttlers, empty handed from DEN SSP And CHN ruled the finals to bag 4 titles, leaving one title to KOR, congrats The most interesting and thrilling is WS, when Wang YH turned the tables to win over Sung JH, what a strong determination by former champion, excellent! Lee CW v Chen L, another top class match, second title for Chen L in this year after AE last March, no wonder the Chinese was so emotional to express his winning last night. No happy ending for home fans as the last hope Pedersen/Juhl lost to CHN young combo.
Whether Lee CW faces the Chinese or anybody else, it's still one match at a time and many times the lesser CHN players lost to him tamely. For sure every player wants to beat Lee CW, not just the Chinese, notably JOJ, HKV, Tanongsak, Kashyap, Rumbaka, just to name a few who are known to push him hard. So it makes little difference whether Lee CW meets the CHN players or non-CHN players before the final. Simply put, if you are a true champion, the best of the best, you will beat everybody else no matter who or where they are from. Saying only the lesser CHN players can stretch Lee CW is a far-fetched excuse as well as a back-handed compliment to the lesser CHN players; at the same time it is unflattering to The Mighty Lee CW to say the least, not to mention demeaning to those non-CHN players I referred to. Don't forget, Lee CW mostly lost to either Lin Dan or Chen Long in the final regardless of who he encountered en route. I'm sure there are a few tournaments where Lee CW did not meet any non-CHN players before the final. Remember the Aussie Open where he sensationally went down to Tian Houwei in the semifinal after easily disposing of Qiao Bin the round before. What about those occasions when he beat Lin Dan in the final such as at the All England 2011 where he defeated Bao CL in R2, dealt with Chen Long in the SF before overcoming Lin Dan in the final - all these matches in two straight sets, in fact for every round? Besides,I recall the Battle of The Four Heavenly Kings at Li Yongbo's Dongguan Academy on 11th Nov 2011 where once again Lin Dan overpowered Lee CW who was not stretched by any other lesser CHN player as there wasn't anybody else apart from the two of them with Taufik Hidayat and Peter Gade. At the WC, it was DuPY who had four previous grueling three-setters before meeting Lee CW in the semifinal; yet he could pushed Lee CW hard whereas Tommy and WZM before him could not - this speaks well of DuPY's ability and determination. On the other hand, Lee CW had only one grueling three-setter just before the final clash with Lin Dan who was supposed to be not fully match-fit for having laid off almost a year of active competition - that's telling, isn't it ? My point above is Lee CW's problem largely lies with himself, not so much with other or outside factors which I needn't elaborate. To me, Lee CW is a great player and I'm grateful to him without whom we wouldn't get to savour so many exciting,memorable matches featuring him with Lin Dan and Chen Long. To say that Lee CW couldn't beat Lin Dan or Chen Long in the final because he was stretched thin by another lesser CHN player before that is to be patronizing towards him, to say the least. Let's hope those negative views or excuses for why Lee CW couldn't beat Lin Dan or Chen Long in the final time and again are not instilled or, worse still, entrenched in Lee CW's mind as they can only serve a counterproductive, self-defeating and detrimental effect on him.
Honestly, yesterday the way Lee CW fought back from one game and 5-11 down in G2 to back level at 18-all showed amazing fighting spirit, something I've seldom if ever seen him do against Lin Dan. But, alas, at the final moments, Chen Long was just a little bit better to close out the match in two sets. Nevertheless, Lee CW is still very much the player to beat for everybody.
Imagine LCW has the same luxury and supports from BAM. Or, has BAM done enough? Agreed with Justin L. LCW will play for another year or so and he definitely realizes his limits (age, stamina, etc.).
Now Chinese team just updated their analysis system from OLAP (Online analytical processing) to Big Data, which is much more powerful in data mining. China team collected all the match data, to show the pattern of each opponents. For example, to dig out how Lee CW playing style, the pattern of LCW's shots at each position on the court. Players may not realize themselves that each player used to react the same at the same situation when there is not enough time to ponder. Everyone's instinct reaction has been developed from his/her natural instinct and training process. The Big Data system, can easily and accurately predict each player's reaction for the next step, therefore, it helps to beat this player. In a word, a badminton competition on the court, is far beyond those 2 people and beyond that court they are playing. It's a competition between all the technologies behind to support those players.
2cents Thanks for sharing. I'm curious. How would you learn about Chinese team switching from their OLAP to Big Data for analyzing a player performance? With this state of the art technology, a Chinese player may understand or know more about their opponents' play than the player would themselves.
who knows, maybe in the near future we will see professional athletes wearing some sort of google glasses that will give them instantaneous update (based on the current perceived strength and weakness and local arena conditions) as to expose the opponents shortcoming for the next upcoming point. then the differentiating factors will no longer be which country has the better athlete, but the better software/hardware ...
don't think that would be even remotely related to big data. but statistical analysis is definitely useful for analyzing players.