Hong Wei is worth considering, at age 29 now, I think he's still good for another go at the Olympics with the 28-year-old Zhang Nan. Apparently, Zhang Jun an his coaching team are reluctant to split the young, relatively inexperienced but promising MD pairings as doing so would mean that after the Olympics,the youngster would have to find a new partner when Zhang Nan retires. Also it takes time for the youngster to build rapport and mutual understanding with Zhang Nan who will have to mentor him all the way. It may be too late now as the Olympic cycle starts next year. Hong Wei, otoh, is mature and experienced enough, I should think it's easier for him to get into the groove with Zhang Nan in shorter time.I also think the big,tall and strong Hong Wei at the rear court complements Zhang Nan at the front court quite well. Any personal differences between them off-court is for them to work it out if they wish to. I think any emotional baggage is more between Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei than Hong Wei. For the sake of their respective career and getting another shot at the Olympics, that should be motivation enough for them to put everything else as secondary and just follow their heart in their shared passion for badminton. Just my opinion.
Chai/Hong is the most intimidating pair China ever have imo. I think they are even more intimidating than Cai/Fu. and to me, they are better than the rest of MD China have now. To me, they are second best CHN MD ever. But pairing Zhang/Hong ... who knows?
Another thing, I've been thinking, it's better that Zhang Jun doesn't pair Zhang Nan with Chen Qingchen for XD, the pair might just become another killer combo, then Zhang Jun will have one more headache as the pair will surely pester him to let them have a go at the Olympics at the expense of MD and WD respectively. Or they might even try persuading ZJ to make an exception for them to do double duty in their respective disciplines, pushing the Head Coach to go back on his words and upsetting the feelings of others who aren't allowed to do so. Just saying.
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/po...RacquetForce/posts/1183244925160802&width=500 no idea how to embed FB post Congrats Zhang Nan and Tian Qing!
I remember back in 2015 steen pedersen suggested that he would love to see zhang nan/liu xiaolong partnership, does anyone know where liu xiaolong is now ? is he still on the national team ? I remember liu/qiu became one of my favorite pair back in 2013 and thought they gonna be the next cai/fu, especially after they became the all england champion.
Indeed, I wonder if he will play in either Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia Masters in January and with whom.. It's too early for him to retire or to just be a tutor for new members. Where do people get the players list for any tournament?
He skipped Malaysia Masters and start the 2019 with Indonesian Masters. You need to bookmark this magic link (Hint: just click the tournament name)
Thanks! I see.. so he will still play with Liu Cheng and Li Yinhui. Sigh.. I hope LC will at least be better.
Zhang Nan will play his MD match today with Ko Sung Hyun.. unfortunately there won't be free stream or live stream at all for this..
Liu/Zhang finish the year WR10. That probably is their achievement this year. No title. But they will be dark horse, with points to defend at Malaysia(which they wont be playing) and IndonesiaMasters, wouldnt want to be drawn against them at R1 (they will be unseeded despite Chen/Wang retirement, S9). They are just like GohTan, not consistent but still menacing.
