It’s consistency that sets them apart from other MD pairs right now. For their 6 titles, they beat 5 different pairs with only Li/Liu the repeat finalist. Any none of those 5 won a super 750+ (Li/Liu did win the WC, Alfian/Ardianto won a super 500). So, they could have lost half of their 6 finals, as long as not to Li/Liu twice, and still remain the undisputed top performer this season. We need to give them credit for being so consistent, especially after they have already had a stellar 2017 (which makes them the “target” for their peers).
I dont think either li or liu are injured, I think they prepared to play defensive game before the match (maybe they thought the slow hall gonna help them) because they don't believe they can win it with their usual playing style after losing 7 times in a row. the fact that they became too defensive maybe because they're not used to that tactics, like steen said when you're told to do something you're not used to there's gonna be some confusion. also I think li junhui looks pretty nervous, it looks like he's afraid and always not being himself everytime they met kevin/marcus, clearly there's some mental problem.
watching li/liu semifinal match against chen/wang I also wonder if li jinhui is slightly injured, in the sf he also rarely use full power smash and it was actually liu yuchen who worked really hard on the back court. it's weird considering in the qf match against fajar/rian li junhui was smashing like crazy especially in the first 2 game. on the other hand, gideon are playing so good in this japan open.
What's with the draw lately .. many pairs are playing the same opponent they have faced before in earlier rounds. This China Open R1, minions will again face Pangkarya/Santoso, Fajar/Rian will face Kamura/Sonoda, Boe/Mo will face Chen/Wang. But this time Liu/Zhang will play Ahsan/Setiawan in R1. I wonder if Ahsan had recovered just in time for this tournament.
so..can we say that they're already better than lyd/yys now ? only 1 less ss titles and already has 1 major (asian games).
Are you going to make this thread a red hot fire zone with that statement? But yeah that AG gold proved them to be better fighters than LYD/YYS.
nah, you know the narrative... LYD/YYS play in much stronger era, they had the better defense, better attitude, Gideon's skill is nowhere near a top player, they're only rely on their speed and not all rounded enough, titles means nothing, prime LYD/YYS would wreck today's Kevin/Marcus etc2 and list goes on.
Part of that is true - MD WAS much stronger before the entire Korean squad quit the ntl team and Ahsan's body finally had to pay the cost for his all-out play style and Setiawan lost that deciding bit of speed and power. However, I don't rate LYD/YYS very highly in a historical context, certainly lower than JJS/LYD (who won an OG and several WC medals), and the minions can only beat what's before them. Don't think they'll win the OG, they haven't shown a lot of mental strength at majors so far (much like LYD/YYS, actually ), but they won't need to in order to outdo that particular pairing. I do think LYD/YYS would have destroyed them because they match up very well against them, very strong flat play, very strong defense, especially in slower halls they would have murdered Gideon's shoulder. I'm positive that the minions will outdo them in the end, they're almost there already.
Agree, I also think that LYD/YYS gonna handle minions quite well. I don't feel minions attack are strong enough nor deceptive enough like Ahsan/Setiawan to really hurt LYD/YYS defense.
Well we can only guessing now, who will win in the hypothetical battle between them. and LYD never won GOLD in OG with JJS, nor he ever won WC or AG Gold. Unless you're counting Bronze and Silver He won gold in Beijing (XD), and Asian Games team event (2014).
Yeah this discussion again. MD was stronger before but the top ones were more or less the same level with LYD/YYS on the top winning more SS titles, Ahsan/Hendra and Fu/Zhang or some others got the major titles. Right now Md's level is what it is, all low if you want to say it. The level of competitiveness remains the same. So when the old stronger ones are gone of course their level is no longer applicable to the current MD level. All academic. From your posts, I assume you haven't watched the AG 2018 matches. LYD/YYS couldn't even win the gold playing their game. Some might say Ahsan/Hendra played better in the final, I don't know. But the fact is, minions were struggling in AG they were under performing, they were against Fajar/Rian who played their best in the final in Istora and they almost got destroyed in G3 18-13 but somehow managed to crawl back and won it. You can't do that without mental strength. Even though people can only presume (or wish) that LYD/YYS could eat minions for lunch, but I don't think the minions would play the same game over and over if they kept losing. They are versatile, with Kevin using all his imagination lol Anyway, I'd bet my money on minions when they play each other in a major final, that's for sure.
ahsan/hendra lost 4 times in a row to lyd/yys before finally got their revenge, and in the end they got the best record in h2h against the koreans compared to any other pair. Indonesian MD coach are probably the best when it comes to tactics, so yeah...I believe minions can beat lyd/yys and probably would change their tactics a little bit because of the korean solid defense.
and they beat them in big tournaments not one but 3. AsianGames, WC2017 and SSF2017 which is quite dramatic imo
Well that is not important. The titles speak for itself, Minions are soon going to overtake LYD/YYS titles as a pair and they did it faster than LYD/YYS. I think you are talking as a player and yes, as a player, there is some ways to go for Kevin to reach LYD GOAT MD player. In my opinion, minions is the most dominant MD pair I have seen ever since the Superseries start. Whether it speaks competitiveness or not, they got the mental strength thats why they can win many. In fact, i love this era more, the top 20 can basically beat each other while in the past it was only top 4 that always win their matches, not anymore now. So... what competitive side are you looking at? This is the most competitive MD era ever , man. Just cant blame minions from being the most consistent of them all and attribute it to lack of competitiveness. Just have a look at R1, KamuraSonoda vs FajarRian , Liu/Zhange vs AhsanHendra, i am so looking forward to that, its just so competitive. 6 seeds out in 1st 2rounds in JapanOpen. Cant ask for more, just love it. So see the facts rather than being biased about the pasts.
