Badminton Playboy Lin Dan of Beijing scored a threatening 21-14 21-14 win over Hubei's Chen Ye Kyun on the first day of Chinese Olympic games.
Hmm...I'm somewhat surprised by your high assessment of his potential but he kind of looks laid-back to me in his playing style atm though occasionally when forced by his opponent's high-paced game he seems able to intensify to match. Somehow his deceptiveness, to whatever degree, isn't well-disguised and I tend to see his shotmaking as mostly textbook, effective, efficient , generally consistent and not too prone to error,nevertheless, not very threatening. However, I believe that may change as he hones his technique and gain in experience as well as the ability to read the opponent's game better. Let the future tell, for all I know, you may be right.
Nah, as Justin says Shi is pretty standard, straight forward. Now Srikanth, he's deceptive, whether the shuttle is below or above the tape. Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
Apparently, you don't want to see him improve or change for the better, more intense, aggressive and deceptive coupled with good anticipation. I hope he disappoints you and become the player J4ckie said he is and would be.
That Joke went over your head . Who wants a cunning shi like Cleopatra in his life? My Shi better be love giving and straight forward.
Lin Dan's defeat to a 17 year old should not be discussed in this thread as I believe it will disturb the political harmony and camaraderie amongst Lin Dan fans who are known to be a strong group and continue to back each other at reflecting moments of life. Commander in chief - Nine Tailed Fox
Facts are facts, there is no escaping the truth. I believe Lin Dan can withstand any storm, besides, all his most humiliating defeats occurred in his twilight years when he's past his prime with rare exceptions, it won't affect anything he's accomplished in his illustrious career, ineffaceable. Anyway, I've already talked about it in the CNG thread where it's first reported, so no need to repeat it. Still, I believe, every cloud has a silver lining; perhaps , the couple of unflattering and shock defeats may actually do him good before the world meet at Glasgow by instilling a sense of crisis and urgency to work harder at training and be better prepared and keep him on his toes throughout the targeted championship proper. I mean, for a player of his caliber and reputation as well as the enviable, unprecedented state he is in , positively, all the incomparable achievements in his career, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the lack of motivation, age catching up and other distractions - such incidents are the kind of jolts that's needed to rouse him from his seeming slumber in the lead up to a major event. In fact, it's a luxury only he can well afford but , at the same time, it serves as a timely wake-up call. Enough said.
If I may add , of course, Lin Dan wants to win every match and every tournament he plays, the problem is we no longer see the hunger and fire in him as in his younger days. No doubt, he still has the passion for the sport and is thoroughly enjoying himself except that he is clearly not putting in the extra effort and doing the extra bit necessary to keep winning and winning. The all-conquering Lin Dan, nicknamed Super Dan, is no more. Nevertheless, he will continue to do what is required of him, i.e. get really serious and step up his game, whenever he faces an opponent he minds losing to or it's a tournament he aims for and set his mind on taking. For the latter, it's not just the major championships, sometimes for special reasons,such as the recent MAS Open PSS,where just before the tournament began, he received a phone call from Li Yongbo telling him of his impending retirement as Head Coach of CBA; the news stunned him, he was incredulous and after a while, he said to Li Yongbo that he would try his best to win the tourament for LYB as a sort of farewell gift before he leaves. As we know, Lin Dan lived up to his words and was in his winning ways throughout the said tournament, scoring a resounding victory in style and culminating in beating LCW who's reputed to own the title having won it eleven times; furthermore, Lin Dan succeeded in breaking the so-called jinx and debunking the myth that he cannot win in Southeast Asia to boot. As Lin Dan himself jokingly said after that historic achievement in Malaysia, that he would continue to keep everyone guessing as to what form he will be in thenceforth. So, suffice to say, we will never know what to expect from him going forward. More pleasant surprises in store for us,I hope.
That's a nice story Justin. I will tell my Children how Uncle Lin Dan received a call from his Grandpa Li Yongbo who told him that he had only few days left in his life. as a CBA head coach. Uncle Lin then promised him to win enemy's land for him as a farewell gift and fought day and night to keep his words true. Tears in my eyes.
Which is why I always believe what Lin Dan needs most nowadays is some special motivation or sense of mission for him to rise to the occasion; otherwise, he tends to treat any match in a non-major tournament as just another day at the office. Credit to Li Yongbo who has the sense to tell Lin Dan that, as he is leaving CBA soon, it would be the last time he gets to see a Lin - Lee epic battle as Head Coach,and happily that's enough to spur Lin Dan on as he wanted to make it a memorable one for LYB. Now I'm waiting to see if collecting his sixth world title this August is itself sufficient motivation for him to want to deliver on it, esp after China's Sudirman Cup disappointment and the spate of losses he suffered of late, seven at last count mid-way through the year..
he's going to need an extremely easy (lucky) draw through the 1/4's and hope someone else can take out lcw, chen long, srikanth, & axelsen. if he has 3 three game matches in the first 4 days it won't end well. if he makes semi's and loses i'd say he did well. but, what i want and what lin dan wants (and what justin l wants, bwahahaha!) are two different things entirely.
But if he is as motivated and plays like he did at the MAS Open PSS, he can take out anybody, three-setters notwithstanding, except perhaps, Chen Long of Rio'16. As for the luck of the draw, I do hope he is in the opposite half of Chen Long's.
I'll probably get flamed for this in LD thread, but LCW was quite passive in MAS open 2017 edition against LD, as compared to Rio 2016. Did he really expect to beat LD by lifting repeatedly? Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
on 6 consecutive days? it would be great to see him win, but, i don't see it happening. as far as his motivation, we will never know. after a loss it's too easy for him (and his fans) to say he's not motivated.
I don't think he needs an "extremely easy draw". The only player he really needs to avoid meeting early is Chen Long; he's shown to be able to handle axelsen, srikanth, and lcw, and the atmosphere of a WC can only work in his favor (not to mention he has often played well in Europe). Assuming he's in the opposite half as chen long, then a QF is a high possibility. I'll be happy if he reaches the SF (obviously, if he's able to do that then he's got a good shot at the title as ever). The most important thing though, is that he needs to be more attacking and not just "junkballs" all the time as he often does.
