CL: He smashes very difficult to defend. Coach: It is normal, tis a high level competition. Good steep smashes is normal. It is the last game, go challenge him. CL: Alright, will challenge. they do acknowledge that VA is playing with his A game today. Just have to match it. They don’t have much answer too. my small contribution to tis wonderful forum.
We'll never be able to answer that, very different era with different tactics and emphasis. A lot less lifting in MD now, wonder whether that would influence Fu's impact....then again, there wasn't a whole lot of high lifts to him in the 2012 or 2016 finals either...I'm guessing Cai's aggressive and intimidating attitude would've made them a more uncomfortable opponent for Wang/Lee than what they faced in the semis and final, though.
Not to take away anything from VA's resounding victory, Chen Long's defence here is not at the same level as it was in Rio'16 when he practically threw everything back at his opponents, LCW, VA himself then , et al. Whatever, if this is the new VA, version 2.0, and he continues playing like this going forward, he will be the player to beat for a while at least, until someone new appears or another rising star comes up to change the landscape.
What a great ending for a very “ different “ olympics… mixed feelings because badminton Olympic is over, but happy because of the different winners for all the disciples excluding XD … for now I can’t wait for the next international tournament already ! Is Denmark open the next one ?
Interesting if we could use deep AI to do a simulation in VR just for the sake of it, ignoring evolution of gameplay from power hitting to flat play. Would be nice watch.
Agreed VA in top form now, but 3yrs later at age 30 ... I think Zhang ning the only modern singles to win gold above age 30??
I must say Chen Qinchen/Jia Yifan played their worst match in the Olympics, so error-prone, unlike their previous rounds. Well, that's the Olympics for you.
Congratulations Greysia / Apriyani !! I believe the whole nation watched their match in the TV this noon to eventually witness the supremacy of INA WD, and history was made, i could feel the euphoria and i believe the whole nation is celebrating their victory today. Their name will appear as the headline news for the next few days i believe Thankyou for bringing us joy, pride, and obviously an independence day’s present for INA this month.
Glad to see that finally there’s INA WD to win a gold medal in Olympics. Thus, INA is the country other than CHN which has ever claimed gold in 5 disciplines respectively.
Hi ! It’s been a long time for us not to reply each other. I was almost in tears just now, but i thought most Indonesians are in happy tears watching them claiming the gold earlier today. Ahh finally after following INA badminton since 2008, i can witness an INA WD winning a gold medal in Olympic.
VIKTOR-IOUS AXELSEN A well deserved to be Olympic Champion, second MS gold for Denmark after current BWF president Poul Erik Hoyer. Overall, Viktor Axelsen is better than Chen Long in this finale to control the match excellently, he can balance the Chinese solid defense combined with perfect angle hard smashes that forcing Chen unables to retrieve properly plus precise placement several times. Quite underperformed Chen contributing lop sided atmosphere in second game as the tall Dane really dominant to deliver pressure for his rival. Axelsen completes badminton “grand slam” individual major title collection, World Champion, All England, BWF World Tour Finals and the most wanted and prestigious Olympic Gold medal. Meanwhile Chen Long bags one set of medal in his career, bronze (London 2012), gold (Rio 2016) and silver (Tokyo 2020), hats off to his achievement despite fails to emulate Lin Dan feat. China domination in men's singles has been toppled at the moment since Beijing 2008. Well, a good fortune for Axelsen begins from the unexpected Momota premature defeat plus his smooth ride en route into final whilst Chen Long has tricky and tough path to pass, starting from Lee Zii Jia, Chou Tien Chen and Anthony Ginting. Both players exchanging jersey after the match completed, good sportsmanships and showing respect each other In bronze medal match, Anthony Ginting halts Kevin Cordon incredible run, thanks to his usual explosive style with fast interception to trouble Cordon, the Indonesian looks enjoying the match, less pressure that he can exploit true colour today, still a proud for Guatemala to have semifinalist in this biggest sporting event. Badminton in this Olympics Games has found finish line, many thanks to Tokyo 2020 amid COVID-19 rise, next three BWF major events queuing till end of this year...
Congrats to Mr Viktor Axelson and welcome to the Legends Club !! Hard luck Sir Chen but you are already a Legend and Im glad you got that beautiful set of all coloured Oly Medals now and Super proud of you too. This olympics has truly proved my point that rankings are just numbers eventually its the MEDALS that count..at the biggest stage anyone could up their form to beat the percieved Number 1s. The only reigning World Champions that got the Olympic Medals this season are ZSW and partner and PVS apart from them the MS World Champ Momota No.1 was ousted,Same with my favourites Fuku/Hiro No.1 ousted and MDs Daddies same fate also XD are No.1s but No.2 took the gold same with WD. the pair that never touched no 1 rank just upped their game and won the biggest tittle of badminton and my goodness the way they did..Congrats to Polli and Rhaayu !! Congrats to all the new entrants to the Legends club...I cant wait to write my articles about these new entrants !! Hope we see more tournaments taking place soon and we all get past through this dirty virus that has paused our lives and I pray that may you all be happy healthy and safe along with your loved ones. Namaste
I know this will not be much of a consolation to Chen Long- But he can take heart from the fact that he now has the full olympic set - gold, silver and bronze. I hope Sindhu completes her full set next olympics. Also congrats to V.Axelsen and A.Ginting. And well played to K.Cordon.
the level of MS at the moment is really flat with just VA standing above all, have not seen any exciting match in whole olympics in MS, I think with normal tournament schedule it would have been very different