The 2014 Badminton World Championships turned out to
be disasters for both Lee Chong Wei and Li Xue Rui.
Lee Chong Wei defeated by a player designed to beat him,
just like Ken Norton was designed to beat Muhamad Ali.
The other anti-Lee Chong Wei ie.Du Peng Yu has quit after
the Thomas Cup whilst another one Tian Hou Wei is still
trying to break through with his anti-Lee Chong Wei playing mindset.
It is no wonder that China lost the 2014 Thomas Cup what with
so many anti-Lee Chong Wei clones unable to cope with players
other than Lee Chong Wei such as Kevin Cordon,Kenichi Tago or
Kento Momota.Hopefully in future China will produce more talented
players who are more versatile rather than the one dimension players
bent on outlasting Lee Chong Wei and relying on merely speed and
fitness to beat others.
In Men's singles, it is Deja Vu, with the No.1 player over-exposed to
too many tournaments whilst the winner lost just about every
tournament but peaked just for the Worlds. Just like past legends like
Taufik,Lin Dan,Yang Yang and Zhao Jian Hua, excelling in the big
tournaments.
The Women's singles had a double tragedy in Li Xue Rue, easily the
most powerful and sharp women's singles player but who could not
learn from past mistakes from losing to Ratchanok in 2013.She lost to
a Spaniard who was more an athlete than badminton player, something
like a Susi Susanti.It is obvious that the 3 top China players have
weaknesses such as unable to play well over 3 sets,unable to manage
their energy over 3 games and spending too much energy in their hard,
fast explosive playing with little reward,and unable to sustain fast, long
rallies.It was almost like watching again Susi Susanti beating Ye Zhao
Ying.
In the case of Li Xue Rui given the competition such as Marin,
Ratchanok and Sindhu she has to add more dimensions to her game
such as fitness,recovery from fast furious rallies,patience and cutting
down on errors and a more economical style of stroke making such as
that extolled by Li Mao in order to be able to cope with different types
of opponents.It was obvious that Li Xue Rui under-estimated her
opponent and from her pale appearance in the 3rd set she was winded,
suffering from fatigue and making unforced errors. Hopefully she will
add more weapons to her arsenal and become a true champion and not
a one hit wonder.
Ratchanok, Sindhu and Marin are athletes capable of outlasting the top
Chinese girls over 3 sets with their more economical styles of play, as
seen by the endless energy of the Spaniard wielding a turbo charged
and energy saving Nanoray Z Speed.Lets hope the China girls know how
to manage their energy and that like cars speed can be varied by changing
gears and using the right gear at the right moment.
Lets hope that all the anti-Lee Chong Wei clones and Lee Chong Wei
will soon disappear from the scene so that we will have more exciting
badminton less dependent on physical fitness.Hopefully Li Xue Rui will
learn more from Chen Long or Sun Jun to boost her patience and fitness.
I have a feeling that the proposed new scoring system will turn
badminton into a more exciting game.
Aspire to be world no.1,Olympic Champion and World Champion
all at the same time in this day and age? Well it wont happen because
if you dont pick and choose and peak for selected tournaments you will
end up the walking wounded and an emotional mess.And in the big ones
opponents will be studying you and making you their main target.
http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Badminton/2014/09/01/Quality-over-quantity-from-now-on-for-Chong-Wei/
http://sports.cntv.cn/2014/09/01/VIDE1409527323627539.shtml