Can't remember when was the last time CYF beat TTY in two straight sets. Or has it happened before? Almost blew it the second set with four matchpoints up. CYF is proving to be such a fighter now. Great job. Keep it up !
Or tty mess it up with a 4 points lead in the 2nd set. In most cases, with that kind of lead, it should be a formality for people of her stature. I mean most opponents will just concentrate on the next game. If tty did not make stupid mistakes, cyf would not have reached that position. She has shown she has a week mentality after losing after being in a good position to win a few times
AhsanHendra is definitely the oldest SS Finalist now but they havent won title since 2019(?). Reaching SF and F is fine for them as they will just enjoy it with top 4 ranked in the world until 2024. if they are able to win tomorrow then they will become the oldest SS MD winner (BoeMo 2017)
Soh is a bottler. You can see it in every game he plays. I mean they made the Taiwanese pair they played yesterday looked like seasoned players. There is a reason why he was left out of the Thomas cup team.
Didn't get to watch how Gregoria Mariska Tunjung defeated Akane Yamaguchi twice in a row within a month, the first occasion by the identical score of 21-14 in two sets, the second a three-setter here. Impressive, a sign of coming of age for the 22-year-old GMT ? Or is Akane temporarily off the boil ? Right, I managed to catch GMT's match with ASY today, I must admit, GMT has improved a fair bit. In fact, there are two other young INA WS whose names I can't recall that caught my attention. I have a feeling it's a matter of time one of them breaks into the top 10. As it is , this is the first time most of the players are having such a hectic tournament schedule since the Covid-19 pandemic started, so it's not surprising if some of the active participants are beginning to show signs of cumulative fatigue taking its toll on them.
A several point lead at the beginning or middle but not near the end of a set or match is not or seldom considered insurmountable but salvageable in many cases, even among the top guns. These two have met so many times, they are like perennial rivals. Though their H2H is still quite in favour of TTY ,it's not reflective of their relative strengths as most of TTY's wins are in the early stage of CYF's career, who happens to be 4 years younger and barely midway through her career at age 24 now. Honours are about even in their last 6 to 8 encounters. Going forward, I should see CYF continuing her ascendancy as age is on her side vis-a-vis TTY who's just turned 28. Well, as for TTY making stupid mistakes, nothing unusual if you've been following her, and not only for her, it happens sometimes for quite a few top players, you can name them yourselves. Today, CYF happened to be on top of her game, somewhat to my surprise actually, especially considering how she's having an off-day against Intanon Ratchanok at last Sunday's MAS Open Final.
Oops, my mistake, I just checked CYF - TTY 's H2H records - today is the second time CYF beat TTY in two straight sets, the previous occasion being at the 2019 All-England Final, 21-17 identical score.
What I meant was, if say one of those top players already won the first set and the opponent is leading by a high margin like what tai tzu ying was leading, they will normally give up the 2nd set. But tai tzu ying mistakes let her in. I dun think she is that dominatable force anymore I seldom see players coming from behind in the 2nd set to win when their opponent already won the first set. But happened in hendra match and tai tzu ying match That's why I am in such a bad mood today. I put my bets on tai to win at least the 2nd set and for the China pair to win. China pair showed mental fortitude to win hoki from behind yet can still messed up a large lead that they have in the 2nd set and let Ahsan win by a huge margin. Badminton is so unpredictable. By the way. I have seen too many times where China doubles players allow their opponents to come back from a huge position. Wonder if there is match fixing involved. The odds were very good for the China pair and most ppl would think they will win. Funny also that despite cyf winning the first set, the odds suddenly favoured tty when she took the lead in the first set. That is why never put too much money on a single match. Anything can happen. Unless it's an axelson
I see. TBH, before the match began, I'd expected TTY to start strongly in an attempt to avenge her defeat to CYF last week, also considering CYF seemed off-form last Sunday versus IR. To my surprise, it was CYF who was the more positive and proactive of the two from the get-go. I'd have use the term comprehensive victory for CYF if not for the slip-up in G2 when she was holding 4 matchpoints; basically, CYF outplayed TTY today. As for MD Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang , 22 and 21 years old respectively, they are still relatively young and inexperienced and was outfoxed by the legendary veteran, vastly experienced pair Ahsan/Setiawan, who cleverly changed tactics and strategy at just the right moment to get ahead of the young guns. As I've always believed, there's no substitute for experience. Better luck next time for the promising pair, LWK/WC. Btw, it's not just in badminton, or sports , for that matter, life itself is so unpredictable, uncertain, as human history has proven time and time again. All the best.
Let FajRi win tomorrow, they're the most consistent pair this year anyway. I just want Hendra to get his 5th gold at the WC this year
To let tai tzu Well I would not say cyf outclass tzy in the 2nd set. It's a set tzy should have won.she was leading by quite a huge margin at one point. Someone of her experience should have taken advantage of that situation.instead she allowed cyf to get 10 -11 straight points. Like you said, she should have won the last tournament. And I thought she will at least try her best for this match. But she messed up heavily again when she ha Actually, tzy was not outclass in the 2nd set. She had a healthy lead and should be on track to winning the 2nd set of not for her blunders. She should never had been in the position to allow cyf to get to the position she was in at the 2nd set in the first place. If you actually watch the match, you would not have said that cyf trashed tzy in the 2nd set. Like I said earlier tzy had a comfortable margin at 1 point and she allowed cyf to just take consecutive points. That's mental messed up. It's a sign of decline actually when this happens. I really doubt that she can actually perform at the same level to cyf again.
To add, in my opinion, CHN MD is in the midst of transitioning , they haven't yet completely found the right formula to produce really good and reliable pairs. The signs are there, I'd rate Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi, He Jiting/Zhou Haodong, Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang, in that order in terms of potential; and perhaps one or two other combinations, such as with Tan Qiang, Ren Xiangyu, Liu Cheng, Huang Kaixiang, Di Zijian, even not ruling out Zhang Nan (if he hasn't retired). Atm, CHN MD is on the cusp of producing world-beaters, a matter of time, hopefully sooner than I expected.
I understand, but having watched so many TTY's matches not only with CYF but any other strong opponents, I'm accustomed to seeing her play brilliantly one moment for a run of points only to suddenly, or inexplicably, if you like, throw away an equal number of points like a mediocre player - still it's not any Jane, Jill and Mary who could do that to her, only a handful of top players, that it no longer catches me by surprise. If you've heard Steen Pedersen's and Gill Clark's commentaries during TTY's matches, they would sometimes wonder aloud when TTY is going to do one of those " walkabouts", suggesting what I've just described above, her flip-flops, that it becomes almost the normal thing for her to do. Even so, I repeat, only a handful, could do that to her, and CYF is one of the very few who could turn the tables on her but, undeniably, it still requires grim determination, resilience, unyielding spirit, and certainly special skills to keep piling on the pressure until the opponent nearly if not actually breaks down. That's what happened in g2 of today's clash. Don't forget, TTY , as unpredictably, all of a sudden saved 4 matchpoints wen on the brink of defeat. Then, if CYF hadn't dug her heels in and persevered, the deuces would have gone TTY's way. To tell you the truth, after watching how TTY captured the two INA tournaments in a row , and twice besting CYF and other rivals, I actually wanted to post that this coming WC in August, the WS crown is TTY's to lose . that she may finally break the jinx or curse to get the elusive one at the end of the rainbow. Now I'm not so sure but, still, I'm prepared to rate her probability highest. It might be her one last chance as she's 28 already. Let's be realistic, she can't be improving her game anymore at this age, she can only hope to be in top form at the right time and the right place, and with a little bit of luck, who knows, it might just be her year. One more point to note is that she's been around for a very long time in badminton terms, about 12/13 years already if we count her starting age as 15/16 (if I'm not wrong, she's sort of a child prodigy like Intanon R, only less impressive in her junior days), so, not to sound dismissive, she is (long) past her "best before" or "use-by" date, so to speak. We'll see.
Don't worry, CBA takes a very serious view of such things, they will come down hard on any offenders. Just look at Shi Yuqi, CBA banned him from all international and domestic tournaments for one whole year for something that BWF couldn't care less as he didn't breach any rules or regulations and violate any laws - it's CBA's own initiative, their internal decision, a self-imposed disciplinary action, a matter of national pride and image.
Do not bet on TTY to win when playing against CYF. The odds are too irresistible. It is a trap. TTY made many errors, hitting the shuttle long and into the net. Only happens against CYF? Pressured? There was a period she looked resigned and played her normal game and won a few points. But again, who to bet on with CYF playing? At the moment, her game is very steady.