Hi everyone, What do you think of my picks? This was a fun video to do but incredibly difficult. Trying to narrow my choices down resulted in a 1 man argument for many hours, especially the men's events. So if you disagree then that's fine, I disagreed with myself numerous times 😅 Also, no subtitles on this one because due to the time constraints, plus my wife already helping me with a huge project I'm currently working on, I didn't want to ask her to translate even more of my gibberish 😅 Anyway, hope you liked the video. Can't wait for the Olympics to start. Let's all comeback here after it's done and praise/belittle me for the choices I made. Ben
All previous Olympics, all bets are off. Women doubles and XD are consistent by 80%. MD are the least consistent and it's anyone's medal. WS and MS is too variable, so it can be an unseeded that goes to SF and f.
No Malaysian players as Dark horse is quite a disappointing prediction. But I know its your prediction . Aaron chia / Soh wooi yik won the world championship and Olympic bronze medalist. Of course I know they are inconsistent. But I think if they are in good condition they are capable of beating most top pairs .
@@louong93 he selected dark horses on the basis of their capability to defeat the favourites and not on the basis of atleast one from each country 💀💀. And his dark horses are perfect
to be fair, lakhsya has always been a strong player and have equal head to head record with jonatan. definitely not surprising to win. but he wont win gold. a bronze maybe.
@@Gmmmw13 erm, this head to head is not a good gauge because newcomer would not have great head to head record with older veteran players. jonatan was already a top 10 player for some time before people even know who lakhsya was. but his record with jonatan was always close rubber sets. and unseeded leong jun hao kicked jonatan's ass in last indonesian open. i dont see how it was so shocking that Sen beat jonatan this time round. the only dark horse in olympics right now is Korean mixed pair who stormed into finals and could very well upset the chinese. malaysian women doubles can be a dark horse should they beat the chinese no 1 later today. i wouldn't say Sen is a dark horse till he beat Shiyuqi later.
@@Gmmmw13 and to be fair, Sen highest ranking was no6 until he got caught in age scandal, some injuries and then drop in form. beating jonatan is not at all surprising.
Being an I was thrilled to hear from you that you’ve picked India as the fav. for the gold & Laksh as ur dark horse pick. It’ll indeed be great for Indian badminton (the most popular game in India after cricket), if the Sat-Chi pair & Laksh win the most coveted Olympic medals for India. 👍👌👏
I believe the dark horse for WS can be PV Sindhu because- 1.Olympic experience gives you an upper hand of handling pressure and she is a double olympic medalist ! 2. She is a big tournament player. 3. Though not consistent, her game has improved from setbacks and has played recent thrillers against chen and marin (tho lost but that was clearly due to unforced errors) Just my perception😄
This was a great binge. Thank you brother for this amazing video and thorough and what I believe was accurate analysis of each and everyone for the contender of medals and dark horses. Loved it ❤
@@RenuTiwari-wf2gf bro i didn't said that lakshya can't win a medal , I said it is hard for him to go , because there r some very good ms player including pranoy, Denmark and Chinese players who might face lakshya in further round, let's hope for best mann!!! Anyways India should win , let's pray for the best 🤞🤞🤞👍👍
My heart will always see Lee Zii Jia as a potential dark horse, in any tournament. It all depends on his mentality, and if he can stay away from the toxic Malaysian media, like no phone for at least two weeks leading up to the games. Allowing himself to play freely and without the burden of expectations. You're right about Sen though, he did get to semis at the French open, he plays well in these faster conditions.
he has his own inconsistencies and mental issue. malaysian media is merely an external thing. in fact, if the media is responsible for his loss (which is not cause unforce error is his trademark to begin with), that also means he do not have strong mental aptitude. if that's the case, he don't deserve to be champion anyway. you're entire comment is basically, lzj play by mood. that's not how professionals behave.
@@lincolnfineblanket1464 of course. that's what a biased fan always say. a bts fan will always claim bts is the best hahaha. lzj made headlines many times for his poor consistency. even he himself said that. “I think inconsistency on the court is a problem. Sometimes, I produce good game and sometimes, I perform badly and yeah, this is my problem,” a frustrated Zii Jia told SPOTV Malaysia when u have weakness, admit it as a man and improve on it. for u to blame the media for his own flaws are just blaming mentality.
as a malaysian myself, im gonna put my bets on zii jia as a dark horse, his form recently has been in a steady rise with 2 super 500s and a home final to his name atm. li shi feng could also pull off something cool aswell, he has been fighting eye to eye with shi and its great to see a little rivalry form from a single nation had to pit this out here, Malaysia Boleh!
I do hope LZJ could make it but it's like you need the sun the moon and the stars to align with all the right conditions are met for him to win. SYQ, Viddisarn, Sen and Viktor are his toughest opponents that he couldn't manage to win in the recent tournaments. His biggest enemy is his mental strength, but ironically his mental strength is impeccable when he is very motivated.
@@eugp4198 though not recently, he has defeated all these players before, and as youve said, when his mental is at his best, he can pull off some very nice wins. but time will tell, so i guess we'll just wait
@@reinartes7079 she won the world tour finals with that knee injury too, she was smart to not participated in Indonesia and Singapore and had 2 months of rest.
It's insane how they can just add an additional pair like so. The qualifying pairs from the 5 pair group will be disadvantaged from having to play an extra match.
@@Sergehakmaxim Likewise you can't also judge that Sindhu won't beat them...Sindhu is a big match player... Everyone of us can only predict things...But texting nastly that a player can't win ....and asking whether the comment was from Indians are things showing that you are shallow minded...No Indians will never comment that other nation players can't beat others... they only say 'Indian players will win'...I think u don't have any representing player from your nation to support...that is why you are splitting venom on other nation players supporters....pitty on you.. I don't have any need to prove my statement....Sindhu is two times olympic medalist and 5 times bwf champion...her recent form doesn't count much...as she is a Big occasion player...I don't think u have proper mind to understand my statements...So as usual ' GO AND CRY IN THE CORNER'
Lee-Wang create history as the first men's doubles pair to defend their Olympic Gold 🥇. I suppose Fu Haifeng did win in consecutive Olympics, but it was with different partners, Cai Yun and then Zhang Nan.
Final fizzled out. Walk in the park for Zheng and Huang. Koreans didn't provide much resistance. Their compatriots would likely have done better. Congratulations to China pair for winning the Gold that they missed in Tokyo.
My poor heart would love to see TTY win Gold before she retires. I don't just see her as a badminton player. She's an artist on the court and has given awe-worthy moments throughout her career.
Even Ben is not a fan of Marin and admits it publicly, shows you how important sportmanship is. I don't think I've ever heard him say that he is not a fan of some particular player.
Well, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin defended their title. The match was epic. One of the fastest I've seen. However, this match also highlighted some very big weaknesses of the Chinese pair which I think could get in their way in the future (and please tell me if you noticed these): 1. Wang Chang's serve. No, seriously. This is a big one. Even in the semis against Aaron and Soh, which they ended up winning, he was still serving short and got faulted for taking too long to serve (I think so, correct me if I'm wrong), but he was even worse in the final against the Taiwanese. I counted 5 service errors, and 3 faults (again I could be wrong) which amounts to 7 free points gifted to the Taiwanese players. This was crucial. Obviously Wang Chang doesn't really know what he's doing when it comes to serving. This is poor from a professional player, and it is most definitely a HIM thing, as no-one else makes these kind of serving errors so often. He needs to fix this if he wants himself and Liang to win the majors in the future. 2. Poor line judgement. Not only were the challenges from both Liang and Wang used early, they were used poorly. Some of the shots were many meters out and they still challenged them, wasting their challenges foolishly. Sometimes, it was pretty painful to watch "professional" (lmao) badminton players completely lose sight of the lines and challenge shots even an amateur could easily see were well out. Why was this happening? Professional players should know where the lines are a lot more than Liang and Wang did. IIRC this was still an issue against Aaron and Soh, but a little less so. 3. Liang's nerves. You already touched on this, but I think it's a much bigger issue than you said in the video. In the All England 2023,, he choked many points against the Daddies that prevented him from getting into the final, which caused me to have doubts over him. However, in the Paris Olympics, he went a step further, as not only did his errors increase as the match went on, but he choked the final point by framing the shuttle, ultimately gifting the Taiwanese players the title. Just an awful mistake that tells me I was correct not to rate him, as aside from his smash, is he really that good? Now, as an aside, it is true that Liang's idol Fu Haifeng used to get nervous too - and placing 100% of the blame on Liang is unfair, given that Wang Chang's serving was garbage, and he threw away plenty of points just with that alone, but Liang definitely looked way more nervous than Wang Chang - I mean, his legs and arms could be seen jittering as he was waiting to receive sometimes! Not good. 4. The Chinese pair's lack of adaptability. When the Taiwanese players managed to force the Chinese out of their usual formations, the Chinese really struggled. Forcing Wang Chang backwards with a flick serve often caused the Chinese to lose the rally, as Liang is horrible up close to the front of the court. He is pretty slow compared to Wang Chang and cannot use his big smash. Not to mention, Wang Chang does not have much power at all, so he is hardly better as a rear court player than Liang is as a front court player. Now to be fair, Fu Haifeng, Liang's idol, was not brilliant at playing front court either, but, as well as his smash just being more powerful than Liang's, at least relative to his competition (Fu had 25% more power than any other player in his era!) the following are also true: 1) Cai Yun had just enough power to play rear court decently well, unlike Wang Chang, 2) Although Fu wasn't comfortable at the front and couldn't, say, hit a winner, he was decently agile and could keep in a rally. I don't know why, but Liang is just... slow, and while you hardly notice when he's at the back, it is much more noticeable when he's forced forwards. I personally think that the Chinese pair need to work on these 4 things, otherwise true success at the worlds and olympics may well elude them forever. Think about it - the Taiwanese exploited these things, and look what happened. The Chinese lost. I don't see why other pairs couldn't do the same, and continuously beat the Chinese. Fortunately, they are young, and time is on their side, but they really need to work on these 4 things if they want to match or better their predecessors - heck, not even that - they need to work on these 4 things if they ever want to be Olympic or World Champions.
At the end of the day, it's always better to be the underdog. Since most people do not expect you to win, there will be less pressure on yourself & hence you will be better focused on the games.
- Mariska is among the fittest women singles at the moment. Some of the top dogs are marred by injury the whole season. - This is the momentum for Chen/Jia to win their "golden slam" in womens doubles.
Unlikely. Her performance is below par. Never correct her bad habits. likes fanciful shots instead of going for points. Long rallies good for show only.
My prediction. Men's singles Gold - Lee zii jia. Silver - Loh Kean yew Bronze - Viktor Axelsen. Men's doubles - Gold- Aaron chia/ Soh wooi yik . Silver - Liang / Wang Bronze - Reddy / Shetty . Women's Singles - Gold - An se young Silver - Tai tzu ying Bronze- Akane Yamaguchi. Women's Doubles- Gold - Chen/ Jia Silver- Lee/ baek Bronze- Liu / Tan Mixed Doubles- Gold - Zheng / Huang Silver- dechapol/ taratanechai Bronze - Chen / Toh. I know many people might not agree with my prediction. In Olympics anything can happen. I
Great video, even tho I would have loved to see France go far that's going to require a miracle. Was rooting for Gicqel and Delrue, but ho my, what a group.
Without any argument, they all are good,each and every one has potential for the gold medal, it mostly depends on how they perform on the match day Everyone has good and bad days, even top athletes of other sports as Ronaldo, Messi, Virat Kohli etc. so I think it depends on how they perform on the match day
Tough pick between Shi Yu Qi and Kunlavut, but since they can’t both medal, I still have a gut feeling SYQ will triumph given his beast form of late and good H2H record against Kunlavut. Viktor is likely getting a silver at best, but if he does get a gold that would replicate Lin Dan’s achievement which would be incredible. My bronze picks are either Jonatan or Anders
This will be the best olympics with so many top player, like earlier it used to be two big player who had chance to win, this year anyone can beat anyone
My picks MS: Shi Yuqi Victor might not have fully recovered and SYQ seems to be in great form. WS: An Se-young The women's singles title is really for ASY to lose. Chen and Tai will provide strong opposition but as long as ASY is fit, she will emerge as champion. Men's Doubles probably most open. I think for me, it's the Chinese pair WC/LWK. But the other top pairs would have studied how WC/LWK were defeated in the Thomas Cup by Chia/Soh. WD it's for CQC/JYF to lose. They have been better than the other pairs for the best part of the last 2+ years. XD Huang/Zheng heavy favourites but it does depend on which version of Seo/Chae that turns up. And Feng/Huang may yet rise up to the occasion given the lack of attention on them.
yes,chia soh actually have a chance to top their grp too,but liangwang would be coming prepared.they r getting mentored by previous gold medalists. and seo chae's performance will depend on sungjae since he's also playing md.that will drag both his md and xd team to some extend.its kind of sad since otherwise,he is an excellent player in both
Yes, unfortunately I do not think Seo SJ will be able to repeat his WC double. It's highly difficult to maintain that kind of performance in two different events concurrently. To win in one event is already highly challenging enough.
Yaps, it seems like Ginting is going to follow in the footsteps of Chen Long and Axelsen, where in the 2012 Olympics Chen Long won the bronze medal but in the 2016 Olympics he won gold, Axelsen got bronze at the 2016 Olympics and won gold at the 2020 Olympics, maybe now it's time for Ginting to win gold because in the 2020 Olympics yesterday he won bronze 😁 @seowhoontan2
Chinese badminton players doens't choke in knockouts. So 4 golds are almost confirmed. In the case of India, only Satwik Chirag is realistic medal contendor, but their weakness is found. So even bronze is tough
@@shruti7908 Its Its hope of everyone, but dont be disappointed if they fail because Satwik is dealing with an injury and cant attack the way he used to before.
Thx for your predictions, I would give the following ones 🙂 XD Zheng/Huang Feng/Huang Seo/Chae DHorse: Tang/Tse WD Chen/Jia Liu / Tan Baek / Lee DHorse: Tran/Lamber MD Liang/Wang Kang/Seo Alfian/Ardianto DHorse: Chia/Soh WS Young Marin Tai DHorse: Yamaguchi MS Shi Axelsen Christie DHorse: Popov
The death matches in MD and WD are indeed interesting to watch. I'm surprised with your dark horse in MS. I think JC will do his best to reach the podium.
@lkzt5543 in my eyes he either had to make top 3 or nothing. He's too high ranked to be a dark horse. He was in my personal discussion for top contender. Was hard to narrow down a top 3 I won't lie haha
@@BenBeckmanBadminton he was so on form till SGO.i was wondering if he kept intentionally underperforming in SGO and INA open to mask his form for olympics😅😅
Le ben: " You must have wondered what they did in previous life to get a group like this"😂 ( about seo seung- jae & kang Min hyuk ) Anywayy i respect your opinion and i agree with mens doubles and womens singles !!❤
My gut feeling is that this Olympics is anyone's game, except Mixed Doubles Huang/Zheng pair which seem to be clear favourite unless the Korean team is in their A game.
Very impressive predictions except men’s doubles, granted that no pairs were dominating in that category. But few would expect Lee/Wang to get their second gold in Paris.
Personally I agree with most of your picks but I think you're putting way too much faith in Vitidsarn. He hasn't been good since 2023 and may never be good again... but I guess we'll have to see. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. I also think Lee Zii Jia is another contender for the Dark Horse pick along with Lakshya Sen. His firepower can give opponents real trouble when he's on form. Good video though!
Maybe I am but I just love watching him play and I am not quite sure you can say he's peaked and will never return. That's the boldest claim I've heard in a while
@@BenBeckmanBadminton I've seen it happen with people in track and field - some people just peak when they are super young and are never as good again afterwards. Adam Gemili, Dina Asher-Smith, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Reece Prescod, and a lot of other British sprinters suffered from this phenomenon. Hence why I said he might never be good again, as the people I mentioned peaked around his age and then just fell off hard.
Lakshya Sen is a dark horse, and players would dread facing him early on. But surprisingly, you didn't pick PV Sindhu(dark horse for me)! She's a legend, with a wealth of experience in high-pressure tournaments. Even though she's been struggling, her reputation and skill make her a contender you can't write off.
I am also a big fan of Sindhu and want her to win another medal. But Ben's pick is absolutely right here. Tunjung is the perfect dark horse in WS who can bt anyone in that top half
Sindhu didn't give any signs of her being a favorite for the last couple years actually. She might have one upset win but the Top 4 (at least) are in better form right now.
@@reinartes7079 Did you see the last match of Asy and tunjung. It was so close. Also, TTY and tunjung had never met in 2024.. Considering the seeds other than top 4, tunjung is the one who can create upsets with a deep run
Watching this only now a couple days into the badminton matches, I must say the Malaysians are putting up quite a show. I think they might have not been anyone's top picks for the podium but I am currently at Paris right now and I must say they are very much in the running. And they seem to be the public favourite (well..apart from the French teams)
The group of death in MS will play 3/5 first days then R16 and QF back to back then a day break before SF and F back to back. In all honesty I don't feel fatigue will be that bad, but the court time could be pivotal in R16 and QF. Also if you'd like to mention the luckiest draw for anyone it has to be Yeo Jia Min in WS and her path to the QF as well is easier that what it could be for someone outside the top 16
There could still be fatigue. Another factor is realistically in that group only one match should push the top guys to highest limits. But mental fatigue is a real thing.
Nice predictions... but still surprised that you had left out feng/huang? Huge call there... and as much I feel lakshya sen is a darkhouse an even greater dark horse out there is li shifeng... idk but man just comes out of nowhere and wins big tournaments like AE and Asian Games.
I hope Akane might also get a chance to get a metal atleast, due to her recent improvement of her health 😀 Gosh!!! she has the game to get her to the final😩. But let's see how she will come to the court ✊🏻❤️❤️ Always rooting for Akane chan 🫶🏻🫶🏻
i remeber u pridected india as dark horses for thomas cup and they actually won it , now u predicting lakshay sex to be the dark horse and him absolutly smoking christie and a tough fought battle against chou , he is in the semis ..... but axelsen in the semis has kept me on my toes, i really hope he beats him even tho their head 2 head is a sliding win for viktor ...... but i have faith im my countrymen
