Age Development in Mixed Doubles

In a previous post, we showed the vector fields for the age development of strength values of all players. Here we will take a look at the developments for individual players in the mixed doubles and compare them to the developments for all players.

Methodology

For how the vector fields, that serve as a background in the following plots, were calculated, see the aformentioned post about age developments. In short they show the averaged development for players who shared a similar strength at certain ages.

Then for the selected players, we will calculate their simulated strength at all their birthdays and if the player fulfills the criteria of having at least ten matches used for the strength and at least one match within the last year, the data point is included. The players development is then added to the vector field in a different color. The legend will display the player’s name as well as his or her birthday.

As we only use rankings since the beginning of 2010, older players’ young years will be missing from the plots. Also for players who are still active, the later years will be missing.

Also in the vector plots, one arrow might correspond to only one entry, especially for the top players. Thus in the following plots, this arrow might be identical to the strength development of one the players in question, thus this player’s arrow will lie exactly on top of the arrow from the general plot.

Results

Male Chinese Players

For the two older players we can see that Zhang Nan peaked earlier than Chen Xu, although for Chen Xu it has to be remarked that the earlier parts of his career are missing in the data.

We can see how good teenaged Zheng Si Wei was, but at least from this data it looks as though he peaked at age 23. But after his recent run of won tournaments, his next ranking might be higher again. Wang Yi Lyu was not as good as Zheng in their respective teenage years, but he is latest strength value at hist 27th birthday is the highest he ever had.

Female Chinese Players

We can see how good Chen Qing Chen was as a teenager. She stopped playing mixed doubles, so her curve ends at her 21st birthday. The other players are more or less having similar developments.

Robert Mateusiak and Joachim Fischer Nielsen

I included these two European players because they competed up to a very high age. As can be seen from the plot, their curves extend to ages above 40. And even after their respective 35th birthdays Fischer Nielsen was at levels of above 21, which corresponds roughly to being in the top-5 pairs in the world, while Mateusiak still had levels between 15 and 20. Interestingly Fischer Nielsen lost a lot of strength in the years around his 40th birthday while Mateusiak stayed more or less constant.

Female Danish Players

This plot shows the development for the Two Danish players, Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen. But I see nothing extraordinary about their developments.

Liliyana Natsir and Sapsiree Taerattanachai

Two of the best non-Chinese female mixed doubles players in the database. Natsir was the best woman in the age range above 30. However at their respective 30th birthdays, Taerattanachai was even better. It is quite impressive that she has constantly improved since her 22nd birthday.

Rest

Finally four male players from Indonesia, Korea, Thailand and Japan.

Seeing his curve, it seems that Lee Yong Dae peaked very early. His curve shows a constant loss of strength from age 22 to 27, when he stopped playing mixed doubles regularly. Ahmad, one year older than Lee, peaked later at an age of 27.

The two younger players, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Yuta Watanabe, are still on the rise. They are probably the non-Chinese players with the highest strength values ever.

Conclusion

We see very different patterns for the male mixed doubles players. For example Lee Yong Dae and Zheng Si Wei, at least until his most recent birthday, seem to peak at young ages. Examples for players peaking later in their careers are Chen Xu, Tantowi Ahmed. And also we see that Joachim Fischer Nielsen is an example that it is possible to maintain a world-class level to ages past 35.

The curves for the female players are not that differing from each other in our sample here. The only exceptions would be the exceptionally good levels of Chen Qing Chen as a teenager and of Liliyana Natsir above the age of 30.

If it is indeed true that careers in mixed doubles extend to higher ages this would again be a clue that mixed is much more relying on tactics and less on athleticism as older players can still be at competitive levels with their tactical skills. The analysis in the post Is Elite Doubles Badminton Getting Older? found no big differences between mixed and level doubles though.