It is amazing that despite being only a mid-ranked tournament, the German Open is usually well-participated. Look at the just-concluded Korean Open and compare the lineup.

MS
Lin D v Xia XZ
Bao CL v Wong CH (match of the day)
Palyama D v Lee CW
Chen Yu v Hafiz
Intriguing battles of current v has-beens in the top half.
I won't be surprised to see an all-Malaysian semifinal in the bottom.

WS
Zhang N v Yao J
Zhou M v Hirose E
Jun JY v Xie XF (match of the day)
Xu HW v Pi HY
Predicting the Chinese and Pi to advance.

MD
Eriksen/Lungaard v Ha TK/Yim BE
Hwang JM/Lee YD v Kidho/Setiawan
Jung JS/Lee JJ v Chan CM/Koo KK (match of the day)
Gunawan/Bach v Fu HF/Cai Y
Except for the bottom tie which may go easily to Fu/Cai, all the matches are mouth-watering. World No 1 v scratch Korean veterans (and Korean veterans are always frightening). Young promising Koreans v unproven Indons. Korean new hope v Malaysian new hope.

WD
Yang W/Zhang JW v Lee KW/Lee HJ (match of the day)
Gao L/ Huang S v Chien YC/Cheng WH
Wong PT/Chin EH v Du J/Yu Y
Augustyn K/Kostiuczyk N v Wei YL/Zhao TT
When they met in Singapore, Lee/Lee was on the brink of victory before they broke down and let Yang/Zhang come back amazingly. Can Wong/Chin stop a Chinese sweep? Unlikely. After Du/Yu defeated Saralee/Sathinee, it looks like even the 4th Chinese pair can defeat the rest of the world. Will the future Chinese sweep start in the semifinal?

XD
Robertson N/Emms G v Saputra/Li YJ
Zhang J/Gao L v Xie ZB/Yu Y (match of the day)
Lee JJ/Lee HJ v Sudket/Saralee
Tsai CH/Cheng WH v Chen QQ/Zhao TT
Robertson/Emms don't seem as motivated anymore and the Singaporeans could stage an upset. Another intriguing battle between China's senior and junior. Lee/Lee should take the mantle from Kim/Ra but let's see how they do against better opponents. An all-Chinese final is not unlikely.

you think the bottom mens doubles will go easy? we'll see...

After Du/Yu defeated Saralee/Sathinee, it looks like even the 4th Chinese pair can defeat the rest of the world.


Since when has Du/Yu wrestled that spot from Zhang/Zhang?

Don't see much of Zhang/Zhang lately...

Since when has Du/Yu wrestled that spot from Zhang/Zhang?

Don't see much of Zhang/Zhang lately...

Oh, I forgot about them. In terms of rankings Du/Yu is not there yet. But in strength, they may have equalled Zhang/Zhang. Just look at their recent head-to-head.

Like "ironchef" mentioned, I also wouldn't underestimate Tony G. and Howard B. in the bottom match.
True Fu/Cai "might" have more combined-experience playing "internationally" in comparison to Tony&Howard, but they're going up against arguably "the most feared Men's Doubles player still active" in Tony G.
It should be one interesting match though, could go rubber set, and if it does, it *could* take a bit of toll on Tony as he's much older than Howard..


MD
Eriksen/Lungaard v Ha TK/Yim BE
Hwang JM/Lee YD v Kidho/Setiawan
Jung JS/Lee JJ v Chan CM/Koo KK (match of the day)
Gunawan/Bach v Fu HF/Cai Y
Except for the bottom tie which may go easily to Fu/Cai, all the matches are mouth-watering. World No 1 v scratch Korean veterans (and Korean veterans are always frightening). Young promising Koreans v unproven Indons. Korean new hope v Malaysian new hope.

Like "ironchef" mentioned, I also wouldn't underestimate Tony G. and Howard B. in the bottom match.
True Fu/Cai "might" have more combined-experience playing "internationally" in comparison to Tony&Howard, but they're going up against arguably "the most feared Men's Doubles player still active" in Tony G.
It should be one interesting match though, could go rubber set, and if it does, it *could* take a bit of toll on Tony as he's much older than Howard..
I saw them playing in the first round. Wow, Bach moves really quickly at the net, although he looks so big.
But it seemed as if his shots weren`t as precise as the shots of Tony G..
Often Bach smashed 3 times and the shuttle came back and then suddenly Tony smashed and got the point. It seemed as if his strokes were "faster".

Often Bach smashed 3 times and the shuttle came back and then suddenly Tony smashed and got the point. It seemed as if his strokes were "faster".
Very funny the mention of Offenbach. Maybe you ment that Tony playing double is a kind of symphony....
What a culture !!

I feel totally fine under estimating the americans in that match. But i guess like ironchef said, we'll see.

ZHOU, Mi (http://www3.milon.de/sport/turnierspieler.php?TurnierID=2545&SpielerID=1836964)http://static3.milon.de/img/flags/CHN.gifHIROSE, Enriko (http://www3.milon.de/sport/turnierspieler.php?TurnierID=2545&SpielerID=1891259)http://static3.milon.de/img/flags/JPN.gif7 : 1111 : 13


well done hirose,more exciting in semi final

ZHOU, Mi (http://www3.milon.de/sport/turnierspieler.php?TurnierID=2545&SpielerID=1836964)http://static3.milon.de/img/flags/CHN.gifHIROSE, Enriko (http://www3.milon.de/sport/turnierspieler.php?TurnierID=2545&SpielerID=1891259)http://static3.milon.de/img/flags/JPN.gif7 : 1111 : 13


well done hirose,more exciting in semi final
Wow, that's another big win for Hirose!!! :eek:

She is doing like Jun Jae Youn at Hong Kong one year ago!

Maybe it means that we now have a reincarnation of Hiro Yuki.

Wow, that's another big win for Hirose!!! :eek:

She is doing like Jun Jae Youn at Hong Kong one year ago!

who will be in the semifinal?????

Talk about the improvement of Japanese ladies players... :) Keep it up.

Quite certain the MSF will be between China vs Malaysia. So far the results are out on the lower half where Lee Chong Wei vs Hafiz Hashim while the upper half will be Lin Dan vs Boa Chunlai/Wong Choon Hann. Either way, I think Lin Dan will be in the final as I don't think any player in the world can beat 2 top notch Chinese players(Boa then Lin Dan) in a row.
Will be an exciting German open Final

Quite certain the MSF will be between China vs Malaysia. So far the results are out on the lower half where Lee Chong Wei vs Hafiz Hashim while the upper half will be Lin Dan vs Boa Chunlai/Wong Choon Hann. Either way, I think Lin Dan will be in the final as I don't think any player in the world can beat 2 top notch Chinese players(Boa then Lin Dan) in a row.
Will be an exciting German open Final
Bao did win against Wong so the men's singles final will be China against Malaysia. Most likely, it is Lin against Lee. Lee seems to be able to beat all Malaysians and Lin beats all Chinese.

In women's doubles, Wong and Chin pulled off a small upset winning 17-16, 17-16 in the second and third set. Talk about a real squeeker.

Ron

no one reported that Lee HyoJung/Lee Kyung Won beat the Olympics gold medalist Zhang Jiewen/Yang Wei in 3 sets!

also, Ha / Yim lost to Jens/Martin in two sets.

Xie scrapes pass Jun Jae Youn in two sets.

we will see a repeat of the Olympics final between Zhang/Gao and Robertson/Emms as well.

quite an eventful tournament so far.

Talk about the improvement of Japanese ladies players... :) Keep it up.
They should be in great shape for next years uber cup on home turf. Can't wait to see that.

They should be in great shape for next years uber cup on home turf. Can't wait to see that.
going back decades, the Japanese ladies were a big force in badminton. hopefully we will see a revival of better Japanese players. give the Chinese a run for their money.

Oh well, Tony G. and Howard didn't make it past the QF. Lost in 3 sets. I was just surprise to see the 1st set score = 15-0!!! Second set Tony/Howard took it 15-13 but couldn't survive the final set 15-11....:P.
I guess the Chinese figured out who to direct the attack to between Tony & Howard..

I think it's an advantage to the Cai/Fu that they have world class coaches watching the games and finding the weakness of Tony/Bach and give the players advices. Unless Cai/Fu, Tony is the best coach and the best player, I doubt if he can study his opponents as well as the Chinese coaches while playing in a fast pace game at the same time.

Jung/Lee defeated Chan/Koo in a tight three sets, while Fu/Cai, even if they gave Bach/Gunawan a duck in the first, had to win 15-11 in the third. So, it will be an even Den v Ina, Kor v Chn in the MD, Malaysia losing out among the big guns, having been kicked out by Kidho/Setiawan and Jung/Lee.

In the WS, it is a good sign that none of the winners had it easy. The favourites were stretched but only one upset occured. I mentioned before that for this year, we have to look out for Japanese girls (the badminton sort, I mean :) ), but I did not expect such a quick rise. Beating Zhou Mi is quite a big deal (even if it does not mean you can always beat Zhou, at least you are equal to that task). The semifinal is very interesting for this event, Zhang v Hirose and Xie v Pi.

In the mixed doubles, the favourites advanced in straight sets.

In the WD, the big news is that Lee Kyung Won/Lee Hyo Jung finally defeated the World No 1, reversing the emotionally-devastating result in Singapore. Just when I lamented the fact that all the top spots will be claimed by China, here comes a pair from Korea that can grab the very top spot in WD. To further dispel that notion, Chin/Wong fought to a 8-15, 17-16, 17-16 (must have been feisty) victory over Du/Yu, proclaiming that the rest of the world will not give in so easily either. However as far as I can tell, only one Korean pair, one Thai pair, one Malaysian pair and one Taiwanese pair can hold the fort for the moment. Will they hold out, will reinforcements arrive, or will the fort be overrun by the Chinese multitude?

In the MS, it truly is (Li Mao v Misbun) v Li Yongbo. It is heartening that Wong Choon Hann did not lose that easily (as did Lee TS earlier), so perhaps under Li Mao, the veterans are starting on their second wind. According to the score, Xia gave out a bit easily.

We see stiff competition in German Open so far, no domination by any country in any event until this stage. More mouth-watering encounters are coming up in today's semifinal.
In WD will China's Gao/Huang turn the tables on the in form Korea's Lee/Lee and will Malaysia's Chin/Wong continue their winning streak in the semifinal? The Malaysian beat the Chinese pair in Singapore Open last year.
In WS, the match of the day has to be between Zhang Ning and Hirose , Hirose looks unstoppable this time.
I predict an Indo vs Korea in the MD final, while in XD, China's Zhang/Gao should take on Korea's Lee/Lee in the final. The final match between Lin Dan and CW Lee is on the cards and is highly anticipated!

However, Hafiz Hashim is in top form, too. So although Lee Chong Wei is also in a good shape, we have to consider Hafiz. Lin Dan should not be sure about his victory over Bao Chunlai.

But any constellation would be extremely interesting in MS.
I will be there tomorrow.:D

We see stiff competition in German Open so far, no domination by any country in any event until this stage. More mouth-watering encounters are coming up in today's semifinal.
In WD will China's Gao/Huang turn the tables on the in form Korea's Lee/Lee and will Malaysia's Chin/Wong continue their winning streak in the semifinal? The Malaysian beat the Chinese pair in Singapore Open last year.
In WS, the match of the day has to be between Zhang Ning and Hirose , Hirose looks unstoppable this time.
I predict an Indo vs Korea in the MD final, while in XD, China's Zhang/Gao should take on Korea's Lee/Lee in the final. The final match between Lin Dan and CW Lee is on the cards and is highly anticipated!