i figured it is meaningless to decide who will win the 2006 Uber Cup as the Cup is practically China's.

so let's do a runner-up poll instead!

these countries i believe have the chance to be runner up:

Denmark
England
Japan
Korea
Malaysia
Netherlands

Lol runner up poll!

I guess we voted for the same country too since only two votes at moment.

Lol runner up poll!

I guess we voted for the same country too since only two votes at moment.

certainly a team that is raising eyebrows due to the presense of.......

















Park Joo Bong

(gotcha? ;) )

I will vote for Japan. Reasons:
1) Hugely improved play recently
2) Home court advantage
3) Most importantly...... cute girls :D

i think it will be between:

Japan
Korea
Denmark
Netherlands

Japan has improved a lot lately. they have some depth in WS, Yonekura, Mori and Hirose can take on a point or two for the ladies. the doubles side they have Ogura/Shiota.

Korea cannot be discounted either, aside from a strong Lee/Lee pair, they also have JunJY, Seo Yoon Hee.

Netherlands, they have two top WS, Yao Jie and Mia can almost guarante 2 points against any other strong contenders (except China), they then just need another point from a Mia/somebody pairing and they can clinch a victory.



it also depends on the draw and how the groups matches plays out. it will certainly be interesting.

We shouldn't forget the runner-up also depends on the draw, as no team in China's half of the draw can hope to be runnner-up! :o:rolleyes:

We shouldn't forget the runner-up also depends on the draw, as no team in China's half of the draw can hope to be runnner-up! :o:rolleyes:

what do you mean by "half of the draw"? i thought thomas/uber cup will be played in group matches (not knock out stages), if that is the case, even if you are in the same group with China, you still have a chance to be runner up, provided you come out as runner up group and try to beat the other group winner in the semi final.

Yes, but after group stage, it is a knock out stage.
And teams in China's half of the draw will have no chance to reach the final.

I suppose we might see "funny" group stage ties as some teams will want to lose on purpose so that they are in the good side of the draw for the knock out stage! :p

china do not take place in Uber cup 2006??

china do not take place in Uber cup 2006??

the poll only for runner up, as mentioned above, no point having a poll for the winner as we are almost sure that China will take the cup again;)

maybe there is another suitable poll for China "How many years more China will keep the Uber cup?" 10 years, 20 years, more than 20 years:D

the poll only for runner up, as mentioned above, no point having a poll for the winner as we are almost sure that China will take the cup again;)

maybe there is another suitable poll for China "How many years more China will keep the Uber cup?" 10 years, 20 years, more than 20 years:D

so true that sadly China will win even if they send only team B, or even C :rolleyes:

the poll only for runner up, as mentioned above, no point having a poll for the winner as we are almost sure that China will take the cup again;)

maybe there is another suitable poll for China "How many years more China will keep the Uber cup?" 10 years, 20 years, more than 20 years:D

:eek: sorry man, i read the wrong :( because i read the thomas cups first so i not really read this. but 10s..........

First eliminate:
Denmark - in shambles at the moment, plus Tine uncertain
England - have improved but not enough just yet
Malaysia - although improved, Malaysia may even lose to neighbouring rivals Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand (who are not in this poll).

In the same category as above, I would also place Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand and Germany.

That leaves:
Japan
Hirose, Mori, Yonekura (good 3rd singles), Hirayama
Ogura/Shiota, Akao/Matsuda, Maeda/Suetsana

Korea
Seo Yoo Hee, Hwang Hye Young, Lee Yun Hwa, Jun Jae Youn
Lee/Lee, others

Netherlands
Yao Jie, Mia Audina, Rachel van Cutsen, Judith Meulendijks
Mia, Rachel, Judith + others

Kor v Ned - Ned win
To share the doubles points, Ned could deliberately lose the first doubles and partner Mia/??? to win the second doubles.
In singles, Yao and Mia are just too strong. Korean singles in question mark right now.

Kor v Jpn - Jpn win
Share doubles points as well. Lee/Lee strongest non-Chinese but depth of Japan WD will give them second doubles.
In singles, Japan could take all three points, at the worst maybe lose one.

Jpn v Ned - Jpn win
Japan to get at least one point in doubles. Half a chance in getting both.
In singles, Japan to take third singles. First two singles, Ned should take at least one point. Japan home ground advantage plus they have good specialist doubles players. Ned's singles players will probably have to play doubles as well. So, I think Japan will win.

Prediction - Japan to end up runner up (assuming don't meet China in semi).

First eliminate:
Denmark - in shambles at the moment, plus Tine uncertain
England - have improved but not enough just yet
Malaysia - although improved, Malaysia may even lose to neighbouring rivals Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand (who are not in this poll).

In the same category as above, I would also place Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand and Germany.

That leaves:
Japan
Hirose, Mori, Yonekura (good 3rd singles), Hirayama
Ogura/Shiota, Akao/Matsuda, Maeda/Suetsana

Korea
Seo Yoo Hee, Hwang Hye Young, Lee Yun Hwa, Jun Jae Youn
Lee/Lee, others

Netherlands
Yao Jie, Mia Audina, Rachel van Cutsen, Judith Meulendijks
Mia, Rachel, Judith + others

Kor v Ned - Ned win
To share the doubles points, Ned could deliberately lose the first doubles and partner Mia/??? to win the second doubles.
In singles, Yao and Mia are just too strong. Korean singles in question mark right now.

Kor v Jpn - Jpn win
Share doubles points as well. Lee/Lee strongest non-Chinese but depth of Japan WD will give them second doubles.
In singles, Japan could take all three points, at the worst maybe lose one.

Jpn v Ned - Jpn win
Japan to get at least one point in doubles. Half a chance in getting both.
In singles, Japan to take third singles. First two singles, Ned should take at least one point. Japan home ground advantage plus they have good specialist doubles players. Ned's singles players will probably have to play doubles as well. So, I think Japan will win.

Prediction - Japan to end up runner up (assuming don't meet China in semi).
Agree with your analysis except:
Kor v JPn - dont forget that Jun Jae Youn might be back, and hence will probably win the 3rd single. The match will hinge on the 2nd double: Hwng Yu Mi with Ha Jung Eun/ ? Lee Woul Sik are still favourite to win over the Japanese

Kor v Ned - I think Mia with anyone else will still not beat the Korean No 2

I guess it would be more interseting to guess who would take a point from China.

Japan 3rd singles- Kanekura / Hirayama has beaten Lu Lan/ Zhu Lin respectively recently

Korea 3rd singles- If Jun is playing, she will surely be the strongest 3rd singles around

Mia/Pi/Yao/Wang CHen/Xu have outside chance in winning a point, but unlikely in view of the dominant form of ZN/XXF recently.

Lee/Lee is another possibility but I dont think they have beaten either the top two pairs before.

Apart from those mentioned, I dont see anyone else winning a point from China.

Mia/Pi/Yao/Wang CHen/Xu have outside chance in winning a point, but unlikely in view of the dominant form of ZN/XXF recently.

Very little chance for Pi as I can't imagine France qualifying for the Uber Cup finals!! :p

I go for Korea....since they have enough and tough mental while in the important match....other possibilities is first Japan and then Netherlands..

Indonesia...it is just good if they can qualify first.....the furthest would be quarter final as 2 years ago...

Where's USA?

:mad:

Hmm, it's a tough one Kwun...But here's my 2 cents..
It'll be a close one with M'sia, Korea and Japan..But my gut feeling, the runner-up will be Japan. Not only because they are playing in their backyard and will have the support of the homecrowd, but I think with how they have prepared their Ladies/Uber Cup teams since a year or so ago, i wouldn't be surprise to see them go all the way to Final. Their WS is loaded with 3 pretty tough contenders. And they are also full with their WD, eventhough IMO, they only have 1 stable and consistent pair. I would think, a runner up finish will suffice for them and falling short of that will be a "disappointment", esp. after what they have invested in, in bringing in PJB, and sending/playing all of their womens players the last year or so.. :rolleyes:

But the *big-winner* will be none other than the almighty China's team.. :cool:

i figured it is meaningless to decide who will win the 2006 Uber Cup as the Cup is practically China's.

so let's do a runner-up poll instead!

these countries i believe have the chance to be runner up:

Denmark
England
Japan
Korea
Malaysia
Netherlands

Where's USA?

:mad:

No offense. But with current situation, Team US is still not in the same level as the leading horses... :(

I will vote for Japan. Reasons:
1) Hugely improved play recently
2) Home court advantage
3) Most importantly...... cute girls :D

voted for japan as well, and particularly for point 3!
go reiko-chan!

Agree with your analysis except:
Kor v JPn - dont forget that Jun Jae Youn might be back, and hence will probably win the 3rd single. The match will hinge on the 2nd double: Hwng Yu Mi with Ha Jung Eun/ ? Lee Woul Sik are still favourite to win over the Japanese

Korea 3rd singles- If Jun is playing, she will surely be the strongest 3rd singles around

Lee/Lee is another possibility but I dont think they have beaten either the top two pairs before.

Apart from those mentioned, I dont see anyone else winning a point from China.Jun won't be that strong. She is only capable of light training now and isn't allowed to do competitions until March or April. Hwang Yumi has been out with an injury, too. I don't know about Jun Wol-shik but Ha Jung-eun is strong and yes, I do think a second Korean women's doubles would have the edge. Let's not forget that Seo Yoon-hee and Hwang Hye-youn took out the entire Japanese team at the Japan Open last year, except for Eriko Hirose. Granted, that's unlikely to happen again but Hwang could take out her mark and third singles would be either Jun or Lee Yun-hwa, the heroine of the 2004 UC SF.

I agree that Korean 1st and 2nd doubles and 3rd singles will take whoever the Netherlands fields.

On the other topic of winning a point, Jun Jae-youn has beaten Xie Xingfang a couple of times but she won't be anywhere near top form. She or Lee Yun-hwa strong enough to beat 3rd Chinese singles? I doubt it. Lee/Lee, as far as I know, have beaten all of the Chinese pairs once each. Maybe I'm wrong on that. I think Lee Hyo-jung and Hwang Yu-mi beat Yang/Zhang right before the latter started winning everything. I would be very surprised if Korea took a point from China.

I'd say Hirose playing at home is the best bet for a point against China.

Go Dutch!:D

Still, my money is on them. Mia and Yie are good/great....Mia will probably double with Lotte Bruil, Dutch open winners. and Karian de Wit is going as well! a club member!
I really wish them the best..

Go Dutch!:D

Still, my money is on them. Mia and Yie are good/great....Mia will probably double with Lotte Bruil, Dutch open winners. and Karian de Wit is going as well! a club member!
I really wish them the best..Hasn't Lotte-Bruil had a kid since then? Or was that before the Dutch Open? When has that pairing ever beaten top Asian pairs?

Hasn't Lotte-Bruil had a kid since then? Or was that before the Dutch Open? When has that pairing ever beaten top Asian pairs?
lotte had a kid, before the DO. She played up to 3 motnhs with a big tummy...kinda scary...

but she's still a good player, afaik...but I have no idea of their records...

In a order to become a runner up Uber Cup team in May 2006, all a country/team had to do is become the second seeded team after China. If you are the second seeded, you will not meet China until final. But that team had to top the group matches first. And then roll to QF and SF (if they win) they will meet China in final.



Usually a seeded team based on singles and doubles current ranking. So who would be the second seed?



Lets see: European teams:



Denmark: impossible. They don’t have any top 20 WS and only one WD in Top 20. I even doubt they can pass the Europe zone qualification. Their situation as bad as Indonesia girls. Both countries possibly will made a new record for their Uber team, not pass the qualification round for the first time.



Germany: They had one WS in top 5, another one in top 20. And one double in top 20. If they don’t meet the Dutch in Europe qualification SF, they will roll into the qualification final whether they meet Denmark or England. But not enough to become second seeded.



England: Their best chance to qualify to Uber Cup for a very long time thanks to their 2 solid women double. One in top 5 and one in top 20. They also got one WS in top 10. But not a second seeded material.



Netherland: Will win the European qualification. They had two top 10 WS. And in third single they had Judith M who had play Uber Team for Netherland probably since 1994. She had lots of experience and should beat other European third singles easily. And also if Mia play the second double , they will surely won one point. They had potential to be second seeded but with no WD in top 20, they probably seeded 3 or 4.

Now lets look to Asia teams:



Malay/Singapore/Thailand/Hong Kong/Indonesia/Taiwan : Will not be seeded second. Malay 1 Ws in top 20 and 1 WD in top 5. Singapore 1 WS in top 20 and 1 WD in top 20. Thailandonly one WD in top 10. Hong Kong 1 WS in top 5 and one WD in top 20. Indonesia: one WD in top 20. Taiwan: One WS in top 20 and one WD in Top 10.



6 nations with Korea fight hard to grab only 4 spots in Uber final round. All 7 countries had the same chance to beat each other.



Korea: Suprisingly only one in Top 20 and one WD in top 5. The worst ever for their girls ranking in years. This is probably also the first time the Korean will not be seeded 2, or 3 or even 4 in Uber final round. (Depend on how Korean players doing 2-3 events before Uber Cup). And that if Korean can pass the qualifying round. WHAT???



Why I was so bold to predict this? Cause Korea so far had only one trump card to got a point: their first WD Lee/Lee. And their second double do not perform well. And they don’t had any singles that can guarantee a point even when they met Indonesia or Singapore players. In other words: Korean WS as the same level as other 6 team WS players.



Example: Korean second WS rank 26. Hong Kong second WS rank 25. Singapore second WS rank 28. They all had enter 10 events and only had hundred points leading each other.



Mental strength cannot be count here: cause only Seo Yon Hee had play in team events in WS. If Jun JY is coming back, it will be a plus point only if she play as good as before she was injured.



Its different when they still had Ra Kyung Min. Korean already got 2 point from WD and one point can be obtain from Kim Kyeung Ran or Jun Jae Youn from WS.



Example: For Indonesia to had a 55 : 45 chance to win a point for second double: PBSI can pair Jo Novita with Lita Nurlita again. They were top 10 few years ago. So sacrifice the first double and nab the second double. Hong Kong can also do that with Wang Chen play the second double. But of course, Korea can also split their pair, but it also didn’t guarantee 2 points from WD.



And of course this 7 teams had to depend on the drawing too. Cause the qualifying probably will be split into two groups. (Note : 11 teams from Asia participate in qualifying round) So each teams are hoping they will draw into a group with only another 2 strong teams in one group instead of four strong teams in one group. So they had better chances to roll into SF.



Japan: They are indeed will be seeded second. 2 WS in Top 10 , another 2 in top 20. One WD in top 10 and other ones in top 20. And as a host is also a bonus point.



So an early prediction: China will meet Japan in Uber Cup final!

Last note: The Uber Cup will be play n new scoring system, so whichever team prepare and adapt with this new score the best, that team will become the runner up of Uber Cup 2006. The winner is still China.

Now lets look to Asia teams:

Why I was so bold to predict this? Cause Korea so far had only one trump card to got a point: their first WD Lee/Lee. And their second double do not perform well. And they don’t had any singles that can guarantee a point even when they met Indonesia or Singapore players. In other words: Korean WS as the same level as other 6 team WS players.



Example: Korean second WS rank 26. Hong Kong second WS rank 25. Singapore second WS rank 28. They all had enter 10 events and only had hundred points leading each other.



Mental strength cannot be count here: cause only Seo Yon Hee had play in team events in WS. If Jun JY is coming back, it will be a plus point only if she play as good as before she was injured.



Its different when they still had Ra Kyung Min. Korean already got 2 point from WD and one point can be obtain from Kim Kyeung Ran or Jun Jae Youn from WS.



Example: For Indonesia to had a 55 : 45 chance to win a point for second double: PBSI can pair Jo Novita with Lita Nurlita again. They were top 10 few years ago. So sacrifice the first double and nab the second double. Hong Kong can also do that with Wang Chen play the second double. But of course, Korea can also split their pair, but it also didn’t guarantee 2 points from WD.



And of course this 7 teams had to depend on the drawing too. Cause the qualifying probably will be split into two groups. (Note : 11 teams from Asia participate in qualifying round) So each teams are hoping they will draw into a group with only another 2 strong teams in one group instead of four strong teams in one group. So they had better chances to roll into SF.



Japan: They are indeed will be seeded second. 2 WS in Top 10 , another 2 in top 20. One WD in top 10 and other ones in top 20. And as a host is also a bonus point.



So an early prediction: China will meet Japan in Uber Cup final!Lee Yun-hwa also has UC experience. Also, don't forget that Korea beat Denmark to reach the final against China in 2004 and they were playing without Ra Kyung-min and Kim Kyung-nan was long gone already by then. I agree that Seo Yoon-hee won't be a factor because she is the highest ranked and therefore will have to face the likes of Mia, Tracey Hallam, Eriko Hirose, Yao Jie, Xu Haiwen, etc. and she doesn't have good stats against any of these. But Hwang Hye-youn or Lee Yun-hwa against the No. 2's and 3's of most of these nations (except Netherlands' #2) is a much better bet. Also, you can't go by the ranking of the women's doubles, I don't think. The young Korean girls play well together in many different combinations and their low ranking is mostly due to the number of combinations they go through in a year. That is not a good strategy in general but I don't see it as as ominous a factor as the rankings would suggest. Last time, a tried and tested Danish pair lost to a scratch pair of tiny Lee Yun-hwa and Lee Hyo-jung.

In a order to become a runner up Uber Cup team in May 2006, all a country/team had to do is become the second seeded team after China. If you are the second seeded, you will not meet China until final. But that team had to top the group matches first. And then roll to QF and SF (if they win) they will meet China in final.



Usually a seeded team based on singles and doubles current ranking. So who would be the second seed?



Lets see: European teams:



Denmark: impossible. They don’t have any top 20 WS and only one WD in Top 20. I even doubt they can pass the Europe zone qualification. Their situation as bad as Indonesia girls. Both countries possibly will made a new record for their Uber team, not pass the qualification round for the first time.



Germany: They had one WS in top 5, another one in top 20. And one double in top 20. If they don’t meet the Dutch in Europe qualification SF, they will roll into the qualification final whether they meet Denmark or England. But not enough to become second seeded.



England: Their best chance to qualify to Uber Cup for a very long time thanks to their 2 solid women double. One in top 5 and one in top 20. They also got one WS in top 10. But not a second seeded material.



Netherland: Will win the European qualification. They had two top 10 WS. And in third single they had Judith M who had play Uber Team for Netherland probably since 1994. She had lots of experience and should beat other European third singles easily. And also if Mia play the second double , they will surely won one point. They had potential to be second seeded but with no WD in top 20, they probably seeded 3 or 4.

It will be quite interesting if England/Wales/Scotland play as UK.
They will have more strength in depth in their singles- Hallam, Susan Hughes, Wemyss, Kelly Morgan.
I would say they will easily qualify as the top European qualifier ( Yes , I believe emms/kellog will beat mia/lotte) and perhaps even get into the uber cup semis.

which 4 countries(asia stage) do you think will go into the uber cup final round in japan?
my prediction is:Korea , Malaysia,Thailand,and Taiwan...

i just notice that our early poll didn't even include the possibility of TPE & GER in the mix, and now they are semi-finalists...

i just notice that our early poll didn't even include the possibility of TPE in the mix!
..and Germany...hehehe:p:rolleyes: