http://www.internationalbadminton.org/draws.asp

LCW is in for another duel with Chen Yu.
TH to meet home favourite quite early.

Nice to see Paaske/Rasmussen back. Warming up for the WC i guess. Bottom quater of MD is gonna be very competitive.

MX draw seems a little skewd. Natsir/Wid and Emms/Roberts.. in same half. + Sudket/Saralee there too...

Well, once again ALL the top Chinese have skipped the Korea Open. Okay, there is one exception: the world #2 pair of Yang/Zhang in women's doubles will, no doubt, make sure that Lee/Lee don't repeat as champions. Zhang Ning, Gao Ling, Xie Xingfang, Huang Sui, Zhang Yawen, Fu Haifeng, Cai Yun, Lin Dan, Chen Hong, Chen Jin, and Bao Chunlai are all resting up for Hong Kong. Of course, the Hong Kong Open and the proximity to the worlds is the reason this year but it's always something. Money and ranking points mean nothing to the best of China, apparently.

The good news is that we're unlikely to have the all-China finals that seem to plague the tournaments they all attend. That means more drama. Lu Lan and Zhu Lin could still kick enough butt in the women's singles to produce an all-Chinese affair there, though. Jun Jae-youn will not be there to defend her singles title. I don't know where she disappeared to after the Indonesian Open. Perhaps her injury has flared up again.

There is a lot of Indonesian power in the bottom half of the men's doubles draw with Tony/Candra, Sigit/Flandi, and Markis/Hendra all down there with Chan/Koo, the re-united Paaske/Rasmussen, and the local favourites Lee/Jung.

Well, once again ALL the top Chinese have skipped the Korea Open. Okay, there is one exception: the world #2 pair of Yang/Zhang in women's doubles will, no doubt, make sure that Lee/Lee don't repeat as champions. Zhang Ning, Gao Ling, Xie Xingfang, Huang Sui, Zhang Yawen, Fu Haifeng, Cai Yun, Lin Dan, Chen Hong, Chen Jin, and Bao Chunlai are all resting up for Hong Kong. Of course, the Hong Kong Open and the proximity to the worlds is the reason this year but it's always something. Money and ranking points mean nothing to the best of China, apparently.

The good news is that we're unlikely to have the all-China finals that seem to plague the tournaments they all attend. That means more drama. Lu Lan and Zhu Lin could still kick enough butt in the women's singles to produce an all-Chinese affair there, though. Jun Jae-youn will not be there to defend her singles title. I don't know where she disappeared to after the Indonesian Open. Perhaps her injury has flared up again.

There is a lot of Indonesian power in the bottom half of the men's doubles draw with Tony/Candra, Sigit/Flandi, and Markis/Hendra all down there with Chan/Koo, the re-united Paaske/Rasmussen, and the local favourites Lee/Jung.

Bao is in the draw.
The men singles field is still pretty strong. Apart from Lin Dan and the 2 Chens, almost everyone is there.
Tony/ Candra - I wonder whether they are here to stay or is it another temporary partnership. I hope they can compete in Madrid as a wildcard.
I also doubt the Chinese girls are consistent enough to fend off Xu / Yao Jie / Wang Chen. I won't be surprised if one of the new Korean girls (Hwang Hye Youn, Seo Yoon Hee , Lee Yun Hwa etc) win. Women singles has been very unpredictable of late ( Sahnia Nehwal, Tracey Hallam, Judith M, Yippy have all surprised us recently ), which makes things better to watch.

..All the fields look interesting, except the WS, but without all the top CHN players, these titles will be up for grabs..
I noticed Chen Yu is in the MS draw as well..Only missing from CHN are LD, CJ, XXF, ZN, GL/HS, FHF/CY, XZB/ZYW & GL/ZJ..

Some other notable draws and players:
- (USA)Bob Malaythong will partner with Eric Go for MD??..new partnership??..
- (INA) Flandy Limpele and Lita Nurlita will partner up in Qualifying Rd..new partnership as well??..
- (RUS) Vislova/Sorokina will pair up and be in the WD draw playing against INA's Polii/Novita right off the bat..As a matter of fact Vislova will play WS as well...boy, talk abt endurance..:eek: :rolleyes: :p
- (USA) Eva Lee/Mesinee Mangkalakiri pairing up and playing in the WD main draw right off the bat..so will Bob M/Mesinee pairing up and playing in XD main draw right off the bat..

Now we're just waiting for badMania's overall preview post..take it away badMania..;) :)

Bao is in the draw.Missed that. Thanks.The men singles field is still pretty strong. Apart from Lin Dan and the 2 Chens, almost everyone is there.
Tony/ Candra - I wonder whether they are here to stay or is it another temporary partnership. I hope they can compete in Madrid as a wildcard.
I also doubt the Chinese girls are consistent enough to fend off Xu / Yao Jie / Wang Chen. I won't be surprised if one of the new Korean girls (Hwang Hye Youn, Seo Yoon Hee , Lee Yun Hwa etc) win. Women singles has been very unpredictable of late ( Sahnia Nehwal, Tracey Hallam, Judith M, Yippy have all surprised us recently ), which makes things better to watch.I guess you're right about the men's singles. With the women, too, we're looking at 7 of the top 10 competing. The reason is almost the same there, too. The top Chinese give it a miss and then of course, Mia Audina retired. Wang Chen has been in the final here twice in the last 3 years, as always because the top Chinese skipped the event. Basically we've got the whole field made up of players who are on the rise - Zhu. Lu, Wong, Hwang, Lee, Nehwal, Yip - or established but vulnerable to up-and-coming players (Pi, Yao, Xu, Wang, Yonekura, Mori). It should be interesting.

didn't know Taufik was going , haha, big surprise

Chandra and Tony are gonna crush others, again.

- (INA) Flandy Limpele and Lita Nurlita will partner up in Qualifying Rd..new partnership as well??..
- (RUS) Vislova/Sorokina will pair up and be in the WD draw playing against INA's Polii/Novita right off the bat..As a matter of fact Vislova will play WS as well...boy, talk abt endurance..:eek: :rolleyes: :p
Now we're just waiting for badMania's overall preview post..take it away badMania..;) :)

UNFORTUNATELY, I won't be around to post previews and results next week. I will be away for the entire week and will only be back just in time for the HK Open (missing the first few days).

Yes...Flandy Limpele/Lita Nurlita is a newly formed partnership. We have seen Flandy partnerning with Yunita Tetty in the Sudirman Cup 2005 and managed to take a set off Zhang Jun/Gao Ling.

Isn't the Russian pair the winner of the US Open? It's going to be a tough opening match for Jo Novita/Greysia Polii :cool: Even if they can beat the Russian pair, their next match isn't easy as Pan Pan/Tian Qing or Joanne Nicholas/Natalie Munt awaits in the second round. A QF match against Chien Yu-Chin/Cheng Wen-Hsing will be the reward.

The prospect of a title for Team Indonesia isn't bright....esp with tough draws facing most of the seeded pairs. In the XD, the top seeded Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir has a tricky tie against Koo Kien Keat/Wong Pei Tty in the first round. Their opponents to the title possibly comprises of Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam (QF), Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms or the increasingly dangerous pairing of Lee Yong Dae/Hwang Yu Mi (SF) and Lee Jae Jin/Lee Hyo Jung (F). The other pairs (Mohd Rizal/Greysia Polii and Anggun Nugroho/Vita Marissa) will be lucky if they can reach the QF.

The matches in men's doubles are tougher...thanks to the drop in ranking of both Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto and Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan. Luluk/Alvent should progress at least to the QF, with a possible match against Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard Hansen. If they can beat the Danish pair, Mohd Fairuzuzian Mohd Tazari/Lin Woon Fui or Anthony Clark/Robert Blair should await them in the SF. If Luluk/Alvent play to their potential, they should go all the way to the Final.

The bottom half is congested with pairs like Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen, Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya, Flandy Limpele/Sigit Budiarto, Chan Chong Ming/Koo Kean Keat, and Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae :eek: Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan will be lucky if they can go through to the QF. Their first test is against the German pairing of Kristof Hopp/Ingo Kindervater. They should go through and face the winner of Hoon Thien How/Tan Boon Heong vs the reunited former world champion Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen.

The tie of the first round is undoubtly the match between Gan Teik Chay/Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif and Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae. Jung/Lee should win that and progress to the quarter-final. The surprisingly seeded Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya will have matches against Tadashi Ohtsuka/Keita Masuda and Guo Zhendong/Xie Zhongbo. Both are winnable ties and they should entertain the winner between Chan Chong Ming/Koo Kien Keat and Flandy Limpele/Sigit Budiarto in the QF. Can Tony/Candra get their second 6* titles of the year? I have a hunch...they can....

Looks like badMania has taken over from ants as the BC 'travelling man'.

UNFORTUNATELY, I won't be around to post previews and results next week. I will be away for the entire week and will only be back just in time for the HK Open (missing the first few days).

badMania, thanks for your abbreviated yet insightful preview...anything will do before your long trip next week...;)
Off topic : oh yeah, i remember you told me you'll be going on another trip just before the HK Open...well, i guess you won't be around much here for the Korea Open then..:p :rolleyes: ...but we'll wait for your return again in abt 2 weeks time for the HK Open to do another preview/review...and then your long awaited return to the U.S. continent..;):) ..on that note, have a safe and enjoyable trip..:cool:

Looks like badMania has taken over from ants as the BC 'travelling man'.
hmm, badMania is planning to visit us folks in the U.S.(NorCal/SoCal??) soon though; but us folks in U.S.(NorCal/SoCal??) are still waiting for the planned trip by ants..;):rolleyes: :)

Maybe we can get a really good match between TH and PG..
Looks interesting.

im so sad to know that jiang yan jiao is not in the draw.she's one of my favourite players.i'm also wondering where's is zhang dan/zhao tingting?? they didnt play since singapore open 06.I like to see them on the court.Do they play in HK open 06??somebody pls tell me:crying: :crying: :crying:

Maybe we can get a really good match between TH and PG..
Looks interesting.
yes, hope that will happen:)

Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Boonsak Ponsana play in the first round! :eek:

Why all the Chinese skip the KO since this is the 6* event???....Actually i hope to see the battle between LCW and LD because i hope LCW can beat him...Anyway,i really hope that MAs players can do well in the KO...

guess I'm going to miss Tony/Candra vs Cai/Fu in KO. was really hoping to see them play against each other.

Off topic : oh yeah, i remember you told me you'll be going on another trip just before the HK Open...well, i guess you won't be around much here for the Korea Open then..:p :rolleyes: ...but we'll wait for your return again in abt 2 weeks time for the HK Open to do another preview/review...and then your long awaited return to the U.S. continent..;):) ..on that note, have a safe and enjoyable trip..:cool:

YUP, that's the trip I was mentioning. I don't think I will able to go online for most of next week. I will only be back on the quarter-final day of the HK Open. I have made plans with my friends to attend the HK Open Final on Saturday.

As for the US trip, it's more or less confirmed. I will be transiting in SF for 2-3 days. Anyone of you are around there?

Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Boonsak Ponsana play in the first round! :eek:

With Sony still not match fit, I think Boonsak should be able to win that match!

how come taufik is representing korea???

Why all the Chinese skip the KO since this is the 6* event???....Actually i hope to see the battle between LCW and LD because i hope LCW can beat him...Anyway,i really hope that MAs players can do well in the KO...

I think I see BCL and Chen Yu in the draw. :rolleyes:

The draw indicate Simon Santoso representing KOR......that must be an error.

As for the US trip, it's more or less confirmed. I will be transiting in SF for 2-3 days. Anyone of you are around there?
ok, i see...
so if it's going to be NorCal this time around, then kwun will likely be your "main host"(if he has time to accompany you or if not there are other BC members also ie. Qidong, Han, samkool) ??..
btw, any plan to visit & swing by the SoCal area for 1 or 2 days??..:p :rolleyes:

I am not sure where/when BadMania will be staying during the trsansit, SF is about 35 miles away from Milpitas where the Great Smash City is located ... Not sure Kwun will have time to coordinate so we all can do some sparring. Weekend will be better as the traffic is very bad during weekeday between Milpitas and SF and Smash City is always crowded during weeknight.(I think Kwun found out yesterday night?)
Han

The draw indicate Simon Santoso representing KOR......that must be an error.I'm just curious as to where you saw that. The draw sheets on the IBF website are fine. The lists of players/countries on the tournament website are wrong, as are the drawsheets on the Korean Badminton Association site (http://www.koreabadminton.org/back/file_view/3000562_wm.dv1). There is no draw on the tournament site yet, is there? Sorry, strike that. I just noticed the large "View Draws" link on every page. Those are the same draws as in my link.

I've emailed the webmaster but I don't expect a response. He ignored my last email when I offered him an entire corrected version of that tournament history write-up with the atrocious English. I hope to actually meet the guy tomorrow, though.

By the way, I see no sign of plans to include live scoring on the website. In the absence of this, my guess is that the most timely updates will be found on the drawsheets on the main tournament site.

I stand corrected. The webmaster replied to me within a few minutes, actually. Hopefully the error can be corrected soon; however I'm sure these guys are incredibly busy right now.

I'm just curious as to where you saw that. The draw sheets on the IBF website are fine. The lists of players/countries on the tournament website are wrong, as are the drawsheets on the Korean Badminton Association site (http://www.koreabadminton.org/back/file_view/3000562_wm.dv1). There is no draw on the tournament site yet, is there? Sorry, strike that. I just noticed the large "View Draws" link on every page. Those are the same draws as in my link.

I've emailed the webmaster but I don't expect a response. He ignored my last email when I offered him an entire corrected version of that tournament history write-up with the atrocious English. I hope to actually meet the guy tomorrow, though.

By the way, I see no sign of plans to include live scoring on the website. In the absence of this, my guess is that the most timely updates will be found on the drawsheets on the main tournament site.
i'm hoping the most timely updates to be here;)

let's support taufik :)

let's support taufik :)
:D count me in!! :D

Heh, Joachim Persson of Denmark has the same seed as Taufik ;). Well at least we get to see Taufik take on the top players in the early rounds.

Indian badminton team for Korea, Hong Kong Open

New Delhi, Aug 18. (PTI): A seven-member Indian shuttlers' team will participate in two back to back badminton tournaments -- Korean and Hong Kong Open -- beginning from Aug 21.

This will be the first assignment of national coach Pullela Gopichand, who along with the team left for the championship today.

"Arvind and Anup have done quite well in recent tournaments and I hope they will carry forward their good form," Gopichand said.

"We have some youngsters in the side and it would be a good exposure for them," he said.

Team:

Men: Arvind Bhat, Anup Sridhar, P Kashyap, Anand Pawar, Ajay Jayaram,

Women: Saina Nehwal, Aditi Mutatkar.

Gade is not coming. A knee injury made that happen.
http://petergade.net/cont/news_detail.php?id=143

let's support taufik :)
of course! let's !

Gade is not coming. A knee injury made that happen.
http://petergade.net/cont/news_detail.php?id=143

With Lin Dan and now Gade out of the picture, we will again miss some fierce competition. A pity that even Gade had to withdraw as I understand he was last year's champ. (?) :(

With Lin Dan and now Gade out of the picture, we will again miss some fierce competition. A pity that even Gade had to withdraw as I understand he was last year's champ. (?) :(



With LD and P. Gades out, guess who will win ? Yes, top man if your answer is LCW.

LCW knows this is the big 6-star tournament that he can win, and no one should argue that it isn't his for the taking. Chen Yu can, at best, make a claim but that is all it is --- he will not win. LCW is ready for him (LCW had a good break and is ready to claim the cheque).

Loh, the competition will still be fierce without LD and Gades. In fact, everybody will think he has a chance and therefore, throw in their fighting best.

With LD and P. Gades out, guess who will win ? Yes, top man if your answer is LCW.

LCW knows this is the big 6-star tournament that he can win, and no one should argue that it isn't his for the taking. Chen Yu can, at best, make a claim but that is all it is --- he will not win. LCW is ready for him (LCW had a good break and is ready to claim the cheque).

Loh, the competition will still be fierce without LD and Gades. In fact, everybody will think he has a chance and therefore, throw in their fighting best.

Agree that it is still a very attractive tournament despite the absence of these two top players, but nothing compares with the world's top 10 being able to play. This will come only during the WC in Madrid next month, barring further injury and if Peter Gade recovers in time!

Hopefully, LCW will meet Taufik in the finals to give a preview of what is to come at Madrid. But LCW will have a tough time against Chen Yu first. CY is growing in confidence every time he meets LCW and they're both even at 2-2 so far, I believe. In LCW's half are also two other noteworthy contenders, Kenneth Jonassen and Boonsak.

But the Koreans will certainly not want to be a disgrace on home ground and will fight to the last to win. Needless to say local heroes, Lee Hyun Il and Olympic bronze medalist, Shon Seung Mo, despite not being seeded, will relish partisan support which can see them triumph over their rivals.

Let's hope the Korean officials will not be carried away and become partisan in their line calls. Let's hope they have learned from their past experience and that neutral officials will be used during the crucial stages of the tournament to avoid unnecessary incidents. :rolleyes: