so after 4 days of action. we have left with us 8 finalists on each event. Men's single Chen Hong vs. Shon Seung Mo - lucky Chen Hong should sail pass Shon. Wong Choong Han vs. Sony - this will be a very exciting match to watch. both players are offensive and can play with amazing pace. this will be the first real test for Wong, and we will see how Sony holds up after the stunning defeat of Gade. all eyes will be on him. Roslin vs. Bao - the other Malaysian front is being held by Roslin. after his defeat of his brother and Lee, Roslin is now on fire. defensive vs. offensive. experienced vs. youngster. i think the match will favor Roslin slightly. Roslin should defend and get Bao nervous and that will make Bao lose confidence. Bao should stay calm and look to find the holes in Roslin. try to use his age to his advantage. Xia vs. Jonassen - Xia disposed of Lin pretty easily in the previous round. Jonassen seems to be on fire as well recently with very good form. i dont' know how he would fare against an offensive player like Xia. Xia just need to make sure that he tries to finish Jonassen in 2 sets. anymore he will run out of gas.
Women's singles Wang Chen vs. Zhou Mi - Wang Chen has a pretty good run so far. i am not sure if she can keep up with the pace of Zhou though. on the other hand, Zhou hasn't been herself in this WC, often trailing by a margin before she wakes up.. Xie vs. Gong - will this be a re-match of the AE semi final? if so, Xie really took control and moved Gong around. if Xie use the same strategy, she should prevail over Gong. Yonekura vs. Mia Audina - Yonekura has a lucky draw so far, but i believe her luck runs out tomorrow when she faces Mia. Zhang Ning vs. Camilla Martin - what a tough match to call, they have both beaten each other. it all depends on their form. neither has been tested in this tournament at all and they will face the toughest match.
Women's double Wei Yili / ZhaoTT vs. Novita / Nurita - Jo/Lita has a good run up to the quarter, but Wei/Zhao should have little problem stopping them. Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen vs. Gao Ling / Huang Sui - Yang / Zhang beat Ra/Lee pretty quickly today. i wonder if that's because they are in good shape or just that Ra/Lee are in bad shape. this match up of the smart Yang/Zhang against the powerful Huang/Gao, it will be a good match to see and see if the Chinese has pushed the standard of WD even higher. Nakayama/Yoshitomi vs. Jorgensen/Olsen - Jorgensen/Olsen should have little problem with the Japanese pair. Mixed doubles Zhang Jun/Gao Ling vs. Kim Yong-Hyun/Lee Hyo-Jung - defending champions are faced with a young Korean pair who beat Zheng Bo/Zhang Jiewen in the 1st round. reports says the Koreans has a unorthodox style of mixed with a very strong girl. we will see how the feedback from Zheng/Zhang will help Zhang/Gao with their quest to defend their title. Jonas/Rikke vs. Nugruho/Widiowati - my vote goes to Jonas/Rikke. we don't know the level of the INA pair as they haven't really been tested yet and their performance so far against the other weaker pairs hasn't been steller. ChenQQ/ZhaoTT vs. Robertson/Emms - Chen/Zhao is facing the remaining contester from England. it is hard to call this match but both my head my heart tells me that the AE finalist Chen/Zhao will come out on top. Robertson/Emms will have to justify their number 1 world ranking. Kim/Ra vs. Paaske/Harder - it will be a real surprised to me if Paaske/Harder comes out on top. but they did beat Eriksen/Schjoldager.
Men's double who would expect that at the quarterfinal stage, we will see no Korean, 2 Danish, 1 Malaysian, 1 Thai, 1 Indonesian, and THREE Chinese pairs? this is the WC that the Chinese is telling everybody else: our Men's double is coming back. Chan/Chew vs. Sang Yang / Zheng Bo - i think Chan/Chew will take this, but not without a fight. from the results so far, Sang / Zheng may be the weakest of the Chinese. but we have seen so many surprises already, may be we will see one more. Paaske/Rasmussen vs. Tesana / Pramote - the Thai pair is very strong. they have the ability to take on any pairings. however, we do not know their forms yet as they haven't seen any real competition so far. Jonas/Lars will tell us. Cai Yun / Fu Haifeng vs. Eriksen / Hansen - Cai/Fu is the strongest pairing of the Chinese, but also Eriksen/Hansen is the strongest of the Danes. this will be a closely fought match. Chen Rui / Wang Wei vs. Sigit/Candra - after their victory against the Koreans, Chen/Wang will now face S&C. it will be a tough fight for the Chinese esp when S&C seems to be in good form. fending off Lee/Choong without much trouble in the first round.
Women Doubles Audina/Jonathans vs. Yamada/Yamamoto I don't think the Dutch pair will have any problems with the Japanese pair. Straight sets for the Dutch. Men Doubles[/B] Ramussen/Paaske vs. Tesana / Pramote I think this will be a tight affair which could go either way but am rooting for Jonas and Lars So far, it has been an interesting WC with the story of the games being the various injuries to the Koreans and I am sure that Kim/Ra now have added incentive to win their Mixed to savage at least a win in one event. China as usual, has the greatest number of players left in contention after the prelimiary rounds (3 in Men Singles, 4 in Women Singles, 3 in Women Doubles, 2 in Mixed Doubles and 3 in Men Doubles) and you will probably see at least 1 in each event finals. The good news is that the Europeans (led by the Danish and Dutch) are making a good showing by having 9 or 10 entries left in the quarters of the various events.
Men's Singles Chen Hong Wong Choon Han Roslin Hashim Xia Xuanze All Asian (World) Championships? I'm not europhobic, mind you. Men's Doubles Chan-Chew Tesana / Pramote Eriksen / Hansen Sigit/Candra I took a stab in guessing this one, based on kwun's assesment, but Chandra-Sigit is definitely there. Women's Singles Haven't been following this category for the past 10 years, and not any wiser this time. Women's Doubles Haven't been following this category for the past 10 years, and not any wiser in this than in singles. Mixed Doubles No idea...
Re: Re: Day 5 - quarter final if ur predictions come thru, poor WCH will be the only non-PRC player left. interesting!! i'm gunning for WCH and Roslin to fly the msian flag all the way. Fight the PRC tyrant/strangle hold on the WC2003.
Re: Re: Re: Day 5 - quarter final Akhem, andy, let's not get carried away by calling other nations a tyrant, ok? Bad... bad... karma, you know what I'm saying? Not good for goodwill's sake... Cheers.
Re: Re: Day 5 - quarter final haha, not surprised. There is so little interest in the women's game in M'sia, TV coverage is given an even lower profile when women get on court. Can't see Roslin getting past Bao. Looking at Bao's record, it seems his biggest losses come in the team events with a lot of pressure. He did win the Danish Open before so he has the ability to go all the way to the final. Best line up to watch will be Wong CH vs Sony. Hope it's on TV tonight. Shon should give Chen H a tough match. Depends who takes the first game. Shon has to take the first game to weaken Chen H's resolve. If Chen H takes 1st game, CH becomes very confident. Plus closing out CH in the 2nd game is very, very difficult. CH has the ability to survive many, many game/match points. Xia should win. He has a better net game than Jonassen. Jonassen steps away from the net a little too much putting himself at a disadvantage. Jonassen has a great defence but maybe not quite good enough against Xia's attack. This match, Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen vs. Gao Ling / Huang Sui , is the 2nd most interesting one. Both pairs very good tacticians. It's a game to learn a lot from about change of pace, variation of attack, deft halfcourts to change the game around. Paaske/Rasmussen vs. Tesana / Pramote gets my vote for the third most interesting q/f match. The thai pair can beat anybody on their day. I think the Danish pair have to try and keep the shuttle away from from Pramote. Once Pramote gets into the rhythm, he's lethal, not in terms of power but in changing the direction of the shuttle. A very interesting match indeed.
Men's Singles Chen Hong Sony Bao Xia Xuanze Men's Doubles sang yang/zheng bo Tesana / Pramote Eriksen / Hansen Sigit/Candra Women's Singles wang cen gong mia camilla
My bets for MS: Chen Hong Wong CH Bao CL Kenneth Jonassen (this marathon man won't be easy meat for Xia, also, I would like to see an European balance up the field in semis!) MD: Chan/Chew Lars/Jonas Cai/Fu Chandra/Sigit A balanced portfolio!
My guess: Chen Hong: who is the opponent? From the bad luck team? Wong CH: He is faster of the two with more experience. Bao CL: Bao's energy is untouched, while Roslin had a tough match, and Roslin has the records lost to Xia XZ, Lin Dan, Chen Hong, and Chinese MS players are similar in style...so Roslin will lost. Xia XZ: he has been quite consistent, he lost to Hendrawan consistently, but not many others save Chen Hong though. MD: Chan/Chew: Sang Yang has been playing so many long matches almost all his games last extra long, 97 minutes md to beat Japnese etc, I wonder how much energy he has for this big battle. Maybe next time. Tesana / Pramote. No clue, guess Thailand pair has a slight edge, for their history and no other events to distract them. Cai/Fu: Look at Eriksen in MX today, you know the answer. Chandra/Sigit: Unless Sigit plays too smart and jumpy. I hope I am not like Pele predicting World cup Soccer.
Men's single Chen Hong vs Shon Seung Mo - Chen Hong. Wong Choong Han vs Sony Diwi Kuncoro - Wong Choong Han. Roslin Hashim vs Bao Chunlai - Bao Chunlai. Xia Xuanze vs Kenneth Jonassen - Xia Xuanze. Men's Doubles Chan/Chew vs Sang Yang/Zheng Bo - Chan/Chew Paaske/Rasmussen vs Tesana/Pramote - Tesana/Pramote Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng vs Eriksen/Hansen - Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng Chen Rui/Wang Wei vs Sigit/Candra - Sigit/Candra Women's Singles Wang Chen vs Zhou Mi - Zhou Mi Xie Xingfang vs Gong Ruina - Gong Ruina Yonekura vs Mia Audina - Mia Audina Zhang Ning vs Camilla Martin - Camilla Martin Women's Doubles Wei Yili/Zhao Tingting vs Novita/Nurita - Wei Yili/Zhao Tingting Mia Audina/Lotte Jonathans vs S.Yamada/S.Yamamoto - Mia/Jonathans Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen vs Gao Ling/Huang Sui - Gao Ling/Huang Sui C.Nakayama/K.Yoshitomi vs A.Jorgensen/R.Olsen - A.Jorgensen/R.Olsen Mixed Doubles Zhang Jun/Gao Ling vs Kim Yong-Hyun/Lee Hyo-Jung - Zhang Jun/Gao Ling J.Rasmussen/R.Olsen vs A.Nugruho/E.Widiowati - J.Rasmussen/R.Olsen Chen Qiqiu/Zhao Tingting vs N.Robertson/G.Emms - Chen Qiqiu/Zhao Tingting Kim Dong Moon/Ra Kyung Min vs L.Paaske/P.Harder - Kim Dong Moon/Ra Kyung Min
I wouldn't dare to make any predictions in Men's singles after watching snippets for 1 hr. Chen Hong has yet to be stretched, Sony is simply too fast for anyone in footwork and stroke production, Wong looks like he's going to get whipped. Roslin is very fit and fast and playing like a man posseed, Lee was abot the same Lee in Sudirman. Bao like Sony plays only one type of game, playing Roslin is like the "Mao vs Dun", but i think Roslin is a spent force and anyone who gives Taukik 13 points only has to be unique. Xia and Jonassen very consisitent. Looks like anyone's championship.
That is simply not convincing enough. Try harder. Honestly, past records won't matter. There will be winners and losers.