MS : Peter Gade and Lin Dan MD : Chandra/Sigit and Luluk/Alven WS : Xie Xingfang and Mia WD : Gao Ling/Huang Sui XD : Widianto/Lilyana
yea, i gotta agree with you there, even though gao's my all time fav player... lin dan will probably continue his winning streak, but i dont think xie's quite there yet, i think it'll be between zhang ning and mia audina... as for mixed, since kim/ra are retired, i think gao/zhang will be the ones to watch out for...
imho, it will take another year for Xie to get ahead of the other 3. WS willl continue to be the year for Zhang Ning, she has so far been unstoppable. however, after Zhang Ning and GongRN retires, Xie will mature enough along with Zhou Mi. Mia has disappeared lately and we will have to wait and see how long it will take her to regain her form. WD, i agree, Zhang Jiewen and Yang Wei have finally found their form and live up to their potential. let's hope they can continue to maintain it. MD will be the year of Luluk and Alven, but don't ignore Jonas/Lars, they will be practicing hard to prepare for the WC. MS - i don't think there will be much domination, a mix of Taufik, Lin Dan, Gade, LeeCW. MX - the playing field is quite level on this one, there are a few promising pairs who are rising above the horizon and hungry, we will see how they fare as the new year rolls by.
Yang Wei & Zhang Jiewen dominate WD???? Thats not true at all....they won the olympic by luck...i still remember it was a rubber game and gao ling n huang sui were quite strong in the 1st game...eventually gao/huang lost the match because gao ling was really fatigue because her XD matches had taken its toll...and huang sui was like throwing in the towel because she could do nothing to save the situation..... So...definitely...in the coming tournament...i believe gao ling and huang sui will prove that they are the real champion....
well, results speaks more than anything else. Zhang/Yang has won 5 consecutive tournaments since June (Malaysia, Olympics, China, Singapore, Indonesia) while Gao/Huang hasn't won a single tournament since the All England in March.
ms: lin dan will once again rule the world of badminton! but maybe there will be some fights from bao chunlai and taufik hidayat, the latter said that he is aiming high to win all england and wc, lets see wat will win, his inconsistency or his great will and talent md: luluk/alven all the way ws: xie xingfang, i think its her era right now, lately she has won so many big tourneys wd : none other than yang wei and zhang jiewen xd : nova/lilyana and zhang/gao
Watchout for MD!!!! Well...i think the tournament in 2005 is going to be very interesting especially in the MD event with a few formidable pairs from indonesia, malaysia, denmark, china... Indonesia....they have 1.chandra/sigit(chandra is so fast in front of net and sigit has a very powerful jumping smash and some magic shots )2.Alven/Luluk(they do not allow their opponent to do the attacking)3.Flandy/enghian(very good understanding and had very fast killer insticnt) Malaysia...1.Chong ming/KKK(both players like to play the game at a very fast rhythm and opt for some tricky shot sometimes)2.Choong/Chew(they are actually a scratch pair but they can play very fast drive and good defense) Denmark....1.Jonas/las(They play a very "intelligent" game, they always look for the empty space in their opponent's court)2.Jens/martin lungard(definitely with their intimidating height, their smashes are lethal weapon) China...1.Cai yun/FuHaifeng(Fast and furious)2.Sang yang/Zheng Bo(Their smashes are very stingy, strong defence) Korea...Kim/Ha(olympic champion,i tink they have to play for 1 or 2 years more until korea can come up with a new strong pair, age is still not a limitation for them because jens/martin are both much older)
MS: Lin Dan, Gade, Bao, KJ, Taufik and LCW... MD: Hadyanto/Alven, Flandy/Hian, Kim/Ha, Eriksen/Lundgaard and Paaske/Rasmussen... MXD: Kim/Ra...
For ms, i think its definitely lee chong wei, bao chunlai and lin dan. Maybe Hafiz too. though for taufik, i'm not really sure. For mx, its going to be nova/lilyana (ina) and koo/wong (mas). for wd, its going to be sathinee/saralee (tha). Yang/zhang (chn) too perhaps.
MS : Indonesia : Taufik and Sony. Simon will improve. Denmark : Gade and KJ. Kaldau will improve. China : Lin Dan and Chun Lai. Chen Yu anf Chen Jin will improve. Malaysia : Lee Chong Wei. Korea : Lee Hyun Il and Shon Seung Mo. Others : Boonsak, Susilo, Xuan Ze, etc..... WS : It will be dominated by Chineses girls : Zhang Ning, Gong Rui Na, Xie Xing Fang and Zhou Mi. Mia Audina, Pi Hong Yan, Yao Jie and Wong Chen maybe can get some chance. MD : Indonesia : I think 2005 is for Alven/Luluk, but Candra/Sigit and Limpele/Hian can make some things more.... Markis Kidho/Hendra Setiawan will improve. Denmark : Rasmussen/Paaske and Eriksen/Lundgaard. A couple young pairs will improve. China : Cai/Fu and Sang/Zheng. Malaysia : Chan/Koo and Choong/Chew. Tan/Ong will improve. Korea : After Kim/Ha and Yoo/Lee retired. Kim/Yim will take their place. Thailand : Prapakamol/Ngernsrisuk and Teerawiwanata/Panvisvas. WS : Like in WS, WD will be dominated by Chinese girls. XD : There are several pair will dominate in 2005 : Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms (England) Zhang Jun/Gao Ling (China) Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir (Indonesia) Jens Eriksen/Mette Schjoldager (Denmark) Kim Yong Hyun/Lee Hyo Jung (Korea) Chen Qi Qiu/Zhao Ting Ting (China) Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thungthongkam (Thailand)
for singles i think lcw will make it to the top 5 if he really trys his best. md will be a close fight between denmark and indonesia.china still have not build up their doubles although it has improved alot.denmark and indonesia have 3 very good doubles pair which should make them the top contenders for doubles crown.
mixed double is a very interesting event to watch in 2005...it involves the battle from many countries...China, indonesia, denmark,korea,england,thailand and even malaysia...but i think zhang jun and gao ling still have slight advantage compare to the other pairs...however, upset is very easy to take place in this event
MS - I'm looking at how Ronald Susilo do this year. He is still young and has lots of potential, and if he takes this year "seriously", I'm looking for a strong performance. I believe he and Taufik are the two players who can "beat" Lin Dan and any Chinese players in a "neutral" arena. Speaking of Taufik, he said he's targeting on getting the All-England(March) and World Championships(August) titles, but he has to figure out a way to squeeze in between AE, Japan Open(April), Sudirman Cup(May), Indonesian Open(June) and WC. Remember, most likely he would like to defend the Indonesian Open title again which is coming in June as well as the Sudirman Cup(May). Boy, he will have a very busy schedule starting this March, basically 1 major tournament each month, with only July as his resting time before the World Championships. Good Luck Taufik, just don't miss the World Championships in L.A., the fans here will be very disappointed if you don't come(hehehe).. WS - Mia has a chance, after coming oh so close many times. Only question is, how much is she willing to sacrifice and (sorry if this sounds inappropriate)will she lose the weight and work on her conditioning?? If she does fix her "weakness" then she has a chance to have a good year. MD - If Halim Haryanto do indeed join with Tony Gunawan and play for the U.S. in MD, I have a feeling there will be some upsets in the upcoming World Championships. Just hope they don't meet any top Indonesian MD pairs in the early round(hehe). Flandy/Eng Hian is almost done, they could still compete and win but most likely against younger inexperienced player or with luck. WD - not much competition i guess. XD - hmm, open field. Many pairs on the same level. Nova/Natsir pair is just starting, hope they can last another year(too bad for Nova's former partner).
MS : Taufik Hidayat and Lin Dan ( Taufik should grab the All-england title this year..) MD : Luluk/Alven and Chandra/Sigit WS : Xie Xingfang & Mia WD : Chinese Pairs XD : Zhang/Gao and Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir
seriously i think MS: Taufik (Lin Dan isnt performing well) XD: Eriksen Jens and Schjodager (sorry just cant spell her name) MD: Sigit and Candra?