Team Indonesia has chance to win 3 titles. MEN'S SINGLES Taufik Hidayat vs Bao Chunlai -- Despite Taufik's poor record against Bao and his rumoured injury, I think Taufik certainly will not waste a good chance to win another Indonesia Open title. Bao will definitely be his greatest threat in the tournament and it will be a thriller. WOMEN'S SINGLES Zhu Lin vs Lu Lan -- Yawn...yet another battle betwen two Chinese...this time two youngsters. They have really shown their maturity by beating more experienced opponents such as Pi Hongyan, Xu Huaiwen, and Kanako Yonekura. Should be evenly matched with Lu Lan having a slight edge. MEN'S DOUBLES Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya vs Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan -- I have earlier wrote that Tony/Candra will win the tournament...and by the look of it, they could do it tomorrow.Tony/Candra is a a better pair compared to Candra/Sigit. I will not be surprised if they decide to play in the WC this year. However, for the sake of youth, I hope Markis/Hendra can retain the title. They have impressed this week by beating Malaysia's and Korea's young pairs in Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari/Lin Woon Fui and Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae. At the moment, they only face some problems beating experienced pairs such as Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah, Jens Eriksen/Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun. WOMEN'S DOUBLES Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen vs Wei Yili/Zhang Yawen -- again, an expected clash between Chinese current no 2 and no 3 pairs. Yang/Wei to prevail. MIXED DOUBLES Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir vs Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen -- Nova/Butet is on a roll...beating Zheng Bo/Zhao Tingting and now Lee Jae Jin/Lee Hyo Jung. It was a surprisingly fast victory yesterday but I would expect another close match against the fastly-improving Xie/Zhong. There's no doubt about it, Xie/Zhang is definitely a gold-medal potential for Beijing 2008. I hope Nova/Butet will win...possibly in 3 sets....with the help of the home crowd.
MEN'S SINGLES Taufik Hidayat vs Bao Chunlai -- Taufik is not fit 100% yet. Not to mention BCL had good record against Taufik and he already used to Indonesia crowd loud cheering. And this is BCL best chances to win a title after always losing to his teammates in most of the tournaments he participated. (Mostly LD and CH). BCL will win in 3 sets. WOMEN'S SINGLES Note here: Zhu Lin and Lu Lan probably thanks LYB by not sending ZN and XXF to this tourney cause it mean they had very big chances to win their first title. And it already proven by both of them reaching final. Zhu Lin vs Lu Lan -- I had never watch Zhu Lin play. But I watch Lu Lan play yesterday against PHY and she play very good controlling PHY. So just maybe Lu Lan will win. MEN'S DOUBLES Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya vs Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan -- Not that I don't wanted Markis/Hendra to won but the experience factor will be very helpful for Tony/Candra to win this title. And if Tony/Chandra win, it will be a slap in PBSI face cause their 2 main MD fail and lost to ex Pelatnas players. WOMEN'S DOUBLES Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen vs Wei Yili/Zhang Yawen -- Yang/Zhang will win in 2 sets. MIXED DOUBLES Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir vs Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen -- Their record is 1-1. Nova/Liliyana will win in 3 sets.
A slap in the face of PBSI??... Hmm, this is an old issue and actually it was proven somewhat already last yr during the World Championship where Tony and the not-so-known Howard Bach defeated the Pelatnas *experienced* pair in Sigit/Candra...Actually if Tony/Candra win against Markis/Hendra, it won't really be a "slap in PBSI face"...I mean how can that be??..You expect PBSI to keep all their former players for ever and ever (ie. Rexy, Ricky, Halim??)...Didn't those players leave *on their own terms* for whatever reasons they have??.. Sure, if Tony and Candra win today, it won't be a good result for PBSI's current crops of MD, but remember(which i'm sure you know also) both Tony/Candra are experienced, ex-Pelatnas players who have won all the top echelon IBF tournaments and championships there are. Winning against the "inexperienced" Markis/Hendra shouldn't be a surprise. But IMO, losing against those 2 younger pairs will be somewhat of a surprise.. BTW, right now i'm looking at Tony/Candra winning the MD tie, just purely on their sheer talents alone...On that note, i wouldn't be surprise to see the results of this IO *similar* to the 2005 World Championships' results, which were: MS-INA:Taufik WS-CHN's gal WD-CHN's gals MD-USA/mix pair:Tony and his partner XD-INA:Nova/Lilyana how's that for my "boldest prediction"..
Hehe, no doubt...But why just play in the WC..why not continue playing together overseas as a freelance pair as long as their bodies are still able(but poor Halim though, he's going to be left out )...Go to all the possible tournaments and start racking up those titles...and $$...hehe ..
Schedule and live web tv of 2006 Indonesian Open Final for those interested to watch, click on this link and see post #38 to follow the link...good luck and enjoy! http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33453&page=3
Ooh...I did forget that BCL has never won a single tournament except for a Denmark Open title some years ago. This has added further pressure for Bao to win today. I recall he was leading 1-0 when he faced Chen Hong in the China Open last year, however, he screwed up badly later on (esp in the third set) and Chen Hong ended up winning unexpectedly. Yes, it's Bao's mental attitude. If he goes to the court with the pressure of having to win, it will be Taufik's advantage. Also remember that Taufik's sole victory is in front of a home crowd in yet another Indonesia Open. It will not be a shame if Markis/Hendra lost. Again, my heart says that Tony/Candra will win because of their vast experience. However, I do hope that the youngster can prove themselves by playing a smart game. Beating Tony Gunawan at the net is going to be a hard task. I guess they should watch the video of Fu/Cai beating Tony/Howard in the semi-final of China Masters a couple of mths ago. This is exactly what they should do...catch the seniors by surprise and build a healthy early momentum quickly.
I thought Bao won the 2nd game in China Open... Well, today could be the best time to prove that Bao is more mature than before... He beat Taufik in his homeground during Thomas Cup 2004 and he had proven that he is better mentally in Thomas Cup last month, how about today? Taufik said that it will be more difficult to beat Bao than Chen Yu yesterday... Its hard to predict who is going to win today... This will be a really interesting match to watch...
hmmm is it aired today in any station? cuz i dont see it on today's sctv schedule. i wanna watch it badly..
today 12.30 wib, sctv will broadcast live the final (confirmed) http://www.sctv.co.id/view/126,13760,,1149354000,1149395401.html
taufik-ist, SCTV is not showing any live web broadcast are they??just on reg. TV..cos i can't find any link with the link you gave me... anyways, abt 1/2 hr. to go til the Finals begin..
he could beat chen yu eventough he's not fit 100% (as you said) i think taufik wants to win indonesia open 2006