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.
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.
My quick take & 2 cents on the draw.. ..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.. - (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..
Missed that. Thanks. 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.
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 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 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....
Thanks for the early preview.. 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.. ...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..
Off topic.. 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..
where's jiang yan jiao????? 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:
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.
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?
