Now the real battles just get started ... Chong Wei Lee vs Persson Bao vs Sony Chen Jin vs Kuan Lee Hyun Il vs Pang Hidayat vs Chen Hong Sato vs Gade Palyama vs Hafiz Park vs Lin
Errr..I don't think Park Sung Hwan's match against John Moody and Lin Dan's match against Bobby Milroy have started. So, there could still be some upsets
I remember people argued before who got the easiest draw. Now let's review it now since things are getting clearer. Here is my order (from easiest to hardest) for this round: Hafiz, Lee HI, Gade, Chen Jin, Lee CW, Lin, Palyama, Bao, Hidayat, Sony Pang, Kuan, Persson, Sato, Park, Chen Hong So, It seems Hafiz, Lee HI, Gade, .. get easy draws, while Chen Hong gets the hardest. Taufik seems in form.
yes...agree! hidayat v chen hong will be the match to watch...ch will have to wait another day for a chance to beat taufik...
As one of you have said, there's plenty of mouth-watering clashes tomorrow. A total of 36 matches to be played from 2pm Madrid time. So, here's my pick for tomorrow's matches: MS ROUND OF 16 Lee Chong Wei vs Joachim Persson -- no problem for Lee! Bao Chunlai vs Sony Dwi Kuncoro -- I hope Sony wins...but...But is superior! Chen Jin vs Kuan Beng Hong -- Kuan has done his job...reaching the last 16. He will not beat Chen Jin. Taufik Hidayat vs Chen Hong (MATCH OF THE DAY) -- Taufik has been Chen Hong's nemesis and his luck against the Chinese player shall continue tomorrow...probably in 3 sets. Park Sung Hwan vs Lin Dan -- a more difficult opponent for Lin Dan compared to today's...but...shouldn't be a problem also. MD ROUND OF 16 Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto vs Roman Spitko/Michael Fuchs -- shouldn't be a problem for the INA pair. Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan vs Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah (MATCH OF THE DAY) -- a tough tie for Kido/Hendra and a test of their credential. I hope they win. Guo Zhendong/Xie Zhongbo vs Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari/Lin Woon Fui -- the Malaysian pair has an edge. Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen vs Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae -- a close candidate for match of the day. Experience vs youth...and I pick youth! WS ROUND OF 16 Zhang Ning vs Wong Mew Choo -- no question, the Chinese player should win! Kaori Mori vs Jiang Yanjiao -- a tricky tie for Jiang, but, she should manage. Yip Pui Yin vs Pi Hongyan -- Pi to win! Tine Rasmussen vs Xie Xingfang -- the Danish player has recovered well from her injury. She could pose some problems for Xie. Eriko Hirose vs Xu Huaiwen (MATCH OF THE DAY) -- a tough tie for both players...I pick the German to win. WD QUARTER-FINAL -- all four Chinese pairs are expected to make it Gao Ling/Huang Sui vs Chien Yu-Chin/Cheng Wen-Hsing (MATCH OF THE DAY) Kumiko Ogura/Reiko Shiota vs Du Jing/Yu Yang Wong Pei Tty/Chin Ee Hui vs Wei Yili/Zhang Yawen Saralee Thoungthongkam/Sathinee Chankrachangwong vs Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen XD ROUND OF 16 Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir vs Koo Kien Keat/Wong Pei Tty -- with CCM's withdrawal in the MD, it could motivate KKK to win this match. A real tricky test for the defending champion. They should win. Jonas Rasmussen/Britta Andersen vs Robert Blair/Natalie Munt -- the Danish pair has had a rest day, while the English pair struggled in beating the Chinese Taipei pair. Both sets ended up in deuce. I pick the Danish pair. Zhang Jun/Gao Ling vs Zhang Wei/Yu Yang -- thankfully, Lee Yong Dae/Hwang Yu Mi lost surprisingly today. Zhang/Gao should have a clear path to the semi-final. Zheng Bo/Zhao Tingting vs Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms (MATCH OF THE DAY) -- a thrilling match is in store...expect 3 sets...with deuces. The English pair holds a slight edge. Robert Mateusiak/Nadiezda Kostiuczyk vs Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam -- Sudket/Saralee should progress.
MD: Fu/Cai - Kumar/Sanave should be an interesting match. I still remember how Kumar/Sanave troubled Candra/Sigit in last year's WC. The Indian players have amazing reflexes and appeared even faster than Sigit sometimes.
its Exactly Critical POint for Indonesia Squad all the players againts HI-Qua Player. hopefully they win. my prediction, Squad that are still survive untill Quarter Final from the easiest: Alven-Luluk, Widianto/Natsir-Taufik Hidayat-Kido/Setiawan-Sony Dwi Kuncoro I pray for all Doubles, for singles 50-50 for taufik, 30% for sony
My predictions (winners on left) XD Zhongbo XIE/Yawen ZHANG v William MILROY/Tammy SUN The Chinese roll on. Canadians just happy to be this far Nathan ROBERTSON/Gail EMMS v Bo ZHENG/Tingting ZHAO English duo on a determined mission Sudket PRAPAKAMOL/Saralee THOUNGTHONGKAM v Robert MATEUSIAK/ Nadiezda KOSTIUCZYK Thais win one in the face of their country's turmoil Thomas LAYBOURN/Juhl Kamilla RYTTER v Mohd Fairuzizuan MOHD TAZARI/Sock Ai OOI Danes too strong Anthony CLARK/Donna KELLOGG v Kristof HOPP/Birgit OVERZIER No problems for the English Jun ZHANG/Ling GAO v Wei ZHANG/Yang (F) YU Next Jonas RASMUSSEN/Britta ANDERSEN v Robert BLAIR/Natalie MUNT Cheering for our JR! Nova WIDIANTO/Lilyana NATSIR v Kien Keat KOO/Pei Tty WONG End of the road for the MAS pair MD Haifeng FU/Yun CAI v Rupesh KUMAR/Thomas SANAVE Chinese in a cakewalk Luluk HADIYANTO/Yulianto ALVEN v Roman SPITKO/Michael FUCHS No surprise here Jens ERIKSEN/Martin LUNDGAARD HANSEN v Shuichi SAKAMOTO/Shintaro IKEDA Confident Danes to win Ji Man HWANG/Sang Hoon HAN v Ian PALETHORPE/Kristian ROEBUCK English duo meet their Waterloo Tan Fook CHOONG/Wan Wah LEE v Markis KIDO/Hendra SETIAWAN Experience to prevail Mohd Fairuzizuan MOHD TAZARI/ Woon Fui LIN v Zhendong GUO/ Zhongbo XIE MAS boys go wild on the Chinese Anthony CLARK/Robert BLAIR v Tadashi OHTSUKA/Keita MASUDA English pair should triumph Lars PAASKE/Jonas RASMUSSEN v Jae Sung JUNG/Yong Dae LEE C'mon JR WS Chen WANG v Petra OVERZIER Might be closer than you think Petya NEDELTCHEVA v Susan HUGHES Petya looking good Yanjiao JIANG v Kaori MORI Jiang to squeeze out a tight win Hongyan PI v Pui Yin YIP Pi to advance Xingfang XIE v Tine RASMUSSEN Chinese could have some trouble Huaiwen XU v Eriko HIROSE Xu to outlast Hirose Tracey HALLAM v Monthila MEEMEK English wins easily Ning ZHANG v Mew Choo WONG Zhang to make Wong run all over the court, then send her packing MS Hyun Il LEE v Eric PANG Straightforward victory for the Korean Chong Wei LEE v Joachim PERSSON Lee to cruise through Muhd Hafiz B HASHIM v Dicky PALYAMA Hashim quietly making his way through the draw Peter GADE v Shoji SATO Let's see if Gade can handle Sato's speed Jin CHEN v Beng Hong KUAN Thanks for coming, Kuan Sony Dwi KUNCORO v Chunlai BAO Calling for a monumental upset. Sony is a big event player Dan LIN v Sung Hwan PARK Next Taufik HIDAYAT v Hong CHEN Won't even be close. Chen too one dimensional WD Wei YANG/Jiewen ZHANG v Saralee THOUNGTHONGKAM/Sathinee CHANKRACHANGWONG Chinese juggernaut rolls on Jing DU/Yang (F) YU v Kumiko OGURA/Reiko SHIOTA Chinese juggernaut rolls on Ling GAO/Sui HUANG v Yu-Chin CHIEN/Wen-Hsing CHENG Chinese juggernaut rolls on Pei Tty WONG/Eei Hui CHIN v Yawen ZHANG/ Yili WEI Chinese juggernaut stopped. MAS pair finally break the wall
Taufik got a good chance of defending his title. But if Bao enter final to meet Taufik, then I pick Bao. Anyway too early to say that.
here are mine: XD Zhongbo XIE/Yawen ZHANG v William MILROY/Tammy SUN simply too strong. Nathan ROBERTSON/Gail EMMS v Bo ZHENG/Tingting ZHAO i pick the Chinese on this one. they came right off their recent win, should be fired up if they would stop arguing. Sudket PRAPAKAMOL/Saralee THOUNGTHONGKAM v Robert MATEUSIAK/ Nadiezda KOSTIUCZYK my favorite pair should win against the Pols. but the Pols are by no means an easy match either. Thomas LAYBOURN/Juhl Kamilla RYTTER v Mohd Fairuzizuan MOHD TAZARI/Sock Ai OOI Go Thomas! Jun ZHANG/Ling GAO v Wei ZHANG/Yang (F) YU how can one not pick a two time Olympic champion?? Jonas RASMUSSEN/Britta ANDERSEN v Robert BLAIR/Natalie MUNT we always support Jonas here. Nova WIDIANTO/Lilyana NATSIR v Kien Keat KOO/Pei Tty WONG Lilyana is too strong for Wong, unfortunately. MD Haifeng FU/Yun CAI v Rupesh KUMAR/Thomas SANAVE Fu/Cai on training run here. Luluk HADIYANTO/Yulianto ALVEN v Roman SPITKO/Michael FUCHS Same. Jens ERIKSEN/Martin LUNDGAARD HANSEN v Shuichi SAKAMOTO/Shintaro IKEDA Jens needs to win this in order to prove his words on later rounds. Tan Fook CHOONG/Wan Wah LEE v Markis KIDO/Hendra SETIAWAN i pick Choong/Lee on this one. i don't expect them to fall until SF. Mohd Fairuzizuan MOHD TAZARI/ Woon Fui LIN v Zhendong GUO/ Zhongbo XIE you know, i am 50/50. Lars PAASKE/Jonas RASMUSSEN v Jae Sung JUNG/Yong Dae LEE Match of the day for me. ex-WC against young pair from KOR. i pick JR/LP. WS Chen WANG v Petra OVERZIER Petya NEDELTCHEVA v Susan HUGHES dunno. Yanjiao JIANG v Kaori MORI Mori is not the same league imho. Hongyan PI v Pui Yin YIP YIPPY vs HYPI... HYPI definitely has the edge here. Xingfang XIE v Tine RASMUSSEN defending Champion will be hard to beat. Huaiwen XU v Eriko HIROSE Hirose is probably the strongest Japanese. but unforutnately, she still has a way to go... Tracey HALLAM v Monthila MEEMEK dunno Ning ZHANG v Mew Choo WONG watched WMC 1st round match. probably one of the best non-chinese-derived players around. but unfortunately, bad draw against Zhang Ning. Li Mao will have to wait another couple of years. MS Chong Wei LEE v Joachim PERSSON we will now start to see what form LCW is in. Muhd Hafiz B HASHIM v Dicky PALYAMA should still be ok for Hafix. Peter GADE v Shoji SATO never ever been impressed by Sato. Jin CHEN v Beng Hong KUAN won't even be close, imho. Sony Dwi KUNCORO v Chunlai BAO tough call, actually, but i think Sony will prevail. Dan LIN v Sung Hwan PARK Lin Dan better play seriously. Taufik HIDAYAT v Hong CHEN i will leave this one as 50/50. WD Wei YANG/Jiewen ZHANG v Saralee THOUNGTHONGKAM/Sathinee CHANKRACHANGWONG even though i like the Thai pair. but the chinese are just too strong. Jing DU/Yang (F) YU v Kumiko OGURA/Reiko SHIOTA i give the Japanese some more credit. they are lucky to have drawn against the weakest Chinese pair. Ling GAO/Sui HUANG v Yu-Chin CHIEN/Wen-Hsing CHENG another practice match. Pei Tty WONG/Eei Hui CHIN v Yawen ZHANG/ Yili WEI Wong/Chin is still a class below any of the Chinese WD pairs..
Here is my pick: XD Zhongbo XIE/Yawen ZHANG v William MILROY/Tammy SUN Xie/Zhang went from getting the toughest draw in XD draw (before Korea pair withdraw) to getting the easiest draw to sail into QF. 2 sets! Nathan ROBERTSON/Gail EMMS v Bo ZHENG/Tingting ZHAO The record are not so good for Zhao/Zheng, but lately they play very well meanwhile Nathan/Emms play below their best play. Chinese pair will win in 3 sets. Sudket PRAPAKAMOL/Saralee THOUNGTHONGKAM v Robert MATEUSIAK/ Nadiezda KOSTIUCZYK Thai pair will move on to QFin 2 tough set. Thomas LAYBOURN/Juhl Kamilla RYTTER v Mohd Fairuzizuan MOHD TAZARI/Sock Ai OOI No question at all. The Danes roll on in 2 set. Jun ZHANG/Ling GAO v Wei ZHANG/Yang (F) YU It will not be easy for Zhang/Gao to win their junior pair cause they probably play each other so many times in their training. 2 tough set. Jonas RASMUSSEN/Britta ANDERSEN v Robert BLAIR/Natalie MUNT This is the Danes chance after Jens/Mette withdrawal. 2 sets. Nova WIDIANTO/Lilyana NATSIR v Kien Keat KOO/Pei Tty WONG Will be hard fought 2 sets for the Indonesia pair to win. MD Haifeng FU/Yun CAI v Rupesh KUMAR/Thomas SANAVE Wuushhhhhhh, sail through......for Cai/Fu in 2 sets. Luluk HADIYANTO/Yulianto ALVEN v Roman SPITKO/Michael FUCHS Ditto. Jens ERIKSEN/Martin LUNDGAARD HANSEN v Shuichi SAKAMOTO/Shintaro IKEDA Same here. Tan Fook CHOONG/Wan Wah LEE v Markis KIDO/Hendra SETIAWAN The Indonesia pair held advantage bywinning their last meeting only 2 weeks ago. 3 hard fought sets. Mohd Fairuzizuan MOHD TAZARI/ Woon Fui LIN v Zhendong GUO/ Zhongbo XIE Hard to predict. Judging by Malaysian pair who almost lost to Russia pair in first set today, it will be 50-50. Lars PAASKE/Jonas RASMUSSEN v Jae Sung JUNG/Yong Dae LEE It a shame, why LP and JR only play together in Thomas Cup event this year before this WC. So the Korea pair will advanced in 3 sets. WS Chen WANG v Petra OVERZIER Wang sail through. Petya NEDELTCHEVA v Susan HUGHES Petya more consistent than Susan. She will win in 3 sets. Yanjiao JIANG v Kaori MORI Judging from Kaori MOri lately performance, 2 sets for Jiang. Hongyan PI v Pui Yin YIP Pi advanced in 2 sets. Xingfang XIE v Tine RASMUSSEN The same result as Hongkong Open semifinal, XXF roll on with 2 sets. Huaiwen XU v Eriko HIROSE 2 years ago with Cheng Shao Chieh, Eriko is one of the rising star in WS who were not came from China squad. But after two year, she cannot break through the top elite WS. So Xu will win probably in 3 sets. Tracey HALLAM v Monthila MEEMEK Tracey will win in 3 sets. Ning ZHANG v Mew Choo WONG Zhang Ning will win in 2 sets. MS Chong Wei LEE v Joachim PERSSON LCW will win 2 tight set. Muhd Hafiz B HASHIM v Dicky PALYAMA Hafiz will roll on in 2 set if he play his usual standard. Peter GADE v Shoji SATO PG will roll on in 2 sets. Jin CHEN v Beng Hong KUAN Same here Sony Dwi KUNCORO v Chunlai BAO THeir record is 6-0 for Bao Chun Lai. It will take 200% effort from Sonny and BCL under performed for Sonny to win. After he won his second title this year, BCL will be much more confidence. He will sail through in 2 sets. Dan LIN v Sung Hwan PARK If LD play seriously, he will advanced in 2 sets. If he goofing around, 3 sets. Taufik HIDAYAT v Hong CHEN iTH had to play better than today in order to win Chen Hong. If his standard like today, CH will win. TH will advanced in 3 tough sets. WD Wei YANG/Jiewen ZHANG v Saralee THOUNGTHONGKAM/Sathinee CHANKRACHANGWONG Chinese pair will steam roll the Thai pair. Not to mention the Thai pair lay a long match today against Japan second pair. Not to mention the Chinese already won 6-0 against the Thai. Jing DU/Yang (F) YU v Kumiko OGURA/Reiko SHIOTA Du/YU already won 2 title this year. 2 easy set for the Chinese. They probably smile alot after they know their toughest rival in this QF draw the Korean pair withdraw. Ling GAO/Sui HUANG v Yu-Chin CHIEN/Wen-Hsing CHENG 11-0 for Gao/Huang so far. 2 closed sets. And the Chinese will roll to SF. Pei Tty WONG/Eei Hui CHIN v Yawen ZHANG/ Yili WEI THe Chinese already win twice this year against the Malaysian pair. And this time it will make number three win. They already past their toughest fight in this QF draw against the England in R16. So All China WD SF this year.
CHN team has won 30+ matches without losing any. But it will not be the case tomorrow. It's guaranteed that some CHN players will lose tomorrow, the question is how many and who are they? MAS team did pretty good also, especially the men's team, without losing any, except CCM early withdrawal for family reasons. Hope CCM gets well and becomes stronger in the future, since he has to be the man in the house now. INA team, DEN team all are doing pretty good. The early rounds of WC are definitely boring because its limitations. Usually in open tournaments, many youngsters, new bloods, came to play, and upset veterans, some low ranked but decent players, like Chen Yu, Simon, Qiu YB, YKB,... made a lot of upsets. But now at WC, they are excluded to play, so you can only watch big guns slaughtering in early rounds.
Just for fun! Lets analyze who had the toughest draw and the easiest draw to become the champion in WC2006? Lets start with XD! The easiest draw probably should go to Nova/Lilyana. Due to Jens/Metter withdrawal, they will only meet tough opponent in SF and F/ Probably all will be Chinese pair. The toughest draw shoud go to Zheng Bo/Zhao TT. In order to become the champion, they beat Hendry/Li in R64. Will fight Nathan/Emms in R16. Later had to win Kamila/Thomas in QF. And probably meet XieZB/ZhangYW in SF and Nova/Lili or Zhang/Gao Ling in final. Fiuuu!!!! Can they made it? At least both ofthem only play XD .
For WD. The easiest draw should be Yang/Zhang Jie Wen. They only had to worry their SF round against Wei Yi Li and Zhang Ya Wen. And their toughest rival GaoLing/Huang Sui in final. The toughest draw should be went toThai pair, Saralee/Sathinee. They barely scrapped through in 3 sets against Japanese pair in R16. Had to Win 3 Chinese pair from QF,SF and Final to win the WC title. Can they do it?
From MD! The easiest draw should went to Jens/Martin. After CCM/KKK withdraw, they only had to meet top rival in SF, probably Cai/Fu and then final against Korea/Malaysia or Indonesia pair. THe toughest draw should go to Jung JS/Lee YD. They will meet Jonas/Lars in R16. Malaysia or China pair in QF. Chong Tan Fook/LWW or Indonesia pair in SF and maybe Denmark or China pair again in final. Tough luck!