Men's Team Semifinals will be held tomorrow: MAS v KOR CHN v ??? The ??? will be decided today on a round-robin format by the 3 group runners-up (rather strange competition format, I personally think). 0900 JPN v INA 1300 THA v INA 1700 JPN v THA Against both teams, I can see INA secure both points even by the singles (Taufik, Sony, Simon) alone. And if any of them should fail, I don't see Kido/Setiawan and Luluk/Alven (as second pairing) losing either. It would also mean INA has two back-to-back ties today before facing CHN tomorrow. Women's team Semifinals will be held tomorrow: SIN v JPN CHN v ??? The ??? will be decided today on a round-robin format by the 3 group runners-up. 0900 KOR v INA 1300 KOR v HKG 1700 HKG v INA Once again, it's been proven very hard to predict the women's event. Except for China, women's badminton has been on course towards equality. There are no obvious favourites today. Is Novita or Polii injurd? I wasn't following the news yesterday, just saw the results. Looking at the lineups, KOR has strong doubles, capable of both points against HKG and at least one against INA (very possibly both). Also, Lee YH and Jun JY are very formidable as 2nd and 3rd singles. HKG has to rely on Wang and Yippy to get two points and hope for another one elsewhere. I think its hopes are slim. INA has to get one point in the doubles against KOR because I can see KOR stealing a singles point. Final prediction: KOR 55%, INA 50%, HKG 5%
Pressure on INA Men's team??... ...you bet your bottom dollar$$$!!. .. As those 2 other teams will have no pressure on them..... So, pressure is on for Taufik and da boys..They control their destiny as they virtually HAVE TO WIN both ties......no slip ups, none of those.. As whether they can secure all their MS, there's no guarantee they can win all 3 of them...Do they have enough gas in their tank?? Does Taufik has enough in his tank?? Will they deliver and force another rematch against the all-mighty wall of CHN on Tuesday??...We shall await....and await indra will..hehe
I think Simon and Sony can beat Sho Sasaki and Tadashi Ohtsuka. Even if Taufik lost to Shoji Sato (unlikely at this moment) and Luluk/Alvent lost to Shoji Sato/Sho Sasaki (also unlikely), there is still Kido/Hendra to save the day. Against Thailand, I also don't see Simon and Sony dropping points. Taufik vs Boonsak is quite tough...but...Boonsak doesn't seem to be in good form lately. As for the two doubles, Kido/Hendra have beaten Sudket/Pattapol quite frequently. So, that point is save. Luluk/Alvent vs Songpol/Nattapon is again hard to say since the INA pair is pretty wretched at this point.
Taufik, Kido/Setiwan are definitely one class above the Japanese, and Thailand players... only question is how well will both sides perform. If both sides are able to perform at 100%, Taufik, Kido/Setiwan will definitely win their perspective games. On paper, the rest of the Indo's team should still be better than either Japan, and Thailand.
A good start for Taufik as he took the first set 21-15 in 14 mins. In the women's team, Hwang Hye Youn also took the first set 21-13, after winning 7 consecutive points to reach match point. Nana is simply too weak
^^^badMania, please keep us updated^^^ ..hmm, looks like this thread will be pretty "peaceful" tonight, with only INA, JPN, THA, KOR & HK competing...hehe .. Btw, are you watching it on tv??...
Taufik was cruising at 17-12, but, Sato suddenly took control and grabbed 7 straight points to lead 19-17. Now, Taufik has levelled it again at 19-19. A tense ending to the second set...
No I am not watching it...in fact, I will off to New Zealand in a matter of hours. I will just keep myself updated of the first few matches.
Phew...it was a near comeback for Sato. But, Taufik reeled off 4 straight points to win the set and the tie. INA leads 1-0.
Nana lost 8-21 on the second game. what a fight. the double is pretty interesting. jo novita is still injured. greysa is paired up with vita. the rest of the match up LEE Kyung Won/LEE Hyo Jung vs Liliyana/NURLITA Lita LEE Yun Hwa vs FIRDASARI Adriyanti HWANG Yu Mi/HA Jung Eun vs POLII Greysia/MARISSA Vita JUN Jae Youn vs BERNADET Pia taufik won 21-19.
Looks like Jo's injury will not heal up before the individual events. I think INA will probably give that one up too.
Simon took the first set 21-19, after another near comeback by Sho Sasaki when the score was 20-16 to Simon's advantage