BIG FOUR IN AE 07 MS: 1.Taufik never won AE. I think he will give his best effort to be the winner. 2.Lin Dan 3-4.Bao Chunlai & Peter Gade MD: 1.Markis Kido / Hendra Setiawan 2.Cai Yu / Fu Haifeng 3-4.Candra/Tony & Ko KK/Tan BH WS: all chinesse semifinal. i don't care WS. This is a boring game WD: 3 Chinesse pair + Vita Marissa/G Polii XD: 1.Nova W/L Natsir 2.Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms 3-4. Zheng Bo / Gao Ling & Flandy/Vita of course...3 titles for INDONESIAAAAAAAAAAAAA...
Okay .. but it's not "predictions", it's more "which players you want to see winning the All England" ..
I predict: MS- LD or TH WS- China MD- No idea now Very even WD- China XD- ZB/GL They are a great pair!
MS - TH, LD, LCW, PGC MD - KKK/TBH, TG/CW, LYD/JJS WS - CHN WD - CHN (Hopefully Gao Ling & Huang Sui ) XD - ZB/GL, GE/NR
I want to know opinions from others first....I will give my opinions on this "Special Issue" later... It is true that TH has been concentrating and training very seriously for this year AE. His mind is set on this event. You will see the same TH as the last AG Final.
I think Tony/Candra have a good chance of winning it, but I'll say that LYD/JJS will also have a slightly bigger chance of winning the AE. Taufik for AE2007, this is one of the biggest tournaments that he has not yet won yet, no better time than the present! Mixed - Zheng Bo/Gao Ling to prove that they're the most dominate mixed pairing right now.
MS - Taufik or Lin Dan and I do hope it would be a final between the two. MD Very hard to say now. KKK/TBH - I think this pair has the momentum going for them right now. Plus when i saw Koo in the MO open he was in control of his emotions. TG/CW - If Wijaya brings out the best in himself. LJJ/HJM - If the Confidence is there. A good example of them losing confidence or concentration was in doha, but they got lucky since their opponents didn't have synergy. LYD/JJS - If the Confidence is there. A good example of them losing confidence or concentration was in doha WS - Too Obvious, bring back Susi and Camila ! Though it can get interesting with Zhu Lin or Jiang YianJiao (Spelling?) WD - The Japanese and the Koreans to challenge the Chinese might ? MXD - The Pair I don't want to see ? Robertson and Emms, their court antics p!ss me off. I have no respect this pair. On another thought, I would like to see a pair test the mental and physical ability of zheng bo and gao ling and in particular Zheng Bo. Though to be honest I don't think I've seen any stability among the other mixed pairs, besides Laybourn and Juhl. And what about Zhang Yawen and Her Partner ? Ehh... IMO they can get far but I think they are intimidated by Gao Ling.
i think TH can make.. so far, whenever he says he is focused on something that he wants to get his hands on, he gets it.... e.g. AG '06.. after WC '06 he said he is concentrating more on AG and he wants to win.. apparently, he DID haha
I will be so bold to predict it will be a fight between LCW and TH in the final, the Chinese will lose along the way. Sorry if I spoil you ego if you were not going for them.
I'd predict that if the draw allows, Lin Dan VS Taufik in the MS Final. I can't deny that I really would like TH to win it though! If not then I guess I'll be cheering on CJ or PG? Maybe LCW if he gets back on track? I'm fully expecting at least one of TH or LD to be in the final though. I will be shocked if neither are! MD I would say KKK/TBH, followed closely by TG/CW and LYD/JJS, followed by MK/HS and FH/CY. They all seem to be relatively even at the moment so I can't really predict a winner out of them. I also like most of the pairs so I don't know who to cheer for either ! The rest I'm not too keen on. They don't excite me so much. But that's just me. If there are any big upsets in WS WD or XD then I will probably get interested however. I think ZB and GL will win the XD though.
that's fairly unlikely, you're becoming as bad as indra! LCW has not shown any significant form lately, although he did win the national GP, but that's not really saying much. i would be amazed if there wasn't at least one MS from CHN in the finals. the only 2 people currently who could spoil it for them is TH and PG, but it all depends on the draw they get. as for MD, well well, i would say the koreans won't get past the semis this time, not without home ground advantage. TG/CW, KKK/TBH, CY/FHF, MK/HS and JE/ML will be my best bets for the semis. again, because KKK/TBH will still be unseeded, the draw will be interesting.
As much as I would like to agree with everyone that the Chinese are hot, my selection is based on the fact that LCW did have a problem focusing with Li Mao's departure. We have seen how he can take many points of Lin Dan and others in a row and that is no easy feat. I think he had been not playing up to his ability for some time now. It surprised me somewhat and I figure it has to do with Li Mao. With Li Mao gone, I think a certain amount of weight is taken off his shoulders as Li Mao must have been putting a bit of pressure on LCW (knowing LCW had to perform if he, Li Mao, is to get his contract signed). I think this is not just fabrication of my part, and I think any truth to this would be proven if LCW wins the AE 07. In my mind, Li Mao, unfortunately was the 'Mickey on his back' -- too much was expected of LCW so much so he choked every time he was losing a bit. In fact, I noticed (and I am pretty sure everyone too) he was not playing his usual confident game (and he stuttered a lot). Li Mao is a very hard man and even though he gets a lot out his players, he can be his own worse enemy. When the chips are down, he panics (probably because he needs to feel secure himself), and I think BAM panicked him when they did not renew his contract. In his panicky state, he could have passed his negativity across to his star player. It is blatantly so because I felt LCW had lost his winning form in such a short time at the end. With the recent win in Proton Open, I think he has perked up a bit and proved that Li Mao's leaving was not going to affect his play at all, given his easy wins all the way. This attitude might be the change for him to go on back to his form which took him to No.1. I stand to be proven wrong of course if he does nothing in the AE 07 but I am confident he is back to his best !
What do they do that annoys you so much? MS I would like to see TH win, but I think LD will be too strong for him. MD Will be cheering for TG & CW but I think either Fu Haifeng & Cai Yun or KKK & TBH will win. XD Really hope that Emms & Robertson can win, but I think Gao Ling and Zheng Bo are playing too well at the moment. WS Zhang Ning WD Gao Ling & Huang Sui But I am going along for finals days so I can find out for myself!
well, i hope you're right, it'll take an international success to convince me that he's up for it. only time will tell, can't wait for the AE to start ...