Who will win the Badminton Golds @ Beijing?

[chris-ccc]

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In another 5 days, we will arrive at the Year 2008, the Year of the Beijing Olympics 2008.

For Badminton at the Olympics, only 7 nations have ever won any medals, namely; China(22), Indonesia(15), South Korea(14), Denmark(4), Malaysia(3), Great Britain(2) and The Netherlands(1).

If we were to look at the Gold medals with interest, only 4 nations have ever won Gold medals, namely; China(8), Indonesia(5), South Korea(5) and Denmark(1). And for the Gold medals ever won, the events are as follows;
1 MS + 0 MD + 2 WS + 3 WD + 2 XD = 8 for China
2 MS + 2 MD + 1 WS + 0 WD + 0 XD = 5 for Indonesia
0 MS + 2 MD + 1 WS + 1 WD + 1 XD = 5 for South Korea
1 MS + 0 MD + 0 WS + 0 WD + 0 XD = 1 for Denmark

Question: Who will win the Badminton Gold medals@Beijing Olympics 2008 ?

Could it be as follows ?
MS to China (LIN Dan)
MD to Malaysia (KOO Kien Keat / TAN Boon Heong)
WS to China (ZHU Lin)
WD to China (GAO Ling / HUANG Sui)
XD to Indonesia (NATSIR Lilyana / WIDIANTO Nova)

What do you think ?
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[george@chongwei]

i hope the mens single will be Lee Chong Wei

[chris-ccc]

i hope the mens single will be Lee Chong Wei

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If only Lee Chong Wei is carrying no more injuries when August 2008 comes, he would be a very strong contender.

In fact, he was my choice for MS Gold before his injuries that happened in the Denmark Super Series 2007.
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[chris-ccc]

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From The Jakarta Post.com, came this article, located at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detail...227.I01&irec=0

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Mixed doubles Indonesia's biggest chance at Olympics
The Jakarta Post.com
Jakarta, 27-December-2007

Indonesia is hoping to win a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the badminton mixed doubles after a successful 2007.

Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) official in charge of training Lius Pongoh said Wednesday that from May to the end of the year, double world champions Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir and teammates Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa had collected many points from the Super Series tournaments they had participated in.

The Badminton World Federation's Web site lists Nova and Lilyana as having collected 70,574 points and ranks them second in the world while Flandy and Vita are in fourth place with 63,109 points.

"The Super Series are the qualifying tournaments for the Olympics. Shuttlers have to join the competitions and collect as many points as they can from May 2007 to April 2008," said Lius.

"So far, the two pairs have the biggest chance at the event. But we will know the qualified shuttlers on May 1."

During 2007, Nova and Lilyana won three titles -- the Philippines Open, the World Championships and the China Open Super Series. Flandy and Vita also grabbed three titles -- the Aviva Open Singapore Super Series, the Yonex Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold and the French Super Series.

There are six more world tournaments to come: the Proton Malaysia Super Series and Yonex Korea Super Series in January, the German Grand Prix Gold in February, the All England and Swiss Super Series in March and the Asia Championships Grand Prix Gold in April.

Lius said PBSI would prioritize winning gold medals at the Olympics while the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup team championships in Jakarta came second.

"It has been a tradition for Indonesia to win gold medals at the Olympics and we aim to continue the tradition. We hope to grab at least one gold," he said.

Men's singles coach Hendrawan said three shuttlers have a chance of qualifying for the Olympics.

"Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Taufik Hidayat and Simon Santoso still have big chances. But we will just pick the two highest ranked athletes. They have to work hard to get the two highest rankings," he said.

According to the BWF ranking, Sony, the runner-up at this year's world championships, is ranked sixth in the world, followed by 2005 world champion Taufik in seventh place and Simon in 11th.

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[Dato A]

For sure Taufik will be one of the very dangerous Dark HoRSE in Beijing 2008.

[badMania]

INA's priorities will undoubtedly remain in the MD and XD fields.

MD: Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan
-- chance 40%. Depending on the eventual draw. They should remain as the top 2 seeds and will avoid Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun until the Final.

XD: Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir
Supporting role: Flandy Limpele/Vita Marissa
-- chance: 30%. Nova/Butet will also avoid Gao/Zheng and it's hopeful that Flandy/Vita also remain in the top 4 seeds.

[chris-ccc]

For sure Taufik will be one of the very dangerous Dark HoRSE in Beijing 2008.

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As at 4 months before the Beijing Olympics 2008, Taufik Hidayat is ranked 6th in the BWF's ranking.

For sure... TH will be making his presence felt @Beijing 2008.
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[huangkwokhau]

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As at 4 months before the Beijing Olympics 2008, Taufik Hidayat is ranked 6th in the BWF's ranking.

For sure... TH will be making his presence felt @Beijing 2008.
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PBSI just hired an Australian to upgrade all INA players' stamina for coming Olympic....TH needs to be serious to get his stamina...otherwise it is tough...

[chris-ccc]

INA's priorities will undoubtedly remain in the MD and XD fields.

MD: Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan
-- chance 40%. Depending on the eventual draw. They should remain as the top 2 seeds and will avoid Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun until the Final.

XD: Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir
Supporting role: Flandy Limpele/Vita Marissa
-- chance: 30%. Nova/Butet will also avoid Gao/Zheng and it's hopeful that Flandy/Vita also remain in the top 4 seeds.

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Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir @ chance: 30% ???

I would bet that Lilyana/Nova will do better than Gao/Zheng @Beijing Olympics 2008.
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[Dato A]

MARKIS KIDO/HENDRAWAN the best chance for INA to celebrate their gold medal in badminton in Beijing.

[koo_fan]

OMG!I dont even realise this thread.

Early 2007,i dont really have confidence on kkk/tbh.
This april,3 months left.Didnt get to see this pair in kedah.but overally,they slowly got the rhythm.
N i order to have the faith back,i think it would be a good sign.

[yen_saw]

chris@ccc, thanks for breaking down the facts in OG badminton event.

My guess would be

MS: Chinese trio - 70%, LCW - 25%
WS: Chinese trio - 50%, Tine - 20%, Hongky - 20%, WMC - 5%
MD: 25% to Indonesia, Korean, and Malaysia. 10% to CYC/FHF
WD: chinese trio - 95%, Korean - 5%
XD: Chinese 50%, Indonesia - 25%, Korean - 10%, and European - 10%

To be more specific

MS: LD
WS: XXF
MD: Markis/Hendrawan
WD: any of the three chinese double (who cares!)
XD: GL/ZB

[xXazn_romeoXx]

For sure Taufik will be one of the very dangerous Dark HoRSE in Beijing 2008.

taufik wouldn't be a dark horse because everyone already respects how he can turn it up when it matters...and he's considered a favourite as well...so apart from the top 3 (LD TH LCW), i consider someone like sony dwi, or boonsak to be a darkhorse...or perhaps LHI if he's chosen over park sung hwan ...but IMO...

MS: LD
WS: XXF or Tine Rasmussen
MD: Fu/Cai or Lee/Jung
WD: Zhang/Wei
XD: Widianto/Natsir

[pawpawsalad]

taufik will prove everyone wrong again. he's capable of winning when it really counts

[chris-ccc]

MS: Chinese trio - 70%, LCW - 25%
WS: Chinese trio - 50%, Tine - 20%, Hongky - 20%, WMC - 5%
MD: 25% to Indonesia, Korean, and Malaysia. 10% to CYC/FHF
WD: Chinese trio - 95%, Korean - 5%
XD: Chinese 50%, Indonesia - 25%, Korean - 10%, and European - 10%

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Hi yen_saw,

Sad but true, for China to capture Gold, their Gold medalists would be chosen by the one and only LYB.

So for us, your stated percentage chances expected for China to win Gold are more realistic. It is not easy to state the percentage chances for a particular Chinese player/pair. We cannot tell who would be/would not be chosen by LYB.

I also agree with you and xXazn_romeoXx, that Tine Rasmussen could have a chance to win the WS Gold.
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[Seasider]

MARKIS KIDO/HENDRAWAN the best chance for INA to celebrate their gold medal in badminton in Beijing.

chris@ccc, thanks for breaking down the facts in OG badminton event.

My guess would be

MS: Chinese trio - 70%, LCW - 25%
WS: Chinese trio - 50%, Tine - 20%, Hongky - 20%, WMC - 5%
MD: 25% to Indonesia, Korean, and Malaysia. 10% to CYC/FHF
WD: chinese trio - 95%, Korean - 5%
XD: Chinese 50%, Indonesia - 25%, Korean - 10%, and European - 10%

To be more specific

MS: LD
WS: XXF
MD: Markis/Hendrawan
WD: any of the three chinese double (who cares!)
XD: GL/ZB

It's not Hendrawan, it's HENDRA SETIAWAN. Hendrawan is a former MS player. He is a MS silver medalist in Sydney Olympic

[ye333]

After watching a few of LD's matches (Sudirman 05 vs. TH, WC05 vs. TH, WC07 vs. Sony), I realized that Morten was right in saying that LD would kind of "shut down" when meeting unexpected resistance from his opponent (when commenting LD vs. Jonassen AE 08 QF).

Taking into account that LCW was also not very strong mentally, I would say TH indeed has some real chance defending his gold medal, even with his current form.

GL/ZB and Nova/Lilyana are at the same level now. But the age factor is against the Indo pair when they meet in the final. If Nova cannot attack when he has the chance, then the result would be like AE 08 Final.

INA's priorities will undoubtedly remain in the MD and XD fields.

MD: Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan
-- chance 40%. Depending on the eventual draw. They should remain as the top 2 seeds and will avoid Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun until the Final.

XD: Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir
Supporting role: Flandy Limpele/Vita Marissa
-- chance: 30%. Nova/Butet will also avoid Gao/Zheng and it's hopeful that Flandy/Vita also remain in the top 4 seeds.