Despite the early disappointments, MAS is not doing too badly at this stage. Having one MS and one MD representive in the SFs is par for the course. For INA, it has to be a disappointment especially with no entries left in MS and MD despite high expectations for Taufik and Kido/Setiawan. It is par for CHN with some good news here (3 in the MS, 2 in the XD) and some bad news there (only Lu Lan in the WS and decimated in the MD). And some pretty usual stuff (3 in the WD in the company of Lee/Lee). It says a lot about CHN that it is only par for them when they have 9 entries (out of 20) in the SFs. KOR is disappointed that Lee Hyun Il did not come this far, but elated with both their MD pairs. They should also be happy that Hwang Hye Youn went over many tough hurdles to get here. Also Lee KW/Lee HJ winning over Gao/Zhao. A bit disappointed with XD. Overall, I think the Koreans did a bit better than expected. As for DEN, Tine Rasmussen has a bright chance to win it all. I think her toughest remaining hurdle is against Hwang later. A bit of disappointment in the MD with their potential. Overall, par for DEN. For JPN, they will have to come down from their early elation sooner or later. They created some early upsets, but it's the business end now. Still, they are not expected to have anyone in the SF, so having Ikeda/Sakamoto in the SF of All-England is a good achievement for JPN. We may yet see them in the final, as they face the weaker of the Korean pairs. Xu Huaiwen took good advantage of the early loss of Zhang Ning. A plus for GER. And finally, the homesters. All-England is all the better that they are still in the tournament.
This could be the best and last chance for the Malaysian MD (Uncle) CTF/LWW to claim AE title after so many years. I wish them best of luck. They are the highest rank left, only koreans are in their way. Hope they can over come the last minute lack of concentration they face every time in final. I also support LCW to break the wall of China, hope no walkover by BCL today, cross my finger. I want to see LD vs LCW in final. Tine got my support, she is the best.
I have a feeling there would be walkover again this time to ensure LD's in tip top condition to win the title. If no walkover, it would be another 'BCL vs CY' type of match. Sigh...old tactic
There are 3 potential walkovers, although I think they have confidence enough in Yang/Zhang to see off Lee/Lee. So, 2 walkovers on the card. We can have a PAW for this (Pick-A-Walkover).
All England - Semifinal It's time for semifinal: MS Lin Dan vs Bao Chunlai (60-40)- Lin Dan to prevail Lee Chong Wei vs Chen Jin (60-40) - Chen Jin has been performing well until semifinal. But since his records lately not so good, semifinal is already good for him. LCW to win, more after he beat TH yesterday. WS Lu Lan vs Xu Huaiwen (55-45) - Lu Lan to win...hopefully. She is convincing and stable so far. And she beat Xu several times before. And she is the only chinese WS now and the pressure is high for her from the coach. But I am sure Lu Lan can manage it. Tine Rasmussen - Hwang Hye-youn (55-45) - It seems Tine will win. She is the new Camilla Martin from Denmark who can stop Chinese. However Hwang is also improving a lot recently. Uber Cup qualification and beating Wong Mew Choo are the examples. I hope Hwang can win even though Tine is more stable. MD (the most unpredictable) Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah vs Jung Jae-sung/Lee Young-dae (50-50) Young Koreans are on fire, though WWTF are not easy to beat. Maybe this is the last chance for them to win in All England. Difficult to predict. Hwang Ji-man/Lee Jae-jin - Shintaro Ikeda/Shuichi Sakamoto (55-45) This jap pair is my new fave. They are the real darkhorses. Hwang/Lee are strong but who know what will happen today. WD Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen - Lee Kyung-won/Lee Hyo-jung (55-45) Another battle to win for Yang/Zhang. If they are in good form, Lee/Lee is not a problem for them. Yang/Zhang really want their title here. Lee/Lee's wins over Gao/Zhao for 2 times was solely due to Zhao Tingting factor. I dont know why she is still in the chinese squad. Still Yand/Zhang to win with their spirit and experience Wei Yili/Zhang Yawen - Du Jing/Yu Yang (50-50) No matter who wins, but maybe Du/Yu will prevail again. But maybe depends on Li Yongbo's decision XD Zheng Bo/Gao Ling - Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen (60-40) Zheng Bo/Gao Ling to win, no reason for them to lose Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir - Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms (50-50) This is 50-50 since English pair will ahve full support from the crowd. I hope they will win since will be more interesting for the final. Pleasure for home fans.
3 potential walkovers: Lin Dan [1] vs Bao Chunlai [3] -- no contest, Lin Dan to get a free ticket to the Final. Wei Yili/Zhang Yawen [1] vs Du Jing/Yu Yang [3] -- dunno who LYB will choose here...maybe Du/Yu again? Zheng Bo/Gao Ling [1] vs Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen [4] -- okay....enough say LYB...let Zheng/Gao take the limelight now.
Yes...i also feel like that......so typical Chn style now ...... and so predictable........and i think all of BC forumers here would feel the same way like us..............its seriiously sick........LYB..
jz like yesterday prediction,but the players turn different.. LCW will b on RTM for us to cheer for LIVE 2moro nite! sure! CTF/LWW face their 2nd tricky match of the tournament and i am looking forward to see them play! will b surprise if they really win this one ^^
dun worry.. i am sure tat 2moro MS Final will gonna be LCW vs CHN! for CTF/LWW,they need to play up to form is wanna win,heard from rexy tat their performance is jz ok,not tat good!
MEN'S SINGLES Chen Jin [4] vs Lee Chong Wei [2] -- on paper, Lee has an advantage, given recent wins over the Chinese player. I hope he can win the AE this year! MEN'S DOUBLES Lee Jae Jin/Hwang Ji Man vs Shuichi Sakamoto/Shintaro Ikeda -- nobody expects them to emerge from the top half of the draw. Lee/Hwang are on a roll, but, so are Sakamoto/Ikeda! The Korean pair has an edge. Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah [4] vs Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae [6] -- another thrilling contest is in store and I hope the Malaysian uncles can win the All-England title in their farewell season, after 2 near-misses. WOMEN'S SINGLES Hwang Hye Youn vs Tine Rasmussen -- Tine to take this one and hopefully win her third SS titles. Lu Lan [3] vs Xu Huaiwen [7] -- Xu to beat the last of the Chinese WS players. WOMEN'S DOUBLES Lee Kyung Won/Lee Hyo Jung [4] vs Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen [2] -- Yang/Zhang to finally lift an All-England title in their farewell season too. It will be good for the couple: Choong Tan Fook and Zhang Jiewen to end the season with style! MIXED DOUBLES Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms [8] vs Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir [2] -- MATCH OF THE DAY.....the home crowd will be cheering for Robertson/Emms and Nova/Butet will have to be at their best! 50-50 for this one and I hope Nova/Butet can repeat their victory over the English pair like the last time they met.
CTF/LWW can win if they keep their heads together & not putting unnecessary pressure on themselves. Just enjoy the game guys! Hopefully their last AE will bring sweet memories.
my preditions of winners since the the possibilities have been reduced, MS: LCW, based on current form, took TH down in STRAIGHT SETS!! WS: TR, Chinese slayer.. haha MD: CTF/LWW, if they can get this far, they can go all da way, good result in QF as well.. WD: ZJW/YW, cuz.... I LIKE ZJW!!! hahaha XD: quite even so far, but i think GL/ZB has da edge of bringing it homE!
Nova/Butet over Gail/NathanIt's a ENG/INA survival game Can we see better result in other disciplines other than XD for team ENG:crying:At least some positive progress in MD like team JPN and chinese Taipei Right, Mr. JamesD
I remember in 2006 the SF was also Lili-Nova vs. Nathan-Gail... the ENG pair won against the then 2005 World Champs... Now Lili-Nova are back again in Birmingham as the current 2007 World Champs...
I think Li Yongbo wants to give Bao and Chen Jin more confidence... he will let Lin Dan loose this time. LYB! ....enough said lah...
I got the feeling that japan will deliver more blows to the top players. though of course, i will be rooting for home boys LWW/CTF to get their AE before retiring.
Should be Xie/Zhang But, Guo/Xie will indeed be walk-overed next week....since they probably meet Fu/Cai in the second round of the Swiss Open The 2 Japanese pairs will also be meeting one another in the first round....good news for Kido/Hendra and esp Koo/Tan CHINA vs CHINA encounters next week: R32 XD Xu/Zhao vs Xie/Zhang R16 MS Lin Dan vs Chen Yu R16 MD Fu/Cai vs Guo/Xie QF XD Zheng/Gao vs He/Yu (I believe He/Yu will be given the ticket to SF since they really need points next week!) QF WD Gao/Zhao vs Du/Yu SF XD (if everything is smooth): Xie/Zhang vs He/Yu -- see above INA vs INA: R32 MD Kido/Hendra vs AG/Joko
hope all the mas shutller through to the next round..!! camon lee chong wei and choong/lee!!! MALAYSIA BOLEH!!!
