Wow... I am really excited about China's chances now for the TC finals now. After "destroying" the Koreans 4-1 today, I believe China has a very good chance against Malaysia. Chinese singles have yet to lose a SINGLE match in this tournament and Li Yong Bo the "chemist" seemed to have experimented and found the correct doubles combination. I had a feeling Zhang/Chen were going to give the Korean doubles #2 a tough match, maybe even stretching them to 5, but who woulda thought they would win it in 4!!?? It would be interesting to see who Malaysia fields as their singles and if they will still split the doubles. Chína's doubles will most likely remain in the same combination as today but for their singles? Should Bao be fielded as 2nd and Lin 3rd? Or Lin as 2nd and Luo 3rd? The crucial match may be the second doubles match between Chen/Zhang vs ?/?. If they win it, China should come away with the win in the tie, if they lose both doubles, then their singles will have to get the job done again, and we all know these guys are capable of sweeping, as they have done it before Either way they go, the Chinese team will be a very impressive force to be reckoned with!! Good Luck China against Malaysia!
Hugo, excellent analysis again! Malaysia will be a tougher opponent for China than either Denmark and Korea. not only does Malaysia have strong doubles, they also have a even field of singles players. i believe China will be keeping the same doubles line up. suicide on 1st doubles, but fight for a chance in 2nd doubles. after the deciding match against the Koreans, ZhangW and ChenQQ will be in extra high spirit. their odds against the Malaysians will be high, esp when they are playing homeground, the crowd will be with them as well. media report seems to say that ZhangJ is injured. i wonder if that has contributed to the fact that he wasn't in the line up against Korea. as for singles, it will be a tough call. on the Malaysia side, WongCH is in good form. beating Marleve and Bonsaak in the group matches. as for the others, they all seem to have played quite solidly, and Indra has fielded all players at least once. he may pick the line up depending on their form. the most formidable line up, at least on paper, is going to be: Wong, Ong and then Roslin or LeeTS. on the Chinese side. Xia has only given up 1 game to Marleve throughout the 3 group matches he played. Luo hasn't lost a game out of 2 matches, Lin Dan lost only 1 game to PRasmussen out of 3 matches, and BaoCL hasn't dropped a game in his only match. they all seem to be in top form. it will be a tough call who to field against Malaysia. i think Xia shouldn't have too much of a problem against Wong. however, who should be on 2nd? Bao or Lin? both are youngsters and Ong is a seasoned veteran. same for 3rd. i think it will be ok to field anyone against LeeTS, but Roslin? Roslin seems to be out of form lately, but will be rise up to the occasion? Chen Hong has beaten Roslin before. but will it be too much of a risk field Chen Hong with his injury? the 3rd singles is such an important point if China were to lose both doubles. LYB will have to decide between fielding the young or the old timer. Luo seems to be quite consistent lately, perhaps that's what it will be, the same line up as against Korea: Xia, Lin and Luo.
I going for this line up: 1) Xia 2)Bao 3)Lin and the same doubles combo that beat Korea. The two Zhangs are less than 50:50 against Chan/Chew. It would be better to sacrifice the top pair and aim at the weaker doubles pair. I think Wong CH also has a good chance against Xia. Bao too fast for Ong Lin too fast for anybody!
From what has been shown ; China's bankers- Xia , Lin Dan Msia's bankers- Wong Ch , Chew/Chan, Hafiz. The rest equally erratic. Anyone of them loses it's curtains.Best to avoid each other if possible. Can assure you this will be rehearsal for next T cup final. It is possible that Ina may not even get to final.
I think China should have no problems with Malaysia, and will reach the final to face Indonesia. But I really worried about Indonesia because of their strong doubles even without Tony Gunawan. I don't think Marleve Mainaky has any chances against Xia Xuanze. But Taufik Hidayat is talented even though coming out from injury, and Hendrawan is always an experienced TC veteran. It's hard to predict the outcome of the 2nd and 3rd singles.
Hi there again and to Qidong, Contrary to your believes, I think China is not going to get an easy time against Malaysia. Wong Choon Hann is in top form now, and he respects whoever he plays against...that is the basis of a true player. If Choon Hann were to falter, what is to say that the other two singles will also fail? I agree that China has formidable singles, but in Thomas Cup, nothing is certain. Do not be so quick to look past the semi final stage, and do not discount the Danes as well. The danes came prepared...remember your ordeal against them earlier during the preliminaries? What I have said I will say again, yesterday, Malaysia showed respect to the Thais even though we were quite sure of winning the tie. That's why we prevailed the way we did...remember that the Thais are no pushover as well, they have some good players in their ranks which can be world beaters. Xia XuanZe is good...very good infact. But has he really been tested in this tournament? Kenneth Jonassen and Rasmus pushed him some, Lee Hyun Il was a bundle of nerves. As for Lin Dan, I think he is a great player and looks to be a certain point for China whoever he faces against Malaysia. The remaining singles is the most tricky, as both sides can choose the field a variety of players - either young or old. I would rate the Malaysian doubles to be slightly better than the Chinese, but again, anything can happen. Look at yesterdays 2nd doubles between Korea and China... China's great wall is crackable... but Malaysia should accord the Chinese with great respect, as befitting such a powerful team.
Was it you shouting " Wang Chen jia You' in the stadium in the UC semis? What do you think of Poul Erik Larsen's commentary?
Wong has a very poor record against Xia. I thought the better bet for 1st singles is Ong. Ong will have no chance in the 2nd singles against the speedy teenagers. Indra Gunawan should let Tsuen Seng or Hafiz to take care of Lin Dan or Bao Chunlai in 2nd singles. For the record, Tsuen Seng beat Chunlai enroute to the Dutch Open title last year. So, the best singles line up for Malaysia should be 1st singles: Ong Ewe Hock 2nd singles: Hafiz/Lee Tsuen Seng 3rd singles: Roslin Hashim
Sorry, i'm in HK. Could have been some friend's of mine though.... I'm at work so haven't been able to watch TV. Heard a bit of PEHL's commentary in the 1st ladies singles. It sounded pretty good - not emotional but analytical.
i agree with wl2172 here. China will have a tougher time against Malaysia then the other teams so far. both LYB and IndraG has put the chance of their own team at 50%. (very humbly, they must have learned a thing or two from the Korean coaches) tough call, tough call. as have been said, i wouldn't want to be the coach at this stage. any strategic mistakes will cost the whole tournament. on a related note, even LYB said that he was surprised to see that the Korean splited their doubles pairs. but all will unravel in hm... 15 hours' time. i hate this, as that's 4.30am for me! but i am so determine to wake up and follow the match this time. i failed to wake up early enough for the HK vs. China UC match. but then, the result was very much determined way before the match anyway...
sorry to Hk people but the China/Hk uber was over in 1.5 hrs. It was more of a training session for Zhou Mi etc. .At least HK reached semis.Very difficult to play Uber with just 4 players. Good future though. There's some cute stuff in Worldbadminton forum by a 'wise guy' kid belittling Chen Hong and the rowdy Msian kids.
LOL. Most of the guys at that forum just change their names over and over to further irritate the folks who want a meaningful discussion like me. Wise Guy's thrashing of Chen Hong was completely uncalled for. Chen cheered on the Chinese team as they played even though he wasn't one of the singles players. Also, in his supposed letter written on China Badminton, he expressed the idea that even though he is sad he did not get a chance to play, he understands the greater goal that must be achieved for the collective and that his role is only minute compared to the whole scheme of things. What a class guy!
Poul-Erik Høyer-Larsen Huh? Is Poul-Erik commenting the TC and UC? In English? For what channel? He is also a commentator for Danish TV2. He's done a good job there -- as you say, not emotional but analytical... rather European, but to the point. He certainly doesn't raise his voice!
Poul erik is English commentator for Starsports, Zhao Jian Hua mandarin. Among some interesting said by Poul Erik : 1) Correctly predicted thet choong/Lee will beat Chen/Zhang eventually just on skill/experience. 2) Correctly predicted that as Bao was leading 5-1 in decider, Hafiz would launch a comeback and overtake Bao. That's experience. 3) Made some useful comments on defensive positions and strokes in doubles play very much lacking in Dutch ladies and Chinese men's doubles.
