surely u know more detail about TH than me. but I never heard it before that OG 04 & WC 05 was his last participations. did he says it to the int'l media or just Ina's media? I thought TH says OG 08 was the last OG for him, but not OG 04.
Indra meant : Point no 2 ) Last participation refering to Asian Games 2006. 2006 last AG for Taufik. Taufik alread said he wanted to retire after OG 2008 to focus on family (correct me if I'm wrong Indra & Taufik-ist). Next AG is 2010, taufik would have retired, unless aft OG 2008 taufik change his mind. Point no 1) Underdog..... was refering to OG 2004, WC 2005. Taufik still young then. And therefore, AE 2008 could very well be Taufik's last AE, he will try his hardest to win.
this is taufik's last AE, possibly... chong wei wants to win it for the 1st time, before the olympics... if the draw permits, i think it could be a Taufik-Chong Wei final... then it will be very interesting for those reasons.... im hoping for it, no matter who wins! would be a nice final, end-to-end stuff, a close fought affair...
In this kind of sport, MS is always the most attention grabbed. Like tennis!!! I support TH for his last AE championship...hopefully all the way that he will go is smooth no hard opponent...I really want to see TH hold his first and last gold medal.... I believe everyone want to be a champion here but you know what.... TH really deserves it....How beautiful it is if he can be a champion here..... No doubt... it will be very hard.... I'm really curious how he prepares himself this month and will show us a surprise that we didn't see in the past year. MD : 4 highset world rank will be the big candidate... WD, MS : China will win it for sure (I've thought about tine rasmussen and korean WD) XD : China, INA (Big chances on INA)---> May be Korean pair can make it!!!!
I see this AE as one of the most open in years. With the ascendency of WS players from outside of CHN and the unbearable pressure put upon his players by LYB, we could see some major cracks in the Great Wall. MS: LD v the world. His supporting cast has faltered badly and won't be able to offer the protection he's used to. Watch for LCW, PG, KJ, LHI and TH to make some noise. If TH wins it, I'll eat my hat (I have many so I won't miss one ). Just want to see a final where the only projectile flying across the net is the shuttle. WS: The mystique and aura of the CHN women have been shattered with their recent inconsistent run. XXF starts as favourite but the HK threesome (ZM, WC and Yippy), Tine (DEN), Jun (KOR) and WMC (MAS) must surely test the creaking CHN team to the limit. MD: Open to any of the favourites. FHF/CY, MK/HS, KKK/TBH must start in pole position. Throw in vets Tony/Candra, the old men of DEN (2 pairs), Luluk & Alven and any KOR pair and you have a firecracker of a competition. Oddly enough, CY/FHF have done very well in the AE. They must like the Chinese food in the UK . WD: Must concede this one to CHN. The quality and quantity of their WD is overwhelming. Will also allow LYB to play "games". The question is who he selects to lift the crown. I would like to see Du/Yu beat the living daylights out of everyone, including their countrywomen. XD: Open season for any of the top pairs, and there are many. At home, NR/GM will be really tough. Any DEN pair will be competitive. The Koreans are resurgent but can they play without patriotic linesmen? That said, the usual suspects from CHN and INA should plough through. Wouldn't it be nice to see Sudket/Saralee wipe out a few of said pairs. Watch me change my mind in a couple of weeks before the competition starts...
Thoughts about AE MS: LD 50%, LCW 30%, TH 5%, LHI 5%, others share the remaining 10%. I stick to my theory about TH: if TH really cares about OG, he will treat 08 AE as part of his preparation for OG as he is simply not able to peak twice in 6 months. Therefore doesn't matter whether TH is able to recover to his 05 form or not, he will not win this AE. TH haters: please understand me correctly. I am not saying "TH will not try to do his best". XD: Limpele/Vita 30%, Nova/Natsir 15%, XZB/ZYW 10%, HHB/YY 10%, LYD/LHJ 10%, Sudket/Saralee 10%, others share the remaining 15%. Rumor has it (and actually you can tell from their on/off-court behaviors toward the end of last year) that there is some bad feeling between ZB and GL, therefore I do not include them. If they can settle that, they would have the same chance as Limpele/Vita and all percentage should be accordingly changed. MD: Kido/Setiawan 30%, FHF/CY 20%, Paaske/Rasmussen 15%, KKK/TBH 10%, CTF/LWW 5%, others share the remaining 20%. With his recent performance, Setiawan will dominate whoever dares to challenge him at the net, even KKK.
AE 2008, being competed in OG year, could bring us some surprises like MO & KO 2008. All players are working hard to gain as OG pts, esp those in the borderline of the cut off mark. So, winners could be surprise winners. A surprise winner would be interesting, I like pleasant surprises, no shocking surprises hopefully, Yonex will be angry if their product keeps getting thrown from one end to the other, he he.
It seems that the US welcomes changes, as a result of which Obama is still in the running, even against "very powerful" fellow Democrat Hilary! But for you Mr Madbad, it is unlikely that you can change much of your prediction. You almost covered everything and leave nothing to change!
Uncle Loh, sharp as always. I will whittle down my large list to a winner and dark horse prior to the AE. More fun picking the Dark Horse, me thinks.
nah, you're wrong, well in my case at least. i'm more interested in the results of the MD competition, i think the standard here is very even amongst the top few pairs in the world. for MS, i find it hard to see anyone stopping LD or LCW, providing they are not injured. TH is always a possibility, PG has been faltering lately (if i were to choose a candidate from DEN i'd pick KJ). BCL, CJ, CH and CY have been off the boil. LHI is a good shout, he's proven that he can do well even with unbiased judges (in the MO). anyone else is an unlikely outsider.
You are very observant Loh Yes, success ratio was 26/28. The KO SS was my first real PAW contest. When u pass me, maybe I'll follow your strategy
As always, INA's chances will come from either MD or XD, with a slim chance on MS. Curiously enough, Kido/Hendra fail to reach even QF in the past 2 AEs, while Nova/Butet also fail to reach the Finals, beaten twice in the SFs (to Laybourn/Rytter-Juhl and then Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms). I have a feeling Taufik might surprise us, but, Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei should be the obvious favorites, and throw in Lee Hyun Il and perhaps Peter Gade as dark-horses as well. The MDs should be a fight between Fu/Cai, Kido/Hendra, Koo/Tan and the veteran pairs of Tony/Candra, Paaske/Rasmussen or Choong/Lee. My hope is of course for Kido/Hendra (and Nova/Butet) to win the All-England this year to add to their World Championships crown last year!
We actually haven't seen Taufik in action for quite a while, unless Taufik trains extra hard else I don't see him making any impact in this tournament. We somehow still living in the past treasuring Tuafik victories and at some point it becomes "virtualization" that reality as his past achievement will not guarantee his future success(more like stock market ) Simply, we need to wake up Is quite obvious, Lin Dan is the one most probably will win, Chong Wei may come close but I don't see it happen if these 2 actually meet in the final. Now, we really need Li Mao to create upset
For men's singles, I want to see either LCW or TH to lift their first AE title. But based on the history, CHN has been doing well in AE. Watch out for LD and BCL. LHI and PG are also the title contenders. For men's doubles, KKK/TBH are having an uphill task to defend their title here. MK/HS and FHF/CY are the favorites. Don't forget the oldies like TG/CW, JE/MLH, LP/JR and CTF/LWW.
I am delighted to hear in the Press today that LCW wants to ensure that he will be in the AE Finals this year. It is about time that he exercises his right on this title. Misbun, the coach said LCW is now a more nature person to tackle the AE, so who am I to question that ?
