In general, tough draw for Team Pelatnas. XD No Zheng Bo/Gao Ling means that Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir and Flandy Limpele/Vita Marissa occupy the top two seeds. However, the draw is not kind as Nova/Butet will face Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam in the first round Flandy/Vita has a better draw and they face a tough test only in the QF, possibly against He Hanbin/Yu Yang. Meanwhile, Devin Lahardi/Lita Nurlita face a qualifier in their first SS match and should face Anthony Clark/Donna Kellogg in the second round. MD is also a tough one All the INA MD (including Pelatnas, Djarum and INA-born pairs ) are in the top half Gila man. The top seed Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan faces a tricky match against the Danish pair Simon Mollyhus/Anders Kristensen. If they win, they will should face Guo Zhendong/Xie Zhongbo next. Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto also has a tough match against the Hong-Kong pair Albertus Susanto Njoto/Yohan Wiratama Hadikusumo. If they win, they will face the Djarum pair of Rian Sukmawan/Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki. Rian/Yoke should beat a qualifier in the first round. It's likely that Kido/Hendra and either Luluk/Alvent or Rian/Yoke will meet one another for a place in the Semi-Final. The next quarter will see Hendra A. Gunawan/Joko Riyadi pitted against a European pair in Roman Spitko/Michael Fuchs. They always have problems beating Europeans If they win, they have the unenviable task of beating Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong. Meanwhile, Koo/Tan have to beat Hendri Kurniawan Saputra/Hendra Wijaya first. Remember that Hendri/Hendra beat Choong/Lee in the Japan Open SS If it goes according to seedings, then its likely that Kido/Hendra will face KKK/TBH again in the Semi-Final. But, anything can always happen Yet another atrocious draw for WD: Jo Novita/Greysia Polii vs Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen in the first round. The winner will face Vita Marissa/Lilyana Natsir in the second round. Also, Rani Mundiasti/Endang Nursugianti vs Gao Ling/Huang Sui....geez....they may as well withdraw As for WS, expect them to last till the second round only: Adriyanti Firdasari vs Kaori Mori -- might have a chance, but if she wins, she will face Zheng Ning. Maria Kristin Yulianti vs Yip Pui Yin -- not a good draw In the MS, it will be very good if INA were to have at least 1 in the QF. Sony Dwi Kuncoro has the kindest draw, facing Chan Yan Kit in the first round and possibly Park Sung Hwan for a place in the last 8 (and likely against Lee Chong Wei). Taufik Hidayat should beat Kendrick Lee in the first round but, Bao Chunlai should be awaiting them next. Simon Santoso also faces a tricky tie against Ng Wei, with the winner entertaining either Peter Gade of Wong Choong Hann next.
MD Choong/Lee are slated to meet their nemesis, Lundgaard/Eriksen if both pairs qualify for q-finals, the winner of which is expected to play Cai/Fu. A big problem for them, Lundgaard/Eriksen had always had the psychological advantage. On the other side of the draw, I don't expect Cai/Fu to have trouble disposing of the Koreans or Japanese. The draw is kinder for Koo/Tan, but even then, they have to be careful of the Danish threat. They should pass through the 1st 2 matches unscathed. But both Boe/Mogensen and Rasmussen/Paaske have caused MAS pairs a lot of grief. A bit of bad draw for top 2 INA pairs to possibly meet each other in q-finals, but on the other hand, if both make it, at least one INA representation is guaranteed for semis. XD It's Indonesia's for the taking, and in fact I would consider it a huge failure if they don't. Their strongest challenge will be the inconsistent English pairs (for Nova/Lilyana) and Denmark's Juhl/Laybourn and China's Xie/Zhang (for Flandy/Vita) WD Not so promising results and dropping out of top 8 rank has cost Wong/Chin dearly. Now they have to battle the World No 1. Too bad but life is tough. Coach Soon Kit will just have to deal with it. Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen are expected to battle Vita Marissa/Lilyana Natsir in 2nd round. A mouth watering clash which would indicate to us how far Indonesian WD is progressing against China's best pair. Frankly, I do not see any other credible threat to China other than this INA pair. Sure, TPE, KOR and JPN pairs have stretched or beaten some Chinese pairs, but only Vita/Lilyana ever won tournaments where all top Chinese pairs bar YW/ZJW were competing.
MS At the top half of the draw, Lin Dan is expected to play either Gade or WCH for a place in semis, which he should win comfortably. Although WCH did well in Macao, Gade has the advantage over him. Meanwhile, Chen Yu is expected to play Chen Hong or Roslin for the other place. My money is on Chen Hong (assuming no fishy walkovers). Mr Yo Yo Hafiz gets to keep his title with an expected 1st round exit. In the bottom half, LCW should meet Sony or Park for a semis slot, but has to be careful with Boonsak in round 2. I am confident that if he maintains his form, Taufik will pass the q-final stage and set up a grudge match against Chen Jin. Bao is vulnerable and could possibly be upstaged even in round 1. WS WMC has to play Jiang Yanjiao, which is not necessarily a bad thing, she had beaten Jiang before. But even if she wins, the World Champion (whom she had never beaten) will be waiting. WMC's style of play and footwork limitations are vulnerable against tall opponents. As usual, it looks like the HK brigade and Pi Hongyan will be the only ones capable of causing a ripple in Chinese ranks.
badMania, what's your assesment regarding the two other INA WD who are in the WDQ draw? Lita-Nitya [Q3] and Mel-Shendy [Q4]?
ha..ha high demands from the fans.. they want to see lcw vs sony rematch after wc 2007.. can lcw revenge on him ?
Wow, no more "kachang puteh" Really test start from round 1 on all events, the one and only "SEPER SERIES"!!!
Looking at the draw: The champions are as follows: MS: TH MD: MK/Hendra MXD= Vita/Flandy WD= Vita/Natsir... very obvious
