In Men's singles, China players take the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th in the ranking. Sounds very strong, but in fact, this coming Singapore open and Indo Open are the best chances to beat them. Traditionally, at Singapore open and Indo Open, China players did not perform as good as in other tournaments. The weather over there is very hot, and humid, which also changes the speed of the shuttlecock a lot. Crazy fans, even referees and umpires are problems also. This time, things got worse for China players, none of them is in a good form, or even a normal form. The World number 6 Chen Yu is suffering from injuries, His form is so bad that he even quit the Asian tournament last week. The World number 4 Chen Hong is out of the national team, and manage himself without logistic support. His training is not back to normal either. The World number 3 Chen Jin hurt his foot during a football match. During the low level city games in China last week, he won only 1 match and lost 2 matches against local players. The World number 2 Bao Chunlai sounds like totally collapsed. Even the weakest China player Chen Yu claimed that there was so boring to play with Bao during the training because Bao's level is plummeting. Chen Yu even cannot warm him up to beat Bao. The World number 1 Lin Dan is still suffering the injuries he got in Swiss open. The worst thing is that Lin now claimed that he's not interested in winning tournaments any more. When reporters asked him about his chance in the quarter-final against Lee CW, he answered "win or lose does not make any difference, if I win, can I guarentteed Olympics gold?" What a weird answer. He said he's thinking about quitting some super series, because he claimed his job is to win the Olympics gold not the Singapore opens or Indo opens, no matter how many titles he got in tournaments, will not help him to win the Olympics gold. Sounds Lin's mind is twisted now. I think Indo trios Taufik, Song and Simon will make some big noises this time. They are at least the most experienced in playing shuttlecock in those hot and humid environment.
IO will be very difficult for non-indonesians, just because of the support and atmosphere in the stadium from the fans. also, TH seems to be invincible there, so it's hard to see him not winning again if he's fit.
I have advice to LD....Get married to XXF...have a 1 month honeymoon....and come back to Badminton....
Good advice for all other players except LD. He will get his whole body tired faster than boiling an egg. Don't listen to Indra otherwise you will be very sorry!
It's time for LD to enjoy life and relax a bit....he has been number 1 for almost 3 years....a 1 month honeymoon will certainly energize both LD and XXF ....and of course Badminton will be much more interesting by then... We will have a more interesting rivalry; energized TH vs energized LD
actually you're right for Lin Dan to have a break. he is so far a head in points it requires Bao Chunlai, at second, to win at least two Super Sereis, plus another tournament to get level with Lin Dan, so Lin Dan is safe in terms of Olympics and World Champ qualifications, i think it is right he has a break.
Wish your prediction comes true, the unfit condition of CHN players will be good prospect for INA MS in next 2 South-East Asia Super Series! About the weather in Jakarta is still comfortable (not very hot) until May as predicted by INA's BMG (Meteorological and Geophysics Agency).
I am beginning to think you are plotting for TH. But let me dampen your spirit a bit by saying TH don't normally win 2 in a row !
Maybe Lin Dan is thinking of getting married...... so he's not interested of winning..... But then, he sounds really sarcastic.
Yeah I agree. For some reason, Chinese players weren't performing or even attending this tournaments in the past few years. This year, they have a strong line-up but we shall see how they will do with the players that usually do well such as Peter Gade, Taufik Hidayat, and Kenneth Jonassen. Actually I think Chen Hong also does well in the past at this tournament, claiming one title and making it to the finals and semifinals in other years.
I remember Chen Hong won back 2 back Singapore opens before. So he must have won at least twice, right?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Open_(badminton) You are correct Chen Hong won it twice, back to back, in 2002 & 2003. He also made it to the finals but was defeated by Taufik Hidayat in 2005, who was also the winner of the title back in 2001. I thought Peter Gade won the title twice but it is only Chen Hong, Taufik Hidayat, Arbi Heryanto, and Bambang Suprianto who won it twice. Both Gade (2006) & Jonassen (2004) only won it once. NOTE: Off topic here but isn't it incorrect that the Singapore Open Men's Doubles of 2000 were Lee Yongbo & Tian Bingyi? Didn't Li Yongbo & Tian Bingyi retired back in 1994 or 1995? I think this is a mistake and it is probably Lee Dong Soo & Yoo Yung Sung.
Wow, exactly like what I predicted, China team is not invincible any more. It is the best chance to defeat them. Singapore open is singular, it is the Waterloo for the big names. Zheng Bo/Gao Ling never lost before, has won all the titles. Now they lost in this singular Singapore open. Singapore Open buried their amazing 100% winning record. KKK/TBH won almost all titles except lost only twice in the final before, but Singapore even refused them in the first round. Lin Dan has been phenomenon with 10 titles in a year! but no hope in Singapore.
wow, lin dan is slowly acquiring Taufik hidayat's attitude towards winning....yes, it is all about winning the big things now. lets see if he really can handle the pressure in beijing...the waist injury was indeed something!!!!
china never was invincible. they've been defeated many times, but they are the most consistent and with the most depth in players. don't always look at china for the wins, but they are the most likely, just not invincible.
Wow, who had imagined that it was Boonsak who took this advantage to grab the singular Singapore title. Great job! Hard to believe that China players have enough time to regroup in the coming Indon open, let us see how far Boonsak can go in the Indon open. Good luck.
Actually Indonesia Open is the worst for China. for more than 25 years, non of the chinese MS players managed to grap a title. The last MS won by china in Indonesia Open was 1989 by XiongGuoBao (if i am not mistaken).
I think China team won 3 titles last year at Indonesia open, right? Not bad at all for China team. But Year 2007 is the first time in history that China sends all top players to Indonesia open. Taufik did won many times before, but very few competitions. If Taufik can win this year Indonesia open, he will be a real champion. Although I still think Taufik has quite a chance to win, Boonsak and Lin Dan should be in better form than Taufik.
