Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili vs. Chien Yu Chin/Cheng Wen Hsing
As good as Chien/Cheng are, they've never really troubled top CHN pairs. At least MAS and KOR pairs have beaten their opponents.
Gao Ling / Zhao Tingting vs. Du Jing / Yu Yang
LYB already decided the outcome in favour of his best doubles player and her new partner. Well, at least Gao Ling is more photogenic on TV .......
Xie Xingfang vs. Lu Lan
XXF the only CHN WS player with consistency. Despite her failure against Wong Mew Choo last week, she's the best to take up the heavy armour to the final, in anticipation to a possible showdown against Jun Jae Youn. Another badminton "exhibition match" ......
Kenneth Jonassen vs.
LCW
LCW too good for Kenneth, very impressive against Gade yesterday and Chen Jin last week ......
Markis Kido / Hendra Setiawan vs. Fu Haifeng / Cai Yun
As per the tradition of MAS and INA pairs, Markis/Hendra have always had the skills advantage against Fu/Cai, more so with Hendra's great form and trick shots. The main thing here is to maintain composure and avoid what had happened at China Masters Final. Having said that, Fu/Cai get stronger as the tournament progresses .......
Zhu Lin vs.
Jun Jae Youn
As Apontoh mentioned, Jun will look for inspiration from Wong and Tine's famous Super Series victories. Like Tine, Jun has a better attack than Wong, though not quite the extreme stamina. Then again, Zhu Lin is probably the least fit team member among the top CHN WS squad.
Zheng Bo / Gao Ling vs. Xie Zhongbo / Zhang Yawen
Team China's XD no longer formidable after a string of defeats against SEA opposition from Indonesia and Thailand. Yet ZB/GL are better at mind games, LYB will pre-select the winners as usual.
Flandi Limpele / Vita Marissa vs. Nova Widianto / Lilyana Natsir
50-50 match, Flandy/Vita had the better of the exchanges although they lost the last encounter last week. Yet Nova/Lilyana have shown to be more aggressive recently, good wins against Thai, England and Danish opposition show their form. I have no preference, but whoever wins this match had better beat the Chinese to the title ......
Lin Dan vs. Chen Jin
LD all the way...and the match will definitely be fixed, no question ......
Tony Gunawan / Candra Wijaya vs. Luluk / Alven
The old warhorses have new belief. That makes them different from other aged warhorses (Choong/Lee, Lundgaard/Eriksen), including today's opponents.