Hong Kong Open 2007 : Day 6 (Dec 1st) - semi finals

Cool ! One Court on semis day, unlike in WC07 ,which me & hauge eyes turning left & left when 2 courts were playing simultaneously

 

Don't forget, Luluk/Alvent was equally fiery today, an almost performance from them I personally think that Tony/Candra will be exhausted from the many smashings in their unbelievable match against Koo/Tan. Luluk/Alvent to win!

 

Have to agree... Seldom see Kwun make predictions, so he must have enough reasons -- and he actually saw those ppl play!

Btw, you said CY/FHF was not playing well, so that means JR/LP played worse?

 

Sorry kwun,but i think u made a mistake here..
Gao Ling/Zhao tingting vs Du jing/Yu yang..

Am i rite?

 

Mine were also about the same as u..just 1 difference.

Zhengbo/Gaoling VS Xie zhongbo/Zhang yawen.
Just got the feeling.Besides,it's gaoling!!Hehe..the smiling girl.My fave...Looking at her playing would make me laugh as well,since she'd smile even if she made a mistake.

 

Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili vs. Chien Yu Chin/Cheng Wen Hsing - Little bazooka and the big cannon will prevail. Won't be as easy as their other matches though.

Gao Ling / Zhao Tingting vs. Du Jing / Yu Yang - LYB will have ordered DJ/YY to let their seniors win since they need all the ranking/qualification points they can get.

Xie Xingfang vs. Lu Lan - Lu Lan has been in good form lately but XXF is still a step above as we saw in last week's semi.

Kenneth Jonassen vs. LCW -The Dane benefited from the draw to get this far and Lee will outclass him.

Markis Kido / Hendra Setiawan vs. Fu Haifeng / Cai Yun - 50:50 I think. FHF/CY seem to be regaining some of the form they had a few months ago where they were slaughtering all their opponents but Kido/Setiawan are best on Chinese ground and they've been playing extremely well. I give the slightest of edges to CHN since they are wanting revenge from last week.
starts at 6.30pm:

Zhu Lin vs. Jun Jae Youn - This will be a tough match for Zhu Lin if Jun is able to keep the rallies long since Zhu is prone to errors. Jun has also benefited from a good draw and a tired Zhang Ning to get this far and I don't think she is quite at the same level as the rest of the CHN women still.

Zheng Bo / Gao Ling vs. Xie Zhongbo / Zhang Yawen - eh...Too bad for the giant and the dwarf that they have to meet their stronger teammates. It could be an interesting match if the XZB/ZYW play very well but the smiling assassin won't want to lose another title in her almost perfect year, especially since she could very well get two from this tourney to finish off the year.

Flandi Limpele / Vita Marissa vs. Nova Widianto / Lilyana Natsir (again!!) - I honestly don't know about this one. Notet seem to be letting their relaxed attitude on court get to them and thus put them in danger of losing. But I think that they will prevail as they always seem to do.

Lin Dan vs. Chen Jin - CJ is playing awesomely but I think Super Dan is a league above him in every department and wants to face off against his nemesis LCW. There's a slight chance (if LYB would allow it) that CJ could win though given his form and confidence lately.

Tony Gunawan / Candra Wijaya vs. Luluk / Alven - They're ready to show these two who their daddy's are. Plain and simple.

 

today it'll be a farce or a real treat...... hopefully the latter since i was unable to attend last night's QF

 

Matches involving TEAM INA:

MEN'S DOUBLES
Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya vs Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto -- I beg to differ from most predictions here and I think Luluk/Alvent can beat Tony/Candra. The veteran pair would be feeling the after-effect of their exhausting match against Koo/Tan. Meanwhile, Luluk/Alvent was totally awesome in their victory over Logosz/Mateusiak. Luluk's serves also yielded the pair many many points over the past 2 days

Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan vs Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun (MATCH OF THE DAY) -- no doubt, the one to watch. I will be biting my nails most of the times Certainly, both pairs will want to win this one badly. Kido/Hendra have a good record in Hong Kong and China, but, I prefer to keep my expectation low. The Chinese pair still has an edge despite their relatively indifferent form lately.

MIXED DOUBLES
Flandy Limpele/Vita Marissa vs Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir -- a good match in store and I think Flandy/Vita is still better than Nova/Butet.

 

My prediction:

Luluk-Alven v Candra-Tony
The key here is how to contain Candra Wijaya do dat and Luven shall prevail...However Luluk is the weakest link out of the 4 players in this court so containing Candra is an impossible task as Tony would be there attacking Luluk

Cai-Fu v Kido-Hendra
The key to victory for the Indonesian is to upset the formation by pushing Fu Hai Feng at the back....Kido-Hendra won in China fairly cheaply saw them paly against the Danes in China....true that they won but they have no killer moves at all....weakest link here is Markis Kido so Cai-Fu would try their hardest to kill off Kido......Easy win for Cai-Fu......also HK crowd would be supporting Cai-Fu so Kido-Hendra will have no chance in the world....Prove me wrong guys

Flandy-Vita v Nova-Liliyana

 

I agree that Markis Kido is the weak link He still made many unforced errors today against Ohtsuka/Masuda However, Hendra Setiawan has already shown his maturity and leadership, with his placement shots and impressive netplay. He is the key man.

They showed that they have beaten Fu/Cai several times and its time for them to do it again tomorrow. The odds are still against them though and I am praying that they will prevail.

 

That is surely an understatement Did you watch the first set of the China Open SS Final match against Guo/Xie and the Chinese-Taipei Open Final against Paaske/Rasmussen?? Those were the best displays they put on this year Kido's smashes are still lethal and obviously, Hendra's impressive coverage of the net and placement did generate many "oohhss...and ahhhs".

Kido/Hendra have shown that they can up the tempo when they trailed (at least twice today) or in crucial moments (against Eriksen/Hansen in the third set last week). The fastbreaks will be needed tomorrow

 

Did CY/FHF ever beat MK/HS easily? Usually the Chinese pair is forced to play some fast drive game which is the strength of the Indonesian pair. This is even true in matches MK/HS lost, for example the recent China Masters MDF.

I think the Indonesian pair has slight edge. The key is HS. I think if both in top forms, HS controls the net area better than CY, thus FHF usually doesn't have much chance to smash.

Btw, both pairs won WC with major opponents eliminated by others. CY/FHF has difficulty with MK/HS and KKK/CCM, and MK/HS is afraid of KKK/TBH and is 50:50 against CY/FHF.

 

Indonesia players specially who played SF today and maybe final tomorrow will had to be careful watching their stamina.

2 weeks ago all of them play national matches, last week China Open minus Taufik Hidayat, this week Hong Kong Open and next week Sea Games. In Sea Games, most of them had to play for team event and then individual event.

What was PBSI thinking?

Not to mention after barely a week rest, most of them again had to play Super Series final.

Even malaysia smart enough to send their second tier players in Sea Games.

Come on, the most important thing right now is to prepared players well enough to peak at Olympic next year and not to made them too tired to play well next year at Beijing Olympic.

 

my predictions:

Zhang Yawen/Wei Yili vs. Chien Yu Chin/Cheng Wen Hsing

World number 1 too strong for the Taiwanese..two tight sets.

Gao Ling / Zhao Tingting vs. Du Jing / Yu Yang

Gao/Zhao need the points to qualify for olympics, so executive decision from LYB. It will either be a W/O, or two easy games so Gao doesn't get overstretched before playing XD in the afternoon & tomorrow's final.


Xie Xingfang vs. Lu Lan

XXF is still a level above everyone else in team China, including Zhang Ning who's getting old and tired. Three sets.


Kenneth Jonassen vs. LCW

KJ is playing well but LCW is a level above him, up there with LD. LCW to win in two sets.

Markis Kido / Hendra Setiawan vs. Fu Haifeng / Cai Yun

MK/HS have advantage in China and Hongkong. They've been playing well. FHF/CY on the other hand has struggled through most their matches so far, not to mention losing in the first round in CO. They also narrowly avoided another upset by the Malaysians in this tourney...MK/HS to take it in 2 games.

Zhu Lin vs. Jun Jae Youn

50-50 game. JJY is all fired up, and she'll have WMC and Tine Rasmussen in her mind.

Zheng Bo / Gao Ling vs. Xie Zhongbo / Zhang Yawen

Team China needs to stop INA from winning XD. GL/ZB is more reliable than XZB/ZYW against any INA pair, be it Nova/Lilyana or Flandy/Vita.

Flandi Limpele / Vita Marissa vs. Nova Widianto / Lilyana Natsir

50-50 match, but I would put my money on Nova/Lili. The momentum's on their side after winning CO.

Lin Dan vs. Chen Jin

LD all the way...and if the match was fixed, LD is also a safer bet against LCW in the finals.

Tony Gunawan / Candra Wijaya vs. Luluk / Alven

TG/CW has a mental advantage over Luluk/Alvent. TG/CW to win in 2 games.

 

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.

 

Markis and Hendra lack the art of killing if you watch their games in China open you don't see alot of smash winners.....say KKK-TBH and CY-FHF have the art of killing in them like killer instinct....I am getting worried tomorrow

 

bro. the most important is the result... win ... your killing machines even often lose lately ....

have you ever watched kido/hendra palying live in the stadium ?

i have... they're also a killing machine

 

badMania....a question to ask..

..IF, and that's IF, Markis & Hendra and Tony & Candra advance to the Finals,
which pair would you cheer for??...