MEN'S SINGLES Chen Yu vs Taufik Hidayat (MATCH OF THE ROUND) -- Taufik is surrounded by Chinese players. The match is going to be a tricky one. If the real Taufik shows up, Chen Yu has no chance as he has lost quite a number of times to Taufik. I believe Taufik will win the title for Indonesia, given that he's nearly there. His only real nemesis will be Bao Chunlai. Bao Chunlai vs Qiu Yanbo -- the young Chinese player is quite "lucky" to have avoided Sony Dwi Kuncoro and now Lee Hyun Il. Bao will win this one. WOMEN'S SINGLES Jun Jae Yun vs Zhu Lin -- the Korean has done well to go all the way from qualifying round to the semi-final. However, the Chinese player has the edge. Pi Hongyan vs Lu Lan (MATCH OF THE ROUND) -- Lu Lan has defeated Xu Huaiwen in the quarter-final and will face another ex-Chinese. The youngster will prevail. MEN'S DOUBLES Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto vs Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya -- an Indonesian pair is going to be in the final and I would personally prefer Luluk/Alvent to be the one and win the title to end their title drought. However, Tony/Candra have been relatively untroubled so far and I have a feeling they will win the title (as I predicted earlier) Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae vs Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan (MATCH OF THE ROUND) -- I pick this as the match of the round because both pairs involve young pairs who are/will be the main force of their respective countries. Should be evenly matched, therefore, expect a thriller...and possibly 3 sets. I hope Markis/Hendra can win and make another all-Indonesian final. WOMEN'S DOUBLES Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen vs Zhang Dan/Zhao Tingting -- Yang/Zhang will win. Saralee Thoungthongkam/Sathinee Chankrachangwong vs Wei Yili/Zhang Yawen (MATCH OF THE ROUND) -- I would rate Wei/Zhang as China's no 3 pair and they have beaten the second seeded Lee/Lee in the quarter-final. They should be too strong for Saralee/Sathinee. MIXED DOUBLES Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir vs Lee Jae Jin/Lee Hyo Jung (MATCH OF THE ROUND) -- another thriller in store with both pairs evenly matched. Based on form, the Indonesian has a slight edge. Lee Hyo Jung has been rather erratic lately and the Indonesian pair should capitalize on this. Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam vs Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen -- again, an evenly balanced match and I hope the Thai pair could win.
MEN'S SINGLES China only send 4 players and had 3 players in SF. And they even had not sent LD and CH. Meanwhile we don't see any new faces in Indonesia players and we still had to count on Taufik in MS. Chen Yu vs Taufik Hidayat (MATCH OF THE ROUND) -- Taufik is not 100% fit from what I saw from his matches since day 1. It will be a close match cause Chen Yu already had high confidence by beating LCW in R16. Taufik will win. Bao Chunlai vs Qiu Yanbo -- No contest here, BCL will win. WOMEN'S SINGLES Sad that we didn't even had one WS in QF. Looking from China youngster strong performance, they will be hard to beat in the years to come. Jun Jae Yun vs Zhu Lin -- Zhu Lin will win. Pi Hongyan vs Lu Lan (MATCH OF THE ROUND) Lu Lan in 3 sets. MEN'S DOUBLES This is the only weaker point for China players in this tourney. But we had to remember that Cai/Fu didn't play here. Indonesia did pretty well in here. Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto vs Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya -- I pick Chandra/Tony will win cause Chandra already know all about Luluk/Alven strength and weakness point. Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae vs Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan (MATCH OF THE ROUND) This year, Jung/Lee rising very fast. So in a 3 setss match, they will win. WOMEN'S DOUBLES The real threat here for Chinese doubles is Lee/Lee. After Wei/Zhang beat them, the title is as good as for China players. Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen vs Zhang Dan/Zhao Tingting -- Yang/Zhang will win. Saralee Thoungthongkam/Sathinee Chankrachangwong vs Wei Yili/Zhang Yawen (MATCH OF THE ROUND) -- Wei/Zhang YW will win MIXED DOUBLES In XD, again we only rely on Nova/Lilyana. From 6 pairs in R16 we only had them go through QF and SF. Meanwhile again and again China new pairs show some promise by marching 3 pairs to QF from 3 pairs who enter this tourney. Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir vs Lee Jae Jin/Lee Hyo Jung (MATCH OF THE ROUND) -- Indonesia will win in 3 sets. Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam vs Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen Xie/Zhang will win.
Upcoming SF and looking ahead to the Finals.. Hmm, thanks for the update badMania, as i haven't been able to follow this IO as much as i want to.. Well, what else is new, Taufik is nearing the finish line...and as i "predicted" in my other post that he will go deep into this tourney and possibly win it all-hehehe...Too bad, the other half of my "prediction", Sony Kuncoro, was unexpectedly and suddenly withdrew at the last minute... On that note, IMO, if Taufik wins this yr's IO, i think this will be his last IO title before retiring, as he will be the only player with the most career IO victories, 6 overall(not sure abt the overall victories record, maybe someone else can confirm)...Eventhough he won't break Ardy Wiranata's overall winning streak of 5 straight IO title.. On the other draws, hmm, looks like TG/CW is on a clash course with looks like the new upcoming INA's MD pair in MK/HS, that should be quite a thriller.. And looks like the pair of INA's NW/LN will play another rematch with CHN's XZB/ZYW, that should be another classic.. As for WS and WD, hmm, what else is new folks..hehe
You have very good points, but ... Don't forget Chen Jin, he's probably the best among best! By the way, Chen Jin and Qiu YB, just claimed the China National Champion the week before last week.
I wanna make prediction for MD that Kido/Hendra will face Tony/Candra in the Final. The winner will be defending Kido/Hendra and there would make a perfect carrer of beating two MD pair legends for 2 years IO in a row.
putting aside the good theatrics, it would be quite sad if Tony/Candra won this year, it would show that Indonesia's current MDs are not up to standard of their predecessors..
Both badmania and hcpoirot predict Lu Lan will win against Pi Hongyan... But Hongyan played really better than on her previous game this year and i truly believe she has more than a chance to win. Of course this has nothing to do with the fact i'm french and PH our best chance to have results on international event...
Both badmania and hcpoirot predict Lu Lan will win against Pi Hongyan... But Hongyan played really better than on her previous game this year and i truly believe she has more than a chance to win. Of course this has nothing to do with the fact i'm french and PH our best chance to have results on international event...
I will not be too worried. In terms of skills, the young pairs should be more or less equal. They just need more match experience and learn to win without relying on 100% attack. Markis/Hendra are just 22 this year, plenty of time for them. I have always believed they are Indo's no 1 prospect. They have shown that they can beat the top doubles pair, but, consistency is one thing they need to build. The same happens to Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun in their first few years (2003-2004). Don't forget that Markis/Hendra only break into the first team last year. An England title should be 1-2 years away. The other young pair Hendra Gunawan/Joko Riyadi is also promising. Too bad, they lost in 2 close sets to Zheng Bo/Gong Weijie.
As i remember, Markis/Hendra beated Coon Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah in final..before that they beated Chandra/Sigit in Semifinal..
MS Match I stand to Taufik will win this match, because he has already back to normal even maybe not 100%. Yesterday, he played very good and the heap of experiences he has, I am preety sure He will beat Chen Yu. But it is going to be very excited and intense match, b cos China won't be defeated easily...
Sorry , you're right..But both matches were very hard game for them defeated experience and tough pair that time and it was a good started for new pair.. and no wonder they will be the next top pair in the few years ahead..And this time, I hope they can defend their title and make a history defeat Chandra/Tony...
They did the impossible. They beat Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen in the QF, Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah in the SF, and Candra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto in the Final. I watched the final and the young pair was simply full of energy...Candra/Sigit ran out of stamina and they were simply destroyed in the rubber set.
erm... i was wondering does anyone know... when is the men singles??? i am watchin the mixed double now.... is the men singles over????
