The non-Chinese contingent will be feeling confident now that Xie Xingfang is confirmed not going to Seoul, while Zhu Lin will also be flying back home, leaving the vulnerable Zhang Ning and the shaky Lu Lan as the flag-bearers. Lu Lan will start off with a tough match against Yao Jie in R32, followed by Yao's teammate, Judith Meulendijks in R16. Wang Chen [5] will probably be waiting in the Quarter-Final. Even if she can progress to the Semi-Final, Wong Mew Choo [8] will likely be her opponent. Zhang Ning [2] faces an easier route with Petya Nedeltcheva in R32, and then either Salakjit Ponsana or Julia Wong in R16. Yip Pui Yin [8] or Zhou Mi will likely be her opponent in the QF and if she can beat all of them, a bunch of players like Xu Huaiwen, Pi Hongyan [4], Jun Jae Yun, Kanako Yonekura and Tine Rasmussen will await her in the Semi-Final.
LYB will not have it his way, not if the new BWF ruling of engaging neutral officials, ie from overseas, is implemented. LYB will also not be able to play his "round the clock and command game" because there is a limit to the number of participants from each country, maximum of three if all three is within world ranking 4. So Tine and WMC and Hirose and ...... still have a chance to get an Olympic medal .
This is very interesting observation as usually the non-Chinese contingents are the one to get "squeeze" and now the tide has changed. Even in MS with Lin Dan participating, the domination is not as severe as it once was when Chen Hong was still a major force in Team China, it will be interesting to see the outcome of Korea Open!
As far as the WS are concerned, I can't see some of vets of the circuit like Pi HY or Wang Chen making an impact, much less so Yao Jie or Xu HW. Obvious choices because of their recent performances include Tine and WMC. Someone like Yippy could have an impact but I don't see Eriko cutting it. Sorry INA or SIN fans, your girls are still a long ways off. My dark horse, and she has pedigree (pun intended), is Jun Jae Yun from Korea.
Nah...I am happy if Firda can pass the first round Luck is on her side apparently as Xie withdraws and so, I think she occupies Xie's place now on top of the draw Incidentally, her first match will be against the first qualifier. So, she has a chance of progressing to R16, probably facing Bae Youn Joo or Jeanine Cicognini
This 'non-Chinese contingent' thing has got me curious, since you're in HK, HK team is run independently from China team right? Do HK players regard themselves as 'non-Chinese contigent' (of course politically they are under China, sentiments are said to be different) ? i.e. part of the "rest of the world" vs great wall of China
I still believe Pi, Yippie and the bouncy Eriko can trouble the CHN, well perhaps every CHN player but XXF ....... Cannot get the image of Eriko bouncing on court out of my head for past few days. Jun can definitely trouble XXF. Wonder why she didn't participate in Malaysian Open. It seems that when Jun participates, Hwang Hye Youn doesn't and vice-versa.
Eriko is so small... therefore, bouncing on court is no problem . Hahaha...... That's because Eriko is so small... therefore, bouncing on court is no problem for her. .
