KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 (Bernama) -- All the top stars in the world are expected to feature in the US$200,000 (RM760,000) season opening Malaysian Open to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association stadium from Jan 16-21. Reigning world champion and world number one Lin Dan from China heads the cast with a number of prolific Chinese players among the "Chinese Army" that includes Bao Chunlai, Chen Hong, Chen Jin and Chen Yu. Also on the list are Indonesia's Asian Games champion Taufik Hidayat, the in-form Danish star Peter Gade-Christensen and his fellow countryman Kenneth Jonassen, to provide the European challenge. South Korean Lee Hyun-il who dashed Lee Chong Wei's hopes at the Doha Asian Games and Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana cap the star-studded line up. Chong Wei, who will be defending his title after winning it for three consecutive years, will certainly look forward to a erase the disappointments of 2006 when he takes on the challengers from abroad. The Malaysian Number One had a lean year after failing to get past the quarter-final stage at the World Championships in Madrid and the semi-finals of the Asian Games. The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) general manager Kenny Goh said that the Malaysian Open, which is also the season opener for this year's Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super Series, also coincides with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the tournament that began in 1937. "We are looking forward to Chong Wei winning the Malaysian Open title for the fourth consecutive time this year," he said when contacted by Bernama here Thursday. Since the inception of the tournament only three players -- Wong Peng Soon, Rashid Sidek and Chong Wei -- have won the title for three consecutive years. In fact, Peng Soon holds the record for winning it five consecutive times. "Since the new BWF format will separate only the top two seeds in the 32-player draw, some of the first round matches are expected to be very exciting and could go down the wire," said Kenny. There will be a total of 270 players from 28 countries for this Open. The winner of the men's singles title stands to win US$16,000 (RM60,800) while the women's singles champion takes home US$13,800 (RM52,440) By V. Sankara -- BERNAMA
TH Vs LD first Final for 2007 ??? Might be another TH Vs LD Final. But with loyal home ground support, watch out for LCW !!! Cheers... chris@ccc
Malaysia Open @KL 2007 Greetings, Lee Chong Wei may have to overcome a tough opponent as early as the second round. And this is how the New Straits Times sees it. Cheers... chris@ccc ====== start article ====== New Straits Times 06 Jan 2007 K.M. Boopathy Badminton: Chong Wei's biggest home challenge LOCALLY, irrespective of where he has been playing, Lee Chong Wei has been invincible. But come Jan 16, Chong Wei’s invincibility will face a stern test as a world class field, led by China’s world champion Lin Dan and reigning Olympic and Asian Games champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, head to the Kuala Lumpur BA (KLBA) Stadium for the Malaysia Open. The Malaysia Open, by virtue of its Super Series tag — which means a minimum total prize money of US$200,000 (RM702,269) with the men’s singles champion guaranteed US$16,000 (RM56,180) — has also attracted big names like Bao Chunlai, Chen Jin, Chen Yu, Chen Hong (all China), Lee Hyun Il (South Korea) and Denmark’s Peter Gade Christensen. And with Chong Wei’s recent performances hardly convincing, it makes his task of seeking to win his fourth consecutive Malaysia Open title even more daunting. Chong Wei has an impressive record at home with just two defeats in international tournaments since 2004. The only players to have denied Chong Wei victory at home are Lin Dan and Taufik. Lin Dan, in particular, will be thirsting for blood after having lost the last two Malaysia Open finals to Chong Wei. The Chinese World No 1 may still be ruing his luck after letting slip a 12-20 lead in the game in the 2006 final in Kuching to allow Chong Wei to snatch a thrilling 21-18, 18-21, 23-21 win. Chen Hong was the last foreign player to have won the men’s singles in 2003 when he beat Chong Wei but the former is unlikely to repeat the feat but one of his compatriots may deny the Malaysian. Under the new format, 32 players will compete in the main draw and this means Chong Wei may have to overcome a tough opponent as early as the second round. Although Chong Wei will also have Hafiz Hashim, Wong Choong Hann, Kuan Beng Hong, Roslin Hashim, Yeoh Kay Bin and club players Lee Tsuen Seng and Sairul Amar Ayub shouldering the Malaysian challenge, they are not expected to make a big impact. Malaysia’s chances of retaining the men’s doubles crown do not look all that bright as former Olympic champions Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan, the Indonesia-United States combination, are the pair to beat. Candra-Tony played in four tournaments since last year, and have won three — Indonesia, Korea and Japan Opens — and were quarter-finalists at the Hong Kong Open and it will be an uphill task to stop them. Malaysia’s best bets are Asian Games gold medallists Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong but their journey will be treacherous as they must play in the qualifying rounds first. They are expected to make the main draw and it will be interesting if they play Candra-Tony as the Indonesians beat Kien Keat-Boon Heong to clinch the Japan Open crown last year. Veterans Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah will be the joint third seeds while Lin Woon Fui-Fairuzizuan Tazari are expected to be seeded joint fifth but it doesn’t guarantee them a place in the last eight if they don’t improve on their current shaky performance. The other top pairs who will be competing in the Malaysia Open are world champions Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun of China and their compatriots Guo Zhendong-Xie Zhongbo, South Koreans Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae and Indonesians Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan and Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto. The national shuttlers have not won an international grand prix title since the Malaysia Open victories by Chong Wei and doubles pair Kien Keat-Chan Chong Ming last year. And what better way to end the barren run than the Malaysia Open. ====== end article ======
Taufik and Lee Chong Wei has to get by Bao, 3 Chens, then Lin Dan in order to win. That is a pretty tough Great Wall to climb....
Don't forget.. ..i don't know how healthy/rested or in shape they are, but don't forget the Danish(well, 2 of their top MS competed just last week in the CM) & Korean shuttlers...As far as we know Taufik plans to only compete in the MO, so we'll see how he channels his energy and effort in the SS' opening tourney..
It will be interesting to see if China will show their dominance by winning all 5 catagories in the first super series tournament. LYB will expect nothing less.
Yes, the CHN team could possibly sweep all 5 events.. ..no doubt LYB will expect nothing less..And yes, i know they have the stamina and fitness to go full speed again this yr..But personally, please correct me if i'm wrong, i don't recall them sweeping all 5 events in winning a "major" tourney, at least last yr...Because personally, trying to win 3 out 5 events is difficult esp. doing them consistently. Let alone trying to sweep every single events in a tourney. Then if all players go *all out* in the 1st tourney, will they have enough gas left for the following tourney(most likely the following week). If i'm LYB, at least for this yr, i will humbly tell my "top" charges to do well on the SS events, but to concentrate/focus more on the important/tourneys(ie. AE, Sudirman Cup, WC & the SS GP Finale). I would let my "junior" players test the battlefield more(get them exposed) in the other SS tourneys(not to say the top players should just relax). After all, those "juniors" will be the ones that most likely be on the forefront come next yr(2008).
Malaysia Open @KL 2007: LYB to be cautioned ??? Greetings, LYB is to be cautioned at the Malaysia Open @KL 2007...... if he misbehaves. Is LYB is making Badminton more interesting ??? Here is an article about LYB making gestures to the Indonesian fans after China’s first doubles pair Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun were beaten by Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan to tie the semi-final 1-1. Cheers... chris@ccc ====== start article ====== New Straits Times Badminton: Yongbo to be cautioned for inciting Indon fans Yongbo was engaged in a verbal confrontation as well as making gestures to the Indonesians after China’s first doubles pair Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun were beaten by Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan to tie the semi-final 1-1. China went on to win the tie 3-1 but Yongbo’s actions were against BWF’s code of conduct as players and officials are not allowed to confront fans. BWF deputy president Datuk Punch Gunalan said he was not aware of the incident but action will be taken if Yongbo is found guilty. "I was not aware of the incident and I will speak to Yongbo during the Malaysia Open to get his side of the story," said Gunalan. "BWF does not condone behaviour which jeopardises its image and we will make sure that such incidents don’t take place. Indonesia did not make an official protest on the incident but we will look into the matter." ====== end article ======
I'm sure if the Indo fans were swearing or saying bad words or threatening LYB personally, the tournament official or security should step in before LYB has to reply to the fan's. If I were LYB, I'd turn around and give them a piece of my mind too. I'm sure there is fault at both ends of the confrontation....remember, it takes two to start a argument. Tournament officials should post security guards next to LYB.
Indonesian crowd Oh, I hope Li Yongbo will say something to the Indonesian crowd. That will make the crowd even more alive! With all the top stars coming, I think that the round of 16 and the quarterfinals will be fantastic! Taufik will win MS. Tony-Chandra will win MD. Not sure about Lili-Nova... But they will put up a good fight.
great news for indo mania.... tony/chandra will play for indonesia in sudirman cup 07, as it confirm by Sutiyoso. So it's written in www.bulutangkis.com yesterday (sunday). About contract tony with USA till 2010 has already been clear as PBSI will pay everything for tony. all of the cost will be paid by Sutiyoso him self wich i supposed will be collected from "Jakarta APBD" Hmmm.... will it be a pimp up for INA MD ? it could also be nice combi if tony play XD as well.... as he is good player on both category
As mentioned in this thread also.. http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=494101#post494101
wat the hell happened to sigit? havnt heard of him in a long long time. i dont follow badminton much, but i jus wanna know.. i got no clue so anyone fill me in please?
Off topic-What happened to Sigit..& promise you won't get confused.. ..actually his departure hasn't been long, so you didn't miss much..Anyways, i scoured BC to find some news on him and only found these 2 threads : http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30900 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36834 In a brief recap, after last yr's Thomas Cup, Candra retired from PBSI(and has been partnering with Tony G.) and Sigit was partnered with Flandy in summer of last yr(Flandy also split from Eng Hian, who retired late 2005/early 2006 but has been partnering with Rian Sukmawan to play independently as a pair). However, Sigit's experimental partnership with Flandy ended just a few months after it started(don't think they even competed in any tourney(s)??). As of right now, the only remaining player(and still competing) from their eras is Flandy(has been playing XD with Vita Marissa)... Confused??
