here we go guys. the semi-final many BCers are waiting for. Japan vs. Indonesia - 2.30pm MS 1 Kenichi Tago vs Taufik Hidayat MD 1 Kenichi Hayakawa / Kenta Kazuno vs Markis Kido / Hendra Setiawan MS 2 Sho Sasaki vs Simon Santoso MD 2 Noriyasu Hirata/Hiroyuki Endo vs Nova Widianto / Alvent Yulianto Chandra MS 3 Shoji Sato vs Dyonisius Hayom Rumbaka China vs. Malaysia - 7.00pm
and hopefully they will have the China vs. Malaysia match in some reasonable time. i am too old to stay up till 4am... seriously, put it at 2pm local time, most people will be taking sick leave that day anyway.
haha this is early... OK then first of all congrats to the 4 semifinalists for making it this far, now to the business end... Malaysia, fighting chance, but must get 1st Singles and 1st Doubles, or else it's very dangerous... Hope to see Malaysia in the final.... Indonesia need to be wary of Japan, but I should see them in the final, only Tago has the capability to upset Taufik, but can he? the rest should be Indonesia's but need to be careful... so, a repeat of the 2000 final, also held here in the Putra Stadium? or will Malaysia make it this time?
Malaysia will need to rely heavily on their 1st 2 match to win, i guess. there is nothing impossible, but.. Malaysia need alot alot of luck to make it thru, it might turn out 0-3 if the players are not in form or IF China players not in form 3-0 win. Let's see who will get some solid pts before the match even started. Lee Chong Wei vs Lin Dan Koo/Tan vs Cai/Fu Wong Choong Hann vs Chen Jin or Bao Chunlai Hoon/Ong vs Guo/Xie Hafiz vs Bao Chunlai or Chen Long hmmm.. China is comfortable with 2pts in hand, while Malaysia will start with 0.
MAS needs lots of luck to pull this of, still favor CHN and it is CHN series to lose. Let's stay with your lineup. CHN has 1-0 cushion from MS2. LCW is playing his best baddy now, while LD is slowly coming back but below his OLY08 form, so 50/50 goes either way. LCW wins, then 1-1, but CHN still has hope and can continue play. If LCW lose, series over. KKK/TBH-FuCai 50/50 (KKK/TBH lose, series over), WCH-CJ No Hope (the goose is cooked), HongOng-GuoXie 50/50, HH-BCL 50/50 (i.e. only if HH yo-yo his best game, if HH yo-yo the wrong direction, forget it). I can't see CHN playing CL at this stage not that he is not good but BCL is more experienced and plays well in MAS.
On paper China is the overwhelming favorite to win the cup. Personally I think this is as far as Malaysia could go in the TC 2010. I hope otherwise but realistically we are just not there yet. Whats more important is that the whole world are given a chance to see the much anticipated match of the tournament in LD vs LCW. I hope it would go down as one of the best matches in history. Then arc-rival Cai/Fu takes on Koo/Tan will be interesting too. I rate it a 50-50 equal chance for both teams in the 1st and 2nd clashes. From then on, it will be down hill all the way for Malaysia. But, like i said before that TC is a unique event and anything could happen. If Malaysia can repeat the kind of performances againts Denmark, with those fighting spirits, never-say-die attitude and fight till the final point than we might stand a slight chance. Its worth supporting you. In scenario like this even if victory doesn't belong to us in the end, the players can walk with their heads held high knowing that all the supporters were behind them while they were battling on court. Lose or win is alright. All we want is quality badminton.
Very well said...a tiny opening for MAS and if both sides bring their A game, that would be great badminton.
its true.. msia depends heavily on the first two matches... its a 50-50 in the first two and the last three matches are 30-70
from the original draw, CHN v MAS is supposed to be the first semis to play at 12pm but i have a feeling that the organizers will swap the time-slot with JPN v INA. CHN v MAS most likely will play at 6pm when spectator participation is at its peak. (after office hours). the stadium will tremble on Friday night!
I predict this game could be 3-1 for china. Agree all up to the first ms and md. Koo/tan may steal one point. I doubt lcw can defeat ld.