The drawing has released by BWF through its web : www.internationalbadminton.org/draws.html With China prime shuttlers attendance automatically they dominate the top seeding position. And two INA doubles pairs have bad draw which will meet them at first round, MD -- Fernando Kurniawan/Lingga Lie vs Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng WD -- Lita/Nitya vs Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen So many participants will compete this GP Gold tourney where there's qualification round for all five disciplines.
I cannot comprehend LYB's policy of sending Lin Dan to Thailand Gold GP but not to Singapore SS and Indonesia SS... Good draw for Andre... Fair draw for Rian-Yoke and Fran-Rendra... Unfortunately, Fran-Shendy might have to meet Tantowi-Yulianti in the 2nd round...
Logging in from the CGK lounge...I think Rian/Yoke can progress to the QF, while Fran/Rendra should clear their first hurdle. Mel/Shendy will also meet Nathalia/Yulianti for the second consecutive week after the INA Open SS.
I hope the INA SS WD draw shall be re-drawn... because similar to the SGPR SS, there is only 4 WD seeds. According to the SS rule [not just based on the typical BWF rule], there has to be 8 seeds in a SS event category...
Let me help read LYB's mind. LD skipped SO and IO because he had to avoid playing LCW before OG08.LD cannot afford to lose to LCW again before OG08 because that may destroy LD's confidence.It's just to play safe. Team CHN need to have that winning feeling just before OG08 and TO is an easy way to do that plus earn cheap points.Besides, LD wants to check out BP since obviously BP will have to play his best in front of the home crowd.
Lin Dan is scheduled to appear and is the #1 seed. I certainly hope you're wrong, I'm very much looking forward to seeing him play in person. http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/seeds.aspx?id=22314
CHN is almost in full force Wow, CHN is almost in full force. Seeded entries MS 1[CHN] Dan LIN MD 1[CHN] Yun CAI [CHN] Haifeng FU 2[CHN] Zhendong GUO [CHN] Zhongbo XIE WS 1[CHN] Xingfang XIE 2[CHN] Lan LU WD 1[CHN] Wei YANG [CHN] Jiewen ZHANG 2[CHN] Jing DU [CHN] Yang (F) YU XD 1[CHN] Hanbin HE [CHN] Yang (F) YU 2[CHN] Zhongbo XIE [CHN] Yawen ZHANG
No sign of Koreans. Interesting strategy that they have employed in deciding to miss the SO, IO and TO as part of their OG preparations. Lots of training and secrecy I guess. As for LD, I think he will show up. For a watered down tournament like the TO (no offence), he doesn't need the protection of his "bodyguards". CHN has decided to send a small but potent squad to roll the opposition and gain confidence. Just look at the seedings as illustrated by Robin7's post (above). I guess this their way of sending a (very loud) message.
Anything but a clean sweep would be a failure for China's team. I think they're doing it just to prove that it IS possible to win all 5 golds at the olympic games. (kind of like a mental preparation, team spirit etc.) The flipside to that is, an early upset for LD or XXF would be quite damaging for their confidence.
That's definitely their intention and they're not disguising it in any way, shape or form. XXF seems a little vulnerable these days, so who knows...
Let me help you understand LYB's mind better... LD skipped SO and IO so he avoided beating LCW before OG08, so everybody still think LCW is the favorite, therefore all pressure is on LCW instead. Plus why would LYB want LD's opponent to know that LD is still the most dangerous player in the MS department right now, when at the moment everyone is targetting LCW? LD wants to check out BP? LOL... I hope you only meant "Boston Pizza"
Well, then i hope there's going to be upsets in early rounds to topple LD and XXF and other CHN teams.
coming from a very biased fan, I doubt your reading of LYB's mind is anything but off the mark. Your crystal ball is too clouded by your emotional jealousy. Since u talked only about LD, it doesn't explain why practically whole china team skipped SO and IO, and why nearly all china team members re-appeared in TO. LYB did this just for the benefit of LD???LOL, ur very biased indeed. After TC, china team start their serious training and fine tuning for the OG which just happen to coincide with SO and IO. The reappearance of china team in TO is to give the training a last test and exposure to real competition prior to the OG. CJ is absence to avoid any injury. Seasoned BCL, GL/ZB absence because it's their (last) turn to cramp for the final exam. All those that needed serious performance enhancement were absence in SO and IO. LYB isn't too concern about tomboy du/yu, that's why he let them play to earn some $ and experience. if u gonna slant someone, at least try to give a common sense logic into it.
Anything less than a clean sweep is a disaster for CHN team. I think LD and XXF playing in this tourney is to get the feel of playing the real matches. Perhaps polish up their newly-learned skills/weapons I doubt anyone can beat LD, not even the home-king Boonsak