I would expect.. ..a few more upsets today..Who will be the victims? we shall find out.. One thing to share, the A/C draft condition inside the venue seems to be similar to the condition during the 2005 WC in Anaheim..I haven't been inside Putra Stadium, but heard there have been very close calls, on certain courts, from the effect of the draft..
Well.. ..hopefully with the "big upset" today, the WC won't lose its luster for the rest of the week and hope we'll see more entertaining matches... Anyways, that's all from me for now---looking forward to finally meet all you M'sian as well as other BCers tomorrow or the next couple of days!!..
Flandy-Vita, Kido-Hendra, Candra-Tony, and Luluk-Alven will play and win on Thursday... They will celebrate INA's Independence day [August 17th] by playing Friday! Lili-Nova already got an injury walkover from Greysia-Rijal, so they will play Friday! Sony vs. LCW, tough for Sony... Simon vs. Gade, tough for Simon... Maria Kristin vs. Zhang Ning, tough for Maria... Joko-Hendra vs. Guo-Xie, tough for Joko-Hendra... Rani-Endang vs. Kumiko-Reiko chan, ...er ... I don't want to see INA and the Japanese cuties loose... but I have to say tougher for Rani-Endang...
Agree...on paper, all the above mentioned pairs SHOULD win and move on to the tougher phase of the tourney. A.G/Joko have a higher chance of winning than the other ones below. I would gladly take it if either Sony or Simon can win their match and for AG/Joko to complete INA's 4 MD representations in the QF.
The answer is YES if Anup can maintain his form. Even though I am sadden by Taufik lost but it's nice to know Anup played up to his capable level, now what he has to do is keep his consistency. I want Hafiz to win as Malaysian but Anup should advance to next round.
Previews for Team INA: Court 1 Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir -- as expected, a walkover...but no match tomorrow would be a worry for Nova/Butet's preparation, with either Han Sang Hoon/Hwang Yu Mi or Thomas Laybourn/Kamilla Rytter Juhl as likely opponents in the QF. 3rd match: Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan vs Tadashi Ohtsuka/Keita Masuda -- the first real opposition for Kido/Hendra after a practice today. They should win and progress to the QF. Court 2 4th match: Hendra A. Gunawan/Joko Riyadi vs Guo Zhendong/Xie Zhongbo -- the Chinese pair has improved a lot in the past few tourneys. Should be a cracking tie that can go to rubber-set. I hope AG/Joko prevails. 5th match: Simon Santoso vs Peter Gade -- a tough tie for Simon and it will be a bonus if he wins. Court 3 3rd match: Flandy Limpele/Vita Marissa vs Hendri Kurniawan Saputra/Li Yujia -- on paper, should be a straight-forward tie for Flandy/Vita. But, it could go to rubber-set too (just like today). 4th match: Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya vs Lee Jae Jin/Hwang Ji Man -- the pick of the round for tomorrow. Expect a thriller with Tony/Candra just having a slight edge, due to their experience. 6th match (second session starting at 6pm): Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto vs Shuichi Sakamoto/Shintaro Ikeda -- the second Japanese obstacle to clear for Luluk/Alvent and they should win. Court 4 2nd match: Maria Kristin Yulianti vs Zhang Ning -- Maria has done well to beat Julia Wong today, despite a set-down. She has fulfilled her seeding and I don't expect anything else from her. A win would be a miracle. 4th match: Rani Mundiasti/Endang Nursugianti vs Kumiko Ogura/Reiko Shiota -- ditto for Rani/Endang. 7th match (second session starting at 6pm) Sony Dwi Kuncoro vs Lee Chong Wei -- the MAS pair is in superb form and only Lin Dan can beat him here.
Before I wrote my prediction for tough matches in Round 3, a couple notes after Round 1 and 2 ends. (I saw some matches live from Indovision channel) Kudos for Firdasari. Tough luck to lost so close to Xu HW in 2 sets. She should win cause she attack more and just lost cause she made more unforced errors than XHW who play too much defense. Also kudos for Sonny who although play not his best but managed to claw out of danger in 3 sets against Anand from India. Xie ZB/ Guo ZD had improved a lot! I am suprised sawing how well they played when they beat Malaysia doublesLatif/Tazari in 2 easy sets. They had improved so much in net play. They did not rely so much on jumping smash anymore to gain points. Lin Dan very quick demolish Ng Wei with 21-8, 21-10. And Ng Wei is quite good MS. Looks like he determined to win this. Not like his usual self where he like to fooling around in earlier matches. Another major suprise is when Paske/Rasmussen lost to Russia MD Durkin/Nikolaenko. The Russia pair play a very solid games. Japan MD Othsuka/Masuda also improve a lot. I saw their games when win over Tan/Ong and Malaythong/Bach. Very good! Othsuka very fast in front of the net. Kido/Setiawan cannot underestimated this pair at all.
Prediction for tough matches in R16: MS: Anup VS Hafiz. Hafiz win in 2 sets with lots of fans supporter. Anup probably too happy after defeating Taufik and happy with R 16 results. Bao Chun Lai VS Lee Hyun Il Bao will win. Lee still a little bit rusted after a long holiday from badminton. Peter Gade Vs Simon Santoso Peter did not play his best when he win over Chan Ya Kit. If he play the same level when he meet Simon, he will lost in 3 sets. WS: Petya VS Lu Lan Petya is the most improve Europe non China WS this year. And Lu Lan kind of drop her level of play few tournaments. So it will be a hard fought 3 sets won for Lu Lan. MD: Kido/Setiawan Vs Masuda/Othsuka Indonesia pair cannot under estimated the much improved Japan pair. If they play their usual level, Indonesia pair will win in 2 closed sets. Gunawan/Riyadi VS Guo/Xie Indonesia pair kind of stuck their level of play in recent tournaments. So the China pair will win in 3 tough sets. Jung/Lee Vs Eriksen/Lungaard Hansen: Denmark pair really struggle this year. Korea pair will win at the end. WD: Kellog/ Emms VS Ha/Hwang. English ladies win in 2 tough sets. Zhang YW/Wei YL VS Lee KW/ Lee HJ: What a rotten draw! These pairs should meet at least in QF. A very long and grueling match and China pair will win after a hard long fight! XD: Nathan/Gail VS Lee HJ/Lee YD: Again, a very bad draw for both pairs. If Nathan can kept his unforced errors in balance, England pair will win in a thrilling 2 sets. Laybourn/Juhl VS Han SH/Hwang YM: Tough to choose between this 2 pairs. Both had 50:50 chance to advance. Probably the Danes will win in 3sets.
If by any fluke, that XXF does not win tomorrow... I will change my login name from bananaboy to bananakid... That's how much confidence I have in XXF winning against WMC tomorrow.
There must be someone who is going to record on court 1, two great matches.....Would die for to get these....yip pui yin vs zhu lin and palyama vs lin dan.....Please helpppppppppppppppppp
LD-Dicky Anup-Hashim Bao-LH Il Kenneth-Wacha Park-Yu Susilo-Jin Santoso-Gade Sony-LCW Think no upsets today
Agree with all your predictions except the ones above. My predictions for MS are totally opposite from yours.
With all the tough match ahead for this 3rd rounds. I fink INA will probably suffer a whitewashed today !
I think XXF will win.....as I do not want you to change from Bananaboy to Bananakid.... I will have more troubles to take care of you... ( kidding)