What a QFinals!! Let's hope the SFinals are as exciting (because I'm watching on tv).
MS
Lin Dan v Wong Choong Hann
Chen Hong v Lee Chong Wei
If Taufik were in, it would probably have been Lin v Taufik. As it is, he isn't, but in a tournament where he is the only notable absentee, the China v Malaysia SFinals do come as a surprise. Look who they had to beat to get to this point.
Lin Dan - Mehrabi, Oedum, Ghaffar and Lee HI (add Wong CH to the list, and it does seem kind of easy for him to get to an All-England final)
Wong - Jang, Chen Yu, Liao and Sato (on paper does not look that hard)
Chen - Lewis, Ohtsuka, Shon, Bao (had the hardest QFinal of the lot)
Lee - Moody, Kendrick, Kuan, Roslin (seems like having the easiest time)
It will be more exciting to see a China v Malaysia final, and since it will be hard for Wong, I will be rooting for Lee. I think he has a 50-50 chance, even though the head-to-head is 4-1 in Chen's favour (Chen won 2 out of 2 last year).
Prediction: Lin v Lee
WS
Zhang Ning v Eriko Hirose
Xie Xingfang v Mia Audina Tjiptawan
Xie is apparently at the top of her game, while we (those of us not watching live in Birmingham) don't know much of her own game Mia has discovered. Meanwhile, Eriko cannot be termed a giant-killer anymore because that would be implying she is not a giant. It may be early yet, but I think she is the next thing China has to worry about. She is the current thing Zhang has to worry about, and it takes something big to stop a big momentum.
Prediction: Zhang v Xie
MD
Ha Tae Kwon/Yim Bang Eun v Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun
Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen v Luluk Hadiyanto/Alven Yulianto
Denmark, China, Korea, Indonesia, each a piece. Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun looks most likely to advance.
Prediction: Fu/Cai v Luluk/Alven
WD
Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen v Gao Ling/Huang Sui
Wei Yili/Zhao Tingting v Saralee/Sathinee
The top 4 seeds.
Prediction: The top 2 seeds
XD
Thomas Laybourn/Kamilla Rytter v Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir
Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms v Sudket/Saralee
Only Saralee is involved in another match. Proves how much the XD is a specialised event. They are definitely going to put Robertson/Emms on the TV court, so we won't catch Thomas on TV, which is a shame because I have a feeling that it will be a very tight match.
Prediction: Widianto/Natsir v Robertson/Emms
All my predictions are chicken-out, going for the favourites (except possibly Lee CW who may be slight underdog). Going by the events so far this week, I hope half my predictions would be seriously challenged.
