Any suggestions??? MS: SHON Wan Ho (he just discovered that he is capable to beat players like Lee Chong Wei and he doesn't have any pressure to fulfill high expectations) MD: HONG Wei & SHEN Ye MX, WS, WD...?
I suggest that all gold medals will go to the top 4 seeds in all 5 events, may be one at most will go to the 5-8th seeds group. Therefore, as far as I concern dark horses should be the ones that outside the top 8. Bearing that in mind, my choices of dark horses will be; MS - Taufik Hidayat (INA) WS - Cheng Shao Chieh (TPE) MD - Naoki Kawamae / Shoji Sato (JPN) or whoever they send XD - Chris Adcock / Imogen Bankier (GBR)
I would disagree with the MD pair. They are quite toothless against many top pairs. They should be replaced by Isara/Jongjit. Bear in another MD can also potentially cause upset that is Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach. God knows how they are getting on with their preparation. For MS, I will not put Taufik as a dark horse yet. Wait and check out his performance in Indonesian Open Premier. If there's no change or difference spotted in his performance, then Taufik will not really go far. My pick for MS: Kevin Cordon Marc Zwiebler Jan O Jorgensen WS: Caroline Marin Eriko Hirose ( I hope Japan drops Sayako Sato instead because she is really useless) Tai Tzu Ying Ratchanok Intanon WD: None XD: Anybody can be a dark horse..
I have to say the British pair could do well. They won against the #1 twice, and with a home crowd backing them, there's no telling what they could be capable of. That said, it's equally likely that they implode at the first hurdle I can't say the Taufik will make an impression though. His performances lately (or longer ) seem lacklustre. I can't see him picking up his game enough to win the tournament.
I think Carolina Marin is on the right track but I'm not quite sure whether she can surprise the Chinese invasion though. Aside from that, she may have a chance to surprise some others. And just for hoots, giggles and patriotism: Lianne Tan
Now that would be a surprise! Given that she shan't be participating ... Anyhoo, group stages are by design less likely for a dark horse to come through but this year's Champions League has luckily proven surprises are still possible .
@demolidor: Ah well, it was worth trying . It's all about pressure. The dark horses/underdogs may well surprise some headliners since they have less of a burden to carry. Expectations do strange things to people.
Wait and see Taufik's performance in Singapore and Indonesia before concluding he is a dark horse or not...if anyone can take him out easily, then he is just going to London to make up the numbers like how he screwed up in Wembley..
Apparently the BOC has nominated her after all even though not reaching the qualifying standards as set up by themselves
Haha I always laugh when people start talking about experience How many players have won (was 24 in the end?) matches in a row? Yeah, ok, so the olympics is different ... How many players have won the olympics before? Right; you guessed it. Everybody's inexperienced if you take it to the extreme. She's got form. She's got experience. She's got ability. I'm not saying that she will necessarily win, but she's not the porcelain vase some people are making her out to be.