I will start with the draws involving the INA players. MS -- Simon Santoso is seeded 9/16 and he has a relatively smooth draw, with opening matches against a New Zealand player and possibly the Malaysian new kid on the block, Tan Chun Seang. He should overcome these players and meet Eric Pang or Kendrick Lee Yen Hui in the Round of 16. Technically speaking, Simon should be able to beat both players. If he can do that, he will enter the quarter-final and expected to meet Bao Chunlai. Bao himself has to first beat Kuan Beng Hong in the Round of 16. As for Taufik Hidayat, he has a pretty good draw also. He will play the seeded Shoji Sato in the first round and either Pei Wei Chung or Agus Hariyanto in the second round. Likewise, these players should be manageable. His nextl opponent in the Round of 16 should be Chen Jin. We have seen how Chen Jin can be beaten in the WC. Seriously, Taufik is still superior to Chen Jin if he is in top form. If Taufik can indeed overcome Chen Jin, he will face either Joachim Persson or Dicky Palyama in the quarter-final. Once again, these players are technically one class below him if he is in top form. Assuming he can negotiate all these hurdles, he will entertain either his nemesis Chen Hong or Boonsak Ponsana in the semi-final. In the MD, Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto have a smooth ride to the quarter-final, with matches against Zhang Wei/Sun Junjie and possibly a Russian pair. A match against Chan Chong Ming/Koo Kien Keat should await them in the quarter-final. Since Chan is still not in his top form, I am hopeful that Luluk/Alvent can beat the Malaysians and progress to the semi-final where Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun once again is the possible opponent. Christian Hadinata has warned them that this tournament will be their test, so, let's see if they can deliver the goods. Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan are again faced with a rocky path. They will start against the newly formed Zheng Bo/Guo Zhendong. Zheng Bo is a good doubles player and they will have a hard time! If they can overcome the first test, they should face an easier task in Fang Chieh Min/Lee Sheng Mu. Once again, for the third time in a row, Kido/Hendra will face Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah if they can progress to the quarter-final. They should have gained confidence after their earlier victories! Looking at the draws, it's unlikely that Team Indonesia can get any semi-final spot. I should go to Guangzhou on Saturday night and expect to watch the final with my Chinese friend (with a free journalist pass thrown in ).
Should be an interesting match assuming both progress to this point - I don't think they have played eachother before.
Draw Badmania has refered to can be found at :- http://www.internationalbadminton.org/draws.asp There may be changes / redraw to it, happens all the time with IBF/BWF events. The most interesting stuff i noticed after a glance (MS category) at it are :- 1) The low number of entrants (Only 4 players in Qualifying draw) 2) The low number of local players competing 3) 6 Nigerians ! in MS category 4) A brazilian is competing! 5) A player from Laos! 6) Macau & Russia has entered as well. not so big news tho. Cheers TBBMBB(N)
Ina players will take a sweet revenge against Chinese players before their home spectactors..... SImon and Taufik have "new" ammunition stop all Chinese players. Chen Jin will be the first victim
Hmmmm. I think Sato has had a victory over Tsufik lately. Notable Absentee (MS Category) - Korean Players (Lee HI, Park SH, etc) - Only Joachim present from Denmark - Indian Players seem to have opted out of this one - Germans too
My goodness, there are 4 top CHN's player from top seeding to 4th. With LD-CJ-BCL-CH really big challenge for TH in this year CnO. 2 thumb-up if TH can win the title here meanwhile LCW and other top-shuttlers so smart to skip CnO which ultimately is 'CHN-own'. Best hope for INA depend on XD. One TH waited by 3 Chinese giant. Come on, make it possible to beat all of them!
Still too early to dream........just hope TH will revenge over Sato Shoji defeat in Thomas Cup earlier.....then only dream................ .......
