Looking at the MS draw, this year's edition could be as exciting provided that it is a fair competition played in a neutral ideal environment (i.e. no bombs threat, fans well behave, no dubious line calls, etc. ) Quarter 1 - Chen Hong has Dicky Palyama for his 1st round warm up session. 2nd round should be a breeze before playing Roslin Hashim in the last 16. - Sixth seed, Ronald Susilo has another chance to cross sword with Chen Hong in last 8. But first, he need to overcome Malaysian national team discard Ismail Saman in Round 1, followed by a possible last 16 showdown with All England champion, Hafiz Hashim. Quarter 2 - Host favourite, Sony Dwi Kuncoro has a clear path to last 16, where he's likely to play Lee HI. Very slim chance for the top Korean, especially since he'll be playing in Indonesia!! - Other seeds, no 7 - Ng Wei and no 15 - Boonsak Polsana, will have a tough time living up to their seedings. They have dangerous players like Sairul Amar Ayob, Ong EH, Yong HK and Rony Agustinus for company in early rounds. Host player is the favourite to advance to last 8. Rony to play Ong EH in round 1. Quarter 3 Killer quarter!! Exciting matches lined-up are: - Lin Dan vs Budi Santoso in Round 2 - Marleve Mainaky vs Shon SM also in Round 2 My bets are Marleve will play Budi in Round 3 - Wong CH vs Chen Yu in Round 2. Winner to play Joppien Bjoern in last 16. Quarter 4 - Bao CL is set to play Taufik in last 16. However, Bao should find it difficult to repeat his victory of Taufik during WC. Definitely not this time (in Indonesia)! - Xia XZ will meet Lee TS in Round 2. However, Xia could withdraw if he does not recover from his injury in time. Winner will play former Indonesian, Agus Hariyanto. Only Chen Hong has the best chance among non-Indonesian to qualify for last 4. My expected semis line-up: Chen Hong vs Sony Dwi Kuncoro Marleve Mainaky/Budi Santoso vs Taufik Hidayat
Very thorough analysis. I agree with you mostly, but I have to tell something different from the angle I am viewing the draw. I think it is a tough draw for Chen Hong, from the round 0 to the end. Dicky Palyama is a giant killer. He has experience to show the exit to hot players. He may do it again as he did before for Taufik, Lee TS... If Chen Hong survives, then Mahardi Wiempie or PUTRA Ardinasyah are waiting for him. Mahardi Wiempie's name got remembered from Singapore Open while PUTRA Ardinasyah's just crowned Indonesia Open Junior Title. PUTRA Ardinasyah has some kind of big advantages over many native shuttlers. If Chen Hong is still there, then Roslin, then Hafiz (more chance than Susilo IMHO), who is still holding better head 2 head record against Chen Hong. It is difficult to beat brothers together! It is difficult for Lee HI to pass Lee Choong Wei again. YEOH Kay Bin could stop Lee HI at the first round too. Lee HI gets a hard draw too this time. Sony needs to overcome Gopi, and it should not be that difficult for Sony at INA open. No way for Joppien Bjoern ! (sorry for the strong words). Either Chua James or Wu Yunyong will play the winner between Wong CH and Chen Yu. My final 4: Chen Hong Sony Lin Dan Bao By reviewing the results from WC, Mas/China friendly, and Singapore Open, the Chinese are hot! It is difficult for them to lose one watch. There overall head to head: 35:1 Think about it! 35 wins with only 1 loss. And the loss was Chen Hong vs Shon at WC. That loss was also an accident, not a convincing one.
I see.... there is Wiempie or Ardinasyah in Chen Hong's quarter as potential qualifiers. I've ignored that earlier. In that case, all Indonesian semis is not impossible.
Yeah, the possibility is always theoretically there, but the question is how much? Remember last year INA open, who were the final 4? They were Taufik, Chen Hong, Bao, and Rony
Ok, ok... IMO, the chances are at least 50%. But one thing we have to acknowledge is Taufik Hidayat's invincibility in Indonesia. He's the defending champion beating Chen Hong, and if I'm not wrong, "helped" by the linesmen to knock out Ong EH in year 2000. The 2001 edition was won by Marleve beating Lee TS. So, Indonesian victory is almost a sure thing.
Last year INA open quarter finalist Taufiq Hidayat just lost in this year's ina open in the round of 1/1024.
Round of 1/1024? Is that the preliminary round...by the way if i'm not wrong, this should be Taufiq Akbaq Hidayat, not the actual Taufik Hidayat that we have known...there are 2 taufiks in indonesia anyway...
yes, round 1/1024 is the first round in the preliminary. Since this year's ina open is so hot, that it has 10 rounds including the qualifying rounds. We can distinquish two Hidayats by "k" and "q". One is a killer, the other is cute? Taufik was the winner last year while Taufiq was the quarter finalist.
Oh yes, I can remember the one with "q" very well, as he knocked-off the our then Malaysian sensation, Lee TS who killed of their "killer" in the TC final.
If you think ina shuttlers are invincible at homecourt, it is the time for you to think again. Out of 44 ina players, only 1 is qualified for the main draw. While Malaysia has 3 qualified out of from 12 China has 1 out of 1 Korea has 1 out of 2 Chinese Taipei has 1 out of 2 India has 1 out of 5 Survive rate: China: 100% Korea: 50% Taipei: 50% Malay: 25% India: 20% Indon: 2%
Hmm... you could be right this time. However, their giants (Taufik Hidayat & Sony) have cruised to the last 16 with ease. Some selected last 32 results: Sony bt Gopichand 15-2, 15-6 Boonsak bt Ong EH 15-7, 15-3 Lin Dan bt Budi Santoso 15-3, 15-6 (very one-sided, I'm pretty wrong this time! ) Shon SM bt Marleve Mainaky 15-3, 15-11 (I lost my bets on this as well! ) Wu YY bt Joppien 15-6, 15-7 Lee TS bt Indra Wijaya 15-13, 15-7
Lee Chong Wei Beat Chen Yu Surprise finalist Chen Yu has been beate by up and coming Malaysian youngster Lee Chong Wei in straight sets. Also found out that Lee Chong Wei is the current national Champion. Hafiz and Lee TS are living dangerously but made it...barely.
Last 16 match-ups Chen Hong vs Roslin Hashim Ronald Susilo vs Hafiz Hashim Sony Dwi Kuncoro vs Lee HI Ng Wei vs Boonsak Polsana Lin Dan vs Shon SM Wu YY vs Lee CW (Malaysian national champion replacing Wong CH) Bao CL vs Taufik Hidayat Lee TS vs Agus Hariyanto Tomorrow's pick of the day: Bao CL vs Taufik (and the whole Indonesia) I pick the following players to advance: Chen Hong Hafiz Hashim Sony Boonsak Lin Dan Wu YY Taufik (Bao will win easily if this is not Indonesian Open!) Lee TS
