XD Draw Ok...let me now post my thoughts QUARTER 1 Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir (1) Anthony Clark/Donna Kellogg (5/8) -- A strong XD field means it's not going to be easy for Nova/Butet to retain their title. All the top pairs, minus only Zhang Jun/Gao Ling are going to be in Surabaya. Therefore, it's a test of Nova/Butet's credential as World and Asian Champions. Tricky ties await from the very beginning, with Lars Paaske/Helle Nielsen in the first round, and possibly Hwang Ji Man/Ha Jeung Eun in the second round. Still, they should win these ties and qualify for the quarter-final where Anthony Clark/Donna Kellogg is expecting them. Clark/Kellogg have fairly easier opponents. They begin their campaign against Gan Teik Chai/Fong Chew Yen and then possibly He Hanbin/Zhang Dan. It would be a disaster if Nova/Butet can not even go through to the semi-final! Their semi-final opponent is expected to be either Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen or Sudket/Saralee. QUARTER 2 Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen (3/4) Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam (5/8) -- Xie/Zhang also have tough matches from the start. They will face the Indonesian veteran pair of Tri Kusharyanto/Minarti Timur in the first round and possibly Lee Yong Dae/Hwang Yu Mi in the second round. As for Sudket/Saralee, they will have a rematch against the pair they just beat in the PO semi-final, Mohd Rizal/Greysia Polii. Then, it could be the Polish pair of Robert Mateusiak/Nadiezda Kostiuczyk in the second round. Still, both seeds are expected to qualify and clash in the quarter-final. Expect an explosive match. I prefer Sudket/Saralee to qualify! Nova/Butet has a good record against the Thai. QUARTER 3 Robert Blair/Natalie Munt (5/8) Lee Jae Jin/Lee Hyo Jung (3/4) -- Easy ties in the first 2 rounds for the British pair and they should make it to the quarter-final. The newly formed Devin Lahardi/Yunita Tetty will make their debut against a qualifier. However, tough opponent lies ahead in Lee Jae Jin/Lee Hyo Jung. I still recall that Anggun/Yunita beat Lee/Lee in 3 thrilling sets last year. Can Devin/Yunita repeat this excellent result? Anyway, the winner of that match should hold an advantage over Blair/Munt. Lee/Lee to qualify from this quarter. QUARTER 4 Zheng Bo/Zhao Tingting (5/8) Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms (2) -- The last quarter also features 2 Indonesian pairs. The youngster Lingga/Yulianti will start against a Jap pair. If they win, they will entertain Zheng Bo/Zhao Tingting in the second round. Meanwhile, the newly formed Anggun/Vita should beat Thai's no 2 pair of Songpol Anukritayawan/Kunchala Vorawichitchaikul and face the second seeded Robertson/Emms in the second round. I predict Robertson/Emms to qualify from this quarter. Personal Hope: Nova/Butet to retain their title and finally beat Robertson/Emms after failing to do so in the HK Open and All England this year. The other Indo pairs should also win at least 1 match.
WD Draw QUARTER 1 Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen (1) Satoko Suetsuna/Miyuki Maeda (5/8) -- No question as to who will qualify to the semi-final...the top seeded Yang/Zhang. I am more interested in the performance of Purwati/Meiliana Jauhari. They start their campaign against a Chinese Taipei pair, Chou Chia-Chi/Ku Pei Ting...a match that they can win. If they win, they will face the winner between the seeded Japanese pair and the Thai pair of Soratja Chansrisukot/Monthila Meemek. It will be a bonus if Purwati/Meiliana can reach the quarter-final! QUARTER 2 Gail Emms/Donna Kellogg (3/4) Jo Novita/Greysia Polii (5/8) -- Emms/Kellogg have a tough opening tie against Zhang Dan/ZHao Tingting...a match that they probably will lose. The winner of that match should have no problem in the second round. Meanwhile, Jo/Greysia have a tricky tie against Thai's no 2 pair of Duang-Anong Arunkesorn/Kunchala Vorawichitchaikul. They should win and entertain the Korean pair of Hwang Yu Mi/Ha Jeung Eun, who also represent their first tough test. Hopefully they can win and qualify to the quarter-final. It will be a bonus if Jo/Greysia could go through to the semi-final. QUARTER 3 Saralee Thoungthongkam/Sathinee Chankrachangwong (5/8) Kumiko Ogura/Reiko Shiota (3/4) -- Saralee/Sathinee will not have a problem of qualifying for the quarter-final. The Jap pair, on the other hand, have not been impressive recently (esp in the Uber Cup). They should win their first match and will be tested by either Nitya Krishinda/Nadya Melati or Mooi Hing Yau/See Phui Leng in the second round. My money is on Saralee/Sathinee to qualify for the semi-final QUARTER 4 Wei Yili/Zhang Yawen (5/8) Lee Kyung Won/Lee Hyo Jung (2) -- Lita/Nathalia will have an uphill battle right from the first round, facing Wei/Zhang. Wei/Zhang should win that match and meet probably Joanne Nicholas/Natalie Munt next. Meanwhile, Rani/Endang has an interesting first round match against Tomomi Masuda/Aki Akao. The winner of that match will face the Korean pair of Lee/Lee in the second round. The quarter-final should feature Wei/Zhang vs Lee/Lee...should be an interesting match...and Lee/Lee has a slight edge. Personal Hope: Jo/Greysia to qualify for the quarter-final; Nitya/Nadya, Purwati/Meiliana and Rani/Endang to win at least 1 match.
WD Qualifying Draw Due to the huge number of participants, most of Indonesia's women singles players have to qualify for the main draw. The qualifying draw also attracts a number of Chinese, Korean, and Indian players. There will be a total of 8 qualifiers, each having to play 3 matches to qualify. Q1 -- no problem...Soratja Chansrisukot will qualify. Q2 -- also no problem for Chen Li. Q3 -- Fransisca Ratnasari has a tricky first round qualifying match against Wong Mew Kheng. Jun Jae Yun awaits in the final qualifying match. I think Jun will qualify. Q4 -- Silvi Antarini will possibly qualify Q5 -- Adrianti Firdasari will possibly qualify, although she has a tricky final match against Zhang Beiwen. Q6 -- A straight tussle between Saina Nehwal and Pai Min Jie in the final match...Saina should win! Q7 -- Again, possibly between Huang Chia-Hsin or Bellatrix Manuputi Q8 -- A tough battle for Pia Zebadiah...she faces Lee Hyun Jin in the final match. It's a bonus if she can qualify. Q8
WD Main Draw QUARTER 1 Wang Chen (1) Kaori Mori (5/8) -- Without the qualifiers, it looks pretty straight forward, however, note that Chen Li will be the second qualifier while Nana or Jun Jae Yun will be the third qualifier. Therefore, it's likely Wang Chen will face Chen Li in the second round, while the winner between Nana and Jun is going to play against Kaori Mori in the first round. The Jap should go through to the quarter-final and face Wang Chen. Wang Chen will qualify from this quarter. QUARTER 2 Mia Audina (3/4) Cheng Shao-Chieh (5/8) -- Mia shouldn't have a problem in the first round and is likely to face Kanako Yonekura in the second round. A tricky tie for Mia...but she should win. Cheng also has a tough first tie against Jun Jae Yun. The fifth qualifier, likely to be Firda, will have to face Zhu Lin. I think Mia will qualify to the semi-final..with a quarter-final match against Zhu Lin. QUARTER 3 Yao Jie (5/8) Pi Hongyan (3/4) -- Yao should also qualify to the quarter-final, while Pi has to be careful. Her first match is against the sixth qualifier, likely to be Saina Nehwal. We all know what Saina is capable of. However, we should see an explosive quarter-final match between Yao and Pi. Pi to qualify from this quarter. QUARTER 4 Wong Mew Choo (5/8) Xu Huaiwen (2) -- Despite being seeded, Wong possible draws the toughest opponent in Lu Lan. The winner, likely to be the young Chinese, should face Eriko Hirose in the second round. Maria Kristin is the only Indonesian player who is in the main draw. She's still inside the main draw despite recent suggestions that there might need to be a redraw due to the possible omission of a player ranked higher than Maria in the main draw. If the draw is to stay as it is, Markis should win the first match. Xu plays a qualifier in the first round, either Pia Zebadiah or Lee Hyun Jin. I think Lu Lan will qualify from this quarter. Personal Hope: Maria Kristin to win a match; at least Firda and Pia to qualify to the main draw.
the game i'm waiting for : taufik vs lcw marki/hendra vs cck/kkk my condolence for the earthquake's victims in yogyakarta (may 27, 2006 - 05.30 am)
It is the hardest draw Wong Mew Choo can possibly get. Tough luck. I don't expect her to win her opening match.
XD Seeding QA & Rise of Bao? First had a question about why Widianto/Nasir is seeded ahead of Robertson/Emms current champ notwithstanding. The INA pair was beaten by Emms/Rob in 2 games at AE 2006 and according to the another poster they lost in Hong Kong and in a couple other tournaments to the English pair as well. Is this home cooking i.e. bias or am I missing something: Widianto & Nasir are ranked higher than Emms/Robertson right now or some obscure INA seeding practice that the current holder is always seeded first regardless of recent performance? Second thing is all these grand predictions about Lee CHong Wei & Taufik taking the INA open seem to be forgetting that Bao Chun Lai has had a confident boost since his successful run at the TC. I don't think he's going to flake out and lose concentration so easily like in last years MAL open where LCW was lucky to beat him in 3 games .... w/ Bao's errors in the 2nd game. Especially if Lee meets Bao I think it will be a real battle if Bao's mental toughness holds out. I don't know about Taufik vs. Bao, but if TC is any indication whoever plays Bao will either be knocked or pushed hard enough to hurt them in their next match. ANy other thoughts on this?
yes with his youngest sister, but I think it is very difficult since they both play very seldom together. But let see what happen later ..........
Well despite the fact that Bao has done well in the TC, I do not think he matches the capabilities of Taufik (when at his best) or LCW (who is as fit as a melee bull). He will come close but I think Taufik and LCW have the jump on this guy at this point --- if you look at the TC games he played like he can be beaten (his smashes were very good - that I will give to him but Taufik and LCW are good smashers themselves). If you look at the All-England semi, LCW nearly knock Lin Dan off - LCW is definitely getting closer. In another year, I think Lin Dan would be facing tough competition as he gets older and LCW gets more mature. LCW has the advantage of an aggressive coach in Li Mao, who expects a win from his protege every time. This only pushes LCW to his limits --- LCW I noticed is learning 'control' in his game (still loses that control sometimes when under pressure). When he has control, it is hard to play against him. Nobody in the Malaysian camp can take him on coz he has control over them --- that control comes with confidence, fitness, and an excellent sgtrategy mapped out by his coach. I am 100% sure he will be World No.1 after the Indonesian Open. Feel free to voice your own opinions.
Definately LCW can be #1. Lin Dan is not playing.. so no ranking points. But i do agree that LCW have alot of confidence in him. Once he get #1 ranking.. i hope he will prove himself as a worthy #1 ranked player.
I agree with you he will get fitter and playing for his coach for the last time might be good too. But that is all I am agreeing with you. It is not easy to get fit --- you got to put in the 'leg work'. I think he will take another one or two tournaments to get to his peak again. It might place too much pressure on him if the whole of Indonesia expects him to win this one. Personally, I would say he is going to be 'short' for this one. Feel free to voice your own opinions.
Agree on LCW. I have watched his recent matches in the ABC and Thomas Cup. He played well in all these matches, esp in the match against Boonsak and Lee Hyun Il. He has learnt how to take control at critical points of the game. In the match against Peter Gade...I also think he played well...esp in the opening to the mid-stages of the first set. However, he lost that slight bit of concentration in the crucial last moments when the scores are tight at 18-18. A pity indeed...but both players were really playing well that day. Neither deserved to lose!
Isn't giving the top seeding to the defending champions common practice in many tournaments? It obviously didn't work that way for the WC where Xia Xuanze wasn't even allowed in but I think I've heard of it happening elsewhere. What's the rule there?
FOR Nova and Butet,don't afraid if you must meet Emms/Rob or other couple I hope that they can the best performance in INA OPEN 2006 so they revege They remember that this game play in INA, so Nova and Butet don't disspoint their fans in INA Nova and Butet don't give oppurtunity for Emms/Rob or other but they must smash them and don't always do many wrong You must optimise forever .......................... and don't fell satisfied!!!!!! I always wait you
According to KOMPAS today edition, England's team withdrew from IO-06 yesterday. They directly corfirmed to IBF that England's team worried about earthquake in Indonesia (after 27/05-06 Jogja's quake). So,tommorow's main draw for IO-06 certainly needs big change. List of England's shuttlers who cancelled their participation in IO-06: Andrew Smith-MS (he has arrived in Surabaya yesterday) - A.Clark/R.Blair (MD) - D.Kellogg/G.Emms & J.Nicholas/N.Munt (WD).
