My prediction is CHINA. They are the strongest team and they are also the host, so the chance for them to win this Sudirman Cup 2005 is the biggest among other countries. Hope that they will not be over confidence.
No team wants to face CHN, as it means for 95%, CHN gets WD and WS in its pocket regardless who they send on the court from their top 2 or even 3. Even though, they are stuggle with XD recently, but the rising MD makes up the slack. And who can ever say, deal with Lin or Bao or even Chen or Xia could be an easy task for MS?
really? i think its denmark, u know, they have strong md, xd, and ms (i suppose indonesia does too, maybe u got the point) but anyway, i still think no matter how strong their contenders are china still has its way to getthe cup
I think Denmark and Korea are bigger contenders for China than Indonesia currently... But I suppose any of the top four can win the Cup in fact.
Who's going to beat Lin Dan? I don't think it will be Peter Gade or Kenneth Jonassen I don't think it will be Lee Hyun-Il or Shon Seung-Mo Taufik? Hafiz on a good day? maybe but Malaysia aren't strong enough in XD
Malaysia aren't in group 1 anyway!! Peter Gade, Lee Hyun Il, Taufik (or Sony) could all well beat Lin Dan on a good day. Lin Dan can also collapse under pressure as he did in the Olympics... Of course, Lin Dan would be the clear favourite on his homeground but don't forget no one could believe Chen Hong could be beaten in the SC two years ago... and Lee did it!
Maybe this has been discussed before. Too lazy to do a search. What happen to Indonesia female team after they won the UC in 94 and 96? How come they can't produce another world class player after Susi Susanti and Mia Audina. Otherwise, they would be co-favorite.
I think Denmark and Indonesia are bigger contenders for China. For opponents of China, it does not matter how strong your ladies are, you will still very likely lose the WS and WD. So, you have to depend on your men. Denmark have Peter, Kenneth, Jen/Martin and Lars/Jonas to mount serious challenges. Indonesia have Taufik and a host of MD. Korea, as far as I can tell, only have Lee/Jung who can mount a serious challenge.
There also have been rumours of Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min competing in the Sudirman Cup... Even without them, Korea still has Lee Hyun Il, Shon Seung Mo, Ha Tae Kwon ...
sudirman The point is here ! If Ra Kyung Min compete, she can lead korea to another victory because WD would be more uncertain. Without her, no way ! About Denmark, sudirman cup is a team competition, so very different from indo open or all england. I'm sure that danes can play tremendously in this kind of event and make at least 1 surprise (WD or MS). MD and XD are very strong in denmark so who knows ....
I must confess I was not that interested in the Sudirman Cup until now. And I think this mixed team competition is good as it takes into account the all-round badminton strengths of a country and heighten the team spirit of not only the men but also the women compatriots. As the poll shows, China is the firm favourite. Their men and women are tops in the world and it is indeed a gigantic task to dislodge them. I agree that if ever any country which can give China a fight it will be South Korea, Denmark and Indonesia. However, while the other two countries have won the Cup before, Denmark has yet to show its mettle. But what all these contenders lacked is their weakness in their women's department and with three matches involving the ladies, XD, WS and WD, this is critical shortfall. I would give the Koreans an edge over their other two rivals as their women's doubles and mixed doubles can create problems even for China on a good day. The Koreans are also relatively stronger in women singles, now that Camilla Martin has retired and weaken the chance for Denmark, whose men are undoubtedly perhaps the strongest Denmark has ever fielded and can certainly cause upsets against the Chinese men, esp in doubles. But we must also not disregard the Korean men's doubles who have time and again caused major upsets, albeit that Kim Dong Moon may not be available. One discounts the Indonesian men at one's own peril! China thought it could win the men's events at the Olympics but was flatly taught a lesson. In both men's singles and doubles, Indonesia has it to stop the other top players in their tracks! Both their young and 'veteran' doubles pairs can strike fear into their opponents and what more can we say of the indomitable Taufik in singles as well as bronze Olympic medalist Soni? And their young XD is shaping up very nicely too! It is going to be a very FIERCE Sudirman Cup challenge this year and Indonesia will do well to bring back the Cup so thoughtfully donated by its own countryman. A trip to Beijing this May will not be to no avail.
China will be the winner. (99%) Why? Cause no matter who they fight in group one they already secured 2 points from WS and WD. Then they had strong MD and XD. Any country who want to get point from this sector have to play extremely well. For MS, nobody can beat Lin Dan right now (from the group 1 competitor except Chen Hong and Taufik H) But of coruse when China meet Indonesia they will play Bao Chun Lai and not Lin Dan. Bao had good head to head against Taufik. Bao lead Taufik by 4 - 2. Another winning factor, they play the cup at their own country. They will get major boosting morale from the crowd. For Indonesia, I hope they will get into the final. Its not easy that we already had to give two points (WS and WD) before the game even started. So the MS, MD and XD had huge resonsibilty to secure tree points. If one of them fail, we will out from this tournament. That will be a huge stress for the MS, MD and XD players.
i think the biggest contenders against china are indonesia and korea indonesia vs china indonesia might be weak in the womens, but their men can pull off some stunt (if taufik doesn't get cocky or pissed), and their men's doubles is pretty solid also. Mixed doubles, i think they might be able to pull it off. Zhang and gao are not playing very well at the moment, and i think there are only 3 pairs in the world that are able to play well (indonesian pair <i forgot their name>, lee/lee, and gail/emms) i think all these pairs can beat zhang/gao at the moment. korea vs china korea actually has a slight chance of disturbing the chinese women's doubles, especially if ra comes to help, but i think lee/lee is good enough to beat wei/ zhao, and maybe even stand a chance against gao/huang or yang/zhang... and MAYBE a chance in the women's singles (not likely, i admit). men's singles: honestly, i htink there are a few in the world that can beat lin dan, especially since lin dan is less dominating than last year at teh moment. looka the previous all england... he got 3 game matches on almost all his matches... i think lee hyun il can beat lin dan (he was close last time) , if he trains hard and gets back on form. men's doubles: lee/jung might stand a chance against cai fu, but best if the invincible KIM/HA is here xd, i htink lee/lee can beat zhang/gao, but what's better is if kim/ra plays... than thats' already 1 point secured...
Don't forget the Thailand XD, who beat Gao/Zhang in straight sets in the recent AE. Too bad the Japanese are in the other group, as their WS player(s) could give China a run for their money. We'll see which team/nation has the "healthiest" players coming in. The "healthier" they are the better chance they have.
They are. They're just in group 2, or 2nd division, however you want to call it. I think they got demoted after a poor showing in the last one?
Promotions & Demotions for Sudirman Cup Actually I quite like the idea of promoting the top two or so countries in the lower divisions to the next higher division to replace an equivalent number of the poorest performing countries from these divisions, which should be demoted to the next lower division. This will really make the countries sit up and do their best something akin to the English Football Leaque system. What do you think?
