WC finals, only China and England's business Wow, as I predicted this morning, England, the originator for badminton, is back, and there is no any players other than Chinese and English in the WC finals. Anthony Clark from nowhere is awesome, he is the only one could win two titles.
So, the finale of 4 events will be held tomorrow. Will we have more surprise? MEN'S SINGLES FINAL Bao Chunlai vs Lin Dan -- Lin Dan has been the most consistent player this year and I would say that he deserves the title after choking it in the Final last year! MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun vs Anthony Clark/Robert Blair (MATCH OF THE DAY) -- who would have thought that the English pair can actually go all the way to the Final? A dejavu perhaps...since last year's top seed also lost to unheralded opponent. However, I still think Fu/Cai are too strong for the English pair! WOMEN'S SINGLES FINAL Zhang Ning vs Xie Xingfang -- yawn...can this be arranged as the last match instead ? MIXED DOUBLES FINAL Anthony Clark/Donna Kellogg vs Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms -- what a match today between the English pair and the Thai pair...it should have been the final! Robertson/Emms to prevail because Clark is obviously going to save his energy in the later match.
FOr WS, I will pick XXF. If anyone can beat ZN, it will be XXF. Hope BC wins for MS. For MD, it will be F/C. THe English pair does not have as much firepower.
Hahahaha...it will be interesting to see if LYB is going to have a go at the English pair in the MD final. I'd suggest this time he keeps his mouth shut as I can see the English won't stand for it. In fact maybe he should, it would provide great viewing.
But do LYB knows how to speak english? I assume he knows a few like "u die, u die die, u die die die!"
The reply he'd get will make headlines.....it'll make Taufik's incident look like a stroll in the park.
When this tournament started, nobody, I mean nobody will predict there will be only 2 countries representing in WC Final. Yes, lots of spectator already predict the Chinese will dominate this event. But not solidly dominate them by putting 7 spot out of 10 in the final. More over, nobody even England badminton fans will predict their players will earn the last 3 spot in final. What a performance specially by Anthony Clark. From nobody and always behind the shadow of Simon Archer and Nathan Robertson, tomorrow maybe he will pass them both by becoming the WC champion that both of his teammates never done. And he had not only one shot to do that but twice. Anthony Clark step by step improve his play enormously while undetected by all badminton experts and fans till this WC. So can he become the first English or even European to win 2 title in one WC? Can he become the second man after Park Joo Bong in 1987 to win a men double tite and mix double together?
Last WC prediction: XD: Anthony Clark/Donna Kellogg VS Nathan R/ Gail E Chance: 50:50 They met twice last year and both won by Nathan/Gail. But never met in new scoring. My gut instinct tell that Clark will go all the way with Kellogg to win the XD title in 3 sets. Once again Nathan/Gail will be bridesmaid in big tournament. MD: Cai Yun/Fu Hai Feng VS Anthony Clark/Robert Blair Chance:58:42 After won over Jens/Martin and at other half their nemesis Choong/LeeWW lost at R16. This is the best chance for Cai/Fu to win the MD title. It will be too much for Clark who already tired playing doubles all week. Cai/Fu win in 2 sets. WS: Zhang Ning VS XXF Chances: 50:50 Their record is 9-7. But XXF won many times over ZN in this past 2 years and in important stage such as WC2005 and All England 2005 and 2006. So ZN had to play all her best and minimize her unforced errors in order to win. ZN want to win so badly that she do it in 3 tight sets. But if she cannot minimize her errors, XXF will win in 2 sets only. But I am still favouring ZN. MS: Lin Dan VS Bao Chunlai Chances 55:45 They already meet 12 times and the record is 8-4 for LD. The last time BCL won over LD is 2004. From that time 5 win in a row for LD. BCL had to play all out to win tomorrow but LD will win to pay for his huge loss at WC final 2005 and win the title in 3 sets.
lcw blah blah blah... fu & cai have looked awesome in this yr's WC.. they play wit this confidence bordering arrogance..but thats exactly how champions shud think and behave.. i remember the days wen they were always comin off 2nd best or goin out in the SFs.. they r now realisng their potential and will whoop those english chumps 2moro! clark shud act in his own interest and focus all his energy in the XD..he has more chance of winnign dat than the MD
If Anthony Clark doesn't win tomorrow at least his success in this WC will give him a confidence boost for future tournements. I personally believe Donna kellogg's performance has made the most difference she seems a lot sharper then usual.
My prediction MS: Lin Dan -- Bao Chunlai 80:20 After watchin Bao - Lee game I see no way Bao can beat LD. Technique-wise he is still the old BCL. LCW just crumbled under the huge pressure and played way below his level. He just didn't know what to do when Bao saved some of his cross-court smashes (maybe he's thinking, what's happening, how can he save anyone of them?). His head must be filled by how to return LD's smashes and seems uncomfortable to return Bao's significantly slower smashes. Li Mao should be blamed for lack of research on Bao. In some sense, LCW is like LD in 2004 Olympics, hasn't got the real confidence yet. Anyway, LD is different. LD is a smart and mature player now. And unlike LCW, he knows BCL very very well. And most importantly, LD is stronger than Bao. MD: Cai/Fu -- Clark/Blair 60:40 Cai/Fu is faster, more powerful and everything. But maybe the Eng pair will perform superbly. Who knows. WS: Zhang Ning -- Xie Xingfang 50:50 I pick Zhang Ning just because I don't like XXF's style of playing. XD: Robertson/Emms -- Clark/Kellogg 60:40 Never seen C/K playing. But I believe R/E is stronger in every aspect.
Oh yes, I would love to see LYB attempt to swear in english: 'my english no good, but you go to hell englishmen...'
Redemption time for the English squad??.. ok guys, i just got online, haven't read thru the other threads/posts, but this has been quite a surprising WC(at least to myself)... So, after last yr's "debacle", I guess this yr, the England team is really out to prove to everyone for a redemption for last yr's "failure"... The big surprise is the resurgence of the ENG pairs(MD & XD). And as i mentioned before, they did this phenomenal job without the coaching of Rexy.. Personally, I really thought Jonas/Lars would've taken it to the Finals, but i guess their recent reunification as a pair wasn't enough. I think from the Finals lineup, for all intents and purposes, it's basically a mere formality who will be the champions... But rom what i can summed up for this WC, there are a couple notable factors which IMO altered the playing field(esp. WS & MD) and led to where we are right now, in terms of Finalists: 1. The absence of the Dutch's top WS ladies (ie. Mia & Judith M.).. 2. The absence of ex and current INA MD players(ie. Tony, Candra, Sigit, Flandy, Eng Hian)..which IMO altered slightly the playing field in the MD. This is the first time all of them haven't competed in a WC after such a long period of time. As they've been basically playing in every WC since..Thus we can see the ENG pairs really rised to the occasion and took the opportunites in this WC.. So, on that note, here's wishing to a great and exciting Finals to all the competitiors. Congratulations once again to the would be winners as well as the runner-ups. **Side note:I really hope and wish next yr Tony and Candra can reunite and play together, one last time, in the World Championships in M'sia. I believe they haven't won the WC title together, only the Olympics. Thus, personally, I really want them to attempt & reunite the Olympic and World Championships title together as a pair. Besides, it will be held in M'sia, thus quite close to their homeland...
