WOO... how exciting!! It's been a long time since we had no internal affairs for all 5 finals. That Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min have both qualified for their respective finals beating top opponents like Candra/Halim, Alven/Luluk and Zhang/Yang (more than convincingly!!) after giving their possible 14th Mixed title a miss is prove that no matter how much you have for what it takes, you cannot defy age. Sigh. I sincerely hope they pull through and do well in the Olympics in both wd/md while going for the mixed gold that has eluded them for a long time. Kim/Ha has never played Cai/Fu before, so this is definitely going to be an interesting match. Would youth or experience prevail? I certainly pray for the latter. Ra/Lee has an even head-to-head against Wei/Zhao, the Chinese pair they have the best record against. Personal bias again, but I hope Ra/Lee go all the way!! But from today's match, it's completely understandable why Li Yongbo tried so hard with all the walkovers in wd finals to have Gao/Huang move up the No.1 spot in the world rankings just so to have them face Ra/Lee in the Uber Cup without having to rest Yang/Zhang. Among the top three Chinese pairs, only Gao Ling and Huang Sui has a distinct edge over Ra Kyung Min when she is in form and not tired out by XD commitments, and like today, no other Chinese pair to drain her physically the day before. My respect goes out to Ra. Like Camilla, she is not simply fighting a Chinese pair but the whole team managed by a shrewd and strategic Li Yongbo.
MS: Bao vs Susilo It will be good to see a winner from a different country now, so I'll be going against the tide and put in my support for Ronald. Of course, Bao is in great form and is assuredly a superior player to Susilo but remember that he was dumped out of AE by unheralded Amir Ghaffar and KO by Dicky Palyama. He had gotten his act right this time by putting one over his friend Lin Dan but you won't know. With all due respect to Amir and Dicky, Ronald is a much better player and could give Bao Bao a good fight. I'll go against the Red Tide and go for Ronald! (What am I saying? Singapore is Red!) WS: Gong vs Audina I am badly biased towards the Chinese in this one, but with Mia in great form I won't be surprised if she actually pulls one over Gong. Again, I'll go Dutch and choose Mia, all for badminton romantic's sake! MD: Cai Fu vs Kim Ha What happened to the former greats Kim/Ha? Ever since Ha's injury during last year's WC, they never really recaptured that 'great' title again. Cai / Fu are two skillful and youthful youngsters with every bit of the talent to become the very best in the world, being perhaps a mirror of their opponents from Korea during their earlier years. Yet, my chant for this game will be Dae Han Min Guk! WD: Wei Zhao vs Ra Lee On the paper, the form of Ra/Lee had been very good of late and are putting the fight to their Chinese counterparts. I'd fancy their chances since Ra is not playing in XD and should be fitter to face the Chinese in, thus, Dae Han Min Guk II !! XD: Widianto Marissa vs Prapakamol Thungthongkam I don't really know anybody here, except for Widianto Nova and Vita Marissa, not very familiar with the Thais. I'd go for Indonesia in this one. I realized that I have chosen a zero harvest for the Chinese contingent in all finals! Anybody brave enough to follow suit? But if the results do come out the way it is, then I'll say that it'll be some interesting tournament. A total failure for Li's charges? I can see Hugo and *73* pressing the 'Quote' button frantically now, haha.
I'm with you wilfredlgf!! Except for XD. Which still means I'm betting against the popularity of the red+5 yellow stars.
you're right about mixed doubles : it's the girl who is decisive not the guy! the guy needs to be capable of keeping the feather low without lifting and place it intelligently. the girl has the most important role in dominating the net and gaining the attack or killing the points!
That would be me! Actually what I meant was that it was fixed amongst the chinese team, so I may be right! ANy way my predictions from an other thread on JO Have almost come, with mia, ra/le, and the INA XD pair, and Kim/ha in finals. I think for finals: Bao Gong Ha/Kim (But close three setter, Cai fu winning first game) Widianto/Marissa Ra/Lee (saw them in KO, and they were much better than wang/zhang even though tired, I dont like Zhao/Wei, and dont think they wil be tactically good enough) All in a a good open tournament.
I second that! Some of our BFers will be smiling, others may not. But I just can't conceal my joy to see Ronald Susilo in the Finals and not against Lin Dan! Thanks to Bao, who must have convinced us by now that the shuttle is equally ROUND just like soccer, it can go either way - a surprise win can never be discounted. Real Madrid experienced the suffering but Chelsea still bask in the sea of happiness! Bao has brought Lin Dan down to earth again. But with his shocking win, poor Xia Xuanze may never have his chance at the Olympics! Chances are Lin, Chen Hong and Bao will represent China. Or was there ever a plan to squeeze out Xia by the two youngsters? Are they buddies? Anyway, at 11 am sharp tomorrow, I will be glued to Star Sports on TV for this important Finals. Ronald must have prayed very hard to realise his dream of making it to the Finals and will have the support of many Singaporeans, including HongHong, I hope, now than Lin Dan has fallen and friendly neighbours like Wilfredlgf. It must have been a very tough fight to escape the knife from Park Tae Sang in three gruelling games of 15-11, 10-15 and 15-10. With this win, Ronald has gone one step better than his SF appearance against Lin at the AE. And his place at the Olympics must be for certain by now. If Ronald wins the Olympic gold, I only say 'IF', guys, so please don't pounce on me, he will be a very rich young man. For the carrot is a cool S$1 million, if they have not changed the reward incentives by then!
Mens Singles Prediction - Susilo have yet to beat Bao. But he is much stronger now. However based on Bao's Performance.. he did well against Lin Dan. I choose Bao. Mens Doubles Prediction - Both Kim/Ha and Cai/Fu have not face each other yet. Its been great to hear that Kim/Ha is back. But it will not an easy assignment facing the uprising , strong , young and aggresive pair Cai/Fu. The Younger pair is good but lack of patient and lack in the mental game. I will go for the much experienced Kim/Ha Womens Singles Prediction - Mia Audina has improved alot indeed. But Gong Ruina has been on fire after beating Zhang Ning 11-0 , 11-6 wipeout. I will go for Gong Ruina. Womens Doubles Prediction. Both RA/LEE and WEI/ZHAO is equally strong. But at the moment Ra/Lee's performance is much better than the Chinese. And they are full of confidence after beating Yang/Zhang... Match go to the Koreans Mix Doubles Prediction - Young Pairs for the Indos and the Thais. they have not meet each other in any previous tournaments. Both are very excited to go to the finals. Indos have a relatively easy matches thruout the tournament and even in the Semis which will have a slight advantage over the Thais. But the Thais has improved alot lately and beaten the much experienced Chinese. I will go for the Thais ( My gut feel )
LOL, Willy, you know me quite well now. And I am of course going to contradict your predictions!! I think 2 titles are already in the bag for China for sure.... you will just have to guess which 2 I'm referring to. Okay, okay, I was referring to both singles. I think Cai/Fu have great chances as well, so possibly 3. But I don't think Zhao/Wei can beat the top Koreans. So, in summary, AT LEAST 2, if not more golds for the Red and Yellow team! Come on here, I need some support guys and gals!!
Yup yup i believe that 2 golds are very likely... though i'd say it's the WS and the MD... somehow, i just have a feeling cai fu will be more on top of their game tmr... for MS... i will be supporting ronald all the way... even if he doesn't win eventually hope he puts up a fight for bao to remember... anyway bao is quite suceptible to underestimating his opponents huh... WD should go to ra lee which would justify li yongbo's supposed attempts to raise gao huang's ranking above yang zhang cos seemingly only they can pose a threat to ra lee... and with the uber cup looming near... haha... oh and plus the fact that wei yili shld still be recovering from injury i believe... XD should be a tough fight... widianto marissa seem to be in great form but the thai look to be on a roll here... my bet's on the thai pair...
Yes, Real Madrid lost and better chances for Porto now. Real Madrid is not a balanced team, you can't win win attacking midfielders and forwards. You also need good defenders, defensive and creative midfielders. Likewise in badminton, you can't win (have a longer career) depending only on attacking. Bao beat Lin which is not a surprise I think. My opinion is that Bao is technically better but Lin is currently the better player. Unless something good happens (remember YY - in '85 WC he played against against Frost in semi finals and lost badly. Later in that year he beat Frost in HK open; Hou Jia Chang mentioned some special training for YY to bring up his confidence and was successfull) otherwise I do not think we will ever see Bao playing to his full potential. Bao will win the finals if he is able to play his normal game and not make things difficult to himself. Probably a 60-40 game for Bao. For Olympics I think Xia has better chances - at least he seems to be more consistent than Bao, whatever the outcome of JO. If your target is to get the medals, you would not want to field just a technically better player. You want that player to win, and I think Xia has better chances to win.
I don't think Men's doubles player necessarilly be suitable for mixed doubles. Tactically is a different game and have different requirements. Kim DM smashes well but is also very precise with his shots placements. From what I've seen, Fu/Cai makes good doubles team but would be different for mixed doubles. Either still can't match Kim in shot placement/variety department. Fu has powerful smash and Cai is very good in flat pushes/drives in the net sides - have to combine them both into 1 to challenge Kim in mixed doubles. But I need to watch Fu/Cai more to have a more definite opinion.
Personally, China should and would have no fears of Korea in UC. Sure, Ra/Lee have proven they can beat any of the top 3 Chinese WD at different time, but that's only going to make the final tie 4-1!! Probably even more painful than a 5-0 thrashing! And I don't really think that Gao/Huang are the only "threat" to Ra/Lee. Zhang/Yang may have just had a poor outing as they have proven they can beat the Koreans previously, albeit against a tired Korean pair. For MS though, I must congratulate Ronny for his great performances lately, by beating many other top opponents to get far in several tourneys. If he was not facing against a "Red and Yellow" shuttler, I would certainly cheer for him, like I was doing in his SF bout against Park Tae Sang. But I must cheer for my province man, who needs these gold medal points after his poor showing recently.
my prediction of winners at JO MS - BAo Chunlai WS - Gong Ruina MD - Kim / Ha WD - Ra / Lee XD - THA pair (name too long to spell)
congrats to ronald I watched the MS game this afternoon and wat a win for Ronald!!He played a good game and i think he managed to calm his nerves and concentrate fully to the game...well wishes and hope he continue his winning streak....
