Predicted winners in bold MS Gade v KJ WS Pi v Mia MD Flandy/Sigit v Laybourn/Paaske WD Zhao/Zhang Dan VS Yang/Zhang XD Robertson/Emms v Widianto/Natsir
Badminton-Gade and Jonassen set up Danish final in Singapore Saturday June 10, 10:32 PM SINGAPORE, June 10 (Reuters) - Peter Gade and Kenneth Jonassen were in sparkling form on Saturday and set up an all-Danish men's singles final at the five-star Aviva Open. Top seed Gade proved too strong for China's Bao Chunlai, winning 21-15 16-21 21-17 in a little more than an hour. "The closest I've got to winning the title was in 1999 but then I lost it to Indonesia's Hendrawan in the final," Gade said. "But this time I feel it's going to be my year." Jonassen took 62 minutes, one minute less than his compatriot, to reach the title match by beating China's Chen Hong 25-23 19-21 21-16. The women's singles final will also be an all-European affair, this time between a Dutchwoman and a Frenchwoman. Mia Audina beat China's Lu Lan 21-8 19-21 23-21 in the first semi-final before France's Hongyan Pi defeated Bulgarian Petya Nedeltcheva 21-18 21-11. English pair Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms won through to the mixed final with a 21-9 21-13 win over China's He Hanbin and Zhang Dan. They will face Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir who needed only 17 minutes to beat fellow Indonesians Muhamad Rizal and Gresya Polii 21-13 21-10. Sunday's women's doubles will be an all-Chinese clash as Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen take on Zhang Dan and Zhao Tingting. Indonesia's Flandy Limpele and Sigit Budiarto have a crack at the men's doubles title after beating England's Anthony Clark and Robert Blair in the semis. They will face Danes Thomas Laybourn and Lars Paaske, conquerors of compatriots Jonas Rasmussen and Peter Steffensen on Saturday.
My predictions MEN'S SINGLES Peter Gade vs Kenneth Jonassen -- an all-Denmark affair and Peter should win. MEN'S DOUBLES Flandy Limpele/Sigit Budiarto vs Thomas Laybourn/Lars Paaske -- the two had met earlier last week, with the Indonesian pair losing in 3 sets. However, after 4 matches in Singapore this week, they look quite solid as a pair. They again impressed today, beating Clark/Robertson in straight sets. If they play to the level they were yesterday and today, tomorrow's title would be theirs. WOMEN'S SINGLES Mia Audina vs Pi Hongyan -- does Mia still have the stamina to take on the French after an exhausting game against Lu Lan today? I hope she still has. WOMEN'S DOUBLES Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen vs Zhang Dan/Zhao Tingting -- yawn...the World Champion to prevail unless they repeated last week's performance by giving away the title to their younger counterparts. MIXED DOUBLES Nathan Robertson/Gail Emms vs Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir (MATCH OF THE DAY) -- what a match...a repeat of this year's All-England semi-final. From my observation, the England pair looks really solid...with Gail covering the net and Nathan smashing from the back. Therefore, it will be difficult for Nova/Butet to win tomorrow. We have seen last week how Xie Zhongbo/Zhang Yawen could beat them in the final in 2 quick sets. If Nova/Butet win...it would be a real tremendous achievement for them! Nova needs to cut down on his errors, while Butet needs to be agressive from the start. I hope they could win....although Robertson/Emms definitely have the edge.
So for the umpteenth time Kenneth is going to try to beat Gade. I suspect it won't happen this time either. The MD final should be interesting: we have four very different players on court. IMHO, the Danes hold the tactical edge, the Indons the technical. I wouldn't be too surprised if the Danes walk off with the title.
my prediction winners : men's single :Peter Gade women's single :Pi Hongyan men's double :Flandy Limpele/Sigit Budiarto women's double :Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen mixed double :Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir
pi won the first set after trailing 6 points second set just as exciting mia leading 19-17 pi serving
pi ties it! first time ive seen her play like this. pi is soooo amazing. she's like a female lin dan!
brilliant judgement calls from pi helps her save 2 points, and she finds the line to make it 21-20 and pi wins it in style!!!! whooohooooooo 22-20/22-20
yes! pi plays really beautifully today.. she looks like she's flying all over the court. go pi! I thought Mia would win the next set but Pi really pushed Mia! omg. fantastic man.