The male half of the 2008 golden mixed doubles combination, Lee Yong Dae, will this time try to defend his Olympic title. He is only 23 years old but already now one of the greatest double players ever. Together with Ha Jung Eun he will try to equal what the Chinese Zhang Jun and Gao Ling did before: winning two consecutive Olympic Games. It’s going to be a hell of a task for two reasons. Firstly Ha has a very moderate service (8 out of 10 services are flickservices) and secondly there are many contenders for the medals. Out of the 5 events the outcome of the mixed doubles is the most difficult one to predict.
The Beijing silver lady winner Liliyana Natsir from Indonesia will alongside Tontowi Ahmad try to end one step higher than last time. They have proven that they are able to play well in England by winning the 2012 All England.
Naturally also China has likely candidates and based on the draw they may even have two finalists in the ranks. The number one of the world and World Champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei will do their utmost to take that golden medal back home to China. But also Chen Xu and Ma Jin, widely feared for their very hard smashes in combination with subtle net playing, will fight for the highest honour.
Besides we have no less than 5 European pairs in this competition of whom the Danish Fisher and Pedersen are the ones with the highest seeding. They are in one group with the European Champions Mateusiak and Zieba. At the European Championships the Danish lost dramatically from the unleashed Poles. I expect to see both pairs in the quarter finals.
The 3 other European pairs are in Group A. Nice detail is that we will have a repeat of the World Championship final between the British Adcock and Bankier and the Chinese Zhang and Zhao. The latter combination won this match easily, but in the next matches the British have shown to be able to beat them. In short: the mixed doubles tournament is going to be one big spectacle!!!
Prediction:
Gold: Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir
Silver: Robert Mateusiak/Nadia Zieba
Bronze: Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei
For my previews of the other events scroll down
Tags: badminton, jorrit de ruiter, London, mixed doubles, Olympic Games, Olympics, preview