Now that you know what the chances of the Dutch might be in their first round matches, it is now time to look at the top ranked players in the world championship. Who’s going to win the title and who should be satisfied with a silver or bronze medal? I give a brief preview for each discipline and my prediction of who will probably be the medallists.
Men Singles
The favourites for the title are:
Lee Chong Wei, Peter Gade, Lin Dan, Chen Jin, Taufik Hidayat and Sony Dwi Kuncoro
Outsiders:
Kenichi Tago, Tien Minh Nguyen, Park Sung Hwan, Simon Santoso
The current number one in the world, Lee Chong Wei, has a difficult draw. To qualify for the finals of this World Cup he will have to deal with the Dane Jorgensen in the third round, Taufik Hidayat in the quarter finals and most probably Lin Dan, triple world champion in the semi final. It will all need a tremendous effort.
Peter Gade, the Danish number two in the world, won’t have an easy tournament as well. In the second round he encounters Shon Wan Ho, a young Korean who has recently proven to be in a very good shape. From the third round he may have to face Marc Zwiebler and in the quarterfinals most likely a man who always plays well at a world championship Sony Dwi Kuncoro.
Interesting first round matches will be:
Pang versus Ouseph and Hu Yun versus Wan Ho Shon
My medal prediction:
Gold: Lin Dan
Silver: Chen Jin
Bronze: Lee Chong Wei and Peter Gade
Ladies singles
The favourites for the title are:
Wang Yihan, Wang Lin, Tine Baun, Wang Xin, Wang Shixian and Saina Nehwal
Outsiders:
Yip Pui Yin, Pi Hongyan, Zhou Mi, Cheng Shao-Chieh
The women’s singles is dominated by the Chinese. It is certain that we will get a new world champion as last year’s winner Lu Lan, has not even qualified for this tournament. This to indicate how heavy the competition is within the Chinese team.
I expect the women’s tournament only to be interesting from the quarter-finals onward, because the gap between the eight highest ranked players and the rest of the participants in the scheme is significant. In the quarterfinals there will probably be two interesting matches. It is most likely that Wang Yihan and Wang Lin will meet each other and this promises to be a nice match. The other match may be the one between the second ranked Saina Nehwal and Wang Shixian. If I am right this is going to be an exiting encounter.
Interesting first round matches:
Nedelcheva versus Meulendijks and Xing Aiying versus Yao Jie
My medals prediction:
Gold: Wang Yihan
Silver: Wang Xin
Bronze: Saina Nehwal and Tine Baun
Mens Doubles
The favourites for the title are:
Koo / Tan, Jung / Lee, Guo / Xu, Cai / Fu, Boe / Mogensen, Kido / Setiawan
Outsiders are:
Paaske / Rasmussen, Chandra / Gunawan, Ko / Yoo, Fang / Lee
The most spectacular discipline of the badminton sport promises to be breathtaking during this edition of the World Cup. Malaysia is still chasing winning their first gold medal in a World Cup. Currently, in addition to the number one in the world in the men’s singles they also have a trump in the men’s doubles. Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong would very much like to take the first golden medal back to Malaysia, but the way to this ultimate success is heavy as lead. Because already in the quarterfinals they come across the Korean couple Lee Yong Dae en Jung Jae Sung who is seeded seventh. In the last eight encounters they have always lost but almost always in a breathtaking three-gamer.
We also see the current world champions Cai / Fu enter into a tournament again. This year these men could only be seen playing at the Korea Open, the All England, and during the Thomas Cup Finals so it is difficult for the competition to gauge how well these two are playing. I dare to say with certainty that they will come very far this event and I look forward to a possible quarterfinal match against the Danes Boe and Mogensen. Despite rumours that they might withdraw, the 2007 champions Kido and Setiawan fortunately are playing. They also have a good chance of getting far in this tournament.
Interesting first round matches:
Saputra / Wijaya versus Kindervater / Fuchs and Clark / Robertson versus Gunawan / Bach
My medals prediction:
Gold: Cai / Fu
Silver: Lee / Jung
Bronze: Kido / Setiawan, Paaske / Rasmussen
The women’s doubles
The favourites for the title are:
Ma / Wang, Cheng / Zhao, Cheng / Chien, Maeda / Suetsuna, Lee / Lee, Du / Yu
Outsiders:
Sari / Yao, Ha / Kim, Hyun / Jung, Pan / Tian
For eight editions of the World cup the women’s double has been dominated by the Chinese women. The highlight was the last World Cup in India where the entire stage was Chinese. Also at this World Cup it is likely that the gold goes to a Chinese couple, but it is probably going to be a little more equal fight. Also in this discipline, I think the matches will become really interesting as from the quarterfinals.
A striking combination in this scheme is the Korean couple Lee Hyo Jung en Lee Kyung Won. They were silver medallists at the Olympic Games in Beijing, but then stopped playing together because Lee Hyo Jung wanted to concentrate on the mixed double with Lee Yong Dae. Lee Kyung Won found a new partner in Ha Jung Eun with whom she continued playing but announcing at the same time that she would stop in the not too distant future. Now it is the old combination Lee / Lee that can be seen again and because of their enormous experience they are major contenders for a medal.
Interesting first round matches:
Marinello / Overzier versus Kruse / Schjott and Röpke / Frier versus Van Dooremalen / Jonathan
My medals prediction:
Gold: Ma / Wang
Silver: Du / Yu
Bronze: Cheng / Chien, Cheng / Zhao
Mixed Doubles
The favourites for the title are:
Widianto / Natsir, Zheng / Ma, Mateusiak / Kostiuczyk, Lee / Lee, Gunawan / Marissa, Laybourn / Juhl
Outsiders:
Fischer / Pedersen, Ko / Ha, Tao / Zhang, He / Yu
In the mixed doubles, there are many contenders for the title. At the top all couples are more or less evenly matched. Prominent participant is Nova Widianto. The double world champion had announced his retirement but is now making a stab at the third World title with his trusted partner Lilyana Natsir.
In the quarterfinals they will probably meet two old “acquaintances”: Zheng Bo and Ma Jin. Zheng Bo can be watched once again during this tournament after coach Li Yongbo removed him from the Chinese team for disciplinary reasons. He may prove himself again and his results at this World Cup will undoubtedly be taken into consideration when Li Yongbo has to make a decision about his coming back to the Chinese team or not.
After a long lasting injury Joachim Fischer makes his comeback with Christina Pedersen. Last year The Danish couple, won the bronze medal in India, and seeded fifth they are outsiders for the title. They have a tough draw because in their quarter are also Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Kostiuczyk, the winners of the Indonesian Open 2010. It’s going to be fun in this discipline with many exciting matches.
Interesting first round matches:
Kindervater / Overzier versus Anugritayawon / Voravichitchaikul, Diju / Gutta versus Adcock / White
My medals prediction:
Gold: Widianto / Natsir
Silver: Laybourn / Juhl
Bronze: Mateusiak / Kostiuczyk, Lee / Lee