Posts Tagged ‘preview’

The Olympics: Preview mixed doubles

(27 juli 2012)

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

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The Olympics: Preview ladies doubles

(26 juli 2012)

Only one of the six Beijing ladies doubles medallists will participate in London. Olympic Champion Yu Yang from China will try to defend her title together with Wang Xiaoli. This pair is top favourite for gold. These ladies became world champion in 2011 in Wembley and those who want to beat this pair should make a tremendous effort.

The ladies who have the best chances versus this super combination are their country(wo)men Zhao Yunlei and Qing Tian, the numbers 2 of the world. At the All England they have already shown that they are able to beat them when especially Wang did perform very badly.

Naturally there are also outsiders who could come far but a final between these two pairs seems to be more or less certain. The European Champions Juhl and Pedersen fortunately are an excellent European counterweight but for a good result they should first get through the group stage which will require a significant effort.

Also the Koreans have a very good pair. Ha Jung Eun and Kim Min Jung could have a surprise in store. They are in a relatively easy group with pairs from Australia and Africa, so the quarter finals are within reach for them but will they be strong enough to get a medal?

My prediction:

Gold: Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli

Silver: Zhao Yunlei/Qing Tian

Bronze: Jung Kyung Eun/Kim Ha Na

For my other predictions scroll down

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The Olympics: Preview men’s doubles

(25 juli 2012)

In the men’s doubles there will also be a new pair winning the gold medal as Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan didn’t succeed to qualify for London. In my opinion that’s a shame not only because they lacked only 200 points in the ranking but in particular because they play badminton in a very offensive and attractive way. Nevertheless there are enough good pairs left to make it a spectacular battle.

The silver medallists of Beijing are now seeded first. Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun were world champion four times but a gold medal at the Games is still lacking. Most of the time these guys are unbeatable at World Championships but at the Olympics runner up “only”. Will they succeed to score everlasting fame this time?

Their biggest competitors and also my personal favourites are the Koreans Lee Yong Dae and Jung Jae Sung. They have played each other very often and so far the mutual results are in favour of the Koreans. In Beijing they already lost in the first round and since this is Jung’s last tournament I bet that he will do his utmost to end his impressive career in a stylish way.

For Europe there are also chances. Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe have shown before that they have the potential to beat anyone. For both it is their first time at the Games and this could be their only disadvantage. At least they have a good draw and they should be able to win a medal.

There are also a few outsiders to be reckoned with such as the Koreans Ko and Yo and perhaps Koo and Tan from Malaysia too. Leading up to the Games the latter pair has played only a very few tournaments because of disappointing results. They had to focus on extremely hard training supervised by the Korean twofold silver medallist  Yoo Yong Sung. Next week we will see if this strategy will pay off.

My prediction:

Gold: Lee Yong Dae/Jung Jae Sung

Silver: Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun

Bronze: Carsten Mogensen/Mathias Boe

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The Olympics: Preview ladies singles

(25 juli 2012)

One thing is for sure these games the triumphal podium for the ladies singles will be entirely different because all the 2008 medallists don’t play anymore. Zhang Ning is the present Chinese coach of the ladies single players, Xie Xingfang holds the hand of Lin Dan and Maria Kristin Yulianti was last seen at the East Java sawas.

Wang Yihan should be the big favourite during these Olympic Games. After all she is the present number one of the world who conquered the 2011 world championship in the same Wembley Stadium. In 2012 she “only” won the Malaysian Open. In the other big tournaments another Chinese lady player managed to perform better.

The lady who is in very good shape is the very young Li Xuerui. Actually she didn’t qualify for the games. According to the world ranking of 3 May she ranked only 4 where she should have been among the best 3. Thanks to her excellent performances in the past season the Chinese Olympic Committee decided to delegate her and to leave home the number three of the world Wang Shixian. Li’s achievements speak for themselves. She won the German Open, the All England, the Asian Championships and the India Super Series. In Indonesia she was runner up. By far the best performance of all but the question is now if she will prove herself in London.

Fortunately Europe has very good players too. How about Yao Jie who has to play Ragna from Iceland and Akvile Stapusaityte, the Lithuanian who plays for Duinwijck. Jie should be able to make it through the group but after that she will have a very difficult task beating the fourth seeded Indian Nehwal. Still I believe Jie can press Nehwal hard. I have seen her training at Papendal and she looks very strong.

A European with potential to win a medal is Juliane Schenk. In Singapore she won her first Super series and she has shown to be able to beat everyone.

My prediction is:

Gold: Li Xuerui

Silver:  Saina Nehwal

Bronze: Juliane Schenk

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The Olympics: Preview men’s singles

(23 juli 2012)

These weeks Papendal is a nice base for training. Dutch olympic athletes as well as foreign athletes are busy with their final preparations for the Games. I met a couple of BMX athletes doing their power exercises. These guys are no match for the track cyclists but last week there was a German track cyclist, a very good one they say, who had legs as thick as all the legs of the Dutch Badminton selection together. To be honest I had to look twice before I realised that this was not a white gorilla which had escaped from some German Zoo.

While we are training like hell at Papendal the real Badminton top players will start to compete in London. I am really looking forward to following these matches. It’s great that in this edition the first rounds are played in groups i.s.o. the knock-out system from the beginning. This makes the tournament more attractive.

My preview of the men’s singles.

The 2008 Olympic Champion Lin Dan is again present. He has won all major titles once or twice and he will make himself an immortal champion if he would succeed to win his second Olympic gold medal. In fact I think that he will not have many problems to win because his main competitor from Malaysia, Lee Chong Wei, got a serious ankle injury in May.

For many consecutive years Lee Chong Wei was the number one of the world and the king of the super series tournaments. But he has no real big trophies. No gold medals at World Championships or Olympic Games. During the World Championships of 2011 in London he came close when he got 2 match points versus Lin Dan but the latter managed to survive and to grab the title. In May during the Thomas Cup final LCW sprained his ankle in his match versus the European legend Peter Gade.

Peter Gade has been at the World top for some 15 years now. In 1997 he already was ranked number one of the World and two years later he won the All England. Also Gade is bothered by the “LCW syndrome”. It also applies to him no World titles and at Olympic Games he never performed very well. The past 2 years it is noticeable that he has grown a bit too old for the World top although he still won a bronze medal at the 2011 World championships. After that his achievements started to deteriorate with an absolute low in April when he was beaten in the quarter finals of the European Championships.

China has 2 more trump cards. The bronze medallist of 2008 and 2010 World Champion Chen Jin managed to qualify for the games at the very last minute. The past year his performances were not really appealing. His last super series title was the Singapore Open in 2011. A salient detail is that his opponent in the finals was  Lin Dan who was not feeling well at that time and didn’t play.

The third Chinese is Chen Long who is still very young and at this level still unexperienced. Nevertheless a dangerous outsider but not a real favourite for the title. Some day he will be able to defeat everybody but if he can at his first Olympic Games?

My prediction:

Gold: Lin Dan

Silver: Lee Chong Wei

Bronze: Chen Long

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World championships preview of the matches of Dutch players: Mixed doubles

(4 augustus 2011)

In the mixed doubles event we have two entries. Jacco Arends and Selena Piek who both make their Worlds debut and Dave Khodabux with Samantha Barning.

Jacco and Selena have a good draw. In the first round the Peruvians Pacheco and Rivero are their opponent, a pair which is unknown to them. Watching the positions on the world ranking this confrontation should be a thriller. The Peruvians are on place 57 and our countrymen on 56 but the Peruvians owe their position mainly to South American tournaments while Jacco and Selena owe theirs to good results in the much stronger EBU circuit. Based on this evaluation I believe that this first round shouldn’t be much of a problem for the Dutch pair. If they survive they encounter in round 2 the winners of the All England 2011, the Chinese Xu Chen and Ma Jin. A nice and instructive experience for this young pair.

Dave and Samantha will meet the Germans Schöttler and Marinello. Although Dave and Samantha fell back to the 79th position on the world ranking while their opponents take place 36 I still think that this could be a nice and thrilling match provided Samantha is completely fit. The past weeks she wasn’t able to fully prepare herself for the championships because of shoulder problems. Both pairs played against each other once before at the European Championships in 2010. At that time our Eastern neighbours won in two games. So time for revenge. If they win the super strong Chinese pair Tao and Qing is waiting for them in the second round.

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World championships preview of the matches of Dutch players: Ladies doubles

(3 augustus 2011)

In this event two Dutch pairs have qualified for the World Championships. Lotte Jonathans and her partner Paulien van Dooremalen and Selena Piek with Iris Tabeling.

Lotte and Paulien are seeded 13th and in the first round they have a bye. This means that they will either play against Chan and Chau from Hong Kong or Agathangelou and Olver from England. Considering the ranking of both pairs Lotte and Paulien should not have much to fear. They have never met the Hong Kong Chinese before but against the English the mutual position is 2-2. An interesting detail is that all four matches were decided in three games. Still I believe that Lotte and Paulien can cope better with the English than with the Chinese way of playing. If they manage to win this second round than they will most probably be confronted with the Japanese pair Matsuo and Naito.

Selena and Iris have a successful year behind them and they have qualified themselves for their first World Championship. They have drawn the Canadian girls Michelle Li and Alex Bruce which is not bad at all. Although the Canadians are 13 points better in ranking I consider our pair to stand a good chance provided Iris is without injury and fit to play next week. A few months ago, during the Sudirman Cup at Qingdao, Iris, at the time together with Samantha Barning, played against these two girls and then the Canadians grabbed the win in two close games. It is going to be an interesting match. If Selena and Iris win they will meet the Koreans Ha and Kim in the second round.

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World championships preview of the matches of Dutch players: men’s doubles

(2 augustus 2011)

In the men’s doubles Holland has 2 participating pairs in London: Ruud Bosch and his partner Koen Ridder and Dave Khodabux and myself.

Ruud and Koen have a good draw. In the first round they meet the Americans Vincent Nguy and Sameera Gunatileka who are relatively unknown in the circuit but still the numbers 57 on the world ranking. Most of the tournaments they play are in North and South America and don’t offer much high level competition. It was with these tournaments that they gathered their points. Our countrymen are 29 points better in ranking and one may expect an easy win. In the second round they will be confronted with the 9th seeded Japanese Hashimoto and Hirata. No doubt this is going to be a tough match but our men are not without chances. They have shown before to be able to stunt. In March during the Swiss open they managed to defeat the All England winners Boe and Mogensen and in May they reached the semi finals of the Grand Prix Gold Tournament of Malaysia. It is going to be an interesting week for this men’s pair which is trying to qualify for the Games in London next year.

As I wrote before Dave and I have a very bad draw. In the first round we will be confronted with the Chinese Hong Wei and Shen Ye. These men from the elite team of Li Yongbo are the number 27 of the world and at the recent Super series of Singapore they reached the quarter finals. So far Dave and I have a positive balance in matches against Chinese and we would like to keep it that way but it is for sure that we are the underdog. If we would manage to win the prospects are again not very favourable because the next opponents would be the Indonesians Kido and Setiawan who were the gold medallists in Beijing.

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World championships preview of the matches of Dutch players: Ladies singles

(1 augustus 2011)

Also in the ladies singles two Dutch players are scheduled: Yao Jie and Judith Meulendijks.

Unfortunately the position of Jie on the world ranking was just about too low to be seeded. In the first round her opponent is the Spanish European Youth Champion Carolina Marin. They never played against each other before. Taking into account both positions on the world ranking Jie should be the favourite for winning but don’t underestimate this great Spanish talent! In the second round the winner of this match meets the runner-up of the All-England, Eriko Hirose from Japan.

Judith Meulendijks is still recovering from a severe hernia and she missed the US Open which was played a couple of weeks ago. Still she is fit enough to play and her draw is not bad at all. In the first round the Austrian Simone Prutsch is her opponent who she knows well. They met three times before and Judith won all three matches. When she wins the Thai World Youth Champion Ratchanok Inthanon is her next challenge.

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World Championships preview of the matches of Dutch players: Men’s singles

(31 juli 2011)

As you know we have had the draw for the World Championships competition in London. During this edition no less than 14 Dutch players are scheduled. Who are they meeting and what are their chances. The next few days I will give a short preview per event. Today the men’s singles.

In the men’s singles we have 2 participants who will uphold the Dutch honor: Eric Pang and Dicky Palyama.

In the first round Eric meets the Thai Boonsak Ponsana who is seeded 10th. For many years Ponsana belongs to the best men’s singles players of the world. It is going to be a difficult task for Eric. Both men have met each other 3 times before and our National Champion never came close to even winning a game. So it is about time for a change. If Eric wins this match his next opponent in round 2 will probably be Wong Choong Hann.

Dicky Palyama has drawn well for the first round. He meets the Canadian Stefan Wojcikiewicz. Dicky and Stefan played against each other two times and in both cases Dicky was the winner. The last time was in May at the Morocco International when Dicky won with 22-20 and 21-18. That must have been an exciting confrontation. Let’s hope that this upcoming match will be easier. If he wins his next opponent is the present world champion Chen Jin.

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