. Greetings, And so we have arrived at Day 6 (FINALS), Sunday June 14th, of the Singapore Open 2008. It's the first time that I have managed to follow a SS Tournament from start to finish. Over the last 5 days, many upsets were caused by improved players. But still, there remain three 1st seeds left in the FINALS, namely; (1) MS: Lee Chong Wei (MAS) (2) WD: Du Jing/Yu Yang (CHN) (3) XD: Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir (INA) OK, my predictions (as highlighted) are: (1) MS: Lee Chong Wei (MAS) (1st seed) to defeat Simon Santoso (INA) (6th seed) LCW have said that he would concentrate to make it to the Finals, but this time his opponent is Simon and not Lin Dan. LCW's form has been good... so I don't see why he couldn't win this event. (2) LS: Tine Rasmussen (DEN) (2nd seed) to defeat Zhou Mi (HKG) (5th seed) TR has proven that her form is getting better and better. She would be delighted to carry on with it... to the Beijing Olympics 2008. She would be sending this "BEWARE" message to the top missing Chinese WS players. (3) MD: Zakry/Fairuzizuan (MAS) to defeat Gan Teik Chai/Lin Woon Fui (MAS) It's great to find that these 2 unseeded pairs reaching the Finals. Za-Fa could be a little bit steadier than Gan-Lin. (4) WD: Du Jing/Yu Yang (CHN) (1st seed) to defeat Cheng Wen Hsing/Chien Yu Chin (TPE) (2nd seed) This is the only event that Seeds 1 and 2 have made it to the Finals. Du-Yu would be able to show us why they should be ranked higher than their opponents Cheng-Chien. (5) XD: Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir (INA) (1st seed) to defeat Clark/Kellogg (ENG) (6th seed) The world's highest ranked XD pair should have no problem winning this event. My hope is that Liliyana is not too tired after having to play more games/matches than her partner and her opponents in this tournament. Well... Good Luck to All Participants !!! Cheers... chris@ccc .
Nah! It's difficult to disagree with your predictions except for the XD. Anthony Clark & Donna Kellogg are in tremendous form. In the QF, they disposed of Zheng Bo & Gao Ling rather cheaply. However, that's hardly the case with Nova Widianto & Liliyana Natsir. Even in their opening match, they dropped a game... against one of the weakest pairs in the tournament (Danny Chrisnanta & Vanessa Neo). Worse, Liliyana's game leaves little room for optimism. From what's on show here, she's not in the pink of form. See, Clark already has his eyes fixed on the title
imagine you are in LCW/Tine's shoes.... if they lose in the SO finals (touchwood) when everyone expects them to win... it would be very demoralising for these players before the OG starts....
SO 2008: XD Finals . Another great photo, Oldhand . In the QF, I was just as impressed with Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir defeating Sudket/Saralee (THA) (5th seed) 21-14, 21-12, as you were with Clark/Kellogg defeating Zheng Bo/Gao Lin (CHN) (2nd seed) 21-12, 21-18. Actually, I was hoping that Sudket/Saralee would do better, but it didn't happen. Anyway, I think Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir will be meeting Zheng Bo/Gao Lin at the Beijing Olympics 2008 in the Finals for GOLD. .
I hope that LCW will win this final. All the best to you, Chong Wei. Make Malaysia proud of you. I will fly up high the Jalur Gemilang today. I am happy that I am able to witness my favourite team merge champion in MD. Well done, Malaysia!
I tend to agree with Oldhand on the XD, that's why my bet is on the English pair for my PAW. With so many upsets happening during the past few days, will it be a surprise if only one can again come true today? I'm going to the SIS now to enjoy the entertainment. Let the Show being at 1 pm sharp!
Don't mention Clark's sleepiness, even I had difficulty keeping eyes open. Thank God for the doughnuts, ate 5 of them yesterday. Now at Kallang Leisure Mall for more Great Singapore Window Shopping. Just 100 yards from the stadium. Uncle Loh is a "VIP" in his home event, he should be arriving at the stadium anytime soon, to try and grab free VIP lunch. Back to predictions: MS - LCW over Simon. This is if it is accoding to form. LCW known to leave his foot off the gas against lower ranked opponents, Simon could punish him dearly. WS - TR over ZM. Tine is sharper than last month at Uber Finals. ZM is struggling. But if there is a breed of players who can beat Tine, it would be experienced CHN and ex-CHN players. And ZM, Xu, Pi, Wang Chen and XXF belong to this group. MD - boring!!! Fuzzy to beat ex-partners if they can maintain consistency. WD - CHN tomboys over TPE ladies. Tomboys not as flamboyant as their previous tournaments, but TPE pair not in the best of form. XD - INA over ENG. Could be 3 games.
I think LCW is clear favourite to win MS title here, the only one hope for INA depends on Nova/Lilyana.
am currently in Malacca;... dunno shud go to singapore to watch the badminton live or not.. but most probably i wont be going
Just entered the stadium with jimbo and tjl-vanguard. Redeemed my Mazda lucky draw coupon and submitted to the box. Folks beside me are complaining about the centre section of the seating (opposite camera view) is closed by organizers. Smacks of unprofessionalism, says one guy. Singapore, unprofessional? 40 minutes before shuttles are destroyed in anger, and the crowd is trickling in. The two most anticipated matches (XD and MS) pushed to last in the order of play.