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Thursday, February 26, 2009

YONEX ALL ENGLAND Preview - All the Best to Birmingham


The world of badminton is in the midst of the perennial big awards season where winners’ names become etched in hallowed history and the memories of winning are more special than anywhere else for competitor and spectator. For music, it was the Grammies 10 days ago; for the movies, it's the Oscars this weekend; and in badminton, it is the 2009 Yonex All England Badminton Championships, which begin on March 3 in Birmingham.

By Aaron Wong, Badzine Correspondent. Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)
First Impressions

The draw is overflowing, unlike the most recent Super Series in Korea. There will be several high profile casualties in the opening rounds: namely Peter Gade or Simon Santoso, Lin Dan or Bao Chunlai, and Saina Nehwal or Pi Hongyan.

The red army is back! Their racquets will have something to say about a new world order in which exists a Danish world #1 in women’s singles, and Taiwanese as women’s doubles world #1. And, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng are reunited in men’s doubles after successfully playing in new partnerships at their last Super Series outings.

China's women’s singles line up demonstrates that their regeneration of players program in this category is a success as all their youngsters are in the main draw and dark horses no less. The large cast from each badminton powerhouse nation shows their succession plans are underway too.

India, a second-tier badminton nation, have begun to focus their energies in recent months and, thus, produced players that appear in the main draw in all except men’s doubles in the very year that they will host the World Championships in Hyderabad. It is an achievement worth mentioning. It is worrying that their top singles talents Chetan Anand, for men's, and Saina Nehwal, for women's, will arrive at the All England having pulled out of their national championships owing to injury.


Men’s Singles: Not Unable to Fulfill Vow

Fresh lofty vows need to be proclaimed now that the Olympics are spoken for. In badminton, two vows which grow more famous as they do longstanding: Peter Gade wants to be World Champion; and Taufik Hidayat's untiring desire for an All England crown, the solitary major title missing on his shelf.

"This year, I plan to play in at least eight of the 10 Super Series events. Winning the All England and Swiss Super Series will definitely be my short-term goals," the Indonesian told the Jakarta Post last month.

So can Hidayat do it this time? The men’s singles draw is the toughest so far this year. The three Indonesians are in the same half of the draw along with Peter Gade and world #1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. The three top Chinese (all former world #1’s) feature in the bottom half and will cancel one another out as early as the second round and ultimately by the semi-finals, which are odds on to be Lin Dan, Olympic champion, versus Chen Jin, the defending champion and 3rd seed.

Desire is what humans need to achieve great things. Never mind so much that Hidayat arrives with this as his first tournament for 2009, having had 2 months to mend an injured wrist, and once again after recently going independent from his National Federation PBSI. The answer is that, given his quality in the last year, he is not unable to reach the final. The bigger question is would a Taufik Hidayat final be third time lucky? A decade of experience chalked up since his first All England final and his pent-up desire ought to make a difference.


Women’s Singles - When the Unstoppable Spear Meets the Unbreakable Shield

Should Tine Rasmussen, the defending champion and world #1, retain her title it would be 3 Super Series victories in row in 2009. In fact, three former queens of the All England court will do battle including Zhou Mi (photo, right) of Hong Kong, and three-time champion Xie Xingfang leads 5 comrades into battle.

What happens when an Asian Champion meets (Jiang Yanjiao) a World Champion (Zhu Lin) in the first round? Every one of the Chinese ladies is highly decorated in her own right and, therefore, a big occasion player. Any one of them is capable of toppling her teammate. In the aftermath of the Olympics, China has pitted its entire premier team in the same event to assess current potential. In light of this, the ladies are aware that this is a fresh test to prove their worth and previous accolades or legacy do not count. All six of them walking away without the prize would definitely be something for the rest of us to talk about.

It is tough to pick a race winner this early because we have not seen these Chinese players in action for months. Based on the draw, Xie has a better than even chance but she is prone to not finding her rhythm in the middle of a competition. Look out for the young, vibrant and tall Wang Lin as the real threat to Rasmussen in the top quarter of the draw.


Men’s Doubles: Mix and Match

It is a pity that the current world #1’s Jung Jae Sung / Lee Yong Dae have no opportunity to consolidate their ranking or defend their title as Jung has compulsory military service. The men’s doubles has been won by a different pair every other year this decade and so it will be once more. The seeded players are set to make the greatest impact. The exciting pair on the rise are Korea Open winners Mathias Boe / Carsten Mogensen as well as the rejuvenated Koo Kien Keat / Tan Boon Heong combination from Malaysia.

Lee Yong Dae will partner Shin Baek Cheol in a partnership of World Junior Champions from 2006 and 2007 that will appear as the 6th seeds. The trend of not having your usual partner continues with Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach, former World Champions, reteaming. Gunawan's best friend Candra Wijaya teams with Joko Riyadi. Logic prevails and the All England is to be commended for its sensible seeding policy. It wasn't that many years ago when top ten players who were split into new pairings and left unseeded still made it to the semis and finals.




Women’s Doubles: Rematch?

The most celebrated figure this century at the All England is missing. Gao Ling, the 6-time women’s doubles champion and 4-time mixed doubles champion, is currently an independent player and the national team takes priority at major tournaments. Most of us would trade her recent Malaysia and Korea SS appearances for an All England one.

The women’s doubles final could be a rematch of last year's All England (or the Olympic Final) as Lee Kyung Won / Lee Hyo Jung and Du Jing / Yu Yang are in either half of the draw. Both pairs are well rehearsed for long enough and are the outstanding ones still playing together at this level. The top Malaysians Chin Eei Hui / Wong Pei Tty , who held the world #1 spot briefly at the beginning of the year, are sobre in their self assessment.

"We are still not the top pair, as Du Jing / Yu Yang and other Chinese pairs haven't been regularly playing on the international circuit," Eei Hui told the New Straits Times. "Our aim is to do better when the top pairs from China are playing as this is where our ability will be gauged."


Mixed Doubles: The New Frontier

In mixed doubles, 5 local pairs meet early on and Donna Kellogg/Anthony Clark should be one of the pairs to emerge from the second round scrum. Kamilla Rytter Juhl / Thomas Laybourn are on the ascent in terms of confidence and will be looking to translate the feeling into their first Super Series tournament in a while after clinching the Super Series finals.

Malaysian level doubles specialists have earmarked mixed doubles as an untapped market for their talents. Three pairs are in qualification including Wong Pei Tty / Mohd Fairuzizuan, whilst Ng Hui Lin / Koo Kien Keat start in the main field. It will be interesting to see where this initiative leads. The surprise is seeing former men’s doubles All England winner Halim Haryanto popping up in a different event after years away from major tournaments, and now representing the USA instead of Indonesia.

Notable Absences

Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae, MD world #1, Korea.
Wang Chen, WS, world #4, Hong Kong.
Vita Marissa, WD world#5 & MX. Indonesia.
Park Sung Hwan, MS world #8. Korea.
Wong Mew Choo, WS world #12. Malaysia.
Nguyen Tien Minh, MS world #15. Vietnam.
Peter Mikkelsen, MS. Denmark. Recent nationals finalist
Wang Chen, WS. Hong Kong. Recent SS Masters finalist.


The All England Attraction

The break from the Chinese players and their imminent return helps the rest of the field appreciate the space in the sport filled by them. This is looking at the players purely as talented individuals or names that we miss rather than as China. The thing about competition is you want to be competitive. Professional sportspeople embrace competition and variety, and opponents who bring out the best in them. It benefits all concerned that all the top players can participate.

The All England is the brightest (Super Series) spot on the badminton calendar and it is excellent there has been unanimous agreement by way of turn out.

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