SINGAPORE OPEN 2010 Preview – No Chinese “hot pot” but still tasty

By Serla Rusli, Badzine Correspondent. Photos : Badmintonphoto (archives)

En route to the semi-finals, world #1 Lee Chong Wei may have to go through a tricky match against Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro. The other spot in the quarter finals is much less predictable.  Tough Vietnamese fighter Nguyen Tien Minh (pictured below) – who defeated Chong Wei in last year’s Singapore Open – will have to face Malaysian veteran Wong Choong Hann in the very first round. The winner will most probably face Japanese rising star and All England finalist Kenichi Tago.

Second seeded Peter Gade of Denmark faces a possible clash with Simon Santoso in the quarter-finals. A potentially exciting quarter-final match can be anticipated in a battle between Thai Superman Boonsak Ponsana and Danish youngster Jan O Jorgensen. The latter, seeded fifth in the tournament, has come a long way since last year’s edition of the tournament. The young Dane has brought down top shuttlers such as Lee Chong Wei, Boonsak Ponsana, Peter Gade and Chen Jin since then.

In women’s singles, first seed Saina Nehwal (pictured below) will have tricky rounds against Wong Mew Choo and Yip Pui Yin in the second round and quarter-finals respectively. Fourth seed and the reigning World Champion Lu Lan has to gear up for a challenging quarter-final round against one of the Korean Uber Cup heroines, Bae Seung Hee. The Korean snatched the first victorious point from world #1 Wang Yihan during the Uber Cup finals a few weeks back.

Second-seeded Tine Rasmussen is expected to cruise through to the semi-finals. The towering Dane is back in action after an injury that was responsible for her absence from the Uber Cup this year. She will take on third seed Zhou Mi provided that the Hong Kong shuttler survives her possible quarter-final clash against Yao Jie.

In men’s doubles, world #1 Koo Kien Keat / Tan Boon Heong (pictured below) are expected to reach the semi-finals. They will be challenged by the winner between two former world champions: Lars Paaske / Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark and Tony Gunawan / Howard Bach of the USA. Unlike the Malaysian pair, Olympic Champions Markis Kido / Hendra Setiawan will have to work harder to earn their tickets to the semi-finals as they may have to face the ever-strong Malaysian veterans Choong Tan Fook / Lee Wan Wah. Awaiting them in the semi-finals will most probably be the All England runner-up Boe Mathias / Carsten Morgensen from Denmark.

The women’s doubles event will not see Chinese domination for a change. The first and second seeds are bestowed on Japanese pairs Miyuki Maeda / Satoko Suetsuma and Mizuki Fujii / Reika Kakiiwa respectively. Possible contenders to the Japanese would be Cheng Wen Hsing / Chien Yu Chin from Chinese Taipei as well as Korean scratch pair Kim Min Jung / Lee Hyo Jung, who beat all odds to take down world #1 Ma Jin / Wang Xiaoli at the Uber Cup Finals last month. 

The top mixed doubles pair from Indonesia Nova Widianto / Lilyana Natsir seem to have a path of little resistance to the finals. If everything goes according to the script, they are expected to battle against the Danish pair Thomas Laybourn / Kamilla Rytter Juhl for the Singapore Open title.

Stay tuned to Badzine as we will be reporting the action live to YOU from Singapore Indoor Stadium!

For complete draws for the 2010 Li-ning Singapore Open Super Series, CLICK HERE

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