IT will be cold outside but inside the National Indoor Arena,
one of the hottest battles of the century will take place when the
oldest tournament – the All-England badminton championships – begin
today.
And Malaysia will be depending heavily on their world
number one players – Lee Chong Wei and Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong – to
make it an historic double.
All eyes will be on Chong Wei,
especially with the return of China’s Lin Dan.
Lin Dan did not
compete in the South Korean and Malaysian Opens, chosing instead to
sharpen his game at home.
In his absence, Chong Wei won both the
Opens and is now looking forward to winning the All-England for the
first time – after failing for the last seven years.
“This is a
special All-England because it is celebrating its 100th year. It will be
an honour for me to win it. Besides, it has been a while since a
Malaysian last won the singles title here,” said Chong Wei, referring to
Mohd Hafiz Hashim’s feat in 2003.
It will be a fitting finale
indeed if Chong Wei were to come face to face with Lin Dan but there are
a few “good men” capable of spoiling the show.
The title
contenders in Chong Wei’s top half are Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia,
Denmark’s Peter-Gade Christensen and the two spoilers are Sony Dwi
Kuncoro of Indonesia and Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark.
Former
Olympic and world champion Taufik, for one, is a dangerous proposition.
The independent player is bent on winning his first All-England
title after twice finishing second in 1999 and 2000.
The old and
new Danes – Christensen and Jorgensen – are all fired up to prove a
point as well. Christensen wants to show that he still has what it takes
to win his second All-England title after 11 years while the
21-year-old Jorgensen wants to step out of the shadows of his more
illustrious team-mate.
Lin Dan, who has compatriots Bao Chunlai
and Chen Jin and Mohd Hafiz in his half, should make it to his sixth
final appearance in the All-England.
National coach Misbun Sidek
said: “This will be one of the toughest battles in the All-England
series. Except for Boonsak Ponsana (Thailand), all the top players are
here.”
In the men’s doubles, Kien Keat-Boon Heong are hoping to
regain the All-England title they last won in 2007.
National
doubles chief coach Rexy Mainaky believes that the duo have a chance if
they play true to their form.
“Koo and Tan are in the best form
right now. I will be surprised if they do not go far in this
tournament,” said Rexy.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong will face former
champions Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark in the first round
today.
The other formidable pairs in their half are Indonesian
Alven Yulianto-Hendra Gunawan, Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan and Yonathan
Suryatama Dasuki-Rian Sukmawan, China’s Chai Biao-Zhang Nan (the
reigning German Open champions), South Koreans Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo
Yeon-seong and veterans Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah.
THE TITLE CONTENDERS - MEN'S SINGLES
Name: Lee Chong Wei
(Mas)
Age: 28
World Ranking: 1
Best
in All-England: Runner-up (2009)
Best achievement last
year:
Won the Malaysian Open, Swiss Open, Indonesian Open,
Macau Grand Prix Gold, Malaysian Grand Prix Gold, Hong Kong Open, Super
Series Masters Finals.
> Chong Wei is determined to get his
hands on the presitigious All-England title. It has been frustrating for
him to have played second fi ddle to China’s Lin Dan most of the times
and he is bent on setting the record straight.
Name: Lin Dan (Chn)
Age:
27
World Ranking: 2
Best in All-England:
Champion (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008)
Best achievement last year:
Won the All-England, Sudirman Cup, World Championships, China Open,
French Open, China Open.
> The world will be watching Lin Dan
with great anticipation. After skipping the fi rst two tournaments, he
is expected to return to competition stronger and may even come up with
one or two new tricks up his sleeves. It will be tough to predict his
moves. Is already being touted as one of the most complete players of
this era.
Name: Peter-Gade Christensen
(Den)
Age: 33
World Ranking: 5
Best
in All-England: Champion (1999)
Best achievement last
year: Won the Korean Open.
> Can he win again after 11
years? Although the game is now played at a faster pace, he has been
able to keep up with the change and, in fact, he is playing even better
than many youngsters from Denmark. He is a fighter.
Name: Taufik Hidayat (Ina)
Age: 29
World Ranking: 3
Best in
All-England: Runner-up (1999, 2000)
Best achievement last
year:Won the India Open and OCBC US Open.
> Has a new
found determination since turning professional last year. He is still fi
red up to end his chase for the elusive All-England title. He is
wellprepared and he hopes that Lady Luck will smile on him this time,
after crashing out in the semi-fi nals last year.
Name: Jan O Jorgensen (Den)
Age: 21
World Ranking: 9
Best in
All-England: Semi-finalist (2009)
Best achievement last
year: Runner-up at the China Open.
> The most improved
player last year. Broke into the top 10 in just 1½ years and has beaten
several top players, including Peter-Gade Christensen, Lee Chong Wei and
Taufi k Hidayat. He lost to Chong Wei in the semi-fi nals of the last
year’s All-England and will surely be a tough nut to crack again.
THE TITLE CONTENDERS - MEN’S DOUBLES
Name: Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon
Heong (Mas)
Age: 25, 23
World Ranking: 1
Best in All-England: Champions (2007)
Best
achievement last year: Won the Swiss Open, Malaysian,Open Grand Prix
Gold, Macau Open, Denmark Open.
> The Malaysian duo will want
to prove that their breakthrough performance in Birmingham in 2007 was
no fl ash in the pan. They are more matured and have a better teamwork.
They won the Malaysian Open in January and will want to keep their
momentum going.
Name: Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng (Chn)
Age: 30, 26
World Ranking: 5
Best in
All-England: Champions (2005, 2009)
Best achievement last
year: Won the All-England, Sudirman Cup, World Championships.
>
They have been rather quiet after winning the world title last year.
Cai Yun almost gave up the game but was talked out of quitting. They are
fast on court and, when they get their game going, it is diffi cult to
stop them.
Name: Lee Yong-dae-Jung
Jae-sung (Kor)
Age: 22, 28
World Ranking: 2
Best in All-England: Champions (2008)
Best
achievement last year: Won the Malaysian Open, Indonesian Open,
China Open.
> The duo, especially Yong-dae, know how to
entertain the crowd with swift and sharp moves. They can be ruthless on
court and possess great attacking fl air and solid defensive attributes.
Name: Mathias Boe-Carsten
Mogensen (Den)
Age: 30, 27
World Ranking: 4
Best in All-England: Semi-finals (2009)
Best
achievement last year: Runners-up at Swiss Open and Denmark Open.
> They are now the new number one pair in Denmark. They have not
won any major tournaments to justify their new status though and the
All-England could be their turning point.They have troubled top Asian
pairs on a regular basis and should continue to so this time.
Name: Markis Kido-Hendra
Setiawan (Ina)
Age: 26, 26
World Ranking: 3
Best in All-England: Quarter-finals (2007)
Best
achievement last year: Won the Japan Open, French Open.
>
They have been luckless in the All-England – especially in the last two
years. In 2008, they were bundled out in the opening round. Last year
they did not turn up at Birmingham because of Markis’ personal problems.
They are back and determined to add the All-England title to their
impressive collection of titles, which includes the world and Olympic
crowns.
Courtesy of The Star
