2013 France Open Super Series: Pre-tournament forecast

2013-10-22

The second stage of the VICTOR stars’ European tour sees them in Paris, France next. The winners of the men’s doubles title at the Denmark Open, the KOREA’s Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong, have still to see the points they won affect their ranking so are seeded just 8th.
 
They will face famous Chinese player Fu Hai Feng and up and coming Hong Wei in the first round. Fu/Hong beat 6th seeds Kim Ki JungKim Sa Rang at the Denmark Open last week to reach the last eight and are regarded as the most dangerous non-seeded pair. If Lee/Yoo can overcome Fu/Hong they will be likely to face world No. 1 pair Indonesia’s Ahsan/Setiawan in the quarterfinals. 
 
Yoo Yeon Seong

The MD champion of Denmark Open 2013 - Yoo Yeon SeongLee Yong Dae

However, Ahsan continually rubbed his shoulder last week when playing and revealed that he was feeling discomfort in his right shoulder after the end of the tournament. If LeeYoo can continue playing to such a high standard they have a good chance of beating the world’s top ranked pair again.

“Indonesian Lightning” AhmadNatsir will play the KOREA’s Shin Baek Choel/ Eom Hye Won in the first round. Another popular KOREA pairing of a handsome male player and beautiful woman is Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na who will play Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan/ Vita Marissa in round one. Praveen Jordan/ Vita Marissa have beaten Indonesia’s top mixed doubles pair AhmadNatsir this year so can’t be underestimated.
 
As for Chinese Taipei, Men’s singles player Chou Tien Chen will face world No. 4, Kenichi Tago of Japan. In the first round. Kenichi Tago leads Chou one-nil after having beaten Chou in the only time the pair have played each other before.  
 
Chinese Taipei’s women’s singles star Tai Tzu Ying will not have an easy ride as she tries to progress in the tournament. She will face one of Hong Kong’s top women’s singles players Yip Pui Yin in the first round and, to get to the final, will have to beat Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi Sayaka and China’s“Badminton Queen” Li Xui Rui .She will also have to overcome the fatigue she has accumulated after playing often in recent week. She said last week that continuous competition had left her leg muscled very fatigued and she needed to find the time to rest.  
 
Runner-up in the women’s singles in Denmark, Sung Ji Hyun, will face India’s P.V. Sindhu in round one. If she makes it to the semis Sung will probably face the title winner at the Badminton World Championship, Thailand’s Intanon. The good news is that, in their eight previous meetings, Sung has won six times, so can, perhaps, be considered favorite.
 
VICTOR stars playing in the first round:
Men’s singles
Chou Tien Chen (TPE) VS (JPN) Kenichi Tago [3]
 
Women’s singles
Tai Tzu Ying [8] (TPE) VS (HK) Yip Pui Yin
Bae Yeon Ju (KOR) VS  [Q] Qualifier
Sung Ji Hyun [6] (KOR) VS (IND) P.V. Sindhu
 
Men’s doubles
Ko Sung HyunShin Baek Choel [7] (KOR) VS (NED) Jelle Maas/Jacco Arends
Lee Yong DaeYoo Yeon Seong [8] (KOR) VS (CHN) Fu Hai Feng/Hong Wei
Kim Ki JungKim Sa Rang [6] (KOR) VS (JPN) Saeki Hiroyuki /Taohata Ryōta
 
Women’s doubles
Shin Seung Chan/ Eom Hye Won (KOR) VS (CHN) Bao Yi Xin/Tang Jin Hua
Jang Ye Na/Kim So Young (KOR) VS (THA) Duanganong/Kunchala [8] 
Jung Kyung EunKim Ha Na[4] (KOR) VS (RUS) Irina Khlebko/Ksenia Polikarpova
Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) VS (INA) Gebby Ristiyani Imawan/Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah
 
Mixed doubles 
Yoo Yeon Seong/Jang Ye Na (KOR) VS (GER) Michael Fuchs/Birgit Michels
Ko Sung HyunKim Ha Na [8] (KOR) VS (INA) Praveen Jordan/Vita Marissa
Tontowi AhmadLiliyana Natsir [3] (INA) VS (KOR) Shin Baek Choel/Eom Hye Won 
Kim Ki Jung/Kim So Young (KOR) VS (IND) Sam Magee/Chloe Magee
Tarun Kona/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) VS (SCO) Robert Blair/Imogen Bankier
 
( Edit by VICTOR Badminton )