(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-04 11:22

China looking for clean sweep

Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang, the boyfriend-girlfriend badminton players who each head the respective world's singles rankings, are favourites to claim the coveted All-England Open titles for a third successive year.

With sights set on a clean sweep of the titles at this year's Olympic Games in Beijing, there is every prospect of China becoming the first country to win all five titles at the third Super Series tournament of the year in Birmingham this week.

Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun, beaten finalists last year, are top seeds in the men's doubles, while Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen are tipped to successfully defend the women's doubles.

In the mixed doubles, Zheng Bo and Gao Ling are also back to try and stage a successful defence and confirm that they are strong favourites for Olympic success.

For Lin Dan, an ever popular visitor to England, the aim is to win the men's singles for a fourth time in five years.

He opens his bid with a match against India's Anup Sridhar, while his first real test could come from top European hope and No 5 seed, Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen, in the quarter-finals.

Lin Dan will be anxious to prove his form following a shock defeat to South Korea's Lee Hyun Il in the final of the Korean Super Series in January.

Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, who won his home Super Series title in January, is the No 2 seed and he is in the same half as Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, the Indonesian who competes sparingly on the Super Series circuit.

Taufik is only seeded seventh, and could meet Chong Wei in the quarter-finals.

Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin, both of China, are expected to reach the semi-finals, with Denmark's 1999 Champion, Peter Gade, at No 8, joining Jonassen as the only Europeans among the seeds.

Xingfang's target is to go even better than her boyfriend and win the women's singles for a fourth time in a row.

Last year, she overcame the China-born Frenchwoman, Pi Hongyan, in the final and this year the biggest threat to her dominance should come from compatriot, Zhang Ning.

With Lu Lan and Zhu Lin as the third and fourth seeds, it would be a major surprise if a player from China does not win the women's singles. France's Pi Hongyan remains the top hope from the European countries, and is seeded No 6.

Former champions Haifeng-Cai Yun will be eager to make up for last year's defeat in the final in the men's doubles.

This year, their main challenge is expected to come from Indonesia's Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, while two Malaysian pairs -- Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boong Heong and Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah - are the No 3 and 4 seeds.

The men's doubles is again the most likely title to fall out of China's hands -- Hai Feng-Cai Yun are the only China pair among the list of eight seeds.

Prospects of a home win from an English couple surface in both the women's and mixed doubles, although it is no more than an outside chance.

Donna Kellogg and Gail Emms are seeded No 8 in the women's doubles, while Gail and Nathan Robertson, the champions in 2005 and beaten finalists the following year, are similarly rated in the mixed doubles.

 

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