English players are expected to be in the chase for medals in all the doubles events but sadly our prospects do not look strong in the singles.
It's unlikely that any of the young, up-coming players will be able to upset top seeds Victor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen from Denmark. My money is on Antonsen to repeat his win in the recent Tour Finals. Remarkably it's possible, likely even, that the four semi-final places will all be taken by Danes as Vittinghus and Gemke have good draws.
The women's singles is even easier to call with Carolina Marin being streets ahead of the pack, especially since #2 seed Mia Blichfeldt withdrew. Credit to Freya Redfern for progressing through the first round, another win would represent a good event for the top English player.
Our medal prospects get stronger in the Mixed Doubles with Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith being #1 seeds. However Smith & Ellis are not in great form so French pair Gicquel and Delrue are my favourites with the Russians and Danes strong for the other semi final places.
Sean Vendy and Ben Lane will be looking to continue their excellent recent results but face a tough top half draw while the other English pair, Ellis and Langridge, should progress to the semi-final for another battle with the Russian giants Ivanov and Sozanov. The top seeds from Denmark should be too quick (Astrup) and powerful (Rasmussen) for the rest and will probably collect gold.
Possibly our best chance of a gold medal comes, unexpectedly, in the Women's Doubles; an event we have not been strong in for some considerable time. However Lauren Smith and Chloe Birch have improved considerably this season and if their attack is on song they could pose a problem for the Stoeva sisters from Bulgaria.
What are your predictions? Let's see if you do any better than me:
MS - Antonsen (Denmark)
WS - Marin (Spain)
MD - Astru & Rasmussen (Denmark)
WD - Smith & Birch (England)
XD - Gicquel & Delrue (France)
Posts
