Why they'll win: Because lightning can strike twice. There's something that makes Yang and Meng stand out from their counterparts in the Chinese sports machine: luck. In Athens, the pair were in a five-boat photo finish - and when judges ruled in their favour it provided one of the highlights of the Games for Chinese fans. There have been choppy waters since Athens as Meng, exhausted by years of training in isolation, quit the sport. But Yang persuaded him to return for a last hurrah and, after intense training under now-departed German guru Josef Capousek, the pair are in better shape than before Athens, having won two of three World Cup events this year.

Who can stop them: Christian Gille/Tomasz Wylenzek (Germany)

Final: Saturday 23rd