Pictures from the Boston Open 2005 XD Final

[blckknght]

Here are some pictures i took at the Boston Open last weekend - They're not as bright as i'd like. I still can't figure out how to let enough light in while still having a relatively quick shutter speed. It was a really fun tournament, was anyone else here at it?

[blckknght]

oh, and one more, doesn't look like it got uploaded.

[Qidong]

It's weird to see the girl standing at the back while the guy's serving in a tournment. :rolleyes:

[jcl49]

It's weird to see the girl standing at the back while the guy's serving in a tournment. :rolleyes:
Surely thay can't have been playing levels doubles?? No disrepect to the girl, but that means that the girl would have been very very good.
jl

[jug8man]

Surely thay can't have been playing levels doubles?? No disrepect to the girl, but that means that the girl would have been very very good.
jl


just look at her leg muscles!!!!!!!!!!!! her thigh and calf definitions are pretty tough!!!!!!!!!!!

she looks like some sort of ex china player or something... just a guess tho.... not enuff info to go about


8man

[jamesd20]

They are both doing it-Maybe that is the way they do it in boston (respecting the ladies?)

Maybe Blcknght can elaborate. Was that the final?

[Quasimodo]

Well, judging from the last picture, looks like they (i.e., the pair playing "normal" doubles style) lost. :)

[blckknght]

Yes, that was the final. Andy Chong and Szlivi Szombati (Massechussetts) won against Lili Zhou and Daniel Ko (California). Lili is a stronger player than Daniel, so they played somewhat level doubles. and yes, she's carved out of wood. If any of you ever get a chance to see Andy Chong play, it's a real pleasure.

[kwun]

Yes, that was the final. Andy Chong and Szlivi Szombati (Massechussetts) won against Lili Zhou and Daniel Ko (California). Lili is a stronger player than Daniel, so they played somewhat level doubles. and yes, she's carved out of wood. If any of you ever get a chance to see Andy Chong play, it's a real pleasure. never seen Lili Zhou play though i know that she is the top woman player in the US. i have seen Dan Ko plays and to know that she is as strong as him is just amazing.

and to remember that all these players will look like amateurs when playing international tournament against the top nation tells me how low i stand in the badminton pyramid.

[Quasimodo]

Here are some pictures i took at the Boston Open last weekend - They're not as bright as i'd like. I still can't figure out how to let enough light in while still having a relatively quick shutter speed. It was a really fun tournament, was anyone else here at it?

What camera did you use? If it's a 35mm with changeable lenses (e.g., SLR, high-end rangefinder), use a faster lense, from my own experience f/4 at the minimum, and a faster film, ISO 800/1600/3200. If it's a digital non-interchangeable lense, then you're basically stuck. Set the camera to Aperture Priority, open up the lense to its largest aperture and that's more or less it.

One more thing, since the courts are more brightly lit compared to the rest of the gym, try spot metering on a player's shirt and opening up another stop or two. Unless you're shooting slides, you can correct some amount of underexposure in print or in Photoshop.

FWIW, HTH.

[krantikt]

I have seen Lili Zhou play in one of the tournaments in bay area last year.
It was the Norther California Open 2004. She played in Mens 'A' singles and won that event. Shame on all the men :)

She is pretty good, not really powerfull, but extremely consistent. And her net play is outstanding. She did not even play the womens round in any event.

Just the Mens A singles and Mixed and won both events.

Her legs do reflect her speed.

[blckknght]

Yeah, she's a very precise player, doesn't waste any energy. very efficient. It wasn't that she was stronger than Daniel, but seemed to be able to deal with their opponents shots a lot easier.
The lens i used was a 50 mm, and the aperture goes as low as 1.7. i was however stuck with 200 speed film. :-)
G
ps - kwun, i go through the same analysis of myself on the badminton pyramid:-) and i just consider myself fortunate to be able to get coaching once in a while from these people!




What camera did you use? If it's a 35mm with changeable lenses (e.g., SLR, high-end rangefinder), use a faster lense, from my own experience f/4 at the minimum, and a faster film, ISO 800/1600/3200. If it's a digital non-interchangeable lense, then you're basically stuck. Set the camera to Aperture Priority, open up the lense to its largest aperture and that's more or less it.

One more thing, since the courts are more brightly lit compared to the rest of the gym, try spot metering on a player's shirt and opening up another stop or two. Unless you're shooting slides, you can correct some amount of underexposure in print or in Photoshop.

FWIW, HTH.

[Qidong]

I have seen Lili Zhou play in one of the tournaments in bay area last year.
It was the Norther California Open 2004. She played in Mens 'A' singles and won that event. Shame on all the men :)

She is pretty good, not really powerfull, but extremely consistent. And her net play is outstanding. She did not even play the womens round in any event.

Just the Mens A singles and Mixed and won both events.

Her legs do reflect her speed.

No wonder, maybe it's better simply let the guy stay in front most of the time, and let Lili Zhou stays at the back. ;)

[SteveStanley]

I heard that a Polish guy won the A Mens Single at the recent Boston Open, he ranks #7 in Poland. I may play with him tonight :)

Did Andy Chong play the Mens Singles event as well? Who won the Mens Doubles?
I've watched Andy Chong playing, in fact I played against him in Mens Singles once, I lost though, oh ... he's so good, his wrist is so powerful and can do all the tricks with his wrist.

[FEND.]

It's weird to see the girl standing at the back while the guy's serving in a tournment. :rolleyes:
lol. What happened to equal rights!!! :p


Well, judging from the last picture, looks like they (i.e., the pair playing "normal" doubles style) lost. :)
Don't forget the girl was using panhandle and judging from it, I suspect that the girl was using panhandle throughout the rest of the game...

[ctjcad]

She is from Southern California area and I believe she is coaching at a local badminton club @ a junior college in Irvine(IBC). I know she played a lot at tournaments here(ie. recent US Open, SCBA Classics). She played in the final of Women's Single at last year's US Open against Xin Ai Ying(S'pore), but lost in 3 sets. Other than that, so far I've seen her play 3x-4x playing Men's Single only and a couple times playing "funky" doubles..She's pretty good, but I wouldn't call her "world class player". I remember 1 yr ago, prior to the US Open, she won the Men's A Single field at a local tournament here..But this past winter, she got "creamed"(straight sets) quite easily by an Indonesian player, not known at all, but who used to train in the Indonesian National Taining Center(Pelatnas)..The guy also played in "funky" double(that's the top level doubles) with his brother(both quite young) and basically "creamed" the rest of the competition(even another local Indonesian club player Trisna Gunadi, if anyone who is familiar with Andy Chong, should be familiar with him also)..Needless to say, everyone who was there was in "awe" and "speechless" watching the 2 brothers play..Even if they're not official National players, their quality and level of play is way ahead of most of the "elite club level players" in the U.S.

Yes, Lili is from China, i believe she came from the same province as GongRN or another Chinese National player?!?!But she couldn't make the national team because of what else, "her height"..


I have seen Lili Zhou play in one of the tournaments in bay area last year.
It was the Norther California Open 2004. She played in Mens 'A' singles and won that event. Shame on all the men :)

She is pretty good, not really powerfull, but extremely consistent. And her net play is outstanding. She did not even play the womens round in any event.

Just the Mens A singles and Mixed and won both events.

Her legs do reflect her speed.

[cooler]

I have seen Lili Zhou play in one of the tournaments in bay area last year.
It was the Norther California Open 2004. She played in Mens 'A' singles and won that event. Shame on all the men :)

She is pretty good, not really powerfull, but extremely consistent. And her net play is outstanding. She did not even play the womens round in any event.

Just the Mens A singles and Mixed and won both events.

Her legs do reflect her speed.

*scratch head* but err... does the rule allow a lady to play in men event(s)??

[jcl49]

*scratch head* but err... does the rule allow a lady to play in men event(s)??
The roots of this question does back to the debate about whether "a top women pro is able to beat the 100th professionally ranked man".

It must be am open tournament, where women (assumed to be equal or weaker than their male counterpart) are allows to replace a man. Open in that anyone can play. Ofcourse getting qualified for the tournament is another issue.

jl

[MarkinJapan]

*scratch head* but err... does the rule allow a lady to play in men event(s)??
hey, we've got to be equal. At my next local tournament, i'm taking home the womens title!

[cooler]

hey, we've got to be equal. At my next local tournament, i'm taking home the womens title!


I agree. Wanna pair up for some XD and WD titles as well? ;)

[Quasimodo]

...The lens i used was a 50 mm, and the aperture goes as low as 1.7. i was however stuck with 200 speed film. :-)

Then if I were in your situation, I'd get as close as possible to the court (I'm a devout follower of Robert Capa's "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough!"), meter the floor and open up about 2 stops, may be even a bit more. It's impossible to determine from your pictures, but assuming that you've done no correction after you scan them, I'd say your pictures are overexposed.

Sorry for the OT post. Didn't mean to turn this into a photo forum. :)

P.S.: 50/1.7? Minolta?

[blckknght]

Indeed, it's a Minolta, an XG-1. i love it... but actually those pictures were changed a little and not just scanned - the originals aren't as bright, and it's more difficult to see them...




Then if I were in your situation, I'd get as close as possible to the court (I'm a devout follower of Robert Capa's "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough!"), meter the floor and open up about 2 stops, may be even a bit more. It's impossible to determine from your pictures, but assuming that you've done no correction after you scan them, I'd say your pictures are overexposed.

Sorry for the OT post. Didn't mean to turn this into a photo forum. :)

P.S.: 50/1.7? Minolta?

[SWC_Ant]

I agree. Wanna pair up for some XD and WD titles as well? ;)make sure you post some pics! :p

[fanatico]

umm.. the players look real lousy

[chicteenager]

umm.. the players look real lousy
You must be damn good in badminton to produce this kind of statement. Otherwise, please mind your words...I don't think they are lousy at all..

[jamesd20]

umm.. the players look real lousy

For what reason?

In all the photos i cant see anything wrong with them. In the only two "action pictures" where the shuttle is in play the black t-shirt guy shows good overhead technique, and the other guys serve is very low to the net. Everyones rackets are up ready to attack. There isn't anything wrong at all.

[blckknght]

well said jamesd. They're all good players. Andy used to play for Malaysia's National Team in the 80's, his partner played for the Hungarian National Team, and their opponents are from the US National Team.




For what reason?

In all the photos i cant see anything wrong with them. In the only two "action pictures" where the shuttle is in play the black t-shirt guy shows good overhead technique, and the other guys serve is very low to the net. Everyones rackets are up ready to attack. There isn't anything wrong at all.

[Jumpalot]

umm.. the players look real lousy

Ummmm.. Lili Zhou won 2nd place in WS at the last US Open.

[jug8man]

well said jamesd. They're all good players. Andy used to play for Malaysia's National Team in the 80's, his partner played for the Hungarian National Team, and their opponents are from the US National Team.


does anybody has any idea about who this Andy Chong is???? coz i never heard of him... Bbn? u know the guy? anybody???

thanks in advance

[Quasimodo]

does anybody has any idea about who this Andy Chong is???? coz i never heard of him... Bbn? u know the guy? anybody???

thanks in advance

A.K.A. Chong Wen Kai, I think. Malaysia #2 or #3 during Misbun's reign. Don't take my word for it, though.

[jug8man]

A.K.A. Chong Wen Kai, I think. Malaysia #2 or #3 during Misbun's reign. Don't take my word for it, though.


WHERE ARE MY MANNERS! i should have posted a thank you a lot sooner. :o

thanks........ u are right. it is chong wen kai. i sort of have confirmation from my source. :)

8man