Interesting courts & experiences

[Cheung]

Some unusual conditions I've played in:

1) Church halls - not so uncommon in UK

2) A small school hall with the rear wall only one foot distance behind the back service line. That court also had one corner of the court floor in stone - the rest of the floor was wood. - North West London.

3) A hall in Malaysia with three courts in front of a huge model of Buddha (probably around 30 foot height) - Ipoh, Malaysia. Fortunately, there is a vending machine selling 100plus (an electrolyte drink) right outside. Lose count of the cans I drink.


Some really nice courts I've played in:

1) Wimbledon Squash and Badminton club - London

2) Vancouver Racquets - where else but Vancouver. Very difficult to sneak in.

3) KFC - Subang (but very hot), near Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia. Nearly suffocated because not accustomed to the heat. There was no vending machine with 100plus nearby.

4) Hong Kong Sports Institute - nice floor, some drift. The Hong Kong squad are also training. Awesome stuff and I feel humbled.


Some really friendly courts I've played in:

1) Griffith Uni in Brisbane, Australia - (bit biased because the better players asked me to join them from an adjacent court)

2) Sydney Uni, again Australia! - Travelled there to take a hugely important post-graduate exam. The total cost of the trip (exam fees, flight, accomodation) is equivalent to more than 20 Yonex MP100's so I figure time off for two hours of badminton costing 5 or 6 Aussie dollars is gonna be OK.

3) Toronto somewhere a bit further on from little Chinatown - I was a travelling student with a racquet! (cab 8dx; BG65). First time I get to meet some Vietnamese chinese. Great games and great fun.


Some memorable courts I've never played in::

1) Stadium Negara, Malaysia. Bad time keeping on my part. The Thomas/Uber cup were held a year and a half earlier! The stadium is completely empty so I go to stand in the middle of the arena and try to imagine what the 1992 finals were like.

2) Queen Elizabeth stadium, Hong Kong. 1998 Thomas cup final Indonesia vs Malaysia. Indonesian supporters out in force with an amplifier and speakers to increase their "vocal" support. The drumbeats and chanting make a non-Indonesian want to join in.

3) Tian He stadium, Guang Zhou, China. 2001 All China games. En mass cheering. "Gong Zhi Chao Jia yo" "Jiangsu dui Jia yo" "Guang Dong dui Jia yo"

[Bbn]

I do have some interesting venues :

1) The college hall of the UK University I studied in. The

backline was about 300mm from the wall and there was a

portruding dado at head height on the wall.I broke quite a few

racquets attempting smashes from base.

2) The sports hall of a famous KL Equestrian club which I was

part of the development team a decade ago. The interior was

designed by Gunalan with dark green walls and flooring totally

PVC, you never have to worry about drafts and injuries to your

feet.After a game you just adjourn to the sauna or jacuzzi or

poolside. Of course joining fee in US$5K and montly fee

US$20

3) The stadium negara is abandoned and due to be

demolished. I don't think the KFC courts exist anymore.

[marshall]

Some unusual courts I've played on:
1. Loyola University, New Orleans - New gym, great wood floors, good lights, and a drift on one end that affected only high clears hit from the other side of the net. This was a permanent breeze from the air conditioning that suddenly blew high balls 3 1/2 feet to the left (as seen from the receiver's point of view).

2. YMCA St Petersburg, Florida - beautiful early 20th century building, standard Y at that time, with lots of mosaic tile, oak woodwork, etc., and a gym floor full of burrowing wood-eating bugs. Avoiding the soft spots a real challenge. Visions of lunging for a well-placed shot, falling, and collecting splinters from one of the bug picnic areas.

3. Rec Center, New Iberia, Louisiana - 20 foot ceiling. Court rule: anything that hits the roof is a fault. Big advantage for regular players.

Some great courts:
1. Multnomah Athletic Club, Portland, Oregon - 4 courts in the Badminton Gym, dark green walls, dark floors w/white badminton lines, lights over sidelines, not on court; 6 -8 other courts in larger gym.

2. Worms, Germany - Sports Palace green rubber floor, some resilience, but not really soft, good traction, 5 rows of 3 courts per row, 9 more courts available if needed for really big tournaments, public address system, permanent bleachers, snack bar with kitchen. Very friendly people at tournament.

BTW, my wife played tournament at Vancouver Racquet Club, told me they had a solid walnut floor, w/badminton lines only; all-white clothing rule. She was asked by club steward to leave court and put on all-white warmup suit. But people were really nice.

[Mag]

Hmm... it be kinda neat to have a review section for places to play... in addition to the "where to play" forum... Kwun, how do you feel about this?

I expect most people here could easily review 5-10 gyms each... with time it would become a good service for travelling badminton addicts!

[kwun]

i think the the places to place forum can serve that purpose as well. as that forum is rather low traffic. perhaps adding a REVIEW keyword on the Subject line. that will do it!

my plan is to merge the reviews and the forum software into one. each product review will just be a separate forum. this will make adding more product much more efficient.