Ucb / Gg Open 2007 $8888!!

[GGManagement]

:D CALLING ALL BADMINTON FRIENDS!

We just wanted to remind you that the GOLDEN GATE BADMINTON CLUB UCB / GG OPEN 2007, with prize money up to $8888, is just around the corner on October 5th, Friday to October 7th, Sunday, so please send your final applications out ASAP!! We are really excited about our SECOND UCB / GG OPEN and we do hope GG FRIENDS will all come to support the players, or PLAY YOURSELF in this fantastic Tournament! There is a category for everyone and we really wish to see all our beloved GGBC FRIENDS participating in our great annual tournament! We can guarantee you adrenaline pumping FUN FUN FUN!! Please take a look at the application form attached and send it in as soon as possible! Please ignore the deadline date on the application form! We want to encourage EVERYONE in the Bay Area and beyond to participate so we are extending the deadline. Please take a look at the form above, and fill it out ASAP! It will be an exciting challenge for ALL! We have players coming from across the Nation and Canada too! See you all at the UCB / GG OPEN 2007!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COMPETE IN OUR TOURNAMENT PLEASE TAKE THE FOLLOWING APPLICATION PROCEDURES:
1./ PLEASE PRINT OUT THE ENTRY FORM ABOVE AND FILL IT OUT in clear print.
2./ PLEASE FIRST EMAIL YOUR NAME AND INTEREST TO ENTER , TO CHRIS LAWRENCE AT: ccclawrence@aol.com (ccclawrence@aol.com) IMMEDIATELY.
3./ PLEASE POST THE APPLICATION FORM WITH THE ENTRY FEE CHECK AMOUNT TO CHRIS LAWRENCE AT:
Chris Lawrence, 8950 Bradwell Place, Apt. 104, Fishers, Indiana, IN 46038


See you all VERY soon!

Best Regards, GG Management! :D:D

[kwun]

i might need a ride from Santa Clara to GGBC2 early on Sunday morning, Oct 7th. anybody?

[mugdays]

Hey Kwun, this is Gumaro. I can give you a ride. But you have to take plenty of action shots of me, hahahaha.
And don't worry, I have a reliable car now :P

[MaggieHo]

Hey Kwun, this is Gumaro. I can give you a ride. But you have to take plenty of action shots of me, hahahaha.
And don't worry, I have a reliable car now :P

You better put on seat belt, haha :)

[drifit]

You better put on seat belt, haha :)

make sure the car is fitted with air-bag....:p

[monto]

Can GGBC please publish the names of those entering? (once the entries have been determined)

[kwun]

Hey Kwun, this is Gumaro. I can give you a ride. But you have to take plenty of action shots of me, hahahaha.
And don't worry, I have a reliable car now :P

Gumaro! thanks for the offer. i will contact you later. you don't mind going early early, right?

[kwun]

Can GGBC please publish the names of those entering? (once the entries have been determined)

it is in the hands of Chris Lawrence the tournament director. i will bug him early next week about the entry list.

[mugdays]

Hey Kwun,

Early early is fine by me. :)

[monto]

it is in the hands of Chris Lawrence the tournament director. i will bug him early next week about the entry list.
Any word from Chris? I'm expecting some exciting opening round matches (MS/MD), so am seriously considering taking Friday off work to spectate, not to mention an hour long drive each way, so I'm keen on seeing the list of participants first ;)

[kwun]

no words yet but i did send him a mail. the only person who knows the entries is Chris.

[kwun]

ok. i got a reply from Chris, thanks Chris for giving us the info:



We probably wont post the draws until the day of the tournament. Most of the top US players not coming (especially on the mens side), guess they're traveling right now. Womens side is fairly strong though with Johannah, Mona, Lili etc. But I'd say probably not worth to take day off work on Friday just to see the early singles rounds. On Friday, singles starts at 2.30 pm and Mixed Doubles first round played on Friday starting at 8 pm. Saturday play starts at 9.30 am, semis (except for Mixed Doubles) start at 5.30 pm and then on Sunday it'll be Mixed Doubles semis at 9.30 am and all five finals starting at 11 am.

[monto]

ok. i got a reply from Chris, thanks Chris for giving us the info:


Thanks for sharing this information.

Very disappointing to hear many top players, esp the men, will be absent! Along with the US nationals/team trials and a few of the big tournaments like Boston, I would have imagined this as a prime platform for display of talent, but alas...

[monto]

Some pictures from today's action:

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/176/image037fk5.jpg
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/1973/image040ae8.jpg
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/2694/image002jw0.jpg
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5884/image003kt2.jpg
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/5765/image010hv0.jpg
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7195/image012pl9.jpg
Blurry, but Sally is in the senior XD. I included the senior MD to show what a good deal it is, first or second place, you earn back your entry fee :)
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/7186/image025qs4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1029/image024gk3.jpg

[monto]

And some pics of the facility:

From the front entry:
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/271/image013um0.jpg
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/7450/image014ue5.jpg
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/2273/image021vf3.jpg
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5503/image017uc2.jpg
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/406/image022du9.jpg

From the back wall:
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/7959/image028ih4.jpg
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/5728/image030xu9.jpg

Middle of venue:
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/1856/image032rl6.jpg
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/1329/image033al4.jpg

Two courts on the left (E, F) are only 1-2 feet from the wall, and thus designated training courts. Otherwise quite dangerous:
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/8452/image023bi9.jpg

The trophies:
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/3659/image027ic2.jpg

Many cartons of AS-40's :D
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6051/image035yt2.jpg

From outside:
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2020/image018wl9.jpg
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/5495/image045nh5.jpg
nice touch:
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3970/image043ev3.jpg

[monto]

I'm sure Kwun will have more pictures of the facility, but these will do for now. In terms of travel, arriving at GGBC2 was a quite tricky, as there are some small streets and several turns to navigate after exiting from the freeway. It's embedded in a more industrial area adjacent to the Bay St shopping area. (Note to those coming from the south, one has to take 880->980->580 to exit at Powell, rather than 880 directly (which I tried to do after reading the directions featured in the UCB/GGBC tournament flyer ;)).

Inside, lights are placed between courts to minimize glare, see above pictures, but are still a bit too bright. Unless you're in the middle of the court looking straight down the court, lights can be a bit blinding (i.e. if you're looking crosscourt from the sidelines/baseline, they can be bothersome).

Ceilings were decently high, but I saw at least 4-5 rallies end with defensive net lifts into the ceiling beams. The wooden beams were rather attractive, though, compared to the industrial metal sheets/joists at UBC/Smash City.

Floors were nice, none of that joined matted stuff that can split apart, like in use at UBC, for example. Good contrasting white lines/green courts, a la GGBC1. I only walked around, but it did feel rather hard, comparable to Smash City (which is virtually cement, as far as my knees are concerned ;))

As for first day tournament action, highlights would be watching the Arnold Setiadi/Che-Chang Cheng MS match. Cheng appeared a good decade older than Setiadi, but his very quick feet kept him alive in many a rally. Both Cheng and Holvy De Pauw used some very impressive deception, mostly backhands at the net.

WS, Mona Santoso and Lili Zhou dominated in the first few rounds, I don't see anyone preventing them from meeting in the finals.

XD, good solid teams all around, all playing simultaneously at the end. I'd expect some more exciting matches the second round and beyond.

[kwun]

thanks monto for the photo and the report!

[ctjcad]

As for first day tournament action, highlights would be watching the Arnold Setiadi/Che-Chang Cheng MS match. Cheng appeared a good decade older than Setiadi, but his very quick feet kept him alive in many a rally. Both Cheng and Holvy De Pauw used some very impressive deception, mostly backhands at the net.

WS, Mona Santoso and Lili Zhou dominated in the first few rounds, I don't see anyone preventing them from meeting in the finals.
..ah, so that's how the interior of GGBC2 looks like:)...similar to GGBC1:cool:..
*Looking at the draws though, esp. the MS draw, it looks like it'll be a battle between Cheng and DePauw for the right to enter the Finals vs. Mazur.
*And for WS, i think Mona and Lili are destined to meet each other in the Semis, not the Finals. I think either one should meet Johanna Lee (from top half of the draw) in the Finals.
*Notice our Sally, too, with her bright pink tees...;):D:cool:
..thanks for the pics and sharing a bit of report, monto & looking fw for more this weekend:cool:

[harimau]

Please post the results of WS and others.

[govalley]

I wish they could use tournamentsoftware, even SGBVC's uses it

[monto]

Just got back after the XD quarters. Some good action here and there, especially the XD. Jinadasa/Yeh defeated Lili Zhou and her partner (never seen him play before, James Young) in straight sets. Hotly contested battle between Chandra/Santoso and Shu/Lee, with the former winning in straight sets. Santoso was as impressive as last year with very quick reactions at the net, putting away many a smash/drive return.

Semis to be played tomorrow:
Su/Chow vs Jinadasa/Yeh
Chandra/Santoso vs Gouw/Yeh

MD, it will be an all GGBC matchup with Chandra/Gouw and Yang/Guo in one semi (both teams advanced easily), and De Pauw/Setiadi vs Hales/Milevschi in the other. I'm placing my bets on a finals battle between the coaches (De Pauw of Smash City, Chandra of GGBC), with De Pauw prevailing.

MS, not too much to report, Holvy De Pauw easily advanced to the quarters, and should handily win come the championships tomorrow.

WD, Lee/Santoso dominated in their half, as did Yeh/Yeh; the former should have no trouble come tomorrow

Didn't stay for the WS semifinals, but Kwun and a few other photogs were around, taking many a battle pic, so we should be well covered there.

[ctjcad]

MD, it will be an all GGBC matchup with Chandra/Gouw and Yang/Guo in one semi (both teams advanced easily), and De Pauw/Setiadi vs Hales/Milevschi in the other. I'm placing my bets on a finals battle between the coaches (De Pauw of Smash City, Chandra of GGBC), with De Pauw prevailing.

MS, not too much to report, Holvy De Pauw easily advanced to the quarters, and should handily win come the championships tomorrow.
..again, monto!:cool:
..hmm, me think Chandra should've played MS; who knows he might meet/play against Holvy in 2 events;)..Yeah, Holvy is probably 1 level ahead of everyone else, should be in the same league as Chandra..:cool:

[kwun]

here are the finals lineup for MS/MD/WS/WD:

MS: Holvy vs. Piotr
MD: Holvy/Arnold vs. Chandra/Daniel
WS: Lili vs. Johannah
WD: Mona/Johannah vs. Yeh/Yeh.

[kwun]

photos are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157602294391746 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157602294391746/)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157602294391746/show/3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157602294391746/show/)

[ctjcad]

photos are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157602294391746/show/
..kwun..:)..Saw all 199 of them and they all look fabulous!! Lots of different pics and players with a variety angles & closeups..I reckon you must've really enjoyed your new camera & lens..:D;):cool:
* Saw a pic of one of our Viper2005
* Holvy has some resemblances to his sister, Angie
* Saw the tattoo-on-the leg pic:p
* Mike and Sally seemed to be enjoying this tourney..:cool:

The Finals lineup looks pretty much as expected..:cool:

[harimau]

[
Hi Motto,
Can you also post the completed draw sheets against for all the flights ?

Thank you.

[mugdays]

As for first day tournament action, highlights would be watching the Arnold Setiadi/Che-Chang Cheng MS match. Cheng appeared a good decade older than Setiadi, but his very quick feet kept him alive in many a rally. Both Cheng and Holvy De Pauw used some very impressive deception, mostly backhands at the net.

That's me coaching Che-Chang Cheng in the first set of pictures in his game against Arnold. Me, Arnold and Holvy are all good friends (we both trained in Djarum) but I felt that I needed to support Che-Chang Cheng, especially considering we drove up together!

[shreky]

photos are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157602294391746 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157602294391746/)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157602294391746/show/3


nice pictures .... a lot of familiar faces from different clubs .... but don't know their names though .... congratulations .... opening a branch in NJ soon?? ;)

[mugdays]

In the final, Holvy beat Piotr Mazur (ranked no. 1 in singles in the USA) 21-3 in the first game. He is ridiculously good. Watch out America!

[pelegri]

[
Hi Motto,
Can you also post the completed draw sheets against for all the flights ?

Thank you.

Yes, please.

And another vote for using tournamentsoftware.com for future tournaments.

Thanks, - eduard/o

[kwun]

so who won MD? i had to leave early to a wedding so missed out most of the MD final. :((

here are the other results:

MS: Holvy
WS: Lili
MD: ??
WD: Mona/Johannah
XD: Chandra/Mona

[kwun]

got up at 8am and then GGBC and then went to a friend's wedding. just got back home 11.30pm. won't be able to touch the Sunday photos till tomorrow. there are a few good ones, stay tuned. :)

[harimau]

so who won MD? i had to leave early to a wedding so missed out most of the MD final. :((

here are the other results:

MS: Holvy
WS: Lili
MD: ??
WD: Mona/Johannah
XD: Chandra/Mona

It might have been Arnold and Holvy ??? My guess .... !!!:confused:

[LazyBuddy]

WD: Mona/Johannah vs. Yeh/Yeh.

Great to see the Yeh sisters went to the final! :p

[mugdays]

Yeah, Arnold and Holvy won MD. Kwun, you missed the best match of the tournament! It wasn't incredibly close, but there were some amazing rallies. Really high-level badminton.

[ctjcad]

In the final, Holvy beat Piotr Mazur (ranked no. 1 in singles in the USA) 21-3 in the first game. He is ridiculously good. Watch out America!
..hmm, perhaps the next time around, hopefully Holvy can meet up and play against the current U.S. National MS champion, Howard Bach (who happened to beat Piotr in the recent U.S. Nationals)..:cool:

got up at 8am and then GGBC and then went to a friend's wedding. just got back home 11.30pm. won't be able to touch the Sunday photos till tomorrow. there are a few good ones, stay tuned. :)
..we'll be waiting for them, kwun..;)

[kwun]

ah.. finally sorted, processed and uploaded:

Saturday:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157602294391746/

Sunday:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157602326232310/

feel free to link in any photos you like and/or you find interesting.

[ctjcad]

..for the making the rest of the pics available-all of them look fantastic!..:cool:;)

[kwun]

for most of the matches that i saw, Mona Santoso broke on avg around 3 strings per match. later i asked the stringer there and she strings BG66@31lb. i am sure it feels good but that's suicidal!

[wengcloo]

Hi, I have some pics for Saturday.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wengcloophotography/sets/72157602328503592/

Enjoy!

[Pete LSD]

Suicidal for the string :cool:. As long as the broken stringbed is cut ASAP, the racquet should be fine.


for most of the matches that i saw, Mona Santoso broke on avg around 3 strings per match. later i asked the stringer there and she strings BG66@31lb. i am sure it feels good but that's suicidal!

[monto]

Excellent pictures, thanks Kwun and Wengcloo

[niel.dan]

..hmm, perhaps the next time around, hopefully Holvy can meet up and play against the current U.S. National MS champion, Howard Bach (who happened to beat Piotr in the recent U.S. Nationals)..:cool:

..we'll be waiting for them, kwun..;)


hi ctjcad... your wish is granted ..they both play against each other in Boston open 2008 semi final...... holvy won straight set... But i forgot the scores

[westcoasthunnie]

hi ctjcad... your wish is granted ..they both play against each other in Boston open 2008 semi final...... holvy won straight set... But i forgot the scores

what about in the finals against raju rai... was it straight sets too? do you know the scores? thanks

[niel.dan]

no..the final was rubber set... but Raju rai didn't play his semifinal match against bob.... so he get more rest than holvy...

[westcoasthunnie]

no..the final was rubber set... but Raju rai didn't play his semifinal match against bob.... so he get more rest than holvy...

thanks for the info.