Day 1 was a quiet affair. The stadium was almost empty in the evening. Its monsoon season in Bangkok and its has been raining.

Top WS seed Zhou Mi had withdrawn. Not sure of reason. She was replaced by Pavita of Thailand. Wang Chen is now the top seed for WS.

There are two Yonex ES5pro stringing machines at the Yonex Stringing Booth. Yonex AS50 shuttlecocks are used in this tournament.

Unlike the Singapore Open, you could bring your own food and drinks into the stadium. Unfortunately there were lots of litter left behind by the spectators.

There are 50% clearance sales for apparels (off season) going on at the Yonex booth.

There was a better turnout on Day 2 but still the stadium was half empty. There was a fire somewhere in the stadium and you could see smoke.

Former Thai player Tesana ('teddy bear') is now a coach of the Thai team.

Somebody's phone rang to the tune of 'Heal the World' by Michael Jackson. Its belonged to Salakjit Ponsana, sister of Boonsak.

Very impressed with her grasp of mandarin when she chatted with Malaysia's Chew Choon Eng. Could not help eavesdropping since I was next to her. :D Chew has a 4 year old daughter and a 2 year old son.

Chan Chong Ming and Chew Choon Eng are staying at Pathumwan Princess Hotel instead of the 'official' hotel - Novotel. Lee Wan Wah is also staying there.

The jerseys of Chan Chong Ming and Chew Choon Eng are imprinted with 'www.pioneersports.net'

Spotted Gao Ling and Wei Yili at Siam Paragon looking for food during lunchtime.

The Thai players are mainly sponsored by Victor, Yonex, Gosen and Dunlop.

The HK MD pairing of Leung/Lo are sponsored by Prince. They put up a very good fight against Malaysian pair Chan/Lim before losing in three games.

There was a better turnout on Day 2 but still the stadium was half empty. There was a fire somewhere in the stadium and you could see smoke.
why there is fire?reason?:confused:

Somebody's phone rang to the tune of 'Heal the World' by Michael Jackson. Its belonged to Salakjit Ponsana, sister of Boonsak.

Very impressed with her grasp of mandarin when she chatted with Malaysia's Chew Choon Eng. Could not help eavesdropping since I was next to her. :D Chew has a 4 year old daughter and a 2 year old son.

salakjit knows chinese?:eek:

thanks for sharing

Saw the lovely Kunchala at the players section. There was also a kawaii japanese player with short hair. not sure of her name.

Met BC members gjoo888 and sandy_bkk in the stadium. very friendly folks indeed.

At the end of the match, the Thai players would thank the Thai umpire/service judge with the 'wai' greeting instead of shaking hands.

Most, if not all, of the Thai boys sport crew cuts. Wonder if its was a specific requirement of their clubs/national squad.

Zhang Jiewen arrived in the evening to cheer for her husband Choong Tan Fook and partner who were up against thai players.

Who is Wang Rong of China? She made it through 3 qualifying round matches and the first round. She was in a Yonex outfit, not Lining.

thanks 4 sharing Sealman
ya i heard Salakjit speak chinese to pi hongyan in SG
hehe

too bad i will miss the matches on day 3 due to work commitments...

i must say its a nice change to see new faces instead of the usual stars

..this is her, taken during the 2005 S'pore Open. And was posted in one of the threads in that tourney..

http://images.sport.org.cn/2005/06/10/2007025634.jpg

why there is fire?reason?:confused:


Er I am not sure. The spectators (including myself) were too engrossed in the badminton action to bother about the fire :p

..this is her, taken during the 2005 S'pore Open. And was posted in one of the threads in that tourney..


Thanks Chris. I guess Wang Rong is representing her club then.

Er I am not sure. The spectators (including myself) were too engrossed in the badminton action to bother about the fire :p

hope u didnt get burned inside the stadium:p

Both Boonsak and Salakjit are able to speak in Mandarin since they both lived in China for a period of time. =)

Thanks, Sealman....

I heard that BP is now sponsored by Kampoo.........no more Goosen...right..?

Thanks, Sealman....

I heard that BP is now sponsored by Kampoo.........no more Goosen...right..?
Not yet, BP is still using a Gosen racquet and had Gosen on the back of shirt last night.

Tanongsak seems to be humiliated by the fire accident (stinky also), beside his court, Boonsak seems to feel nothing and enjoys his game. And at court no 2, Alvent-hendra attractive play get applause from the spectators...

Tanongsak seems to be humiliated by the fire accident (stinky also), beside his court, Boonsak seems to feel nothing and enjoys his game. And at court no 2, Alvent-hendra attractive play get applause from the spectators...

Thanks for the info. When you said "humiliated" did you mean he was bothered by the smoke from the fire?

Thanks, Sealman....

I heard that BP is now sponsored by Kampoo.........no more Goosen...right..?

The brand is 'Kumpoo' :)

The brand is 'Kumpoo' :)

Thanks Oldhand.....its kumpoo...........luckily not ' kumpooi'.......:D:D

Former Thai player Tesana ('teddy bear') is now a coach of the Thai team.
not 'Kung Fu Panda'?:cool::p
Who is Wang Rong of China? She made it through 3 qualifying round matches and the first round. She was in a Yonex outfit, not Lining.
i'm wondering who is she also.. hmm, maybe she's playing under independant?
btw, how old is she?:confused:

Thanks for the info. When you said "humiliated" did you mean he was bothered by the smoke from the fire?

Tanongsak's court was nearest to the smoke

i'm wondering who is she also.. hmm, maybe she's playing under independant?
btw, how old is she?:confused:

see post #73 and #74
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73090&page=5

she has short hair now and is pretty :)

at the end of this evening's matches the 4 badminton courts are being dismantled for tomorrow's quarterfinals.

it was reported in the local papers that boonsak was hospitalized for flu and was discharged just before the tournament started. boonsak was quoted that 'he is ill-prepared for this tournament.'

it was reported in the local papers that boonsak was hospitalized for flu and was discharged just before the tournament started. boonsak was quoted that 'he is ill-prepared for this tournament.'

Hope it's just regular flu,
But he doin' well and still on the track to win this tourney,
Tomorrow against WCH in SF, while NTM possibly await in the finale :cool:
.....
@Sealman, thanks for courtside news :cool:
Keep 'em coming ,-)

After Nguyen Tien Minh (NTM) won his semi-final match, he and his coach stayed on to watch the MS match between Boonsak and WCH. His coach also recorded the match. Also overheard his coach calling up the hotel to extend their stay in Bangkok.

Although I am a Boonsak fan, NTM seems to be in top form and will give Boonsak a tough time. All the best to both players!

The Thai players always thank the crowd for their support with the 'wai' greeting at the end of their matches. The Thai crowd would in turn applaud the players for their efforts even though they had lost their matches.

The crowd cheered very hard for Nitchaon Jindapol when she played against Wang Rong especially in rubber game. After the match ended, Nitchaon Jindapol was very appreciative and walked round the entire stadium to thank the Thai supporters.

Can I confirm who is the English commentator on TV?

I think I saw 'that guy' in the stadium. Thank goodness I didnt have to listen to his commentary. :p

Can I confirm who is the English commentator on TV?

I think I saw 'that guy' in the stadium. Thank goodness I didnt have to listen to his commentary. :p
no. the commentator this time is not 'that guy'.
another annoying person.. who pronounce a player's name from the other way round. anti clockwise:rolleyes:

Saw Liu Jian on tv playing agaisnt SP yesterday.
is she under the chinese team or what? how come she does not have a coach? saw something very weird.
she wear the li ning shirt and all but why her racket is YY?:confused: p/s she did not have any racket bags??:eek: she just have 2 rackets in a normal bag..(not badminton bag)

The atmosphere at the stadium was great! The Thai crowd cheered for not only the Thai players but all of the players. Of course the cheering was much louder for the Thai players. The players certainly appreciated the support and thanked the crowd after the matches.

Wang Rong's jersey had 'Unisys' (one of her sponsors?) imprinted at the back and she had to cover it up (i believe at the request of the officials).

Saw Liu Jian on tv playing agaisnt SP yesterday.
is she under the chinese team or what? how come she does not have a coach? saw something very weird.
she wear the li ning shirt and all but why her racket is YY?:confused: p/s she did not have any racket bags??:eek: she just have 2 rackets in a normal bag..(not badminton bag)

Maybe she's on vacation in Bangkok and decided last minute to join the tournament? :D Yep she played with the Yonex NS9000. She seems pretty close to Zhang Jiewen as they took photos for each other at the podium.

Maybe she's on vacation in Bangkok and decided last minute to join the tournament? :D Yep she played with the Yonex NS9000. She seems pretty close to Zhang Jiewen as they took photos for each other at the podium.
Also someone told me that wang Rong is playing in Japan...is that true?
basically she is hired to spar for Japanese team...it is great that she can play some tournaments in future...

Also someone told me that wang Rong is playing in Japan...is that true?
basically she is hired to spar for Japanese team...it is great that she can play some tournaments in future...

Did a search on the web. I believe Wang Rong is one of the coaching staff of Nihon Unisys badminton team:
http://www.unisys.co.jp/badminton/staff.html
http://www.unisys.co.jp/badminton/w/team/wangrong.html

During the finals, Wang Rong was with her coach and two japanese female players at the stadium.

Did a search on the web. I believe Wang Rong is one of the coaching staff of Nihon Unisys badminton team:
http://www.unisys.co.jp/badminton/staff.html
http://www.unisys.co.jp/badminton/w/team/wangrong.html

During the finals, Wang Rong was with her coach and two japanese female players at the stadium.
Thanks..I did not know that Achmad rivai is in Japan now...
Reony is a good coach....

btw, who is NTM's coach? its a women though..who is she? dont tell me its her mother?:eek:

no... she is not his coach... she is vice-president of badminton federation vice-president in HoChiMinh city. she was there to support and help TM.

no... she is not his coach... she is vice-president of badminton federation vice-president in HoChiMinh city. she was there to support and help TM.
I actually talked to the woman that was with Nguyen and asked her if she was his coach, she said no and that she was just a good friend. NTM has been training with a coach from China, whether he was one of the other people that accompanied him to Bangkok, I don't know.
Btw, an interesting fact is that Phan Van Khai, the chairman of the Vietnam Badminton Federation was the country's Prime Minister from 1997-2006. I guess he got a promotion.

oh, i see..
thanks for the info though.

I actually talked to the woman that was with Nguyen and asked her if she was his coach, she said no and that she was just a good friend. NTM has been training with a coach from China, whether he was one of the other people that accompanied him to Bangkok, I don't know.
Btw, an interesting fact is that Phan Van Khai, the chairman of the Vietnam Badminton Federation was the country's Prime Minister from 1997-2006. I guess he got a promotion.

I don't think NTM has an official coach. He has been playing all the tournaments by himself. That is why it makes him a so special player. He will be a hell of a coach by the time he tired from the pro badminton circuit.

I'm sure he did have some 'help' from SBA and some coaches from there.:cool:

but most the time he just improved by himself!

thank u for news