Much has been said about the recent riots affecting London and other major UK cities for the past few days. This had cast a shadow on the ability of the Brits to handle the Olympic Games 2012 without major incidents. But, having been a British resident a good many decades ago when Rudy Hartono was still the top IBF Men's Singles Player, I am confident that this episode will be navigated and dealt with properly by the authorities. And to show support, I am compelled to make another journey to this great City. Other than ticket purchases, which was done in Paris last year, planning for this journey had not been smooth sailing. Since I joined my new company in March, it was on a "frozen-leave" scheme. But being the bouncer that I looked like, it took very little time for the boss to say "Yes" and approve my leave a month ago. As usual, my pilgrimage to London via Emirates A380 requires intermediate stops at Singapore, Colombo and Dubai. Yup, nothing else compares to A380s. Almost zero turbulence all the time, although sometimes, the aircraft is difficult to put down during landing. As was my plane during touchdown at Heathrow. Pics here: Recommended Rides - A380 planes Similarly, nothing else compares to Emirates. Top class ICE, good quality food even in economy class, but maybe just lacking the extra for the cabin crew as compared to Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines. In other words, the crew tends to tire easily ....... but they were pleasant enough. Beautiful too. ic here: Tired Emirates Flight Crew - and this was just after takeoff from Dubai While on route, I checked on the Emirates news channels on news of the riots, only thing worth mentioning was David Cameron's authorized use of water cannons to break up rioters. Wow, didn't know the UK kept the water cannons in cold storage for so long - they were preferred weapons of Malaysia's own police force against the Bersih Protesters a month ago. 90 minutes after touchdown, I have already reached Wembley Central via Heathrow Express and the Underground. Along the way, the only posters I saw on the BWF World Championships was this one. Pic: BWF World Championships Poster - with a vulture pounced to strike. Note the curved beak.
That shows that when it comes to tournament promotion and marketing activities, Indonesia SSP is still the benchmark and other countries really need to think seriously on how to hold a tourney that attracts spectators to watch and be involved in badminton (on the court as well as off the court)!
Last 16 Action The last 16 round was my first day at the Arena. Brought with me the trusty Russian (binoculars), which is now paired with a sexy Japanese (Canon SX230 HS camera). Yup, with a 14X zoom, I expect to land more close up pics of the action. And with the high speed shot option, it could take shots on the move ...... he he. Thankfully, the camera passed security inspections, since it is not in the Bazooka DSLR class. Here are some selected captions of the day:- Pics: The Many Poses of Miyuki Maeda The reasons why Simon got beaten by Gade: Gade's attacking sting And his good defence
Pretty Russians against Cute Japanese ...... ...... is a major issue for Russian binoculars. They don't know which pair should be given extra, err, focus. Viewing focus, that is. Pics here, Russians first due to similar nationalities with binoculars: And here are their opponents, the cute and lasting Japanese: The Japanese girls won the match but the pretty Russian ladies just nick it on the photogenic level.
Juliane Schenk Juliane Schenks victory did not come easily. But with the crowd chanting "Yuli!! Yuli!!" to her, she used all her guts to push forward to another Quarterfinal appearance at the Worlds. Pics here: Such commitment ..... Celebrations of a deserving result
More Pictures of Players Here are a few more pictures of the last 16: Gade and Simon battle at the net Danish MD - impressive in their match CHN vs DEN WD - Danes lost their way after a good start. Didn't stop the umpire from scolding Zhao Yunlei a few times ...... just like at the All-England. Simon attempting a backhand kill - which failed, by the way Coach Wong Tat Meng giving pointers to Simon The only losing Japanese WD pair - whacking away in vain
My Base of Operations ..... ..... is at an IBIS Hotel. IBIS London Wembley, to be exact. And the rates are dirt cheap, although they come with a caveat of no TV (unless you pay for TV/Internet package). Which I did, otherwise you guys won't enjoy these pics ....... Here are some pics of the Hotel and link to the Wembley Train Station. The Hotel itself is not too bad, in fact better than the one in Paris. A few teams are based here. The IBIS London Wembley View from my room window This bridge leads to the Train to London Marylebone Station
wow amazing.. Didn't know u know how to 'stalk' the stewardess as well in the a380 plane Anyway, thanks for sharing.. yeah keep it coming
The Wembley Sports Complex is a pretty imposing place, with an equally imposing history. Both the Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena were heavily renovated to keep up with the times. Pics here: Pictures of the Wembley Stadium Now relegated into a parking lot for BWF World Championship Official Cars The equally imposing Wembley Arena, notice the lack of large crowd on quarterfinals day.
I guess they actually employ all those western girls to be stewardesses and not just for the commercials and prize ceremonies
thanks abedeng for the photos and journal. i am supposed to have been here in 1992 during the AE. but i remember almost nothing about that trip.
The Playing Courts ...... ...... have been adjusted to just two courts on quarterfinals day. In addition, several more seats were extended to one side of the main court (useless really, if attendance figures do not change soon). Pics here: Arena layout on Q-finals Day Its the Quarterfinals Day Of the BWF World Championships 2011 In addition, some London bus driver must have had one too many and, err, gatecrashed into the arena. The organizers wasted no time in, ahem, commandeering the bus and created a walkway for players to come out to play. Pic here: A London Bus gatecrashes the Arena BWF COO Thomas Lund made his "directorial debut" on quarterfinals day, to the great consternation of the some of the crowd on my side. The huge camera and his tall frame blocked our view to Court 2. We immediately highlighted our displeasure and "threatened to boycott his film." Finally, he backed down and moved away ....... Pics here: Thomas Lund making his brief "Directorial Debut" before being "chased away" Tournament Referees sit here .....
Actually, Emirates is probably the most language centric cabin crew in the World. They cover at least 5-10 languages for long distance flights, including the origin and destination languages. In my flight, we had American, German, UK, Arab, Malaysian, African speakers too.
Pics of the Q-Final Battles OK, time now for the action pics. Please bear in mind that I was given a "yellow card" for "misconduct" ala Tian Qing yesterday, so in all probability these shall be the last pictures of the action ...... MD - MAS vs KOR The Koreans were deserving winners, as I expected based on their last 16-performance. Malaysians cannot match them on accuracy under pressure. Pics here: A jumping smash from TBH Brings down KSH Coach Rexy works overtime Ready for the serve MS - LCW vs Kevin Cordon A decent try from Cordon, but LCW just had too much quality. Probably just played at 50% of his potential. Pics here: The Challenger - Kevin Cordon of Guatemala The World No 1 flies, whacks it home, and lands, ready to move forward
This is especially for Loh, the guy who dreams to be in London next year (it is too expensive, bro): XD - Ma Jin/Xu Chen vs Yao Lei/Chayut Triyachart Triyachart slipped a lot of times and landed heavily when changing direction, would be more efficient if he were to lose more weight. But they do have potential, just not in that match. Pics here: Ma Jin pouncing for the kill Coach Eng Hian gets to work Yao Lei at the ready Triyachart receiving serve WD - CHN vs JAP The Japanese cuties were undone by fatigue, having gone to three games against Malaysian aunties and Russian beauties. Made it easy for the Chinese. Pics here: Probably the best looking Chinese girls here other than Wang Yihan ZYL smashes home, TQ moves forward Returning to hotel briefly with them
WD - WSX vs CSC A lightning fast Cheng Shao Chieh disposes of WSX. Probably the fastest WS mover on court now. Pics here: Cheng Shao Chieh makes the kill, and celebrates matchpoint Victory celebration That's it guys. Time for a quick shower and souvenir hunting before semifinals day.
