Malaysia Open 2013 photos

[lurker]

Usain Bolt pose

[lurker]

[lurker]

last batch of photos...
thanks for looking

can check my album for photos that I did not post here
http://lurker.smugmug.com/Sports/Bad...sian-Open-2013

[cobalt]

Brilliant! Thank you so much for sharing!

[gundamzaku]

beautiful shots!!!! what is your primary lens, if i may ask?

[nizze]

Great shots lurker!

[lurker]

beautiful shots!!!! what is your primary lens, if i may ask?

rotating between 70-200 2.8 and 135 f2
the difference on 1 stop makes a significant difference in noise levels here especially when shooting at iso4000

[abedeng]

First, let us look at the ambience outside the stadium:


Astro Arena stalll .... deserted then, but it was full house during the LCW vs Jorgensen match


Standard features .... the mobile food and drink stalls from Pizza Hut/KFC and Starbucks Coffee combo. Yup, they got relegated to outside the stadium this time ....


The Champions Tagline of Maybank, the major sponsors


Major Maybank stall, takes over from previous, errr, "Proton car dealership".


Yup, it comes with counter service and ATM too .....


Souvenir stall furthest away from the main entrance



Maybank trying it's hardest to imitate the gigantic Djarum shuttles to no avail .....

[abedeng]

...... come in the form of Maybank girls. Not quite as legendary as the peerless Djarum girls, of course, but there is some improvement against past years efforts.

Their major duties, are of course to do these ....


Managing the games zone - badminton video game


as well as the racing simulation game ... not many takers when people are more interested in the badminton .....


This girl is tasked with, ahem, fund raising. As in asking for donations for Maybank charity ...


... while these 2 try their hands at coaching guys who want to outsmash the sick and retired Tan Boon Heong using the iPhone.


And her face says it all, none of her charges were able to "qualify" .....


A few more poses and closeups on the yellow fever girls .....

[abedeng]

Now let's get on in the stadium:

First things first, the most important folks and stuff ....


..... the camera crew, of which no live telecast would be possible, correct? And who said girls cannot handle big bazookas .....



You would also need a good cuppa coffee ....



.... good research notes on the players ...



.... have a gulp of the coffee ....


... and start commentating. All hail the great Gillian Clark!!!!



But hey, who's this? Look familiar?



Yup, he is familiar all right ....

[badMania]

Great photos as always abedeng!

I think the Maybank girls appear to be more disinterested in their jobs than the Djarum girls? Nevertheless, Malaysia and Indonesia remain the 2 best countries that try to at least market the event! You can only see the Yonex-Sunrise stall in the Hong Kong Colliseum during the HK SS.

Oh....our dear PBSI external liason official is in town.....no wonder I called his Jakarta number to no avail yesterday!

[abedeng]

.... what better way to declare his love, than this .....

"Badminton is hot work ...."



... so say these Olympians.

[abedeng]

Great photos as always abedeng!

I think the Maybank girls appear to be more disinterested in their jobs than the Djarum girls? Nevertheless, Malaysia and Indonesia remain the 2 best countries that try to at least market the event! You can only see the Yonex-Sunrise stall in the Hong Kong Colliseum during the HK SS.

Oh....our dear PBSI external liason official is in town.....no wonder I called his Jakarta number to no avail yesterday!

Well, where Maybank Girls are concerned, it is all about tradition, or rather, the lack of it. You cannot create a tradition such as the Djarum Girls, it had to be nurtured over decades ..... pity that Djarum Girls are going to be extinct ....

Our friend looked to be very happy today, a lot of high fives back and forth .... and that was before Sony and Hendra/Ahsan won their matches .....

[abedeng]

What did you get for getting into the WD final?



Oh, a tongue lashing for almost dropping that crucial first game, of course!

And what happens when your charges lose badly?


Coach Xie Zhongbo reports on a "failed mission" in Men's Doubles ....


..... to his boss, the strict and unforgiving Doubles Head Coach Tian Bingyi.



"All right! Call them up!!" says Head Coach TBY



"You didn't squeal on us, did you, Coach XZB?"



"We did our best, Coach TBY, sir!!!"


"Your best my foot!!! At your age I was already in the top 4 ok?!" snaps Coach TBY.

[abedeng]

Now, let's graduate to the super tense, in match situations .... courtesy of the MAS vs POL XD thrilla, just not in Manila ......



Astro Arena commentators practically shouting expletives as the Malaysian pair made mistake upon mistake .....



..... and even an old Cheerleading friend lost his impetus to lead his band .....



Finally, a crucial and cruel line call goes against the Poles at 20-18 down ..... Yup, it was indeed cruel, I thought Mateusiak was right to complain.

[badMania]

Lol....the conversations between the Chinese players and the coaches were damn hilarious!

Oh...is that old cheerleader the usual ones we saw in the TV?

[badMania]

Is it just me? But Xie Zhongbo has grown "old" so much over the past few years? Although not as extreme as Zhang Jun, he seems to be expanding sideways too. Hmm.....