POSTED: 03 Sep 2014 09:57 Twelve Singapore players were scheduled to appear at the tournament, but none were injured at the Ho Chi Minh venue. Photo: One Badminton Academy/ Facebook HO CHI MINH: The ceiling at a stadium in Ho Chi Minh City collapsed this week at a badminton tournament, the Yonex Sunrise Vietnam Open. While 12 Singaporeans were scheduled to play at the event, none were injured, with the courts cleared prior to the incident. A video posted on Tuesday (Sep 2) on YouTube showed large portions of the Phan Dinh Phung Stadium ceiling caving in and falling directly onto the badminton court below. A video posted by Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin on Instagram showed the ceiling collapsing. "All our shuttlers safe," wrote Mr Tan. One Singaporean shuttler, Terry Hee, said on his Facebook page: "This is the scariest competition I've ever participated in. What a disaster!" Dutch player Ruud Bosch also posted a video of the aftermath on Facebook: "Roof came down during the match. Players were on court, heard a crack, looked up, walked away fast and 20 seconds later the roof comes down! Nobody got hurt, everybody is safe!" Channel NewsAsia understands that nobody was injured in the collapse, and the courts were cleared before the incident. The tournament was scheduled to be held from Sep 1 to 9. More than 170 players were set to compete in five categories of men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles events for a total prize of US$50,000 (S$62,500). The Singapore athletes scheduled to appear at the tournament, according to the official website, are: Robin Gonansa Terry Hee Huang Chao Sean Lee Kwan Ting Liang Xiaoyu Loh Kean Hean Loh Kean Yew Shinta Mulia Sari Ronald Susilo Tan Wei Han Hendra Wijaya Dellis Yuliana - CNA/av
Structural integrity is so important.... I can't even see a steel beam there, the ceiling was probably supported by cheapo timber or plasterboards lol
Glad to hear that nobody was injured. Amazing really. These incidents do happen all too often now. This is not the first and I'm sure it won't be the last - unless those who are responsible wake up to the fact these things kill. We shouldn't jump to conclusions on why it happened as I'm sure there will be an investigation into it. There are a number of potential reasons why it occured which may not necessarily be an inadequate structural design... could be poor maintenance or overloading for instance or a completely unforeseeable event. But I guess the main thing for now, is that no one was hurt and to ensure that it doesn't happen again... all the other venues should be checked by a qualified structural/civil engineer.
Video is here. Credited to Mr Takuya Horikawa from the Indonesia team. [video=youtube;C2poUvIktcI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2poUvIktcI&feature=youtu.be[/video]
i'm surprised that there's still people sitting there so close to the crack of the ceiling when no one is playing. were they really just there to watch the ceiling fall in?
I heard from TV that an alert umpire heard a disturbing sound from the ceiling and decided to abandon the match. The tournament was moved to another stadium nearby it seems. A miracle that no players got hurt. But it is a reminder to organizers that they should ensure that the venue is structurally sound. There were other incidents before in past tournaments like leaking roofs, even in Singapore, but thankfully those were not life-threatening.
That tournament official is a hero and deserves more recognition for his quick thinking. Some might have frozen with indecision thinking play must be continuous!
Singapore shuttlers unscathed in Vietnam badminton hall ceiling collapse By Philip Goh POSTED: 04 Sep 2014 07:24 Players at Ho Chi Minh tournament had walked off court moments before the roof caved in. Photo: One Badminton Academy/ Facebook SINGAPORE: Loh Kean Yew was thanking his lucky stars on Tuesday (Sep 2), after the Singapore national badminton player escaped unscathed after a section of ceiling at the Phan Dinh Phung Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City fell. The 17-year-old was playing his first-round match against Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Nam in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Grand Prix tournament when the umpire stopped play to alert both players to the impending danger. Players on the next court had walked off after bits of the ceiling sprinkled down and cracking sounds were heard. Moments later, a large section of the ceiling came crashing down. “I was at Court 1, the middle court,” Kean Yew told TODAY. “The Court 2 players had stopped playing after fragments fell from the ceiling, so we took it as a warning that something was going to happen.” A video taken by Kean Yew’s team-mate Terry Hee, which went viral on social media, showed a crack in the ceiling widening before an entire section fell, raising a cloud of dust and leaving a debris field covering a large portion of two badminton courts. Ronald Susilo, one of 12 Singapore players at the tournament, witnessed the entire incident. “We looked at the ceiling (after the cracking sound started) and it didn’t take long before it fell. Luckily, it was only one section and not the whole building collapsing, or a lot of people would be hurt,” said Susilo, who was in the stands about 30m away when it happened. “We’ve dealt with water dripping down from the stadium roof, and it’s quite normal for a stadium to be draughty, but I’ve never seen this happening before.” BWF events manager Venu Mahalingam said the world body is investigating the incident and awaiting a report from the organisers, the Ho Chi Minh City Badminton Association. The tournament was moved to the Tan Binh Sports Center, which hosted the 2003 SEA Games badminton competition. “There were no withdrawals or complaints. Everybody has been supportive. I’m very happy with the new venue and cannot believe the situation was turned around so quickly,” said tournament referee Julie Carrel in a statement on the BWF website. On Wednesday, Kean Yew wrapped up a 14-21, 21-14, 21-15 win over Nguyen, while Susilo lost a tight three-setter to Andre Kurniawan Tedjono. The tournament wraps up on Sunday. -TODAY/es
Yep totally. Takes a certain type to abandon matches at this level going on a strange noise. Well done that man/lady!
I heard from TV that an alert umpire heard a disturbing sound from the ceiling and decided to abandon the match. The tournament was moved to another stadium nearby it seems. A miracle that no players got hurt. But it is a reminder to organizers that they should ensure that the venue is structurally sound. ___________________ Nawaz
