Day 2 matches 1st Match Mens Singles : Lin Dan vs Joppien 2nd Match Ladies Singles : Seo Yoon Hee vs Pi Hongyan 3rd Match Ladies Doubles : SaraLee Thungthongkam/Sathinee Chankrachangwong vs Mia Audina/Yao Jie
Day 2... Hmm what can i say? Fun level was high. Gail Emms and Mia was superb. I really had fun watching them playing against the Thai pair. Highlights to come...
I think the two Thai girls were demoralized because a few people from the audience were heckling them (e.g. shouting "go boys!" at the girls and then laughing). My friends and I were embarrassed since they might think that all Filipinos are rude because of those few hecklers. I can assure all of you majority of Filipinos are NOT rude. (and on behalf of all decent Filipinos, I apologize for offending the Thai players). I have to say though that Gail Emms and Mia Audina were amazing! (especially since they played against seasoned doubles partners) The crowed loved them! Pi Hongyang was superb. She's also very nice. While she was warming-up and stretching (5 feet away from us), she would still accommodate autograph seekers. Lin Dan (as expected) had an easy match against Bjoern Joppien, who seems to also be a very nice person. When a security guard told a girl asking for Bjoern Joppien autograph to leave, Bjoern Joppien waited until the security guard was out of sight and then he himself approached the girl and gave her his autograph.
I was really embarrased by some of the audience statements.. . Spoke with them later after the match. They were a little discouraged. What more they also lost to scratch pair Gail Emms/Mia Audina.
Hi Ants. Now I'm even more embarrassed. Please extend our apologies if or when you get to talk to the two Thai girls. Please tell them that most of us hated what those hecklers did.
Just that they don't expect it to happen in this kind of event. Anyway its ok. No worries. They are over with it. It is part of the game.
that's good to know. btw, I hope to see you on the last day of the match. My friends and I will be seated on the red seats behind Team Europe. You can see my picture in Pinoybadminton (I'm also MikeJ there). To the rest of the BF members, here's a copy of Pi Hongyan's autographed pic.
1st Match Mens Singles : Lin Dan bt Joppien 15-2,15-3 2nd Match Ladies Singles : Pi Hongyan bt Seo Yoon Hee 11-4, 11-3 3rd Match Ladies Doubles : Mia Audina/Gail Emms bt SaraLee Thungthongkam/Sathinee Chankrachangwong 15-12,15-8
Summary and Recap Lin Dan vs Joppien Yesterday, the Philipino crowd witness first hand the #1 Singles Lin Dan in action as a pro. Due to the aircond draft factor, the main air cond have to be switched off during the games. Anyway the Match between Lin Dan and Joppien was fast.. i mean too fast for Joppien to handle. He was running all over the court and was stunned by Lin Dan's moves and smashes and some tricky deceptive shots. Lin Dan was his usual self. As i manage to talk to him during his warm-up back stage, i jokingly told him not to finish the game so fast. He smiled and told me that he will see what he can do. Oh well i don't think he listened to me or even Zhang Ning! After the first set finished, Zhang Ning went over to Lin Dan and told him don't finish the game so fast. In some stages of the second set, Lin Dan was giving some chances during the game. He is still too good for Joppien. Well as you can see the results he trashed Joppien 15-2,15-3. During post match conference, Lin Dan said that in every match he give his 100% to the game. Pi HongYan vs Seo Yoon Hee The experienced vs the young gun. Guts and gritty, what can i say... personally i think this match is much better to watch compare to Zhang Ning and Mia ( No offence Mia and Zhang Ning if you happen to read this ). Pi Hongyan was playing using a back support. Initial stage of the game , both were testing each other with alot of drives and net play. However its clear that Pi Hongyan have the upperhand against the young Korean girl. Seo Yoon Hee was nervous and Pi took advantage of the 1st set. During the interval, Zhang Ning went to give some pointers to Seo Yoon Hee with the help of Msian player Chan Chong Ming due to language barrier. ZNing's pointers does help a little as i can see much improvement in the placings and shots from the SeoYH. She manage to make Pi run in few rallies. But i guess Pi Hongyan still too strong for the young Korean. Pi Hongyan give Team Europe the first win. She wrapped up the match 11-4, 11-3. Credit must be given to the young SeoYH, in due time i can see that this young player will be the Korea's rising star. Match of the night would be the match between Mia Audina/Gail Emms against SaraLee/Sathinee. Yao Jie was suppose to partner Mia, but due to mild stomach flu, she have to withdraw. I personally are so fortunate to watch this 1st TIME EVER PAIRING of Mia/Gail. The Thais was their usual self, serious and committed to every shots. The match was in high heat and quick. The thais played their offensive game early, giving quick drives and smashes at every opportunity to Mia/Gail. Initial stage the Europeans were having trouble getting accustomed to each other. But they manage to play a controlled defensive game. 1st set was close with Thais leading in the early stage. But some unforced errors from the Thais and Gails experience.. the europeans wrap up the close 1st set 15-12. 2nd set. Experience says it all. Gail/Mia played alot of defensive shots. But every return was hard and tricky. Thais was smashing all the way but unable to penetrate the European defence and counter attack. Gail/Mia hands Team Euro the second win. It was rewarding to watch this european pairing. Hmmm maybe they should partner each other again if there is an all Star game. Team Asia still lead Euro 5-4.
Watching Taufik, Lin Dan, Zhang, RobertsonEmms, etc here is really nice but maybe next year they should think of putting up an IBF sanctioned Philippine Open instead so we could see more stars. From what I've read, the $80,000 prize money is good enough to be a 3 star event. Add $40 to 70K more and you get a 4 star/5 star event and attract more of the top players. Badminton is really popular now and most of the big-time 'tai pans' in the Philippines are into it. I'm sure someone can help MVP put up the rest of the money.
hmm...maybe they can hold a Philippine Open, but I also think they should hold an All Star tournament every year as well, in different locations around the world. This will attract even more attention to badminton.
I wonder what other costs go into holding an IBF event aside from the prize money. Do the top players get appearance fees? Who pays for each competitor's travel and lodging? Is it like golf where pros have to spend their own money to go to events?
The players do get some amount of money for the invitation.The organisers usually pays for their food and accomodation and travel.
BTW , Ants, thanks for taking a picture of me and Lin Dan, even if I'm only in the background (I won't say who)
appreciate your effort, big thanks ants... btw, the 1st day was 3-0 to asia and 2-1 to europe in day 2 right? so the score shd be 4-2?
pardon my babbling Any specifics on Pi Hongyan's back injury? I recall a thread somewhere mentioning that she got it from a recent tourney, but can't remember if it was Aviva or Malaysian Open. Also there seems to be a stomach bug going around. Anthony Suntay (the commentator) mentioned that Seo Yoon Hee experienced food poisoning on Day 1. So Yao Jie as well? I was wondering about the change in partner of Mia Audina with Gail Emms. Turned out a wonderful surprsing ladies' doubles result though.
hi there...i'll answer in behalf of ants, day 1 = 1 point for each game won day 2 = 2 points for each game won day 3 = 3 points for each game won The scoring format makes the tournament exciting up to the last day
