Hong Kong Open Day2 Pic

**seawell** · 08-30-2006, 01:14 AM

Originally Posted by cooler

but Mr. Shirley has his regular xd partner from new zealand. Maybe she wasn't available or injured.

Shirley undecided about his badminton future
08 August 2006
By JONATHAN MILLMOW

Daniel Shirley will put thoughts of retirement in the background for a few hours tonight when New Zealand clash with Singapore in a badminton test in Palmerston North.

The world-class doubles player has lost both his mixed and men's partners this year and he admits it has forced him to weigh up his options.

Shirley and Sara Runesten Petersen were ranked as high as No 8 in the world but Runesten Petersen has retired and returned to Denmark.

His men's partner, John Gordon, has only just started hitting again after damaging an Achilles tendon in February and time is against him being sharp enough for next month's world championships in Madrid.

"It is a tough situation to be in at the moment," Shirley said. "Since the Commonwealth Games I've been deciding what to do with my badminton. I gave myself a couple of months to make a decision but it's been so hard because it's been such a big part of my life.

"I need to make a decision pretty soon."

Shirley, 27, is full of praise for his new partners, Renee Flavell in the mixed doubles and Craig Cooper in the men's. However, the facts remain he may struggle to be as competitive overseas with them. Shirley and Flavell won a tournament in Australia a fortnight ago but struggled with a tough draw in the New Zealand Open last weekend.

Shirley expects New Zealand to test a weakened Singapore tonight and in the following two tests, in Wellington on Thursday and Auckland on Friday. Singapore's top women's singles player Li Li and top men's doubles exponent Hendri Saputra both returned home yesterday.

Meanwhile, New Zealand is expected to host next year's world junior championships.

They are likely to be held in November at Trust Stadium in Waitakere.

"It's looking good but we don't want to speak too soon," Badminton New Zealand boss Peter Dunne said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,...3a1823,00.html

**Jessica** · 08-30-2006, 02:47 AM

Originally Posted by ctjcad

hmm, what do you mean by "unusual"??..is it the case of players from different countries playing as a pair??..I believe since it is an Open tournament, any player(s) from any country(ies) can pair up with each other (ie. see Tony G. and Minarti Timur currently paired up in the XD field, or if you remember Tony G. paired up with a Taiwanese player(Cheng Wen Hsing??) in the recent Taipei Open)..

Then which country they represent actually???

**Baderz_Jas** · 08-30-2006, 03:40 AM

Hey red and Cheung, thanks for the pics!!!!

They are really nice! Keep it up!

**magical_phoenix** · 08-30-2006, 03:47 AM

Thank you for all the super nice pics!!! Love them so much!! Two exciting tournaments at the same time.. HK Open and Cheers Asian Satellite

**Tanqueray** · 08-30-2006, 04:16 AM

Originally Posted by Cheung

is tight cropping better?

It´s Juergen Koch from Austria.

**twdc08** · 08-30-2006, 07:15 AM

got mew choo`s photo??????

**event** · 08-30-2006, 08:48 AM

Originally Posted by Tanqueray

It´s Juergen Koch from Austria.

That's what I thought. He's the guy who took Shon Seung-mo to 3 games in the first round of the Korea Open.

***Cheung*** · 08-30-2006, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by badMania

Hey...isn't that Indra Gunawan coaching the unknown Caucasian player over there

I thought he went to Malaysia again.

Now, I think you are right. I shall try to ask some of the english players. Wonder if they'll understand my accent though

Originally Posted by Scott Kam

He, Andrew Smith, got one set from Lin Dan at Thomas Cup. Cheung, thank you so much for your pictures. Just a very technical question: the corners of most of your photos taken are darker than that of Red's. Is it issue of equipment?

Well done! And well remebered. Maybe he's still thinking about the one set. Hope he won't become a one set wonder.

Are the corners dark? If so, it's should only be the 1st and 3rd shots with our HK player. I think those were with the 17-55/2.8 USM
Except the time when Spitko is being told off by the umipre. I cropped that one and the 4th shot. I can't really notice any light fall off in any of the other shots.

Originally Posted by twdc08

got mew choo`s photo??????

I do, I do...except I have some technical problems at the moment. Try to resolve them tonight. First time I seen her play. Although she won, I don't think she can win with that style of play. She has a knee injury before and her style is quite stressful for that knee (rally, rally style)

**Loh** · 08-30-2006, 09:24 AM

Red, what beautiful pics you've taken! Thanks for sharing with us. Can you give some hints as to how you took them? Did you use manual or program mode? What are your settings. And what make of camera and lens? I confess I'm asking too much already!

**ants** · 08-30-2006, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by badMania

Hey...isn't that Indra Gunawan coaching the unknown Caucasian player over there

I thought he went to Malaysia again?

Unfortunately, I am still tied up in Singapore due to some personal matters...and it's increasingly unlikely for me to return back to HKG before the semi-finals. I do hope to return back on Friday in time to catch the semis and finals

Meanwhile, I just have to be contented with watching the Singapore Satelitte later this afternoon.

He is still with KLRC... i think he is just giving some pointers to Andrew Smith.

**red00ecstrat** · 08-30-2006, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by Loh

Red, what beautiful pics you've taken! Thanks for sharing with us. Can you give some hints as to how you took them? Did you use manual or program mode? What are your settings. And what make of camera and lens? I confess I'm asking too much already!

Thanks Loh.
Those pictures were taken with a Canon 20D with 70-200mm F2.8L, 50mm F1.4, 17-40mm F4L. I was using manual mode all the time and shooting in continues mode. Meanwhile, I set the AF mode to "One shot". I prefer using "One shot" to "AI Servo" when shooting baddy pictures. But with that AF mode. My right hand index finger would be very busy!

**ctjcad** · 08-30-2006, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by Jessica

Then which country they represent actually???

If it's D. Shirley and Ms. Quay partnering up, then it's NZ & MAS...
If it's T. Gunawan and C. Wijaya partnering up, then it's USA & INA...
Both pairs don't have "1 country representation"..

**ctjcad** · 08-30-2006, 11:32 AM

Originally Posted by red00ecstrat

Thanks Loh.
Those pictures were taken with a Canon 20D with 70-200mm F2.8L, 50mm F1.4, 17-40mm F4L. I was using manual mode all the time and shooting in continues mode. Meanwhile, I set the AF mode to "One shot". I prefer using "One shot" to "AI Servo" when shooting baddy pictures. But with that AF mode. My right hand index finger would be very busy!

ahh, i see, thanks for sharing that info..One more question from me:since you are using 3 different lenses, are you only using the Canon 20D as the sole camera body??..If so, then you must've change the lenses quite often then..

***Cheung*** · 08-30-2006, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by ctjcad

ahh, i see, thanks for sharing that info..One more question from me:since you are using 3 different lenses, are you only using the Canon 20D as the sole camera body??..If so, then you must've change the lenses quite often then..

Only when he moves position. Say most of the shots are from afar, then he'll use the 70-200 lens.

When he gets to near court, he'll use the 50 or the 17-40 lens. 70-200 that close by would be difficult to use. It's not like during one match he'll be running up and downstairs 10 times. Mind you, if he could do that, then I would think he would be able to chase the shots I give him when we play together

hehe