GGBC Welcomes All Players to the U.S. Adult Nationals 2008!

[GGManagement]

GGBC WELCOMES ALL PLAYERS TO THE
U.S. ADULT NATIONALS 2008

GGBC Founder/Owner Mike Yang, together with all GG Staff, would like to give a HUGE, WARM, “WELCOME”, to all participants and special guests, to the Bay Area competing for the coveted crown of “NATIONAL CHAMPION” in the 2008 United Commercial Bank / US Adult Nationals at GGBC 1, Menlo Park starting TODAY, Friday, April 4th– Sunday, April 6th.

Enclosed also below is Prize Money Listing for this Tournament!

We wish all the players, THE BEST OF LUCK! No matter what the results may be, we hope you all will enjoy this tournament, and find this experience a most memorable, and as valuable, as our experience has been!!

Thank you to ALL!

Warmest Regards,
Mike Yang, with GGBC Management Team

____________________________

*Please check our frequently updated website at www.ggbadminton.com for GGBC news, events, special offers, membership/training programs information, and many more!
________________________

Contact Us

Email: info@ggbadminton.com

GGBC 1
190 Constitution Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Phone: 650-838-9318
Fax: 650-838-9229

GGBC 2
4230 Hubbard Street, Emeryville, CA 94608
Phone: 510-655-8989
Fax: 510-655-8988

[ggeinstein]

(Juan Carlos Pometta Betancourt/Special to The Examiner)

Howard Bach, former badminton world champion, hopes to win the United States’ first Olympic medal in the sport. Sasha Vasilyuk, The Examiner
2008-04-05 10:00:00.0

Current rank: # 151 of 6,415

SAN FRANCISCO -
Rackets swung swiftly, propelling white-feathered shuttlecocks across the taut brown net as Howard Bach, a former badminton world champion who will be representing the U.S. in the Olympics this summer, scored one point after another at a competition in Menlo Park.

Bach, who grew up in San Francisco, is the strongest athlete at the Adult National Championship, considered the Super Bowl of badminton, hosted for the first time ever in the Bay Area this weekend.

The championship, many badminton aficionados said, is a testament to the growing popularity of the sport in the Bay Area. Mike Yang, owner of the Golden Gate Badminton Club, which has locations in Menlo Park and Emeryville, said 88 players entered the competition this year, more than double the regular number.

“There is a lot of talent in the Bay Area,” he said. “Now there are more professional clubs that help the sport to grow. It used to be very hard to train in the Bay Area.”

Until two years ago, local athletes had to use the gym at UC Berkeley or go to Los Angeles to train. However, the demand by the large local Asian population who enjoyed the sport led to the launch of three clubs, including a new one in Burlingame that opened in February, Yang said.

He said he has seen a huge growth in interest from local Asian athletes, but Americans have been slow to enter the sport because they are still not very familiar with it.

Bach, who will head to Beijing in three months, said he hoped badminton would get more exposure this year because the Olympics are hosted by China, where badminton is one of the most popular sports.

Since badminton became an Olympic sport in 1992, no American has been able to win a medal — something Bach, 29, is hoping to change. In 2004, he competed in the Olympics, but did not win a medal.

“The Chinese are strong, but until you finish, it’s hard to say who is going to win,” he said. “The main key is that someone has to carry the torch and keep winning.”

svasilyuk@examiner.com

Examiner
Attached Images

[Vtec101]

"The championship, many badminton aficionados said, is a testament to the growing popularity of the sport in the Bay Area. Mike Yang, owner of the Golden Gate Badminton Club, which has locations in Menlo Park and Emeryville, said 88 players entered the competition this year, more than double the regular number."

There were 82 entrants last year when this was held at OCBC. Each year seems to have more entrants, which is a good thing.