Amidst the dirt and dust of a huge place we call Delhi, the reigning BC World and India Open Champions got together on Friday midnight for another, ahem, "title assault" to claim the Badminton Asia Championships title. Obviously, India is a very good hunting ground for us, mainly caused by, err, lack of quality BC opposition.
Crisis Management ..... And The Commonwealth Games Upon landing, I had to handle two major crisis. Apparently, both my mobile providers have conveniently forgotten to ensure my roaming package is active after a recent upgrade of SIM cards. This was only sorted out on Friday evening, by which case, I had another crisis to manage at the office .... Friday morning was spent at the Commonwealth Games Office in Delhi. Avataar was meeting the DG of the Games that day, which eventually caused him to miss half of the action .... Pix of the place: 1. The Commonwealth Games Office 2. The Entrance of the Office of the Commonwealth, Games that is 3. The Countdown Starts 4. The Mascot - a CAT named Shera, a tribute to BC Cats 5. Inside the Building
Avataar's Interview ..... .....had a lot to do with Commonwealth Games Crisis Management. Obviously, looking at the progress of the preparations, a lot need to be done and more expertise (even from BC members) would be welcome. The scale of the Games readiness and preparation is shown here.
The meeting, conducted in the typical Indian atmosphere, took quite a bit of time. So I left for a quick breakfast/lunch at Pizza Hut, then hopped into one of India's "ultra-modern" Ambassadors. Yup, the Hindustan Ambassador cab was my ride out to the Siri Fort Stadium. Even the driver is much more pleasant that the typical Indian street driver. Here are some views of the India Gate, India's equivalent of the Champs-Elysees.
When they were talking about this being a Test Event for the Commonwealth Games, the organizers weren't kidding. Everything was being, ahem, stress tested. Security, organization, parking, ticketing, food management, everything that could, err, test the patience of paying spectators is being tested. 1. Huge placard informing of the "Guinea Pig" status of the BAC. They were even testing the placement of the placard, I think. Features to test the endurance of paying spectators: 2 - 4. Placement of parking and ticket booth a good km away from the Stadium 5 - 7. The "internationally reknowned" BookMyShow ticket booth
Extremely Tight Security ...... ..... was the order of the day. They had everything, from the list of banned substances (which included coins and pens, backpacks etc), portable and mobile scanners, at least 3 rounds of security detail and another 3 rounds of ticket checking (manned with guns to shoot gatecrashers on sight, no doubt). 1. Cars being checked before being admitted to the parking lot, 1 km away from the stadium 2. Stadium entrance, with a good 500 kms to go. 3 - 5. Security scanners and checkpoints 6. Even a monitoring tower is erected here (yup, we are in prison all right) 7. Ticket checkpoint with gun totting guard.
Some views of the Stadium 1 - 5 The stadium from the outside, with some pics of avataar in action 6. A Sales Office, on a disused generator? And views from the inside: 7. Yonex Booth 8 - 9 Corridor to Spectator Seating 10. Food Booth
Ah, but this is not complete with some pics of the court area: 1 - 2. Sneak peek of the infamous warmup courts 3. The battlefields on semifinals day 4. CPS/GLY on their way to unexpected glory 5. Saina and Li Xuerui ready to do battle, it was more of a drubbing 6. The huge TV that catches almost all bad line calls, and yes, there were too many of them. 7. And a huge screen for tournamentsoftware scoreboard, a good thing since some of the courtside TV screens went suddenly blank ..... 8. The office of THAT GUY on the top right (under DELHI 2010 banner), the media area on the top left The interior of the stadium itself is more or less modelled similar to the French Super Series venue at Pierre de Coubertin. Pretty good view from all sides.
1 thing i notice from the BAC was the wandering flies which players have to swat away or flick the mushed up ones off the side line i hope facility designer can find a way solve this problem ( i know one )
Power Failures ...... ....... are a fact of life in India. It happened in Hyderabad last year, obviously Delhi is not going to escape the same thing. On q-finals day, we had a few power trip just after the matches were concluded. But hey, you would not have expected even the official hotel to suffer the same thing. Being BC Champions, we were feted to a great South Indian dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, sponsored by avataar's credit card, TQ TQ. And lo and behold, while we were "receiving service", a "service fault" was called on the electrical power. Pics during the power outage: 1 - 2. The ghostly apparition of a BC "Legend"
Yes indeed. Didn't I tell you guys that this is a Test Event? Thus even the umpires, coaches, players and spectators must be tested to the limit and do some swatting exercises ala badminton strokes. What better way than to use flies for the job? Unfortunately, no pics of the flies were ever documented due to camera limitations.
A "Devastating" Loss ..... A bit of, err, tragic event affected the BC BAC Squad on our way to dinner last night. Avataar lost one of his mobile phones in between navigating the congested markets of Sarojini Nagar and travelling in those "greatly inspired" auto-rickshaws. Thus we are now required by law to issue a travel advisory to BC folks who wish to enjoy the Commonwealth Games. Always ensure the safety of your most important possessions. Protect your pockets at all times. And visit unique Indian markets like Sarojini Nagar on flimsy rickshaw transportation at your own peril ....... Today in the morning, we are having a quick breakfast with Davey, the face of Indian badminton journalism. Followed by the finals day action, and grabbing the BC BAC title, of course.
BC Training Base .... .... is located in the posh and upmarket South Delhi neighbourhood called Greater Kailash 1 (GK1). The words "posh and upmarket" automatically allowed all hotels operating in that general area to charge typical 4-5 star rates while providing 3 star accommodation and facilities. On the day of the finals, the future BC BAC Champions woke up late after having had a hard (and tragic) "training session" the previous day. We had 1 hour to prepare before having to check out, meet Davey (who was reporting for Badzine in India and the recent All-England too) and have lunch at Coffee Bean. After that, another rickshaw trip to the stadium, but now armed with "Premium Tickets". Pics: 1. BC Training Base, pics are at night to obscure graphic detail 2-3. Just to prove that the Training Base is located in a posh and upmarket location 4. Davey and avataar at breakfast, avataar still looking tired and sad 5. For the price of a Premium Ticket, you get to walk on this, ahem, VIP carpeted corridor.
The Finals Action ..... ...... aren't too bad despite not many huge stars making the trip. Well, except the WD, of course, but that drubbing was pretty much expected since quarterfinals day, when Greysia Polii/Meiliana Jauhari got beaten in a very close contest. Some (not so high quality) pictures of the action on court, and Malaysia's historic moment in XD: 1. The podium 2-5. The action 6. The interview 7-9. The award 10-12. The flags During the taking of these pictures, I had to use all my legendary bouncer experience (as reported by avataar earlier) to bounce off and swat a few security officials like flies. Another test of willpower of the fans, I suppose. And last but not least ..... 13-14. THAT GUY.
More pix of other finals winners: 1. WS at the Podium 2. Advice from CHN coach, "Whack 'em to less than 10 pts, tommybun's orders!" 3. WD at the Podium 4-5. MS at the Podium 6-7. MD at the Podium, with the Chief Minister of Delhi Umm, there were also pics of some stars, who did not manage to qualify for the Final. Courtesy of Yonex 8. The MS World no 1 9. The MS no 1 seed 10. One wonders why Gade should be in this tournament
Finally ...... ....... we come to the unveiling of the new BC BAC Champions. It has been a terribly challenging fight to the title, with sore throats, 43 degree Celcius heat, expensive and cramped "training base", dirt all over the place, fly swatting, and last but not least, all those tests that would really test the patience of future Commonwealth Games visitors and fans. 1. The podium that we were fighting for. Had to wait till the VIPs and Security Forces have left to conquer it. 2. The BC BAC MS Champion regains his title from Korea a year ago. Just look at the disgust of the sore loser on his left. 3. The new BC BAC MD Champs win their 3rd title in Indian soil. Of course we would have won, our opponent is only one man ...... but at least he's happy enough. 4. BC MD Champs take a bow. 5. Taking final picture with Davey and avataar at Davey's media office in the stadium.
