Yes, there were a few of those but the variety is in general was good... better to have some pictures than none, right?
Noticed a few players wearing prescription glasses too. Also saw a couple of pics of an older gentleman wearing an eyepatch!
So is this the before or after?? I was going to ask about that as I remember once at the nationals someone quickly printed out his name on paper and stuck it to the back with tape or safety pins. Surely this wasn't allowed or was it? Well I guess maybe this would be but that's the last we'll see of these shirts ...
Guys.. ..give it up and thank the camera & lenses. Afterall, they did 90% of the work plus they're the ones saving the pics/files. The other 9 percent can be given to luck. The other 1 person, may be given as personal credit ( i only did the shutter pressing). to madbad: as to what happened in the LHL's & Thomsen's match, you can see the racket pic in the Misc. Pictures thread. Try to guess what happened. As for the fave in MS, i'll share with is in the next/upcoming post. to ants: yes, you're correct. I should've taken their faces as well. But, i assume you're referring to the 2 players with no names of their shirts, already took a picture of them (haven't been able to upload them).. to birdie68: yep, it's quite embarrassing. Unless someone had stolen their shirts, there's no excuse for them not to know this type of tourneys regulations. But, it was a different story today, though. to papa-kwun-razzi: yes, i used all fast prime lenses (ranging from 15mm to 200mm). Plus an 1.4x extender lens. No zoom lenses this time. But my right hand is a bit sore from holding those equipments for nearly 12 hrs. But of course, i have to give a big THANKS to all the photo-gurus for their unending guidance. ..yep, they were wearing that shirt the entire match. And guess what, i didn't even notice it at all (even while i was taking their pics the entire time)!..OMG!*gasp*...Only after the match had ended & the tournament Referee came to talk to them did i realize what had happened. I then captured the scene to share them with y'all...Embarrassing, yes; but they sure looked different tonight...
Quick hits from Day 2... ...so, was Day 2 any more exciting than Day 1??..I'd say, yes, a bit, because the type of competition is starting to tighten up... Here are my quick hits from today's event: - Boy, after watching Lee Hock Lai play (both MS and XD), i must say i have to give him another nickname. Besides the Lee "Don't call me Lee Chong Wei" Hok Lai, i should give a new nickname. And that is, Lee "A One Man Show Stopper" Hock Lai.... He simply was like a scooter out there. Esp. in his XD match. In the entire match, he was simply a 1 man show, chasing and controlling all the shuttles sent on his side of the court. And i'm quite sure all the people watching him were simply in awe. From drops, to cross-court shots, to smashes and clears, he was on them like he had to save a grenade from falling on the floor. Quick and always aware are words that, IMO, can best describe his play. He was out there covering Priscilla basically 90% of the time (okay, okay, let's give Priscilla 25% credit). Anyway, they've got their work cut out for them, as they have a tough date tomorrow when they'll face Howard & Eva in their QF round. - A couple of head-turner tonight. First, the pairing of Mona and Johanna losing to the Chinese TPE's WD pair, in straight sets. Simply, M & J's game was out of sorts. Many errors and right from the get-go they were on the defense. They even lured Candra into the coaching box to help them figure out what's wrong (along with Grace Peng), after the 1st set, but to no avail. They ended up losing in 2 straight sets and to end it, Johanna made an unforced net shot which went out. But that's not the only loss for Mona. Earlier, she and partner Chandra lost to CAN's Beres & Loker in a thrilling rubber set (yeah, i can hear cooler, madbad and all the Canadian based BCers wooting it up..). Again, same type of situation. 1st set, very defensive and made errors. M & C were able to correct their strategy and it worked as they forced Ms. Loker to make plays. It went to rubber set, where the CAN pair just out-slugged the ex-INA national players. - Kevin Cordon is a hammer-thrower, at least that's what i saw and what the people were whispering while watching him play. He was simply smashing the shuttlecock like it was a plastic shuttle. I think tomorrow's match fitting him vs. Lee Hock Lai could be a good one. - The tall and lanky Bille Larsen might not be a basketball player, but he was lengthy enough to subdue the much shorter Casey in straight sets. It seemed like Casey was trying to get to the basket or around Bille Larsen for an easy slam dunk, but Bille Larsen was there to greet him with his size. Bille' Larsen's footwork might make "Dancing with the Stars" producer cringe, but he has enough touch, length and good strokes. - A few more withdrawals which forced a few more.....relieved players.. - And the last match of the day featuring, i would call it, 1 uncle and 3 nephews; I would call it the "An Uncle and 3 nephews" duel. To see Rudy Gunawan play and give it his all out there, in his current age, would definitely inspire a lot of older people. He was basically running out there with 3 much younger players, the same age probably as his nephews. But skill-wise, he was simply dominating. He might've even called some shots and plays for the other pair, as well. It was a close shave, but definitely Rudy benefited from his opponents' W/O y'day. Anyway, that's all for now...be back later for some more pics from Day 2 (got to get them ready, right??)... * I saw the Canadian squad took pictures at the conclusion of the day. All guys and 1 gal, Joycelyn Ko, crunched alone in the middle.
Yeah.. ..(almost forgot to reply to this)..yep, those young men are representing Canada (McKee and Li). Older gentleman wearing someking of an eyepatch is Dean Schoppe.
mike beres is amazing for his age. He can backfill any position where canadian is lacking in participated tournaments, MS, MD and/or XD (but not all 3 events tho). Too bad our #1 WS anna rice drop out to play XD with wil milroy. She can reach the WS final no problem. Look like joycelyn ko filled her shoes but Joycelyn is only #29 in canada, so going out in first round is expected. Wil milroy regular XD partner, tammy sun, is not playing likely because of school and studying. (ie. she's done with competitive badminton).
Tomorrow's match between David SNIDER and Stefan WOJCIKIEWICZ (quick copy and paste) will be an interesting encounter. In this year's Canadian Open, Stefan was seeded #2 but the unseeded David upset him 21-12 15-21 21-13 to take the title. I'm sure Stefan, seeded #6 in the US Open, will have learned from this setback. Expect fireworks.
Yep..same story.. ..and reasons with a few notable missing young U.S. players from this tourney(e.g. missing Arnold Setiadi (kwun probably knows the reason why; i talked with someone @ OCBC and he said he has school to take care of first. Next week/month, he has to travel to play for the Junior Championship). Also, Jamie Subandhi (school also). Also, Lauren's brother.
There are.. ..no fireworks without our great and dear madbad here.... ..okay, i'm out!..chat to you guys manana..
Speaking of Lauren, did you get to speak to her after she was shown the door rather unceremoniously in Round 1? Was kinda shocked to see her beaten so tamely.
Beres will be retiring soon, I forgot what date or year he said, but less then a year I believe. Just curious as you have the ranks in Canada, what is Michelle Li ranked at?
