Li-Ning Singapore Open organisers promise more

Discussion in 'Thailand / Indonesia / Singapore Open 2013' started by Loh, May 2, 2013.

  1. Sealman

    Sealman Regular Member

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    Its semifinals day and I am standing outside the VIP/Guests sections. I counted less than 50 guests yet more than 400 seats (approx) have been reserved :confused:Paying fans had no choice but to sit at the sidelines of courts
     
  2. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Badminton: Boonsak Ponsana earns shot at retaining Li-Ning Singapore Open title

    Published on Jun 22, 2013
    6:54 PM


    [​IMG]
    Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana (above) booked a berth in the Li-Ning Singapore Open men's singles final when he beat Japan's Takuma Ueda 21-8, 21-15 on Saturday, June 22, 2013, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. -- PHOTO: AFP


    By May Chen


    Open men's singles final when he beat Japan's Takuma Ueda 21-8, 21-15 on Saturday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
    The world No. 4 will meet Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto in the final on Sunday for a shot at a third Singapore Open title. This is the fifth time Ponsana - the defending champion - has made the final of the local event since the 2007 edition.
    Sugiarto beat Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Minh 20-22, 21-19, 21-15 in the other men's semi-final.
    The women's singles semi-final will be an all-China duel between world No. 1 Li Xuerui and No. 5 Wang Yihan.
     
  3. kelana

    kelana Regular Member

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    I do believe the haze has scared out to death those VIP/Guests from taking risks to show up in the sport event incl. the 2013 SG SS ;) yet no OC will dare to take the slightest risk to fill in the reserved empty chairs, even partially, with the enthusiastic badminton lovers.... after all no one will ever get the blame even though the entire VIP/Guests section goes empty throughout the event yet the opposite action is very risky. That's why they are called VIP... with V(ERY) :D
     
  4. abedeng

    abedeng Regular Member

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    Here is the indication of how many exactly braved the, ahem, attack of the smogs ....

    Semis Crowd.jpg
    Actual semifinals crowd, give or take a few who sat at the sides ....

    Premium Crowd.jpg
    On my left, VIP guests, and on my right, a trickling of, err, world record paying Premium Ticket holders .......
     
  5. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Compared to HK, that is a very small crowd for semifinals. How does it compare to last year?
     
  6. Sealman

    Sealman Regular Member

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    Empty seats at the Guest Section
     

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  7. Sealman

    Sealman Regular Member

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    Empty seats at the VIP Section. What a waste of seats!!!! :mad: Surely the organisers could have been more flexible and moved the spectators from the Guest Section to join those at the VIP Section and allow the fans to sit at the "designated Guest Section". I also witnessed those with the "Guest" pass being asked to leave the VIP Section because they did not carry the "privileged" VIP pass.
     

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  8. abedeng

    abedeng Regular Member

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    In short .....

    There is really nothing much to say about this event.

    Yes, this event lacks both imagination and soul.

    If I were to take the All-England as a benchmark (that's a relatively low benchmark compared to events in Indonesia, Malaysia and China, ok), even All-England has specific programs for both Badminton England members as well as the paying public from all over the World. There are various games and special functions such as the hospitality brunch with the stars .... things that would make it memorable.

    Whereas what is done by SBA so far is more towards the local populace only. I mean, which visitor would want to purchase NETS FlashPay cards bearing Singaporean badminton players? Not unless NETS is used throughout Asia and the World ....

    OK, now let's see, what do they have here .....

    SG girls.jpg SG girls2.jpg SG girls3.jpg SG girls4.jpg
    These are the SG girls - they are there only to shepherd and care for the almost non-existent VIP guests. Need to learn from Djarum, how best to employ eye candy to attract more paying customers.

    LN1.jpg LN2.jpg
    There's just this one Li Ning merchandize store ......

    LNLYB.jpg
    ....... which is still unable to find buyers for the LYB special coaching pack.

    OSIM.jpg
    Other than that, there's OSIM ....... put to good use for comfortable napping ....

    uSlender.jpg
    ..... whether or not the users get thinner or not ....the name uSlender is good

    BAuerfeind.jpg
    There's also this company, specializing in bandages and knee, shoulder, elbow guards
    and the like

    Over at the South Wing ....

    Balloon.jpg
    .... organizers plan an event with balloons .... but there is noticeable lack of interest or enthusiasm .... note the sleeping man.

    Mascot.jpg .
    I found this mascot, doing its best to attract customers for the FlashPay card ...

    But more important ....
    Uphoria.jpg
    .... is the OSIM Uphoria chairs ....
    Uphoria2.jpg
    ..... used exclusively by the Korean squad for intensive training .....
     
  9. Sealman

    Sealman Regular Member

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    To add insult to injury the over-zealous usherers informed me I was not allowed to stand behind these empty seats and watch the Boonsak vs Ueda match. I was asked at least three times to leave the area. I refused and asked if I was in any way disturbing these "invisible" VIPs? Did I pose a security threat to these "invisible" VIPs? The usherers could not answer me and I asked to see the supervisor. No one came back to me and instead the usherers sealed off the area until I left. Unbelievable.
     
    #109 Sealman, Jun 22, 2013
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2013
  10. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    SG girls? That is some pretty nice eye candy, abedeng! Glad to see that global standards apply in Singapore, too: men will always pay pretty girls -- even if it is only to stand around looking bored..
     
  11. cobalt

    cobalt Moderator

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    At other venues, the organisers at least try to fill up the space with free day passes for schoolchildren. I wonder if the organisers had a special discounted rate for college kids etc?

    One thing really puzzles me. We have a huge lot of players (recreational and the more serious type) resident in Singapore, on this forum. The fact that the stands are so empty nevertheless, speaks of some issues with the organising of this tournament.

    Excitement at the venue transmits itself to the remote viewers as well.
     
  12. kelana

    kelana Regular Member

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    Picture confirmation

    Thanks abedeng for confirming by pictures, i do believe the helluva haze will scare away folks from attending the stadium, and the remote sensing is indeed accurate.

    "One picture is worth a thousand words."
     
  13. abedeng

    abedeng Regular Member

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    I am only showing the SG girls early to you guys because there's still a long wait for you to see the Djarum Girls ..... wakakakakaka. Plus I can't sleep - the guys sharing the hostel here in SG are still working in our shared room.
     
  14. cobalt

    cobalt Moderator

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    Jeez! What a tease! :p
     
  15. abedeng

    abedeng Regular Member

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    Yesterday was not too bad ..... in fact I got to see the Singapore Skyline from Marina Bay Sands Skypark. Even walked all the way back to my hostel opposite Clarke Quay. All you need is follow the river .....
     
  16. jimbo

    jimbo Regular Member

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    Cloudy day here in SG... Haze seems to move northward (sorry Msia :eek:)... it's time for good games at the Indoor Stadium... boleh?
     
  17. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Crowd looks a lot less than in previous years. Price and haze. Rather poor advertisement on TV.

    How much weighting is given to attendance figures on deciding Superseries status?
     
  18. abedeng

    abedeng Regular Member

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    Make that, practically zero advertisement ......

    So much so that our, err, extremely matured Master Loh decided to watch the finals on TV ...... still, we got to persuade him to get out of his couch after the finals for a mini get-together-session at a hawker food stall two MRT stops away after the finals. Otherwise there would have been zero Singaporean representation in the finals get-together.
     
  19. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Ha, ha, I can't wait to meet up with our four BC Malaysian badminton die-hard fans and despite virtually going back from home to around the Stadium at Old Airport Rd food centre, I can't disappoint Bro Deng.

    The haze has heard our plea and toned down quite a bit and that allowed us more time to chat while we enjoyed our satays and rojak, apart from our individual orders.

    Hope Bro Deng enjoys a pleasant trip home by slow train. :)
     
  20. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Round-up of news reports on the SO

    Tommy dashes Boonsak’s dreams of record third win




    [​IMG]Photo: Li-Ning Singapore Open 2013


    [​IMG]Photo: Li-Ning Singapore Open 2013


    TODAY

    By Felicia Quick

    6 hours 32 sec ago


    SINGAPORE — Boonsak Ponsana must wait at least another year for another attempt at becoming the first three-time winner of the US$200,000 (S$255,000) Li-Ning Singapore Open badminton championship after losing 2-1 to Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto in the men’s singles final yesterday.

    With the backing of more than half of the 8,500 crowd inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Boonsak took the first set 22-20.

    However, Thailand’s world No 4 was unable to maintain his momentum as Tommy began to chip away, eventually taking the next two sets 21-5, 21-17 to claim the US$15,000 winner’s cheque.

    “I made a lot of mistakes in the second set and I could not stay patient,” said Boonsak, who won in 2007 and last year.

    The win extended Tommy’s recent run against Boonsak, having also beaten him at this year’s German Open and Australian Open.

    For Tommy, son of retired Indonesian legend Icuk Sugiarto, his sights are now set on succeeding retired world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat as his country’s No 1 badminton star.

    “Although it was my first Super Series final, I was confident as I had more stamina than Boonsak, so I played my second set like my first,” said Tommy, 25. “I anticipated Boonsak would be more aggressive in the last set, so I was mentally prepared ... My next aim is the World Championship in August. It is my dream to replace Taufik, but I am still young and have a long way to go.”

    Meanwhile, next year’s edition of the Li-Ning Singapore Open will see the total prize money rise to US$$300,000 — above the minimum US$250,000 by the Badminton World Federation for all Super Series events from next year — and it will be played in April.

    Said Singapore Badminton Association Chief Executive Officer Bobby Lee: “We hope to attract at least 50 per cent of the top 10 players around the world and it would be enough for us to give the Singaporean crowd a good game to watch.” FELICIA QUICK
     

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