The standard between Anna and Tine are worlds apart... unfortunately. D.O.B. August 19, 1980 Home: North Vancouver, Canada/Copenhagen, Denmark Occupation: Athlete/Student Club: Hollyburn Club, West Vancouver and Team Vensyssel, Frederikshavn Coach: Julia Chen, Michael Kjeldsen
12 June 2008 - Thursday If Hong Kong's Wang Chen expected an easy time against Indonesia's Bernadet Pia Zebadiah, she couldn't have been more wrong. The Indonesian, who downed Japan's Kaori Mori almost exactly a month ago, was in cracking form, especially at the net. After losing the first game, Wang Chen looked miserable. But coaches do notice weaknesses, don't they? It was apparent that Bernadet had a weak corner... and, of course, Wang Chen began pushing everything to that one spot. Final score: 15-21, 21-15, 21-18
12 June 2008 - Thursday France's Pi Hongyan, the reigning champion, will want to forget this one-hour encounter with Indonesia's Adrianti Firdasari. After four wins and just one loss (to Germany's Xu Huaiwen) in the recent European Championships, Hongyan was expecting a cruise up the Singapore river... except that her boat sank. Playing Firdasari, nothing seemed to go right for Hongyan... and, eventually, she caved in to the determined Indonesian girl. Final score: 21-16, 20-22, 21-16
12 June 2008 - Thursday When Malaysia's Fairuzizuan & Zakry began their game against Indonesia's Rian Sukmawan and Yonatan, the omens seemed to be unfavourable. They broke strings, broke racquets and broke ranks... but eventually they broke the Indonesian youngsters: 21-18, 21-12
12 June 2008 - Thursday The greater the man, the humbler his presence! A studied glance, a quick scribble and an inconspicuous gait... Misbun Sidek tries to attract the least amount of attention to himself. Clutching his little blue book and offering curt trouble-shooting pointers, the coach saw every one of his senior wards through to another day. His courtside attitude mirrors that of the other greats present - Hendrawan and Park Joo-Bong. No fuss, no frills and no outward evidence of exasperation - just a confident calmness. Not so with Thailand's and Singapore's coaches - they have too much at stake... and it shows.
Guess Who I thought I spied a BC member in the audience who has been trying out his new camera the last few days. I must say the colours are refreshing indeed! And two lovely darlings specially for my dear madbad.
12 June 2008 - Thursday It's easy to see why female voices from the stands sound infatuated with Denmark's Peter Gade. Age has obviously not dimished his looks... but it has certainly slowed the Danish master. His game is now more calculated than fast, more sliced than punched and more circumspect than adventurous. But it works... and it's been good going so far. Poompat Sapkulchananart succumbed in less than half an hour to the Gadian game. But next ahead is the indefatigable, giant-killing Nguyen Tien Minh from Vietnam. Will the wily Dane survive to see another round?
12 June 2008 - Thursday With so many withdrawals at the top, youngsters from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have never had a tournament so good. It's been a treat for the spectators too... great eye-candy (like the colour-coordinated Anna Rice, the ageless Gao Ling and the ethereal Hwang Hye-Youn), smash-until-die young wannabes and, of course, a few great matches. And then there's a few who are paid to ogle
12 June 2008 - Thursday Singapore's Ju Guan resolutely fought her way up the qualification ladder and then played a magical game to drown Hong Kong's jump-smashing Yip Pui Yin. But India's Saina Nehwal seemed impervious to Guan's spells... Pullela Gopichand's protege relied largely on raw power to quell the charming Singaporean's delicate game 21-19, 21-17
I must say oldhand, I like you little commentaries that accompany the photos. Gives it a more human element. Must the journalist in you coming out. Good stuff; keep up the good work
