Take more photos of Matsutomo Misaki, Ueda Takuma and Sato Shoji . I shall try. I usually don't take photos, but to pay attention to their skills and tactics applied in their matches. .
Taufik Hidyat, Boonsak Ponsana and Tein Minh are confirmed in the MS for the Aus GGP. Should be great for the Aussie crowds to see them! great boost for the event!
The No.1 players from each of the 3 different countries . WOW, This is great news that they are coming; The No.1 players from each of the 3 different countries that have many followers of Badminton living in Melbourne, Australia. Very happy. .
Thanks to Chris, with all the excitement created in this thread I thought the Australian Open is just around the corner. I just found out from the BWF website the following details: 05-10 Apr: YONEX Australian Open: Grand Prix Gold : Melbourne It's also a surprise that so many big names are participating when the prize money is only GP Gold (US$120,000 min.) level compared to the Super Series. If the AO is included as ranking points for the London Olympics, which I doubt, their participation is understandable. But can anyone confirm this? At around this time, the All-England should be a hot topic as it will be held early next month: 08-13 Mar: Yonex All England Open: Superseries Premier : Birmingham Superseries Tournaments From the 12 Superseries events, five have been selected as Premier Series events, with the Korea Open offering USD1.2 million prize money, the highest ever for a badminton tournament. From BWF website: The minimum total prize money for Premier Super Series tournaments will be US $350,000 in 2011 and US $400,000 in 2012 and 2013. The minimum total prize money for Super Series tournaments will be US $200,000. All prize money for Super Series tournaments must at all times be quoted in US dollars and all prize money sent to the BWF Secretariat for payment must be in US dollars only.
2011 Australian Open: A Grand Prix Gold tournament . There is an excitement for our 2011 Australian Open because it's the first time we made it as a Grand Prix Gold tournament. .
Congrats Chris. The upgrading is certainly something to celebrate about. Melbourne reminds me of Commonwealth Games 2006 there and the wonderful time we have had with fellow BCers from down under, namely Kim, BadFever, Maz, Kong, FEND and a few others and even one lady from NZ. The last time you were so busy that we missed the chance of meeting up with you, except for FEND from Perth who acted as a volunteer. But we even had time to play social badminton together apart from watching the matches and doing some sightseeing and dining together. As I recall the badminton matches were played at the Exhibition Centre (?) which I felt was not too condusive as the hall was a bit narrow that resulted in limited seating capacity. But the relatively smaller venue allowed fans and players to mingle upclose and I had a chance not only to take pictures with our Singapore players but also with players from other countries. It was a rare opportunity then to have a photo taken with celebrities like champion LCW and Saina, who was then very young but already made a huge impression. I trust this time the tournament will be held in a proper stadium. Hope this time round you will be able to enjoy the matches and are not involved with the organization or the coaching.
MSAC showroom: Venue of the 2002 Thomas and Uber Cup Asian Zone Preliminary Finals . This year (2011), the Australian Open GP Gold will be held at MSAC (Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre). There will be 4 courts set up in the showroom. Seating capacity is 2,000. Many BCers who came to Melbourne to watch the 2002 Thomas and Uber Cup Asian Zone Preliminary Finals will know this showroom. In this showroom, BCers and players will still be able to mingle. Warm-up courts will be located in the MSAC Badminton Hall. I will not be involved in coaching this time; so I will be free to mingle with all players. .
Qualification for the olympic starts at the beginning of may 2011 and runs through to the end of April 2012. So the AO is not included in the OG qualification this year, however if the date ramains the similar in 2012 it will mean that the AO will be one of the last events in the qualifying period, which normally brings out many of the top players trying to get those last few points for qualification.
Time passes really quickly eh. Five years ago feels just like yesterday. Proper stadium, what proper stadium. Friend, not badminton in Aussie la. You should come to the Australian Tennis Open next year. It's like a small town. But, having said that, this tournament will be played in a nice Hall. Even compare to the Exhibition Centre, MSAC hall is a bit smaller. If you sit on the bottom row, you are just a meter or two from the baseline. Talk about upclose with players, I don't think you will get any closer than this tournament. Good for the spectators.
Yes 5 years ago may seem a very long time but we got to meet again in Beijing Olympics 2008 (with BCers all over the world) and last year in KL for the Thomas/Uber Cups where Kim and Kong were also present to play the MAS vs Foreign Team BC Challenge. Maybe our next target should be London Olympics 2012?
2011 Australia Badminton Open GPG (Tommy Sugiarto is participating) . This is good news. Hope to find more top players coming. .
Djarum will send the players also..they will decide who will be going there soon..I may suspect, Andre K., Fransisca, Ana Rovita
Djarum will send their players also . This is great. Hope that all of them can come; After all, Australia is a neighbour of Indonesia. .
Djarum players: Andre K.T, Maria Kristin, Ana Rovita, and Fransisca Ratnasari Looks like MKY's knee is getting better
PBSI wills end 3 MS, 3 WS, 1 WD and Melicia SONY, VITO, Firda ,Nitya/Fenya and forgot another 2WS and 1 MS
GREAT!!! Very excited to hear that MKY will play here and also glad to hear that her knee is getting better
