..don't want to start anything here and don't know if this is just a rumor or true, but just heard from someone(who've read from a news source in Indonesia) that Tony Gunawan has recently signed a contract with the top Denmark's badminton club and will be moving there soon...Heard there's already news or confirmation abt this from and Indonesian site as well as from Denmark..wow, if it's true, what a surprise.. Anyone from Denmark or another place has any news or can confirm this??..
Wouldn't surprise me, if this turns out to be true. For someone who evidently hasn't given up on playing badminton professionally, the Danish pro league must look very tempting indeed. Will his old colleagues be joining him, I wonder. I think it'd be fantastic if Candra, Sigit, Eng Hian, along with top pros from other countries no longer with their respective national associations join Danish and other European clubs.
Thats good to hear. M just surprised why he want to move to Denmark? US not good enough? Or he going there on a contract basis for a time period. I think he may go there as coach and not player for Denmark.
hehe, i knew and was expecting yannie to be super duper happy after hearing this...but then again, you guys already have world class badminton players there, unlike in the U.S.....anyways, enjoy his stay there for how long it is..
..yah, IMO, the reason above given by taufik-ist is the most likely reason for his move; i mean hey, why not if that's the case... the only thing i didn't know abt was his citizenship's status..
Might be true I have not seen anything official yet, but the independent badminton news web site "badminton nyt" posted this om 10 August 2006 (in my translation): "Tony Gunawan to Team Vestsjælland" (my comment: Team Vestsjælland is the name of the club - a result of a merger between some local clubs on the same island as Copenhagen, but located outside of the Copenhagen area). "The strengthening om Team Vestsjælland looks to be endless. This time it is the world champion and former Olympic champion in MD Tony G who is negotiating with the club. According to reliable sources the parties should have agreed on the cooperation, og the club should only be a few minor details in the finansing before the contract is signed". As the badmionton community in Denmark is quite small I find it quite likely that the sources are actually reliable.. but nothing official yet, so I guess we should consider this a rumour for the time being.. And that being said.. I would still seriously doubt that Tony G would like to move to Denmark. I think that would ruin his chances of staying in the US. My guess would therefore be that he is to be flown in to the matches where he has to play.. but.. we''ll probably learn more soon.. team matches in Denmark are to start early September this year so the announcement - if any - must come soon..
Could someone please update us on the state of badminton in the US? :crying: We would have thought that after the successful WC run in Anaheim last year, things would have improved by leaps and bounds, as seemingly reflected by the number of new badminton centres opening up in and around California. But if Tony Gunawan has to venture to Denmark, even on a piece-meal basis, to participate in their Professional League, then something is not so right! I thought Tony has a great desire to remain in the US for a much longer time and perhaps with the ultimate objective of getting US citizenship and to help develop the game there. And the poor attendance at the just concluded US Open at OCBC did not display the kind of enthusiasm and vibrancy that one would have expected. What is the badminton leadership doing in the US? Are they not able to put their plans into action?
Just went to check the team's homepage. Today, it is stated as a fact that Tony G will be playing for Team Vestsjælland. Do not know for how long that statement has been there.
That's what I & most of the people following the U.S. badminton and Tony thought also..Re his citizenship's status, I personally didn't know Tony has gotten his U.S. citizenship, until i read the article which mentioned that he's ALREADY a U.S. citizen..Further, during the recent U.S. Open, i DID NOT noticed anything regarding Tony leaving OCBC... some would say it's the lack of marketing/advertisement by the organizer/sponsors..other would say it's the lack of "star" players coming in, esp. from Asian countries; In previous yrs, players from Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia even from Denmark, England would come and participate in the tourney...then some others would say it's the lack of prize money given.. ..who knows..
thanks for the info klaphat...well, we don't know much abt this news here in the U.S. either-Imagine, we have to get the news from an Indonesian based website for this.... So, we're basically relying on you BC guys living in Denmark to give us any news, updates etc...BTW, since you mentioned the professional league play in Denmark is set to commence in early September, then in that case, Tony is set to leave the U.S. after his trip back from the 2 tourneys in HK & Korea.. BTW, if any BC members living in Hong Kong or Korea(ie. taneepak, redocrescent, badMania, event and others) happen to meet up with Tony while watching the tourneys, could you guys inquire to him abt this news and what his plans are??..As i wasn't able to inquire with him abt this..
This should be expected as the U.S. has very little support of the sport of badminton. Heck, if you talk to 9 out of 10 American and mention "badminton", they'll say, "Badminton? You mean that backyard sport?"
I hope Tony doesn't leave for Denmark. Once I move down to OC, I was going to reserve 2 hour lessons with Tony every Saturday and invite friends to come over and play with and against Tony.
If you want to have any chance of taking lessons with Tony, better do it quick before he leaves....:crying: Let me know when you are going, I want to watch.
Watch? You can come and play! OT: you coming to SGVBC today? Lili's coming right? Senior (SOTX Steve) will be there as well.
