I live in Birmingham HI Kwun, I actually live in Birmingham. It's a great place and is relatively peaceful for a city and the NIA (national indoor arena) where the All england and World Championchips are to be held is really magnificent . Tho the organisation is still quite old fashioned...slow updates of results etc etc. But I can garuntee that you will have a seat In the last 3 years that I have attended, it has never been full house! I could show you around the city and book every sports hall but I guess you already know your way around here. So the point is, if I were you then I would go to Eindhoven. Not that you are unwelcome of course. We do look forward to meeting and playing you (shall we raise the stakes and bet on rackets? namely Cab20..!). Anyway there are no cabs on general sale in the UK.
I hope the organisers will darken the spectator area when they record the centre court for TV in Holland and Birmingham. I always think picture is clearer on TV when viewed against a dark background eg as in Seville 2001 or 1999 Denmark. The blue backgroung in Eindhoven in Dutch Open is always a bit distracting for TV audiences.
Yes, i know one of the officials, and he sais the plan is indeed to darken the spectator area, like during the Thomas/Uber cup first stage, also held in Eindhoven. Another difference with Dutch Open (during Dutch open the accomodation had to be shared with Table Tennis Dutch open) is that the position of the courts will be 90 degrees turned, also like the Thomas/Uber cup first stage. I visited the Thomas Uber first stage and i must say that i was impressed about the light and whole ambiance of the accomodation. The lights will be specially installed for te tournament.
Thanks fr replying Yong. I'll probably draw some flak but I am one of those purists who like to watch Badminton in a sombre atmosphere, enjoying and taking in skills displayed instead of watching people howling at some slugfest in a typical Thomas Cup match, i save that for a boxing or wrestling match. I hope Kwun doesn't travel to Holland to see his favourite team thrashed. Last 2001 Semi was a cliff-hanger, but I remember more 1999 where Sun Jun played Gade and Dai Yun played her guts out against Camulla.
Eindhoven Hi everybody, I will be probably as well at the Eindhoven Sudirman Cup. (would be good if I could play!) May be Kwun if you are there you should bring a banner with BC.com so we can find out who/where you are. Manuel
Bbn, a re-enact of the 1999 Sudirman Cup will be absolutely the most awesome experience for any badminton fanatic. i still remember in 1999 i was sitting at a computer cluster at school and watching only web score updates and i was already drooling all over the keyboard. if i were there live, i doubt my heart can take the beating. however, if i do get to Eindhoven, i will be happy just to see an even draw and 4 good teams getting into the semis. as for who wins, i am not putting any high hopes on any teams, i am sure you have catch that from the analysis i did! deep down in my heart, i do have my fav team. however, i do try to keep an open mind.
Wow, it all sounds so interesting! I'm very tempted to join you folks at Eindhoven in March. Have never visited Holland. It will be great if we can ascertain how many of BF members can make it so that we can meet together and have some fun. Of course, playing badminton together will be the main course. It will be nice if we have BF members from Holland to help organize some of the things for us, like tickets, courts for us to play badminton, lodging, sightseeing, good and cheap eating places, etc. Maybe this is too much to hope for. But you'll never know, the love for badminton can bring us together!
I do not know the Eindhoven direct surroundings very well, as i live 130 km away from that city. But hey, it will be nice to meet with BF members and play some baddy and have fun. When we know the group of BF members who want to join, we can work things out, where i sure want to help organize.
Thank you Yong for being such a good sport. Hope something can be worked out and let's have some fun!
Eindhoven it is.... we have decided to go to Eindhoven. the planning stage has begun. i hope it works out. anybody has suggestions on where to visit in the surrounding area? Belgium? Luxembourg? Germany? France?
Hi Kwun, Let me know if I can do something for you (traininfo, hotelinfo etc...)! I live near Schiphol, the place where your plane will land and I have some family in Eindhoven, so I know the area a. What would you like to do/visit in the surroundings area? Do you take your racket with you?
Nice choice Kwun How long will you stay ? Doing a suggestion is difficult, as it strongly depends on taste. Personally i like France for culture, food and ambience, but there are enough people who disagree with me.
Come visit Luxembourg Kwun, when you're so close (5 hour drive/bus ride) you really should take the opportunity to come visit our little Grand Duchy. The original settlement dates from Roman times and the country prides itself with having the most medieval castle per sq. km. The capital, also called Luxembourg, was built on the edge of a cliff and most of the defence systems of the Napoleon era are still in place. As well as being a historical site Luxembourg is an important financial centre and houses the European Parliament, Court and parts of the Commission. If the country has lots of castles and fortresses it certainly has even more banks... More than half of the population are foreigners which makes for a very multicultural society. Wedged in between France, Germany and Belgium, most people speak at least three languages fluently, though usually not English, so some knowledge of French or German is useful, but not essential. All in all, it's a great little place with good food and wine and plenty of tourist attractions. Do make sure to bring an umbrella or two, because (and this is my personal assessment) the government signed a pact with the devil: Luxembourg gets to be one of the richest countries in the world, but must suffer the combined lousy weather of the continent. Hope I haven't put you off As for badminton, there is a community with around 1000 players (not too bad for such a small country) and there are plenty of tournaments. This weekend there will be a one-star event with some fairly highly ranked players from around the world participating. For more info check out www.luxembourg.lu and www.feluba.lu Happy new year everyone!
cool. we are still digging through travel guides and looking at euro-rail sites, etc. the euro-rail looks really complicated. we are planning to do sightseeing plus the SC at the end of the trip. that will be a great way to end the trip! i hope to bring rackets and shoes but not 100% sure if we will have much time in between sightseeing.. we need to figure out a way to stuff them into the backpack.
we have been to France. so we are planning to visit some new countries.... we only have one week. unfortunately. we need to juggle between spending more time in fewer places vs. spending less time on more countries.. main purpose is to sightsee and touristy stuff...
Re: Come visit Luxembourg Seb, thanks for the intro! yes. Luxembourg is one of the countries that we want to visit. and your intro makes it even more interesting. it being very close to the Netherlands is also a big plus! i will remember to bring rain gear. is the rainy weather typically in that time of the year? does that also applies to neighboring regions?
Cool... I'll probably be in Europe around that time too... actually one week later (although I do hope my schedule will allow me to catch the S-cup semis and finals). My friend and I are deciding bwt Italy and Holland. Personally I prefer Holland but my friend wants Italy so... Anyway, hope (in advance) that all of you have a good time.