Good Morning ALL!!
Since I've been here I've been consumed with Jet Lag

. I just can't stay asleep :crying: !
I arrived on 5th floor of Keio Plaza, with my thermos of hot tea. LUCKILY, I bumped into Punch cos I was in jeans to everyones suit and tie and completely inappropriate amoungst a sea of Politicians on CNN or something. My 5'7" frame seemed tiny in the melee' of giant SUIT men! I could barely detect a female

! Punch grabbed me and walked thru hundreds of tables facing forward like a classroom and plunked me down on the middle seat in the first row! OM-GOD!! I was facing THE COUNCIL! Felt like being tried in the court of law! Anyways no one was seated but I was glued cos I was too scared to look anywhere else! There were hundreds of delegates from Countries I cannot pronounce, never heard of in any geography class, nor remember the spelling! I was told AGM would last from 9am to 5pm. I didn't know how I would stay awake cos council was in right in my face. I couldn't steal a couple of winks hiding behind some Country

. I was thinking of some strategies. I had no meeting agenda, no pen, no paper.
There are 23 council members plus the Mr. President Kang and deputy, Punch. Mr. Kang made an eloquent opening speech, in English, declaring his ambition and goal to make Badminton " THE NUMBER ONE RACQUET SPORT IN THE WORLD!!!" HORRAYYY!!! They introduced some guests, including me, and the meeting began!
It started with "look at your agenda" and I just sat there

. First to many items later was mostly about statutes in the memorandum. Wording rearrangement on the clauses, deletions, took almost 1 hour to resolve. Everytime there was voting, there was minimal reaction so I think everyone was still sleepy. There was one particular looong controversy that I won't detail, but it was riveting, cos some nice lady behind me passed on a meeting agenda so I finally got to know what they were talking about. It was a VERY interesting experience to see how truly influential position and power can be. Politics cannot be played by the faint of heart. ME

.
OK to your point of interest!!! 21 point system has been passed and unanimously accepted by ALL Countries. Their only protest is that if there are any more changes, they should be "proposed" MUCH earlier for thorough preparation and ample time to seep itself into the mainstream given the millions of badminton facilities around the World. Council agreed and countered point system was introduced 1 year ago but no one took it seriously so................

Countries also requested that point changes and court size changes be

( didn't even know that can be?) as far and few between as possible and to take "MUCH caution" to call for these changes. Council said the 21 point system keeps audience at the edge of their seat, and TV converage increased by whopping %, so it stays....for now.. It also pumps players adrenaline and gives Players an equal chance to WIN. They still talking even better possibilities..
Even UCB/GGBC National Open in June will still use the 15 point system. Mike Yang said that no one likes changes but once people get used to its fine. That is very true

. At GGBC people said the ceilling was too white so Mike painted it, and then they said it was too dark, so Mike removed some light covers (climbed up to do it himself) and now its JUUUUST RIGHT

. (Sounds like the 3 bears tale with their porridge doesn't it?)
Well.. apparently majority Players doooon't like the 21 point system cos Bobby Milroy ( a young Canadian), President of the Players Federation based in Denmark, reflected the Players opinions. He didn't quite say WHY but he did say that if it were, to fundamentally achieve the goal of the current President, we must work together and also hear the voices of those who actually PLAY the game. Good point. Hear Hear...
Then we were given 4 presentations from 4 countries who will host the:
1./ Senior games ( No presentation, missed the venue and city

)
2./ Junior World Championship- Incheon, Korea. June 2006 October
3./ Sudirman Cup- Glasgow, Scotland, June 10-17th, 2007 (next AGM meeting will also take place there on 17th, Finals)
4./ Thomas / Uber Cup - Jakarta, Indonesia, May 2008
5./ Olympics - Beijing 2008
They are heavy in planning for the next Olympics and it was interesting how far along they are already and how much time and gargantuan effort it takes to make the preparations! The presiding officials and Volunteers are sent to training facilities to learn how to handle the procedures of their job descriptions!
Meeting was pretty much DONE! I expected 5pm and it finished at 1! COOOLLL. They called for a 6pm dinner. I trampled on down to the stadium to watch the Lady finals but when I walked in, my friends were JUST leaving so I went with them for a shopping break. Zhang Ning called out to me and excitingly told WON her games but she was SOOO exhausted cos Mia gave her a kick butt fight to the end! She explained the play to me, but so sorry she talks real fast and her Chinese is too good, can't understand!! I was struggling to make 2 or 3 words!

I was much

to see that the 3 of us girls, who did not play 3 plowing matches, looked so much worse for wear than her, bright eyed and glowing skin! :crying:Gotta play more!!
At 6pm, I forgot ALL about the dinner so RUSHED over and caught Taufik and his wife chatting to many. I think they awarded him with Athelete of the Year award but I missed the ceremony. Wife is CUTE!! Very caring of T. Then someone calls my name! GUESS WHOOO!!! KEVIN HAN!! YAHH USA champion many times over! He was in suit and tie, didn't recognise him! He is now a commentator and covering all of the games. Also he is working as a USBA consultant and diplomat. Mike, Kevin said HI to you and said he called you before moving to Colorado.
OK that's it! I will go to finals today and hope for some eye blinking moments! Will report tommorow!

Sally