From my point of view, the Mens Doubles was indeed the highlight of the evening. Some of the play was so exciting people didnt even have time to cheer until the rally was over. I cannot help thinking however, that on some level the players are not taking the event so seriously. (note that I can only compare this to my personal experience and the international matches I see on cable) 1. Taufik - He lost a lot of rallies because of his own (and in my opinion, unforced) errors. He sent quite a few shots to the net, mostly on drops. 2. Robertson - There was a lot of banter in the men's singles, with a lot of (for want of a better term) showmanship on the part of Robertson. He reminded me a lot of a less verbose McEnroe from his body language. Im sure those who were there saw the part when he tapped one Malaysian player on the head with his racket after an exchange of drops at the net. Im sure this doesnt happen in IBF play, right?
Say, Do you think the Badmintoncentral people would want to get together before or after the tourney to have a manila EB and maybe discuss the event? We could hold it on the last day, Thursday. Either an early or late dinner.
Finally, The pair from the UK were given a yellow card for rubbing the shuttle on their racket strings. What's up with that? What advantage does that give them?
I really don't know. Although I can confirm Ants' statement that according to the official seller of the tickets, Ticketworld, the tickets were sold out. Maybe the organizers had other plans for the bleacher seats or that people mistakenly (like we did) thought that the bleacher seats were too far away from the action. The players looked like they were having a lot of fun. During the doubles match, Chan Chong Ming even gave Nathan Robertson a thumbs up sign when Nathan executed a counter-drop which Chan wasn't able to return. Also, when the crowd started booing the Umpire's decision after he gave the English pair a yellow card, Nathan Robertson encouraged the crowd to boo louder (he was smiling of course).
Nice to hear that... I just hope that this is the start for Major Badminton Tournaments in the Philippines. Let us just pray that maybe next year, we will have 5 Star Tournament called Philippine Open so that we'll see all the best players in action
people the picture shows 1 corner only... most of the people are on the other corner... i've watched it last night and there were a lot of people there... i was able to see BOESEN vs. HIDAYAT... it was really good! great players... i was really impressed on HIDAYAT 's backhand smash!
With all respect to ants, Manny Pangilinan is not the owner of the telco who sponsored the event...He's the CEO I noticed a lot of the players are complaining about the blind spots...It's probably because the court is not really intended for a badminton tournament. Can't wait for the next games.
Hey, the games are shown in solar sports starting 7pm. Both cable TVs in Cebu carries the channel. Or, if you don't have a cable tv around, just go to metrosports badminton club, and they have one tv dedicated for the channel.
*chuckles* shucks, i musta missed that. but i saw the part when he threw his racquet up to the spectators area. what was that all about? my father says the racquet frame was already broken. yet the ladies who caught it were positively overjoyed .. well, i guess it's not everyday you catch an international player's broken racquet, so that must be the case. i was revolted at the way the malaysians played their game. it was really almost like the way they played their match against alven/luluk last week! terrible terrible! like rexy says, they really have to 'get their attitude right'.
Hello (off topic) Well, Manny Pangilinan is actually one of the owners of PLDT/Smart given his history as Managing Director of First Pacific, Metro Pacific and the main owner of the conglomerate, Liem Sioe Liong of Indonesia. Manny Pangilinan was the one who convinced Liem Sioe Liong to transfer his company's base of operation from Indonesia to Hong Kong.
kudos to Team Europe the games were amazing last night. I just have to lament the sonic incompatibility of the court.. you don't hear the smashes thundering down... as if taufik's smashes were so-so. maybe they should put some tape on their rackets so that we'll hear a proper WHAPAK!!! The men's doubles match was the most exciting to watch. Like a soap opera... you've got drama, humour, and lots of tension. The only 3-setter match ot the night, it was the treat that everyone was waiting for. Blair was making too many errors, but Nathan... Nathat was amazing. he was the most enetertaining player on court. His antics, although considered as foul during serious tournaments, endeared him to the crowd. Now I understand why the europeans are amazing in their own right. They don't just play the game like the stiff and military-disciplined asians... they are PROFESSIONAL ENTERTAINERS the way NBA stars are. They make a bad shot, you see them burst emotionally. They make a good shot, they pump their fists like tiger woods. They beat you at the net, they stare you down as if they're challenging you some more. It's part of the show. And what a show it was. I salute the Europeans for making this a most exciting badminton festival. They're the perfect foil/contrast to the machine-like Asian players. My suggestion for the next staging: We probably don't need a lot of super stars... let's put 2nd-tier players who are crowd pleasers on court instead, the way the harlem globe trotters gave basketball a different appeal back then. BEL - badminton entertainer's league. hehehehe All that from the first day, and we've got 2 more days of fun and excitement to go.
This is really way off-topic hehe...Well technically, he is as he owns stocks of PLDT. But that doesn't mean that he's one of the owners as all of the PLDT subscribers own stocks. That point of view makes me an owner of PLDT then The majority individual owner really is Salim of Indonesia who owns about 24% and is a crony of Suharto (Operating shares). The ownership of this company dates back to the Marcos Regime. As we all know, the Cojuangcos and Yuchengcos are some of the local owners. If you sum up all the local shares, it should comprise at least 60% of the total shares. All these are based on the facts that I got when I was working for PLDT
yeah in a way, but he is Managing Director so I guess it's slightly a bit different than us owning a few shares of PLDT. If it were the same, maybe next year I can host the "MikeJ-Smart Cup" Liem Sioe Liong IS Salim. He became Suharto's friend back when Suharto was a commander in the army. He felt that one day Suharto would be in power so he nurtured his friendship with Suharto. Anyway, Manny Pangilinan's genuis (and continuing genius) is that he was able to convice Liem Sioe Liong to move his company's home office to Hong Kong. Manny Pangilinan has really gone a long way in improving how business is done here in the Philippines and how companies treat their employees. Of course his best move to date is bringing all these world class badminton players to the Philippines.
Back to the topic, I really hope that the MVP Cup will continue for a long time and becomes a tradition...Day 1 proved that badminton in the Philippines boomed up a notch...Maybe the other telcos should come up with their own version of an International Badminton Tournament hehe That would definitely make us delighted
