Oh the SO and BC fans missed you. You must be busy this year. Many upsets that may actually pave the way for SS to repeat his last year's victory.
Chance Meeting with Viktor Axelsen What luck! After a quick dinner of Yong Tau Fu at Koufu, Leisure Park, I returned to SIS and saw the young, tall and handsome Viktor Axelsen standing against the wall curtain to watch his MD compatriots playing. I went up to greet him and shook his big hands. He was very accommodating. I asked him in English how his study of Mandarin was getting on. (As many will know, GC mentioned this in one of her commentaries. So I remembered and initiated the subject.) He replied in fluent Mandarin that he was progressing well. I engaged him further in Mandarin and he did not disappoint. And he only studied Mandarin for about a year. Before I left him as other fans were closing in, I took a picture with him and wished him well. He will meet Simon Santoso later. As it turned out Viktor lost in 3 games to last year's winner who scored the distinction of defeating LCW in the final.
^ So cool that you met Victor Axelson . But maybe you jinxed him by having practice his Mandarin when he should have been studying his 'Indonesian' [opponent]. ;-)
Some R16 Pictures More shots of Zhang Beiwen (ZBW) versus Wang Yihan (WYH), the defending champion. ZBW came without a coach, whereas WYH had CJ by her side and this must have contributed to ZBW's loss in 3 games. But she has done well to push WYH to the decider. It was rather disappointing for many fans who used to be able to carry their cameras into SIS to take shots of their favourite players. Now not permitted with the new organizers and fans had to use their iPhones.
