The Canada Games have begun in Halifax. Badminton starts next week. Do any BC'ers have any inside information as to what to expect? Are there participating players and coaches out there who may enlighten us?
Badminton at the Canada Games has started! I watched the first hour this morning among the sparse but lively crowd in Halifax's new Canada Games Centre. The draw has many top Canadian players. Alex Pang (1) of Alberta beat a very game player from the Northwest Territories named Coady Duncan. Hometown favorite, turned BC native, Ajit Sidhu lost in an exciting match to Clinton Wong of British Columbia. Joseph Rogers (2) forfeited to a very surprised (and no doubt relieved) Nova Scotian, Myles Dalton. Also saw Michelle Li (1)warming up. What a beautiful smile. Sorry, no pictures as I have no talent in that area. Perhaps another attendee can supply some photos.
Well, no one else seems to care, but I'll post anyway.... The Canada Games badminton tourney has been very interesting to badminton-starved Blue-nosers. The sport is not generally popular here, so it is a treat to see the best Canada has to offer. For results: http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=004BB80A-93F2-4283-89FE-525108BC51DF The finals are tomorrow morning (0900 Atlantic Standard Time) and will be livecast here: http://canadagames.bellaliant.net/live.php?y=2011&m=02&d=23 photo by Gerry Vrbensky taken from http://communityherald.ca/read/27/45325
Thanks, Fidget; your efforts much appreciated! Looks like some players (the ones who won through their rounds) had a busy day yesterday! I suppose these 3-day tournaments are a real test of the players' physical condition and abilities... What about the playing conditions? Is it warm enough inside?
The facility is brand new, but not badminton specific. And yes, it's plenty warm. They had to shade the many windows that were a much-touted design feature of this new community centre. The ceilings are plenty high, at least I thought so until I saw how high some of those folks like to serve. There is a running track circling above the courts. The provinces have staked out plots of it from which to sit, cheer, and -- in the case of Joseph Rogers and Michelle Li yesterday --have lightsabre duels with thunder sticks (wish I had a video camera ). The umpire's chairs look like they might have been borrowed lifeguard chairs from Nova Scotia beaches. The mats are on loan, I think. A few players have been slipping but I haven't seen wrinkles or other problems at the edges. I don't know what the players think of everything. But there are lots of smiles from the players who aren't actually playing. Today's finals were quite dramatic from what I hear. I only saw the last game of a tight Men's Doubles Final three-setter between Quebec and Ontario. It was height and deft touch vs speed and power. In the end Gaumond/Charron beat Lee/Yakura 20-22, 21-16, 22-20. Well that's it. Oh, and for those who need to know such things, the cutest player I saw was a WD player from Nunavut.
Absorbing report!! Wish I were there... but right now feeling like a lost soul swimming in a fish bowl... That account of the lightsabre duels, and the umpire's chairs, really made me smile. From the results so far, Alex Pang had a tough semis, but Michelle Lee is just cruising along very smoothly. Wish some of the other girls could have put up a stiffer fight... Oh and yes, of course! we need to know such things! Do you know who the Nunavut cutie is?
Team Competition from today on. All the powerhouse provinces are lined up against their weaker brethren. As predicted, Ontario, Quebec, BC, and Alberta won handily. But check out this noble effort by Nova Scotia against Quebec: XD Sébastien Rochon-Coutu Caroline Beauregard - Ajit Sidhu Cynthia Charlton 30-29 21-19
Final day of Badminton at the Canada Games. I saw only one match each of the four simultaneous provincial team head-to-heads. By far the most exciting was the WD of Ontario vs BC. Those four women played such amazing badminton! I have never seen its equal in drama and talent in a live match. Not even my own hometeam's drama on Court one could make me look away from this contest. In the end the scores were: Chan/Tsai (BC) - Bruce/Li (ON) 18-21 25-23 21-19 Almost as exciting was XD of Quebec vs. Alberta. Charron/Beauregard (QC) - Giuffre/Giuffre (AB) 21-18 21-19 After this I reluctantly had to leave and missed the rest of the drama. As of this moment Tournament Software announces that Manitoba defeated Nova Scotia, New Brunswick beat Saskatchewan, Quebec beat Alberta. But the results for the final and deciding fifth match between MD for BC and ON are not posted . What suspense!!
