Here's the link to the article mentioned. http://news.indiacurrents.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=61d051892ed461d59c2fd4e2aa645b21
went there tonight, it was pretty good. by 10pm there are too many empty courts but also too many lazy ppl, had to beg to get them to play a game. had a chat with Phu the other day, he mentioned that they will be fixing the bulging floor, and today saw that many of the courts are freshly nailed down. much better than before. i think they still have a couple of courts to go but the floor problem seemed to be solved. the other improvement is that they started a new queueing system. instead of a white board, everybody gets a clip and one queues up for a court by clipping on a rod that is fixed to the wall. quite a good system and very similar to the one used in Pleasanton. also saw a workout machine at the beginning of the evening and later on in the night they took it away.
anyone know how large the crowd (how long the wait) is during weekend sessions? I'm thinking of checking out the place as Sunday is Easter so Pleasanton and some other gyms will be closed
there 2 new things in Bintang recently. 1. they fixed the floor, they fixed the bulging and then repainted the whole thing. much nicer now than before! 2. Phu told me that they have wireless internet connection. so the wait time between games won't be as painful anymore. cannot find more perfect a time to come to BF and yak about badminton. i brought my notebook there last night and it works like a charm.
live feed hi Kwun, does this mean we can all have a live-feed of you playing with Janet, instead of Thomas and Uber cup? JL
You can have live-feed of Kwun and Janet beating me if you want My season is over Kwun, I'm about to get membership to Bintang so I'll be there just about everyday during the summer. I'll probably be there next week to start my membership.
phu was my high school coach..wow! Haha, I've always heard about Phu opening up a gym in the bay area...now i finally see the pictures. I gotta give him props to continue the badminton traditions though...cuz he was our high school coach in the mid 90s..and he basically brought the program back to life and we eventually beat Newark Memorial...which at that time had a streak of like 120 school matches unbeaten or something. I think we (mission san jose) finally beat them the year after i graduated...but yea..those were fun times. he's an old timer now...he's still quick but there's definitely a lot of people that can beat him in the A/B level in the bay area i'm sure =) i admire him for opening up a big ass gym though. total props... hopefully i'll get to play up there one of these days when i venture back to the bay area. mike
Drawback The only drawback I can think of having 3 badminton gyms in close proximity is dilution of solid players. Currently I can go to Bintang any week night and have solid MS games with many good players and this may not be true anymore after the opening of United and Smash City.
That is a very true statement Han. I expressed the same concern to Phu, and I think he should come up with something so he can keep the "good" players still coming to his gym.
If the Menlo Park gym comes along there will be 4 gyms One hopes more players will show up and the herrendous overcrowding in Bintang will be a thing of the past. There may be some weeding out price and quality, but that's the free market.
Can so many gyms survive? It's a good news to have more gyms open to us (other than the advanced players like Han and krantikt). But what I heard is that Bintang is just breaking even in revenue. After Bintang opened the gym in Sunnyvale, very few people go to Sunnyvale community Center. The gyms in Menlo Park and Milipitas are just 15 mintues from Bintang. and the new gym in Fremont is also 15 minutes from the one in Miliptas. Will all these 4 gyms find enough players to survive?
I think the Milpitas gym may be run over by high schoolers. Lots of highschools around that area. That'll be good for the overall level of badminton.
Booming At one point, Bay Area experienced "DOT COM" boom and now we have DOT BADMINTON boom. Lets just hope those new gyms last longer than DOT COM
hi, Han...funny guy, yeah, if you haven't noticed, most of the good players you have been playing in MS are Phu's students, and they will still play at their home gym!!! Plus, players are always improving, so the main point should be to create more good players so the sport can grow!!!
the true badminton hero As an old-timer of badminton, I am truly ecstatic to see how much badminton is growing in the Bay Area right now. Back in the days when I played almost everyday, I had to travel far and wide. With the coming boom of badminton facilities, that will be a story of the past. Amidst this hustle and bustle, I really cannot express how much we owe Phu and Bintang Badminton for pushing badminton to the level that it is at and will be. There has always been talk of people starting badminton gyms since the 80's, but Phu was the one who truly cared and loved the sport enough to start it. And now, everyone is following in his footsteps, trying to be a "promoter of the sport" as they proclaim on their websites, but their intentions will never come close to matching the sincerity and purity of Phu's. (The very fact that one group is opening on the same day as the Cal Badminton Open signifies that they really do not know what is going on in the badminton world. If the founders were truly into badminton, they would probably be playing at the tournament themselves.) When Phu was younger, I saw him pretty much at all the open gyms I was at, even though he lived much further from them than I did. And not only is he himself crazy about the sport, but he has brought many many students into the sport as well. How many strong players out there go to tournaments with a hoard of students?! I don't know if Phu still does, but he used to 3-4 years back. He has brought the sport of badminton to life in the Bay Area and I truly thank him for it. And I think all badminton players out there should as well. Amidst the talk of all the new gyms opening and where everyone is going, I hate to think how none of the new gyms would ever come into existence had it not all started with Phu and his love for the sport. His passion and spirit are unmatched by any other these days. I wish him the best...I know he will keep fighting for the sport.
Worthy Praises Wooden racket, I think those are some worthy, and well deserved praises for Phu. Hopefully the new Gym's are there for promoting the growth of the sport and not necessarily to bring down their competition. Healthy competition is always good.
Power Outage at noon today :crying: Even though we still played couple games. It's nice also got credit for playing free next time.
Wanted: highly motivated, hard-working badminton players... Do you LOVE badminton? Are you TIRED of playing C's and D's at tournaments? Do you want to become a HIGHER level, HIGHER skilled player? Are you ready to devote your life (well, almost...) to training?! Well, look no further... The Bintang Team is searching for highly-motivated, enthusiastic, hard-working badminton players for a new intense training program. This will be an experience of your lifetime. It will be non-stop training, drilling, and playing for a year. Qualifications as listed: * LOVES badminton * Very hard-working (the not-stop-even-when-you-drop kind of person) * Has LOTS of free time (3+ hrs on weekdays, 6+ hrs on weekends) * Under 22 years of age Training will be free; sponsorship of badminton equipment. The head coach will be screening/interviewing throughout April. (Do not be discouraged if you are not currently a high-level player. The goal of the program is to develop new talent.) Email info@bintangbadminton.com if you are interested!
just want to let people know, Phu has trained a team of really really good players. i have seen many of the kids he trained from when they are only so-so players, and then over weeks and months, their badminton skills dramatically improved. it gotta be a combination of a good coach as well as hardwork in the part of their students. so if you think you are qualified and willing to pay in sweat for results, you should consider this opportunity.
