Is Tony going to be there? Anyone playing POT or side bet games? I'll try to make it, kinda busy today. I was at SGVBC last night til 1am. Played over 12 games. So tired.
Don't know and doubt Tony will be there. I hope he'll show though. Don't know about The Pot either, but you can be sure if no Pot, there will be side bets aplenty. Hope you can make it.
Make sure that Tony is your partner and if you trust his smashing, let him cover you from behind, although he prefers to remain upfront setting up for Halim to kill. And don't forget to take lots of pics with him and post here! We don't realy know whether Tony is going for good and may not appear again at OC.
I just got back from SGVBC and met a person who is close to Tony and part of OCBC. This person said it's high doubtful Tony is going to Denmark because: 1) Tony's wife Eti wants to stay in the U.S. 2) If Tony were to go, he would have notified OCBC and the powers that be first (that would be the right thing to do). Anyway, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. *fingers crossed and knocks on wood*
I guess it's really a tough decision for Tony. If he thinks that moving to Denmark will be good for him professionally but without the wife's blessings, it will only spell trouble in the foreseeable future. To an extent, Tony must be beholden to Eti as I gathered that it was Eti who was instrumental in bringing Tony to the US. From recent postings here, it appears that Tony is now a US citizen and if this is so, all the more wife Eti must be the one to thank. It looks to me that Tony will not forsake Eti. If ever Tony decides to leave it has to have the full support of Eti or they could both come to a satisfactory arrangement and see how things will work out over a stipulated time.
Several of you guys are kinda into Tony's immigration status. Well, according to what I overheard in the WC. He passed the green card interview days before the WC. My interpretation is that he has the PR status (socalled the "greed card") but does not have the citizenship at this moment. -SC
Badminton population is indeed growing (but more like a result of immigration, rather than WC), but I also observed a rather confused outcome (at least, for NY and tri state area). There are many more clubs opened in the past 2-3 years, and players get a few more choices to get training and practice. However, the metro area is kinda over-developed due to its economic structure, which means the facility is very much limited. The club owners tried to further spread out the location and schedule, but always hit the bump, as no one want to move to weekdays, and taking a risk of "limited attendance". Also, large enough gym is hard to obtain, and expensive to rent. All such result into things over-crowed attendance, and limited tournies. The limited tournies also effect the regular club level players motivation of participation. Since the facility is limited, most tournies are open flight. Sure, I don't care about losing, but how much fun (for both sides) is to get blown out by an ex-international or regional level of players? Never to metion, it might take ppl 3-5 hrs of driving (some trips could be 200+ miles one way). Therefore, the higher cost of gym renting is haunting everyone, from the gym owners to the local players. Seems there's more demand (practice, training and tourny) than supplies, but the high investment cost/risk is further blocking the business to invest in badminton.
hmm, interesting news you've got there, Dan... interestingly, over the recent U.S. Open, i happened to meet and chat briefly with Tony's younger cousin, who happened to just came over from Indonesia to pursue/continue his study..Coincidentally, he told me one of the reason he came to the U.S. was because Tony(his cousin) is living here....And then this news abt Tony leaving for Denmark??...sigh.. But you are right Dan, we should just sit back and see how things develop over the next few weeks...If by mid-late September Tony has not move to Denmark, then i would say the deal is off..And you'll probably have a chance to take personal lessons/training with him @ OCBC..
..hmm, yes, that's what my original thought also, that Tony is not a U.S. citizen yet and still a green card/permanent resident(PR) holder..Because if i recall, that's what his younger cousin told me also when i met him.. ..And now the article is mentioning different thing..
Tony will indeed play in the Denmark league, but he is not moving there. From what I gather he will be going back and forth. With Tony's cousin just arriving and staying with him, and Eti's work here, Tony is not going anywhere. So Dan, you don't have to worry about your lessons with Tony. Also, Tony won't be going to SGVBC anytime soon to play pot since he just left for Indonesia and then on to Korea yesterday.
That willbe very tiring for Tony.. travel back and fourth... tsk tsk tsk.. i think his standard of game will go down like that.
Not to mention the added pollution his Air travel will cause. Persumably this travelling will not be too much more than if he were playing the circuit full time though?
Hmm, just went back to Indonesia again??..i thought he just did in June-July??..And he'll be playing in Korea Open next week then in H.K. Open the following week??..wuih, boy, that must be really tiring... Vtec101, thanks again for the clarification..i assume you are part or close to the OCBC folks??.. Wow, it will be quite a hectic life for him then, has to travel back and forth from that long distance...But at least he'll satisfy the Danish's badminton fans there (along with yannie)..BTW, will he continue coaching at OCBC or he's no longer a FT coach there??..
hmm, well, i think it's still going to be tiring for him nonetheless with all the travel...i would assume he will stay and live in Denmark for a few months then go back to U.S...
