Day 6 Finals Day recap.. ..alrighty, last recap of the tourney, for those who missed the livestream. This yr’s U.S. Open GP produced a double winner in Howard Bach (XD and MD) and 2 medalists in Jiang Xuelian (silver in XD and gold in WD). XD Final: Howard BACH & Eva LEE vs. Alvin LAU & Xuelian JIANG. If a bit of tenseness and nervousness were in the air, it probably reflected upon the Canadian pair of Lau and Jiang. Not only did one of them stumbled a bit upon their introduction & entering to the court, as the first match of the evening, but they also started rather slow. For myself, I was proven otherwise as the much more veteran pairing of Bach and Lee were just too “big-stage” proven than the pairing of Lau & Jiang. Both games went pretty fast as the Canadian pair couldn’t adjust and settle down their game as they piled on the errors. As the scoreboard indicates, Bach and Lee found it relatively easy as they cruised to a 21-13, 21-12 win and captured their first ever U.S. Open title as a XD pair. WS Final: Anna RICE vs. Mona SANTOSO. In her first U.S. Open Final appearance, Anna came ready to play and didn’t disappoint her big supportive crowd. It started pretty even as both Anna and Mona traded shot for shot and tried to uncover each other’s weaknesses. But as the 1st game neared its end, Anna was proven to be more fit to play. Mona, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling a bit. Word has it she probably was still in relative pain after her tiresome win the previous day, in the Semifinals Round. In the 2nd game, it was Anna all the way as Mona simply couldn't stay away from making error after error; most of them were long lifts. In the end, the jubilant Anna, who mentioned in the post-match interview that she will participate in the upcoming World Championships and then will tie the knot, finally captured her first ever U.S. Open WS title with the scoreline of 21-17, 21-9. MS Final: Taufik HIDAYAT vs.Hsuan Yi HSUEH. With the majority of the crowd, a bulk of them carrying Indonesian mini-flags, cheering, hollering and screaming Taufik’s name, the Wild Child of Badminton finally captured a not-so surprising win over Chinese Taipei’s Hsueh Hsuan Yi. Hsuan Yi tried his best to keep up, even tried to counter-attack Taufik, and closing the gap to one point in one stage of the match, but was just not able to rally and overcome Taufik’s talent. Taufik on the other hand really didn’t exert himself as he wanted, but did display some of his exquisite and jaw-dropping skills to the crowd's delight. In the end, Taufik stepped on the gas pedal to finally grabbed his first ever U.S. Open MS title, with a 21-15, 21-16 score (a title which is still missing from Lin Dan’s cabinet; @ cooler).. *After the prize ceremony, unbeknownst to me, I was, literally, stuck in the middle of a huge mob who all of a sudden gathered around Taufik to take a picture with him. What’s even more dumbfounding was that they all gathered right in front of my very eyes, all 100 of them, within a hand's reach. I kinda sensed Taufik was looking at me twice or three time thinking in his head, “Hey, buddy, you have a camera there, why don’t you take a pic of all of us”. But stupid me, my mind went blank as I didn’t take any picture of that moment. WD Final: Ruilin HUANG & Xuelian JIANG vs. Ying CHEN & Yun (Grace) PENG. This one turned out to be a relatively competitive match as 4 ex-China players were pitted against each other. But this time there was no “match fixing” in the agenda. The U.S. pair opened the 1st game with a fury and took the early 1 game to none lead. In the 2nd game, it was the Canadian pair who turned the tide around and dictated the tempo as they leveled the score @ 1 game a piece. In the final game, carrying the momentum of their 2nd game win, the Canadian pair made their counterparts work for every single point. But despite a few brilliant rallies, which brought the crowd to their feet & often than not ended with the crowd giving a big applause, it was the more consistent Canadian pair who pulled away from the seemingly out of answer U.S. pair. Jiang & Huang held on for a 14-21, 21-15, 21-11 win to claim their 1st ever U.S. Open WD title. MD Final: Howard BACH & Tony GUNAWAN vs. Jurgen KOCH & Peter ZAUNER. After winning their first ever World Championship MD title in 2005, and their last title on the U.S. soil, Tony and Howard finally teamed up again and put on a display reminiscent of their glorious past. The U.S. pair did not give much of a chance against the Austria pairing of Koch and Zauner as Tony controlled the front and Howard was doing his usual attacks from the back. It was simply not much of a contest, as the former World Champions worked in sync to secure a 21-12, 21-9 win and add another U.S. Open MD title to their previous 2 U.S. Open titles. *For those who watched the livestream, the company who does the livestream will edit and have the videos available in the near future. They will be available from the U.S. Olympics website.
great job chris! sorry we couldn't meet up to chat a bit during the tournament. there will be other occasions though!
Thanks ctjcad for all the recaps and pictures. One question. These trophies are so big and look like they have past winners edged on them. Do they actually take them home? Or just to hold them and leave them behind at OCBC? Comment. On the webcast, I thought Mesinee was very comfortable and very good as a commentator. Maybe a TV career after badminton . Eva was very good too, I must say. But I am sure about that Steve guy
I watched it live via info on this link, http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72451 Hope someone recorded it to share
just watching ur videos now Chris... I noticed Charles Pyne was coaching M Li in the sf match againt Mona Santoso. That was interesting too see since previously before the sf's, Joseph Rogers was doing the coaching advices.
^^Yep..^^ ..seen similar scenarios as well. Players representing other countries coaching players representing from other countries. I've seen Charmaine Reid being coached by Nicole Grether and vice versa. If they're the best of friends, then so be it & more power to them.. Btw, aZn Popcorn, do you know or quite familiar w/the Canadian players who participated in this yr's U.S. Open??.. Another thing i forgot to share. So, on the last day of the tournament, i happened to cross path with Sattawat. I quickly asked him abt what he must've felt after he playing against Taufik. His reply is only, "fun" and he said he was "a bit nervous, in the beginning". - No problem. It's the least i can do for BC, considering this tourney really lacks any coverage. - Yes, they have all the past winners engraved on those trophies. No, the winners don't take them home. Players can only hold, kiss and then leave them behind. Abt the kissing of the trophy, of course, they have to clean, sanitize them first. Afterwards, they'll have to sanitize them back again. - Haven't seen the recording of the webcast. Heard they will edit and re-upload them to the U.S. Olympics website. I know for last yr's edition, i was looking for the recorded videos but couldn't find any.
^^No problem..^^ ..you're welcome & glad to share the experience with you guys. Yep, hopefully next yr the event will be bigger and more international players will come. Of course, hope the media team will be bigger, too>>akhem, calling someone from NorCal, calling someone from NorCal to come..
HAHA! No wonder when Howard kissed the trophy, Eva looked at him like, "Yuch, I am not kissing that THING"
Not only Eva.. ..but you should check out the reaction from Tony (from the Trophy Presentation video i uploaded), when he and Howard were standing on the podium, and Howard was smooching the trophy. Gee, now i wonder if they really sanitize it or not, prior to and after the presentation?!?!..
OK. Got to check that out also. I am glad to see Howard really enjoys his victories, which is a good thing
