^^Oh, yesshh..^^ - I do remember Daphne Ng, the gal with a booming smash. - As with Howad's previous partner, Bob, i assume he has moved out of state (to be a coach in either Chicago? or Boston?) and will no longer compete for the U.S. team?? - Yes, i recognize Iris; in fact, her older sister, Rena, is also shown on the 1st pic, above. Both are pretty good players.
Bob is coaching in Marblehead, he may still compete in certain events. Iris Wang has improved leaps and bounds in 2 years, and she's still only 12 y.o., definitely a player to keep an eye on. 2 years ago, Lauren beat her 21-0, 21-0, now she's playing 3 sets against Lauren.
i uploaded sunday photos in the same location: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpsmash/sets/72157612141817408/ Daphne and Lauren both improved a lot. Lauren is now playing club leagues in Denmark. the funny thing is that she is mainly training for singles, yet she lost in single but won the doubles. Daphne is playing for UC Berkeley. we think she probably has one of the hardest smash for a lady. Lauren/Daphne beat May/Eva quite convincingly. Eva must still be tired from her singles match against Lili, and May seems to be a bit off her normal form. Igor used to play very high level badminton in Russia. he always look like he is in immense pain while playing badminton, but yet he managed to reach every single shots that are thrown at him. quite remarkable.
^^Alright..^^ ..thanks, kwun, for the tidbit of infos abt Lauren. Did she just start playing there? Any idea how long is she going to play/stay in Denmark?? She probably loves the cold & clean weather there, eh??...Oh, oh, now i know part of the reason why she's probably there>>she has a friend in yannie (got to ask yanyan abt that).. Vtec101, thanks for confirming Bob's current locale. Any luck with finding out who were on last yr's U.S. team?? You were with them, traveling to INA for the TC & UC, right??.. ..that's what i meant to write..
Hmm.. ..thanks for his tidbit of infos also. He should come down & play in the U.S. Nationals or U.S. Open one of these days....perhaps this yr??..
Any videos? I heard about how good the WD match was on Sunday. I hope someone posts videos on Youtube.
A Heartfelt Thanks From All Of Us At GGBC! [FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]A HEARTFELT THANKS FROM ALL OF US AT GGBC![/FONT] USAB NATIONAL TEAM TRIAL JAN 2-4, 2009, FRI-SUN | GGBC 1 Hello Everyone!! I want to give my most heartfelt appreciation and Thanks to all those who gave us their unwavering support and determination to make the USA Team Trials, held at GGBC 1 this past Jan 2nd to 4th weekend, such an unforgettable event! Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach made a very welcomed & rare appearance. Every player put up a stellar performance and I am very proud of Bay Area's own, Lili Zhou, James Young, Ted Shear, as well as Daphne Ng, and Lauren Todt. I was ecstatic to see many new players and faces churning out adrenaline pumping games one after another, with raging talent from all over USA! The excitement stretched the necks of the ever swelling audience who showed up in droves to cheer for their favorite players! I must give my gratitude for the support given by our Media sponsor, Sing Tao Daily. To Yonex whom has been GG's friend and rock right from our beginning. Ms. Fiona Ma, California's States assemblywoman, not only came to grace us with her presence but also presented awards to our winners also awarding the players with a most exclusive and prestigious certificate of achievement from California's State legislature. Our tournament director, Mr. Chris Lawrence, who led his trusted team of veteran tournament officials, as well as our devoted GG Staff and volunteers whose tremendous help we cannot do without. Our GGBC team and I, would like to thank all the players who participated, and inform everyone there were a record number of entries this year! I am hopeful & confident that Badminton will become an "IT" sport in the USA, and we will do our utmost to keep on promoting! Finally I would like to thank the AUDIENCE, Bay Area's faithful CHEERLEADERS, who helped catapult our players, as well as winners to the finals and to the Sudirman Cup for which all the players were vying for. CONGRATULATIONS TO TEAM USA AND BEST OF LUCK FROM ALL OF US! SALUTE!! AND SEE YOU SOON! All the best for 2009!! Mike and ALL OF US AT GGBC
