2011 All England: Day 4 Friday 11-March (Quarter-Finals)

Discussion in 'German Open / All England / Swiss Open 2011' started by chris-ccc, Mar 10, 2011.

  1. Gicutzu

    Gicutzu Regular Member

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    No one broadcasts badminton here, which sucks indeed, and my internet connection is usually a bit slow for watching livestreams, but anyway...

    I was browsing Wikipedia one day, looking for World Championships, World Cups and the like, in any sport. And I came across the Thomas, Uber, and Sudirman Cups. I looked more into badminton competitions, and saw that only 4-5-6 countries are actually good at this sport, which I thought was very interesting, especially because most of them are Asian (I like Asian countries). I then watched some matches on YouTube, from past AE tournaments, and saw how good the pro players are. Then I was looking for tickets to something here in Vienna and saw that the Austrian International Challenge would take place here in the city and admission would be free and everything. So, I thought, it would be a great chance to see some live badminton. Tbh I just wanted to watch a match or two and then go buy my tickets for the other thing and go home. But I got hooked. I loved watching it, and sitting close to the teams (I used to mostly sit next to the huge Japanese team, and saw the dedication of the players and their discipline and respect when they were talking to their coaches). I stayed there the whole day, and came back for the next as well. Then I found this forum, and the passion of some people in here inspired me even more, so I signed up for a badminton course at my university, which is taught by a former Austrian national player, who's still represented in the World Rankings. Then I bought some equipment from the only badminton shop in Vienna (run by the current Austrian national MD champion), and I started following badminton tournaments on TS and posting more here on the forum. And after the first course unit last monday, I have to say I love badminton even more, even though it's much harder than I thought. I never was so passionate about a sport before, but it seems I've found something I really enjoy. Sadly, tomorrow there's some sort of holiday so the next course unit will be on the 21st.

    Sorry for the long post, I tend to write novels.
     
  2. julianng

    julianng Regular Member

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    Great post mate. You must not be from a country that has been strong in the sport , like England or Denmark. Can I ask you something though ? Do you like watching Tennis ? and how does watching tennis compare to watching badminton ? Which is more entertaining to watch, badminton or tennis ?
     
  3. Gicutzu

    Gicutzu Regular Member

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    I'm from Romania, we suck at badminton :D I remember reading on a Romanian website that we came in second to Bulgaria at some sort of Balkan Championship, but I don't know if that's true or not. Most Romanians think of badminton as a backyard sport.

    I like watching tennis, but I only watch women's tennis :D:D Badminton is more entertaining to watch because it's more fast-paced, tennis is a bit too drawn-out and tends to become boring at some point. I phase out during some rallies.

    Where are you from, mate?
     
  4. julianng

    julianng Regular Member

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    I am living in America now. Glad you like the sport Gicutzu. I wish more people Yourob could win in international badminton. That would make the sport more interesting. Unfortunately, it has become like Tennis, where one continent has dominate all the matches. A european presence in badminton would boost the sport tremendously. I have heard many comments like yours saying that it is nicer to watch and more fast-paced but the broadcast of this wonderful sport is hardly popular or visible in Western countries, and viewers from that continent tend to think that this sport is just like Table-tennis where China is the only country that wins accolades in it. No offence to table tennis, but badminton in my opinion is a totally different sport compared to table tennis because it requires a lot of different physical skills in far-sighted vision, body-type, and movement. Unfortunately , this trend where badminton will be dominated by China is set to continue in the next few decades or so until the next generation from other countries become more interested in the sport. I admire your different point of view very much Gicutzu, it's nice to have someone from Romania realize the different details of this sport compared to Tennis.
     
  5. demolidor

    demolidor Regular Member

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    I believe there are some talented lady junior players from Romania at the moment. European Junior Championships is next month in Finland, maybe they are playing.

    Sonia Olariu is one (or maybe the only :D) ... I see next week is the BanuInvest (Romanian) International, you can watch it here: http://www.badmintoneurope.tv/?id=1
     
  6. Gicutzu

    Gicutzu Regular Member

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    Oh yeah, I forgot that they're streaming the Banuinvest Tournament on the badmintoneurope site! Thanks! (The guy I buy my equipment from told me that the owner of Banuinvest is a former Austrian badminton player, and that's why he organizes this tournament.)

    As for the European Junior Team Championships, Romania is apparently participating. They will be in Group 4 with England, Croatia, and Cyprus. Are there European Junior Individual Championships taking place as well, or did you mean the Team event?
     
  7. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Hey Bro, sorry I missed this one.

    How come you know so much? You can't be with coach Luan? You are not in Birmingham, are you?
    Or just like Rudy, you have a reliable spy network?

    Yes, I was surprised that Juan has not improved on her previous encounter with the bigger Petya.
    Theorectically, moving her around seems a better option, but maybe Petya is too strong for her with the clears. Juan's net play should be good, but here again Petya seems to be able to match. However I wasn't watching the TV and had no clue how she played in the QF. Would have made Singapore badminton history of some sort if Juan succeeded in advancing to the SF.

    (On second thoughts I think you said that you will be at the AE when we were in KL.)
     
    #447 Loh, Mar 13, 2011
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2011
  8. chris-ccc

    chris-ccc Regular Member

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    abedeng has been reporting from court-side at the 2011 All England

    .
    Loh, you haven't been following - Our abedeng has been reporting from court-side at the 2011 All England.
    .
     
  9. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Yes I just realized it. I left the QF rather quickly (the BC forum that is) not knowing Bro Deng would round up the day's highlights with his now famous "fairy tales". I've forgotten he will be at the AE. His scheduling (or re-scheduling) to coincide "business with pleasure" is beyond reproach.
     

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