As expected, Son Wan Ho took the MS title with Hsueh HY presumably unable, like Michelle Li in the WS, to reproduce the same form as in the last few days.
Congratulation to MAS rising pair Hoon Thien How/Tan Wee Kiong for taking the Macau Open GPG MD title which will be their first career title... [TABLE="class: ruler matches"] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: right"][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="align: right"]Thien How Hoon [2][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="align: right"]Wee Kiong Tan ~[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD="align: center"]-[/TD] [TD][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD][/TD] [TD]Sheng Mu Lee [1][/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD][/TD] [TD]Chia Hsin Tsai[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD]21-16 21-19[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] match review: Hoon/Tan took an easy first game, but hardly trailed 5-11 in 2nd game only later made a come back, neck to neck, and then pounced to score 21-19 to win match...
Success for MAS Hoon/Tan, well done and congratulations. The positive impact may be like finally seeing an oasis in the desert for the MAS MD department. Even greater pressure for KKK/TBH to perform from now on, I'd expect.
NO such thing! KKK/TBH are under no pressure whatsoever to perform. These are 2 very wealthy businessmen who seriously couldn't care less about winning. They don't even care what Malaysians think of them. They're still the highest ranked MAS MD pair in the world, despite all that criticism. That being said I don't see any other MAS MD pair coming close to achieving what KKK/TBH achieved in the past.
That would be just super. I seriously think HTH/TWK will stand a better chance of reaching the semis if given the chance. KKK/TBH would be found at the bottom of the table, and they wouldn't even care. Now all we gotta hope is to see KKK/TBH drop below Fairuz/Zakry by next year before ending their career for good.
This is a good suggestion. KKK/TBH should give way to HTH/TWK but I doubt they will do it. Congratulations to HTH/TWK on their first-ever GPG win.
Macau Badminton has a China national level coach, and there is I believe, a 2 sessions of 2 hour training per week. Most players are still in school and often miss the weekly training sessions due to school work. Not sure if this may explain the poor results...
I see thanks for the info. Didn't mean anything by it, just an observation, now that I think about it, it seems a bit strange that the players are so far off the pace of neighbouring countries or even Hong Kong, but I am sure there are reasons.
As I understand, Macau doesn't have a professional team. Players are brought together building up to certain events. The local population is much smaller compared to HK or Singapore. Difficult to get a professional team together.
GP Gold title to redeem their SS Finals absence Second victory in this year for both Son Wan-ho and Indian rising star P.V. Sindhu after TPE & MAS Open GP Gold resepectively, congrats! Also two CHN pairs who clinched WD & XD top prize.
Even though they are not as competitive in the arena, they do give of their best to bring together other generally lower-ranked professionals for this tournament with a decent prize money. An opportunity for their officials, amateurs and fans to enjoy the competition and gain further experience.
Macau is a small city, land is at its premium and infrastructures do not abound. Badminton is essentially an amateur activity and most clubs do their best to develop the sport. All sports facilities are managed by the Government and only clubs/associations were allowed to book/use the facilities. Currently the Government follows the policy 'Sports for All', the facilities can be used not only by the clubs but also by the general public. In the case of badminton, the select team players can practice with the select team twice a week but struggle to find places to play outside of the training schedule. They do not receive any subsidy for training, they have to be able to support themselves.
We were there last year My fellow BCer hcyong and I went to Macau last year with the main intention to watch at least the finals of the Macau Open 2012 which was held from 27 Nov to 2 Dec 2012 but ended up sightseeing of this small but attractive city, famous for its luxury casinos and tourism. This is how Wikipedia describes Macau: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau "Macau (/məˈkaʊ/; traditional Chinese: 澳門; simplified Chinese: 澳门; pinyin: Àomén), also spelled Macao, is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong. Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong Kong to the east, bordered by Guangdong Province to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism, but also includes manufacturing. The Cantonese people from Hong Kong and Guangdong especially recent mainland tourism from Mandarin speaking regions have boosted the economy of Macau significantly. A former Portuguese colony, Macau was administered by Portugal from the mid-16th century until late 1999, when it was the last remaining European colony in Asia. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 1550s. In 1557, Macau was rented to Portugal by the Chinese empire as a trading port. The Portuguese administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until 1887, when Macau became a colony of the Portuguese empire. Sovereignty over Macau was transferred back to China on 20 December 1999. The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulate that Macau operate with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer. By 2002, it had become one of the world's richest cities. It became the world's biggest gambling centre in 2006." Indeed the Chinese are everywhere in Macau boosted by easy access and linkage to Hong Kong from where we took the ferry across to Macau. However the Portuguese influence and culture remain as part of Macau's history as depicted in writing, architecture, food, etc. I wish to share with you some aspects of Macau in pictures, especially of its people, food, buildings, attractions and activities and hope you can make a visit one of these days.
Will Koo/Lee reunite to play Superseries Finals? If not, Hoon/Tan will join Koo/Tan as the second Malaysian pair.
Loh, Thanks for the nice photos. I see you were around the churches and really miss the crab congee at Taipa.
