The event is over - time now for a heavy dinner and shopping to finish off the millions of Indonesian Rp. Great job as always, Djarum. Pics in due course later ..... As in much later.
Ahh - just finished my dinner ...... Excellent helpings of gurame goreng fish, spicy prawns and other seafood. Now, where were we? Oh yes, this was indeed an exceptional last hurrah for Djarum sponsorship in its present form. Those of you who missed it, it's your loss .... Taufik Hidayat got his emotional farewell - and was among those former Indonesian greats who presented prizes to the winners. And as aptly specified by LCW's podium t-shirt, We Love Taufik!!! Malaysia and Indonesian didn't need to work too hard for their titles, but special mention must be given to the new WD winners - Cheng Shu and Bao Yixin for surviving a very bad line call. Yup, Bao Yixin was very pissed - don't know how much of it was seen on camera, but off camera, hell hath no fury like a Yixin scorned .... Clawhammers and I almost thought that she was going to blow it. They were still complaining about it till the start of the third, it made Umpires Edy Rufianto and Service Judge Tata Mulyana smile .... Anyway, the umpire was on the wrong side to see the line clearly, and the service judge cannot make a line call correction. Great fight from Juliane Schenk and the Danish XD, but in the end, in long matches, what really matters is outright fitness. I shall post the finals and Taufik farewell pics first .....
Farewelll ...... Taufik Hidayat Taufik Hidayat ...... A man who made a name for himself while still technically a boy ..... A man with great technique and outright talent, talent that neither win-it-all Lin Dan nor the consistent king Lee Chong Wei could even dream of ...... A man that is far from perfect, and yet is the epitome of perfection when he moves to the court with his magic wand ..... ...... and that by the ripe old age of 25, he had won the Olympic, World and Asian Games titles, along the way beating both Lee Chong Wei and the not yet Super Dan in two of those occasions. He may not have had the best of sendoffs, having lost in the opening round of his final tournament ........ ..... but he has not lost the love of us fans, fellow Indonesians or otherwise, as depicted by ....... .... this shirt, won by one of his major adversaries, Lee Chong Wei. I came to the arena, just in time to see Taufik ....... ...... making his final speech in front of adoring fans ..... ..... while trying his best to keep his emotions in check ..... A symbolic transfer of racquet signifies the changing of the guard .... ..... and he waves goodbye to adoring fans ..... Another pose for the cameras ..... ..... before the new head of PBSI, Pak Gita Wirjawan presents to Indonesia's Golden Boy his plaque and bouquet of flowers. Farewell, Taufik!! :crying: You have left might huge shoes to fill ........
And Now ..... for the Finals Day The stage is set ..... .... as the TV Cameraman makes last minute adjustments .... ..... and the winners rostrum is set up to crown the champions .... ..... but first, we have the Djarum batik-inspired lightshow ..... .... and so the Centre Court is bathed in familiar Djarum colours ..... for the last time as it seems .... For the first time ever anywhere in the world, baggage handlers are employed to, erm, carry heavy loads so that players don't make excuses of injury for their defeat ..... wakakakaka. The lights are dimmed yet again .... .... before they change as the players march in ..... And so, the WD pairs shake hands with officials and each other. In blue, the tomboyish World Champions were up against the beautifully fierce Bao Yixin (more on that later) and the pretty auntie-ish Cheng Shu, no longer the bundle of nerves as she was in the 2009 final of this very event.
The WD Final .... .... was a pretty dramatic event. Yup, that's because it was the pretty ladies that made the event dramatic ..... While leading 19-16 in the second game, a sideways push by their opponents were judged out by a line judge whose eyesight had better days. Bao Yixin practically shouted expletives to the guy's face with her arms wide apart while Cheng Shu begged umpire Edy Rufianto to make a correction .... which was not possible since umpire Rufianto was not the best placed man to see a clear error. But Cheng Shu was very smart to stabilize her raging-like-hulk junior partner. While Yu Yang was preparing to serve at 18-20, she deliberately held up play by simulating wiping off the sweat in front of Bao Yixin (who was to receive serve) - good enough for Yixin to keep calm and make a delicate net return, forcing a decider. And the rest, as they say, went to the pretty ladies, much to the delight of the, ahem, neutral fans. Nothing neutral about looks though, which is why we needed more good looking girls playing world class badminton. Early in the match, Yu Yang got herself in the umpire's bad books ..... ... for daring to question Service Judge Mulyana's fault calls .... This gave young Bao Yixin quite a bit of confidence ..... .... as Auntie Cheng Shu nailed a winner to the floor .... But Wang Xiaoli hit back, as in the Empire Strikes Back .... and they won game 1. These girls watched the drama with interest ..... wishing they were as beautiful as Yixin and Shu. Jedi master Shu and padawan learner Yixin redouble their efforts .... .... until this, err, sight-challenged line judge made a mess of things, this was his face after getting bucketloads of saliva from Bao Yixin's mouth .... Young Yixin turns red hot ..... yup, welcome to the Dark Side ...... "Do not be tempted by the Dark Side! It will only bring you, err, backache." said her learned Jedi Master And finally, the pretty Jedis vanquished the Sith Olympians ..... Look, who's the happier girl now ..... Now for more serious stuff, passing the interview ......
Did he look good? And what else did he do with the shirt other than covering his big size body? Hehe.
WD Prize Presentation Here are the pictures from the Women's Doubles Prize Presentation ...... BYX : Why is my medal less shiny than yours, Master Shu? CS : That's because, you have not reached enlightenment ..... YY : Do you know why did that service judge keep faulting me? WXL : There's a conspiracy going on, I heard that the crowd here loves to make winners out of beautiful girls ...... and the BC spy was in on it too. YY : Oh yeah? Where's the mastermind, I would give him a piece of my mind .... WXL : Hey, don't do that. We don't want to get disqualified again, for not showing best behaviour during prize presentation ..... BYX (to CS): I wouldn't mind playing badminton with those nice Djarum Girl attire ...... CS : You know what, Padawan? Those Djarum Girls are more enlightened than you - that's because they eat and weigh less .... BYX : Oh no (sniff, sniff)!!! Am I that overweight? Rexy Mainaky is one of the Indonesian great prize presenters - I love those Djarum Girl outfits ...... A, err, heavier Alan Budi Kusuma shakes Bao Yixin's smooth hands ..... I'm sure his wife is there somewhere, looking at this very intently ..... Group pictures of the presenters and winners
Never underestimate my bouncer bodyshape ...... With this body and a Susi Susanti-like stare, no one ever dared to cross me during my travels to what most of you folks may call dangerous places. No ticket tout, no ojek rider, no pickpocket wannabe, nobody at all ........ I am a lot scarier than the Sith Lords. Just tthe other night, after semifinals day - I was able to survive 4 kms of walk from the Indonesian National Monument to my hotel intact - the crowd there was insanely huge, traffic was at a standstill for hours.
The MS Final ....... To showcase our love for Taufik Hidayat, required some effort on LCW's part. Yup, he must first win his 5th INA Open title (1 behind Taufik and Ardy Wiranata), remove and swap sweat-drenched shirts with his opponent, Mr Zwiebler. Only then, did he earn the right to wear the, ahem, We Love Taufik shirt ...... It was a reasonably simple game for LCW - but credit must also be given to Zwiebler for trying hard with all the tricks in his playbook. Indeed, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, but you need to show effort until the last point is sealed ..... LCW started off by faking a smash ...... .... but left the shuttle at the last moment ..... .... watching intently as the shuttle went down ..... .... and out ..... .... and so the Tiger sensed an imminent victory ........ This time, there was no faking a dropshot ..... ..... forcing Zwiebler to a scrambling defence ..... But as Zwiebler tried to do the same diagonal drop .... .... LCW was just too agile and fast ..... Marc pondered on what to do next ..... ... and so decided that attack is the best policy .... ... but really, that's just no sweat as far as LCW is concerned ... .... a thundering diagonal smash was unleashed .... .... easily parried by LCW to the full diagonal .... ..... and Marc found himself doing an Usain Bolt ..... even Usain Bolt could not have reached that, Marc. Finally, another deserved victory for the World No 1 ..... .... which also meant time for both players to move to another sport ..... Mr Universe Bodybuilding .... .... while still acknowledging the crowd .... Emcee : How difficult was it to win the match? LCW : It was more difficult for Taufik to present his goodbye speech, I think .....
MS Podium Pictures Here are the pictures of Lee Chong Wei and Marc Zwiebler, the top 2 in the MS competition ...... The top two men at the podium .... .... and LCW bowed to receive his medal ..... LCW (to self) : Are my eyes deceiving me? The Djarum Girls are getting prettier every year ..... hope the Mrs doesn't see my wandering eyes (places his hand instinctively to partially cover one eye) LCW (to self) : On second thoughts, better to look away. I am a married man. I am a married man ...... (continues mumbling) LCW (to self) : Hish, too bad the whole paycheck is no longer for me ........ diapers and milk powder cost a lot these days. LCW receiving congratulations from the outgoing BAM President, Dato' Nadzmi .... LCW (to self) : Oh shxx!!! The Djarum Girls are coming back. I am a married man, I am a married man ........ Prize presenters pose with the winners .......
Next Up ... the WS Final The women's singles match pitted the powerful Juliane Schenk against the towering Li Xuerui, London Olympic Champion. The first game was relatively even, but a lapse of concentration from the German soldier allowed LXR to steal the game. Schenk expended almost all her ammunition to force a rubber game, but was unable to muster additional challenge for the decider. Nonetheless, for a player who doesn't rely on on court coaching, getting to the final is already an overachievement. Not to mention that her opponent, LXR, has the benefit of dragon power, in the shape of Lung Lung, and World Championship coaching expertise of Coach Chen Jin. I am sorry to report though, that Coach Chen Jin has started to expand sideways, typical of most Chinese ex-players who turned to coaching. Why can't they all be like Djarum Coach Sigit Budiarto, still fit and slim as if he were still playing ...... now that's a real World Champion ....... Pics here: The lanky women's singles Olympic Champion, Li Xuerui ...... ..... powered by the dragon shape of Lung Lung .... ..... and trained by the, erm, expanding World Champion Coach Chen Jin and veteran Coach Tang Xuehua With that kind of power behind you, no wonder she's willing to get in trouble with the umpire ...... Soldier Schenk tried to portray a tough image .... ..... but as soon as the missiles fly ..... .... Juliane took a direct hit ...... To her credit, Schenk harnessed all her power, which electrified her, ahem, hair ..... ..... but the chi of the Olympic Champion is too strong .... .... and so they give it a shake .... ..... after which, LXR prepares to be interviewed .... .... though she could never understand the question from this emcee
WS Podium Pictures ..... and here comes the hugs and kisses It seems that even legends were willing to fight for a place to present the winners' prizes for Women's Singles ..... yup, no less than 3 legends, Hariyanto Arby, Ricky Subagja and Taufik Hidayat participated in this presentation. No doubt they were aware that they could get a kiss from Juliane Schenk ...... ah, the hot blood in males are the same, legends or not, wakakakaka. Pictures here ...... Despite her defeat, Juliane Schenk can walk tall ...... she was so happy, she could kiss everyone ..... ..... but first on her list was to hug and kiss her worthy conquerer, Li Xuerui ..... LXR : Wow!!! What is that, big cheque?!! Come to Mama ...... Djarum Girl holding the cheque : Wait!! Wait!! Must follow formalities first. Taufik Hidayat : Since today is my retirement day, how about a kiss? Juliane Schenk : Sure thing, Taufik!! Muahhh!!! Prize presenters with the women's singles winners ..... 3 legends, so 3 pictures.
