kudos 1. INA hospitality I can't tell you how grateful we are to both Krisna and Rudy.Both are such wonderful and generous hosts. Everything went smoothly and splendidly because of them.You can't imagine how glum our adventure would be if we had to queue up for tickets (and not get them) and not have our scrumptious supper after the last matches.We are just so lucky. 2. kwun All these good things are made possible because of BCF and kwun. Amazing fortune and many thanks, kwun. 3. INA crowd atmosphere This was quite a shocker for a first timer like me but a most pleasing one.On days when there were INA matches, great party music was played way before the matches started and the INA crowd just lived it up.It was like a carnival and the GER team gave something to the crowd. In response, one INA fan showed us how to dance to the fast music.Picture this.He was very round and his cross section was the same whichever angle you looked at him.When he danced , it's like a stack of Michelin tyres gyrating in vertical fashion! The INA crowd cheer is unique.Now the stadium is filled 30 rows high and angled at 45 degrees.It's a combination of songs and word cheers(and so loud Tony Cheng wisely went equipped with ear plugs).The Indonesian songs are so beautiful and inspiring.(I can't imagine our Spore crowd joining in if they play the Spore songs in SPO). My favourite cheer has to be 'MENANG' (meaning 'WIN') It follows a certain beat sequence and all the INA fans would know when to cheer 'Menang'!Now all this INA cheer is spontaneous and unorchestrated.Like abedeng said, INA Istora crowd atmosphere is the ultimate.If there's one Badminton tournament venue to travel all the way for, it has to be INA. 4.MAS cheer For once, I was rather impressed with the new MAS cheer. No longer the lame, 'Malaysia Boleh!' They broke it up into 'Go, Malaysia, Go! Boleh, Boleh,Boleh!' And when the MAS player lost a point,they encouraged by chanting,'It's ok, it's alright,Up your play (pace?) and fight, fight, fight!' Finally MAS cheer sounds right.I hope the MAS embassy arranges for a similar support in OG08.It can make a difference. 5. Tommy Bun During the CHN vs KOR UC SF, Tommy Bun and I were seated next to each other.Tommy is pro-CHN and I'm pro- non-CHN.At first,the crowd was quite useless except for some CHN 'jia you'.After HHY got thrashed by XXF in G1, it was quite unbearable.So I started cheering for KOR and Tommy responded in kind for CHN.It was quite hilarious but the INA crowd remained neutral.Well, I can't match Tommy for volume, so I went for frequency and timing.This annoyed one old Caucasian guy who turned around, glared and chided the cheer source. The INA crowd saw that and reacted by cheering for KOR! Thus, you saw HHY nearly upsetting XXF in G2 with a score of 21/19. Had the INA crowd been triggered into action earlier, XXF might have lost G2 and possibly G3.Thereafter, the whole crowd band turned pro-KOR and Tommy's right in the centre, the lone voice cheering for CHN. He behaved bravely, unstinting in his support for CHN.(By the way, Tommy's a rather well-mannered young man;his posts may not reflect that probably because English is not his first language.) 6.Line judging and some umpires The standard of line judging was superb. I met some line judges in the hotel and they said they were international line judges tasked mainly to line judge matches involving INA.It's great to see BWF taking real action. Let's hope they keep it up in OG08 to upkeep badminton as a respectable sport. Some umpires did a great job in enforcing rules.In particular, preventing CHN players from exercising delay tactics.The Caucasian ones were best at umpiring matches involving CHN; the Asian ones were useless and nothing more than score-keepers. 7.Winners all CHN won both the TC and UC but non-CHN also must be delighted because they beat WR1: 1.WS YJ beating XXF 2.WD Lee/Lee beating Yang/Zhang 3.MS LCW beating LD 4.MD Jung/Lee beating MK/SH although Jung/Lee in turn got beaten by JR/LP.
... ..Louisa and luyi80, i'm giggling a bit looking at the 2 pics above (post #79). So much contrast. In the 1st pic, with Misbun, both of you guys were so playful, showing your arms, hands and giving 2 thumbs up. However, when i look at the 2nd picture, with Rashid, i notice you guys were so reserved, hiding everything aside or behind the back..?!?!.. ..pjswift, thanks for sharing your own account of your experiences. Glad you enjoyed the happenings and gatherings!
It was good to hear Misbun's analysis on Malaysia's fortunes, Olympic chances and performance of his charges. Indeed, he is a great coach, though he can't do much about Mr Yo Yo Hafiz. Hafiz did what he could, but Misbun admits it was not the best Hafiz could play, anyway Hafiz was always behind CJ in 4 areas including fitness and tactical play. Misbun mentioned that LD was kept guessing about what type of play LCW was going to bring out. So when LCW played a more patient game ala French Open SS final during the start of the match, LD was unable to follow suit. He was more accustomed to high speed high pace game normally played out by both players. Forgot to ask Misbun how Wong Mew Choo is holding up under his training. From what we see, her performance and speed has improved (beat HHY on account of fast paced rally alone) but still couldn't neutralize the power of tall Tine Rasmussen.
Errrrrrrrrrr....ok, I admit that we were so happy when taking photo with Misbun...why? that was right after he explained everything to us, there was interaction among us....as for Rashid, we went straight to him and asking for picture...no interaction between us...so, that's the reason why... One more thing is that...we were so happy LCW beaten LD, and after all the explanation by Misbun, we became more happier...hahahahaha I had taken photo with my super idol of all time (beside the great ZN)...Mr. Ong Ewe Hock...he is a nice guy...will post it once later....
