You should have seen her at the Airport - she looked a lot better in casual clothing on Sunday night.
What can I say .... I am almost always in the right place at the right time. Truly, when she lets her hair go, Miss Wang looks exquisite .....
Women's Singles Final Pjswift joined me at the, ahem, elevated seating area by this time. Her first question was whether this match will be fast, furious and exciting - or will it be lame and one sided towards the more, ahem, pleasant looking player? Yup, more conspiracy theories abound in this very fine city ...... On one side is Miss Wang Yihan, previously the coveted darling of the Chinese squad and men the world over, but now at the point where she, err, needs more points to climb back up to the top of the saddle. Against her is teammate and Olympic Champ Li Xuerui, who had gotten stronger since her World Championship Final defeat to Ratchanok Inthanon. Here are the pictures of the battle: Miss Wang shows off her repertoire at the net ..... .... and celebrated the point with a dance jig. LXR (to the line judge) : Are you kidding me?!!!! That was miles wide!!! Hell hath no fury like the Olympic Champion scorned ..... ..... but all she did was to gift another point at the net. In the end, though .... .... photogenic Miss Wang got to stand taller WYH: Hey look!!! The chaperone ladies are wearing BWF-approved ladies attire. LXR : Not me, thank you. I'm happier with shorts. And so here comes the big paycheck The Champion was so happy at having gotten Snoopy as souvenir, she forgot her paycheck ..... A picture with dignitiaries ... WYH : Remember hor, I am the "undisputed" No 1 in our team .... LXR : Yeah, right - No 1 in looks only. No more "assistance" for you in future tournaments, big sista. Posing together LXR : So, how much is my cut from your earnings for, err, assistance rendered? WYH : Hmm, I don't remember us signing a deal on that.
R2 Cai Yun/Lu Kai v Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (8) It was a pity that these warriors from China and Japan had to face each other in Round 2. "Do or Die" was their battle cry! Indeed they gave their all. Despite the thunderous jumpsmashes and relentless attack from the seeded Japanese duo, China's eventual champions, Cai Yun and his newly found young "scratch" partner, Lu Kai, remained calm in defence and counterattacked at every opportunity. A MD match full of excitement, tenacity, intrigue and booming smashes that deserved to be in the finals. And we all loved it even though it lasted 'just' 49 minutes! [TABLE="class: ruler matches"] [TR="bgcolor: #FDFDFD"] [TD="class: plannedtime, align: right"][/TD] [TD]MD[/TD] [TD="align: right"][TABLE] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="align: right"]Yun CAI[/TD] [TD][CHN] [/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD="align: right"]Kai LU[/TD] [TD][CHN] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD="align: center"]-[/TD] [TD][TABLE] [TR] [TD][JPN] [/TD] [TD]Takeshi KAMURA [8][/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: transparent"] [TD][JPN] [/TD] [TD]Keigo SONODA[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD]23-21 21-19[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: right"]0:49[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
Men's Doubles Final Talking about Cai Yun - here's an Olympic Champion who is still in good shape. Even with rookie partner Lu Kai, you could see how well the boss drove his team into the action. No mean feat, considering that Cai Yun once had a heart condition that required an operation early in his career .... The match started very tight .... .... with the TPE pair resorting to steep attacks .... ... but Cai Yun moves to regain the initiative .... The master prepares to receive his opponent's serve .... and uses his own trademark delicate touch. The TPE pair tried to regain the initiative .... .... to no avail, as it were ..... ... although they did get the King to bow at them, once. Podium Pictures
I was surprised to see three of them together, but on different courts - the eventual champions - when I got out of my seat for a toilet break! Just snap!
Some R2 pictures Some pictures taken during R2 for the various events. There were upsets from the following matches: MS - Srikanth K. bt Nguyen Tien Minh (7) 18-21, 21-15, 21-8 MD - Berry Angriwan/Ricky Karanda Suwardi bt Angga Pratama/Ryan Agung Saputra (3) 19-21, 21-14, 21-13 MD - Cai Yun/Lu Kai bt Takeshi Kaamur/Keigo Sonoda (8) 23-21, 21-19 MD - Chai Biao/Hong Wei bt Hiroyuki Endo, Kenichi Hayakawa (2) 21-13, 10-21, 21-19 XD - Danny Bawa Chrisnanta/Vanessa Neo bt Sudket/Saralee (5) 21-12, 21-18 And the new MD pair of Cai Yun/Lu Kai went on to win the title.
That one, is for my personal collection only ...... kakakakakaka What can I say, I blend into the environment very well.
Women's Doubles Final .... The Women's Doubles Final was a battle between the tall and powerful Danes, up against the Chinese girls. The Danes having come through a tough encounter against stubborn Japanese defence the other day, whereas the Chinese just had to make do with, err, "BWF-compliant team tactics" as discussed in THE CONVERSATION. The Danes started off with full power - given that they are probably the only power-packed pair that could trouble Chinese defences. And so ..... The young Chinese girls prepared to do battle .... .... only to find themselves on the back foot ..... .... and even their attacks were easily repelled .... ..... creating huge strains on Miss Bao's defences ...... .... and so the first game was conceded. But coming into the 2nd game, the Chinese "team tactics" started to bear fruit as the tiring Danes were unable to force enough lifts to whack home. The Chinese started to play low drive shuttles ... .... creating confusion among the Danes .... .... and loose Dansih returns were whacked home .... ..... with no clear opening for the Danes to counterattack. Finally, after 3 games, .... ..... the younger girls took it home. Podium Pics Here. In passing, although the Chinese girls won this title, the fact that they used walkover tactics again does take the shine off the victory. Kudos for the Danes for fighting hard - and playing the whole tournament without coaching support too .....
The Return ..... of the Simon The last time I remembered seeing Simon Santoso play LCW, was at the London 2012 Olympics. And it was depressing - in the token resistance provided by Simon in that match. This was the biggest stage, after all, you would expect huge commitment from a player who represents one of the most successful nations in World and Olympic tournaments. Still, you never know what's going to happen when an Indonesian player meets a Malaysian. As for LCW, it was reported the previous week that he was willing himself to play till 2016. A decision that I feel is wrong - and probably made under duress with the Sports Minister breathing down his neck. Malaysia needs to start to learn to wean away from LCW - and as events proved, even LCW could not guarantee a Malaysian success. The match started with LCW's trademark jumps .... .... but soon, his defenses started to waver ..... ..... and the tables are turned. INA Coach shouting encouragement to Simon Even LCW's judgement calls were failing .... In contrast, Simon's defences were solid ... .... supported by accurate heavy artillery ..... ... and crisp net play. Yup, Simon dominated the net, .... ..... allowing him the opportunity to put away another salvo at LCW's ageing body .... .... and so the victory is Simon's for the taking!!!! Time for hugs and kisses!!! And off to the interview! Podium Pics!!! Simon : Yess, the planned BC Get Together is Toast!!! Hauge will surely spend more time with me now ..... LCW : Huh?!!! Is that the only reason for you to beat me?
Simon Santoso's toughest match Yes at long last, Simon was on the podium after creating the greatest upset over World No.1 LCW, to clinch his handsome prize as the MS champion at this Singapore Open. But his toughest rival was actually Du Pengyu during the semi-finals as the following results show: Along the way he defeated: Qualification: 1. Pannawit Thongnuam THA 21-15, 21-15 2. Sean Lee Kwan Ting SIN 21-6, 24-22 R1: Tian Houwei CHN 21-14, 21-17 R2: Hsu Jen Hao TPE 21-16, 21-16 QF: Lee Dong Keun KOR 21-18,21-15 SF: Du Pengyu (5) CHN 16-21, 21-17, 21-17 F: Lee Chong Wei (1) MAS 21-15, 21-10 And mind you, he had to play two Qualification matches in order to advance to the main draw. All credit goes to SS for not giving up when he lost G1 to DPY and his tenacity, resolve, determination, focus and more importantly his desire to win, paid off in the end. Even the photographers rushed out to capture his defining moment during the finals when they sensed that a great upset was in the making. A soft spoken player who is really tough within.
Thanks @Loh and [MENTION=4302]abedeng[/MENTION] for various gorgeous pictures of players... I have never seen some of the players (captured in the pictures) before.. Thanks for sharing... Cheers..
