Special thanks to abedeng for taking the trouble to contribute the photos and interesting captions; very enjoyable, a real treat.
I wonder who's more attractive between Sayaka Takahashi and Reiko Shiota? unfortunately Reiko Shiota doesn't make it into JPN squad for 2013 SC.
I think it was the legendary Edwin Leung, see here: https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.p...474033860.1073741832.773238859&type=3&theater
Madbad's inisistence in seeing the crying pics of Ratchanok cost the Thai team my support for the first ten minutes of the first match of the first semifinal tie. By that time, it was 16-13 and the Koreans are on their way to recovery ...... Ah, the great lengths that people take ....... ...... to wrest a trophy "contaminated" by kwun's DNA ...... As the squads assemble for the great battle ahead ..... ..... and the Service Judge ready to punish everyone .... ...... but the timid looking Kim Ha Na. As I entered the arena ...... KSH was contructing Korean recovery ...... ..... with good sideline judgement too ...... ...... and plenty of power to take home game 1. The assault was non-stop ...... .... Captain Saralee was forced to a rearguard action ..... ...... while her disciple Sudket was doing close quarters combat ...... ....... assisted by some artillery bombardment ...... ...... but to no avail. The last shot landed miles out. Korea lead 1-0
As the temperature had gone cold due to lack of number of bodies of spectators ...... ....... the Li Ning Shuttle came into play, of course without a giant racquet to whack him .... Next, was the match between the ageing lawyer, Boonsak Ponsana, up against Korean upstart Lee Dong Keun. LDK had earlier despatched Tanonsak in the preliminary rounds ...... so the slower Boonsak should be easy meat, no? The answer is NO ...... Boonsak moved with so much grace .... .... and even his serve nets a few cheap points ..... ..... with unrivalled control of the net ..... ...... and world class dives that put the Commentators in awe ...... LDK was feeling silly - well, he was silly that day ..... ..... for playing with pressure .... ...... getting himself turned like a twister ...... ...... forced to send in short lifts ...... ....... which made him vulnerable ....... ....... to spending the afternoon on the floor Boonsak successfully "sues LDK" for a victory!
It's been said a dozen times already in this thread, but abedeng, you are a great story-teller! Thanks for your excellent work.
The explosive matchup between Maneepong Jongjit/Nipitphon Puangpuapech vs Lee Yong Dae/Ko Sung Hyun promised to be a fiery affair. Fiery it definitely was, but the scoreline was lopsided in one pair's favour ...... This Thai pair had big expectations ...... ...... to blow their opponents with all out attacking ...... ..... but what they don't realize is ...... ...... the Olympic pedigree of one of their opponents. With so many rallies going against the Thais even when they were in position to win them ..... ..... Gillian Clark points out a particular statistic to her commentary partner, Morten Frost Nipitphon Puangpuapech : Oh! Don't tell me you're going to fire the stinking bomb! Maneepong Jongjit : It's our last trump card .... maybe it would reduce the effectiveness of Korean breathing .... THA Coach : What was that smell? What did you eat this morning? Maneepong : Err, sambal belacan, coach. Real nice and spicy - just like home ..... Unfortunately, the "secret weapon" backfired ..... and the Koreans lodge a complaint. LYD : Mr Umpire, Sir. We believe that a secret contaminant has been released to the atmosphere by our unworthy opponents ...... Umpire : Is that what it is? Let me call HAZMAT right away ..... Once the air had cleared ...... ....the Koreans created their own swirling tornado .... ..... allowing them to change the pace of the shuttle ..... ..... and run fast and accurate low drives ..... ..... eventually creating a killing opportunity ..... ..... and so the Koreans won deservedly! Koreans retake the lead 2-1.
It was a tough ask for an injured player - no matter how good or world class he or she is, to repeat a historic performance against a top ten player. Ratchanok Inthanon won the hearts of the, err, small crowd with her battling performance. But asking her to do the impossible is just that. Impossible. Because right on the other side of the net was one of her most difficult opponents, Sung Ji Hyun. Sung Ji Hyun, the Korean queen ..... .... comfortable in her stretch defence .... ..... good in baseline clears ..... ...... not too shabby on the backhand either .... Yup, she could do this all day ..... the hairdo, I mean. KOR Coach : Win this match and you get a free pass to the hotel spa ..... THA Coach : Buy you ice-cream and candies if you can turn this match ...... With ice-creams and candies on her mind, Rat shows more determination .... .... in covering the net area .... .... in defence ..... ..... as well as attack ...... ...... which brought Miss Sung down on her knees .... But Miss Sung hit back with a bullseye ..... .... thus ending the tie in Korea's favour .... They shake hands ..... .... and Ratchanok takes a bow from the competition ..... Congrats Korea, Kudos Thailand .........
Three hours later, China came down to do battle with the new BWF President ..... err, I mean the BWF President's home country ...... Two Olympic medallist pairs, the Gold Medallists XD pairing of Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei, play Bronze Medallists Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen ..... The highlight of the match .... Pedersen's lack of form and Zhao Yunlei hairdo. Danish and Chinese squads prepare for battle .... At the start of the match .... Zhang Nan was distracted by Zhao Yunlei's beauty .... ..... but soon they got into the groove ... ... with Zhang Nan firing away ..... .... and their defence holding firm ..... Nothing much that the Danes could do ..... ..... since Pedersen was unable to commit at the net ..... ..... forcing Fischer to take the initiative ..... ..... but their fortunes could not be turned. Even Fischer's most powerful salvo ..... ..... only served to ruffle Zhao Yunlei's hairdo .... ZN : Why are you taking so much time with your hair? You never took that long in bed .... ZYL : In bed, I don't need to do up my hair ..... Eventually, the Chinese couple won very comfortably ... Head Coach LYB : OK, OK, I admit it. You have my approval to go dating .......
