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08-30-2006, 01:26 AM #1
Cheers Asian Satellite 2006, Singapore
I spent a tiring whole day yesterday to witness the Asian Satellite Badminton Championships 2006 Round 1 held at the new venue, the air-conditioned Toa Payoh Sports Hall.
This venue is certainly much more comfortable than the Singapore Badminton Hall, where all the previous Satellites were held, not only because the airconditioning at TPSH makes a great difference but also its high ceiling lights do not block the view as they do at SBH, even worse as the low fluorescent lights there really hurt the eye.
The seating capacity at TPSH is larger and the seats are better arranged in a circular pattern but without backs for support. There are no pillars blocking one's view as in SBH. The one setback, however is the high aluminium railings surrounding the gallery to prevent one from falling over. This should have been set lower or better still, in transparent plate glass, so as not to disturb one's viewing pleasure. The SBH is good for training players but certainly not good for the spectators!
This Satellite is meant for the young and upcoming players, the national second teams, to ply their talents and pit them against equally gifted players in the region. In general the standard has improved but so far I could not see any outstanding candidates yet. Maybe they will display their style later in the competition.
For the first time, I met Magical Phoenix and moonsilk in the morning. MP was there to support Chong Wei Feng #11 and all the other Malaysian players on behalf of yannie. And moonsilk gave support to the Thai contingent although their first team was not around, competing in the HK Open. During the XD event in the evening, I met Iwan and we had a good chat. But I could not see badMania.
This event saw two early seeded casualties - Beryno Wong (MAS), #9, fell to Adnan Fauzi (INA) in 3 games lasting 55 min. Compatriot Kenn Lim, #8, was rudely pushed aside in straight games by Pakkawat Vilailk (THA) in 35 min. Erwin Djohan (SIN), seeded 3, did not appear.
Ten out of 32 matches lasted the distance in three games, but all were completed in less than an hour each match.
Daren Liew (MAS), #5, almost lost to Wisnu Haryo Putro (INA), 13-21, 21-17, 22-20 in another record 55 min. Another close shave was Raj Popat (WAL) #15, who was extended by 'tiny' Singapore Sports School challenger, Febriyan Irvannaldy, 18-21, 21-17, 21-18 in 53 min. Filipino Ben Jonas Garcia put up a brave fight against unseeded Johnathan Tan (SIN) 21-19, 14-21, 13-21 in 45 min. And Azrihanif Azahar (MAS) #10, stayed on court for another 45 min before ousting Chia Y Lun (TPE) 21-12, 18-21, 21-16.
Today's Straits Times featured a writeup on Tommy Sugiarto and Derek Wong and was hoping for a match between these two sons whose fathers, Icuk Sugiarto and Wong Shoon Keat met in 1983 SEAP Games with the latter beating Icuk in first singles to claim team gold for Singapore. But with Tommy seeded 2 for this event, it is impossible for Derek to create another upset like his father.
The Malaysians dominated, especially when playing against their Singapore counterparts. Only unseeded China-born Zhang Beiwen & Gu Juan were able to stop Chong Sook Chin and Tan Sin Lan, 19-21, 21-19, 21-14 in 55 min. But the Malaysian pairs had to submit to their Indonesian and Thai opponents in two other matches. All the seeded pairs received byes in R1.
The Swiss pair of Caren Hueckstaedt and Huwaina Razi were impressive in defeating Singapore Sport School's Valerie Wang and Noriko Goh, 21-14, 21-12 in 25 min.
Clearly Singapore's women's doubles department is lacking in attention and there is a lot of work to bring them nearer the standards of their ASEAN counterparts.
Two seeded pairs fell along the wayside. Arolas Jr. Amahit/Wilson Frias (PHI) #6 lost to Singapore's Daniel Yudi Kurniawan/Bagus Suprobo (probably new Indonesian imports) 11-21, 9-21 in just 20 min. And Malaysia's Goh Ying Jin/Au Kok Leong #5, were defeated by Indonesia's Ahsan/Bona Septano 15-21, 13-21 in 25 min. There were 16 matches compared to the 32 for MS and only 4 matches went into rubber.
Try as they might, the Singapore pair of Derek Wong/Johnathan Tang just could not break the Malaysian combination of Lok Chong Chieh/Chan Kwong Beng. After wining the first game 21-18, Derek and Johnathan lost the second with a similar margin and they also failed in the rubber, going down 11-21 in 40 min.
This will be reported separately.
I will upload some pics for the MS. Enjoy!
08-30-2006, 01:56 AM #2
what an extensive coverage?Superb write-outs and photos.Thanks a lot,Loh.
08-30-2006, 02:08 AM #3
Royal Thai Display
The Thai badminton team must be the world's most honoured. For which team in the world has the privilege of being 'escorted' by a Thai Princess and even joins them in pitting her skills against others?
So, Thais who are residing in Singapore arrived in droves to give their full hearted support to the Princess and the small stadium suddenly became alive with the waving of tiny colourful Thai flags and spontaneous cheering from the supporters
HRH Princess Srivannavarinarinatana partnered Nattapon Naktong in the Mixed Doubles in her workout against Malaysia's Mak Hee Chun and Sanatasah Saniru. Although the Princess and Nattapon lost, she captured the imagination and appreciation of all present. Her discipline on court and her show of humbleness thereafter was a delight to watch.
Here are some pictures for the memory.
08-30-2006, 02:37 AM #4
I know it's a small tourney consisting of juniors and upcoming players, but thanks for the brief review and photos. BTW, is the tournament you're covering different than the other Singapore Satellite tourney's thread??....Maybe the admin/mods can merge the 2 threads together??..
Last edited by ctjcad; 08-30-2006 at 02:40 AM.
08-30-2006, 03:55 AM #5
Men's Doubles Round 1 in pictures
Here are some pics of the young participants:
08-30-2006, 04:08 AM #6Originally Posted by ctjcad
This tourney may not be as prestigious as the IBF Opens, but it is run professionally with an updated website, better than some of the higher ranked tourneys in terms of information, scores and results. Not only are SBA officials in attendance but umpires from neighbouring countries are also present. Even Olympic bronze medalist, Rashid Sidek, is here as coach to the Malaysian team. An ideal preparation for the young professionals aspiring to greater heights.
Last edited by Loh; 08-30-2006 at 04:13 AM.
08-30-2006, 06:26 AM #7
Women's Doubles pictures
Here are some pics taken of the WD matches during Round 1:
08-30-2006, 07:17 AM #8
Nice pics loh.. keep it up.
08-30-2006, 07:45 AM #9Originally Posted by Loh
This stadium seems to be much much much larger than those used for junior tournaments in Denmark!
Erwin is currently injured, his leg sprained... hope he will recover soon.
08-30-2006, 07:49 AM #10
Mixed Doubles Round 1
It looks like the unseeded Indonesia pairs are creating havoc on the seedings.
In R1, Suryatama Yonathan/Nadya Melati overcame Malaysians Lim Khim Wah/Goh Liu Ying #4 21-18, 16-21, 26-24 and apparently went on to defeat Arolas Jr. Amahit/Therine Thristie Chan, 21.13, 21-11 today in R2. to gain a place in the QF.
Then another Indonesian pair, Tantowi/Yulianti, created another major upset by beating Malaysia's #1, Tan Wee Kiong/Woon Khe Wai, 21-13, 21-17 in R2 to proceed to the QF. They must have got their inspiration from Nova and Natsir!
The following pictures complete my quota for all the events in Round 1:
08-30-2006, 09:24 AM #11
I second Loh's observation that it's very well organised and professionally run with up to date results on the website. Got aircon somemore and next to HDB hub and plenty of restaurants
One player I took noticed was the Thai WS player Sitee P.... because I heard the familiar sound of an AT800OFF being smashed I turned to see who it was and it was this pint sized little girl smashing away. But the AT800OFF is unforgiving and you can hear clearly when she mishits Anyway, she beat Zhang Beiwen and is into the quarters against the No.1 seed Julia Wong
08-30-2006, 09:31 AM #12Originally Posted by storkbill
08-30-2006, 09:40 AM #13Originally Posted by badMania
08-30-2006, 10:17 AM #14Originally Posted by badMania
08-30-2006, 10:25 AM #15
thank you very much Loh for the report.
Nice pic from Rashid as I haven't seen him for many years already.
08-30-2006, 11:20 AM #16
Thanks Loh for the wonderful pics!! And also the writeup too. Hope to see you more in action! Are u going again??
08-30-2006, 11:22 AM #17Originally Posted by elwin81
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