Wednesday, February 22, 2012

It's shuttlecock (3)

Went to MO'12 last month. Really didn't feel like going seriously. My passion for badminton has GONE! Yesss! Guess my primary purpose (besides to catch some thrilling live badminton actions if I'm lucky enough) was to meet with old badminton buddies. 

Well, for that 'thrilling live badminton actions' part, it was quite a disappointment. LD lost the day before quarter-final, Cai-Fu didn't participate, Yong Dae didn't play MD, Koo-Tan was kicked out in early round, WS and WD were left with China girls fighting themselves out. I guess the climax for the quarter-finals was in the 2nd game between Jorgensen vs Chen Jin. CJ won in the 1st game and Jorgensen was trailing behind few points closing to the end of the 2nd game. But he somehow got into the rhythm of the game and with the supportive crowd behind him ( a.k.a anti-China players crowd), he was boost with confidence and 'Ohm'. So the mental game started and CJ was shaken. Jorgensen was able to take advantage of the situation and brought the game to deuce (ha, now this is what the audience love and enjoy). The cheers and clappings for Jorgensen were as if he's a Malaysian player playing in his home ground lol. Poor CJ was stressed and let the 2nd game slipped from his hand. Then...nothing much to say bout the 3rd game, CJ's skill has always been one level above Jorgensen.


Now for the second part, it's like an adventure in the stadium! I got a crazy friend who met a whole bunch of even crazier friends finding ways to get into some secret areas. And we managed to find the players' warm-up courts! The players played quite casually during the warm-up session. And you can see and hear the interactions and conversations between them, e.g Lee Yong Dae chatting and laughing with his partner while playing, LCW flirting with the chinese player etc...  
The 'reward' for following the crazy friends? A pic with Zhang Nan...tada! I'm not sure why I took a pic with him, I wasn't even sure whether he's Zhang Nan or Chai Biao actually, lol. But yea he's ZN, the current no 1 XD player.


All the best in OG 2012! That's the highest achievement an athlete can hope for, no?