Badminton
I watched a little bit of the finals of the International Badminton Federation World Championships from the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim on television last night. It was broadcast on the local Asian television station, KSCI in Los Angeles. What a strange and wonderful sport! Badmintion is huge throughout the world, especially in Asia, but here it's considered to be little more than something you play with your cousins at the family picnic.
On Thursday night, Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach became the first American men's doubles team to advance to the quarterfinals of the IBF championship. They then defeated fourth-seeded Luluk Hadiyanto and Yulianto Alven of Indonesia on Saturday to advance to the men's doubles final tonight. Bach was born in Vietnam and moved to Orange County, California five years ago. He works part-time at Home Depot in Orange, CA. Gunawan won an Olympic gold medal in 2000 playing for Indonesia with his partner Sigit Budiarto. Gunawan married his teammate from the Indonesian national team, Eti Tantra, and moved to a one-bedroom apartment in Orange County last year. Gunawan is not a U.S. citizen but was allowed to compete for the U.S. after a waiver was granted by the IBF. He recently passed the interview to receive a green card to allow permanent resident status.
Are all the future American badminton players going to continue to come from Indonesia and Vietnam? Where are the future badminton John McEnroes and Andre Aggasis?
On Friday night, the Thai mixed doubles team of Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam lost to Jun Zhang and Lin Gao of China. I just threw that in because I love those names.
Anyway, I'm now an international badminton fan. Hopefully, ESPN or Fox will start carrying some badminton tournaments in the near future. It's an interesting sport that demands speed and quickness. You gotta love a sport that uses a shuttlecock and manages to say it with a straight face.
On Thursday night, Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach became the first American men's doubles team to advance to the quarterfinals of the IBF championship. They then defeated fourth-seeded Luluk Hadiyanto and Yulianto Alven of Indonesia on Saturday to advance to the men's doubles final tonight. Bach was born in Vietnam and moved to Orange County, California five years ago. He works part-time at Home Depot in Orange, CA. Gunawan won an Olympic gold medal in 2000 playing for Indonesia with his partner Sigit Budiarto. Gunawan married his teammate from the Indonesian national team, Eti Tantra, and moved to a one-bedroom apartment in Orange County last year. Gunawan is not a U.S. citizen but was allowed to compete for the U.S. after a waiver was granted by the IBF. He recently passed the interview to receive a green card to allow permanent resident status.
Are all the future American badminton players going to continue to come from Indonesia and Vietnam? Where are the future badminton John McEnroes and Andre Aggasis?
On Friday night, the Thai mixed doubles team of Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam lost to Jun Zhang and Lin Gao of China. I just threw that in because I love those names.
Anyway, I'm now an international badminton fan. Hopefully, ESPN or Fox will start carrying some badminton tournaments in the near future. It's an interesting sport that demands speed and quickness. You gotta love a sport that uses a shuttlecock and manages to say it with a straight face.
posted by Shnookylangston at 11:02 AM
1 Comments:
I watched those same matches! When I get bored with CNN, BBCnews, and HBO, sports are the only thing that cross the great language divide... and the two sports of choice on television here are badmington and two-hand touch rugby (yeah, I didn't know it existed either). I am amazed at how fast that shuttle(smirk) moves! And no, I can't say it with a straight face.
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