Sunday, October 5, 2014

The teams are on their way home

Dear readers

The tournament has ended, the players have given their all, the parents are exhausted cheering the players on. I am finishing the blog for the year.

I am sure all the players have learned so much from this last 2 weeks. Team work, exhaustion, victory, defeat, joy, sadness, victory for some, sadness for some but at the end of it, they have felt what it is like to be a sportsperson.

To give all they are able to. To ask for nothing but faith in what they can give. The players have all tried their best.

Whatever they have learned here will become a part of their character.

It was good to see parents supporting their children, even from miles away. The wechat messages have taken so much out of my battery life.

Why am I still blogging for the Under 15s? Only because I know that these are the youngest state players and the most impressionable. They are our future. These blogs will remain with them and they can always review them when they are older.

I know I still get joy out of going through the old posts to see what has been said and done.

Here are some photos for their memories.

I must say, there are never any of Sok Teoh. Is he always the photographer. He gives so much for his love of badminton.

I am sure he will bring KC up again to challenge the best.

Thanks to all the coaches for the time they have given to all the players.

The managers and parents and Mark the umpire also need to be thanked. Iris, who is Eric's wife and who works for Tan and Tan Lawyers and who took 2 weeks off to cook and clean for the kids. She has to be thanked too.  She does not even have any children, just a husband who loves badminton and coaches and love the players. Good on them as we need more people like that in badminton.

Kim Rodgers has been giving his time for the Under 15s for many a year. He must feel sad that he did not return with a team medal. That is how the shuttle falls. There will be next year.

For the players who did not get a medal. Hey, you are still young and have the future ahead of you. If you want it, just train hard and you will get there.

Just remember to thank your parents for their support and love.

Eric will I am sure continue to train his young charges and bring out the best in them.










Friday, October 3, 2014

More photos


Photos of the Golden girls

Dear readers


Some great photos of the golden girls.






I understand Bella was of course ranked No. 1. This is again a first for WA. No girl has ever been ranked No. 1 in WA for the Under 15s. Many have tried but Bella got there first.

Gerimay was ranked 5th and Sunyee ranked 8th.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Bella and GeriMay bring glory to WA

 Dear readers

Today was an exciting day for the girls.

Bella started the day by winning the girl's singles.

She is our first Girls Under 15s Singles Champ. She beat Celeste Lee 21-11 and 21-17.

In the history of the Under 15s competition she is the first girl to win the gold singles.

Good on her. To top it off, she was also awarded the trophy for Best and Fairest Player for the tournament. What an honour.

She will make her parents and coaches very proud.

See videos of her game, courtesy of Sok Teoh at:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/53501120

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/53500638

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/53500794

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/53501173



Geri May and Bella then proceeded to play their girls doubles against Victoria He and Jodee Vega. The first set was won easily at 21-14. They lost concentration losing the 2nd set at 16/21. They finished the game strongly to get gold at 21/14.

That is the 2nd gold medal for Bella in this Under 15s tournament.

This is the 2nd gold medal for GeriMay in an Under 15s tournament. She won the Mixed doubles gold last year with Xiang. She is becoming our doubles specialist.

See their doubles game at:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/53502456


GeriMay had her final Mixed doubles game with Felix Wang against Janson Trinh and Amy Young. Unfortunately, they only managed a silver going down at 15/21 and 17/21.

See

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/53503890


These are the list of winners:

Winners
XD U15
1
Janson Trinh [4]
Amy Young
2
Felix Wang [3]
Gerimay Nicolas
3/4
Reinhardt Nalzaro [1]
Jodee Vega
3/4
Kai Chen Teoh [2]
Bella Yutong Liu
BS U15
1
Charlie Jap [7]
2
Felix Wang [4]
3/4
Elton Zhang [3]
3/4
Janson Trinh [2]
BD U15
1
Jared Song [1]
Felix Wang
2
William Chau [3]
Elton Zhang
3/4
Jia Ang, Arrick [4]
Reinhardt Nalzaro
3/4
Charlie Jap
Janson Trinh
GS U15
1
Bella Yutong Liu [4]
2
Celeste Lee [2]
3/4
Jodee Vega [1]
3/4
Victoria He
GD U15
1
Bella Yutong Liu [2]
Gerimay Nicolas
2
Victoria He [1]
Jodee Vega
3/4
Bernadete Aniceto
Elysia Viravong
3/4
Irene Chau
Sasha Lim


The individual championship

Dear readers


The players have been battling hard in their individual events.

Some have done better than others. All are having a great time from the photos I have seen.


Boys Singles:

Kai Chen had to withdraw because of injury. Tough luck to the young boy.

Jason Lee was sent to the plate where he finally lost in the finals to Jason Obial.

Milain progressed to the 2nd round but was despatched by Felix Wang in 2 sets.

Sun Yee progressed to the quarters before losing to Janson Trinh also in 2 sets. Sun Yee will be ranked.

Rupert Kang and Will Klein were also sent to the plate event.  Rupert lost to the eventual plate winner Justin Obial.

See:

http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=60F9CD61-CD91-4467-97B2-A10FA1CD1186&draw=1


Girls Singles

Bella is now playing in her first finals after beating No. 1 seed Jodee Vega in 3 sets.

Erin was beaten by Jodee in the 2nd round.

Katie was also sent to the plate where she lost in the 3rd round.

Gerimay fought all the way to the quarters before losing to Victoria He. Geri May will be ranked too.

Louise went to the 2nd round before being despatched by Amy Yong.

http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=60F9CD61-CD91-4467-97B2-A10FA1CD1186&draw=2

Mixed doubles

Milain and Louise got through to the 2nd round but could not progress further.

Sun Yee and Rebekah Thomas went to the plate before losing the 2nd round.

Jason Lee and Katie also could not get past the 2nd round. Likewise Will and Erin also went to the plate but could not progress further.

KC and Bella fought all the way to the semis before losing to Gerimay and Felix Wang of Vic.

Geri May and Felix will face Janson Trinh and Amy Young tomorrow for the finals.

See http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=60F9CD61-CD91-4467-97B2-A10FA1CD1186&draw=3



Boys Double

Rupert partnered with Steven Yin of SA. They lost to Milain and Sun Yee in the first round. Milain and Sun Yee lost in 3 sets to Arrick and Nalzaro in the 2nd round.

Will partnered Gardner from TAS and were sent to the plate.
Jason and KC lost to Charlie Yap and Jason Trinh in the 2nd round. All our boys are out of the doubles.

 See http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=60F9CD61-CD91-4467-97B2-A10FA1CD1186&draw=4


Girls Double


Katie and Lisa of ACT went to the plate.

Erin and Carmen Lim of Vic went to the 2nd round but were beaten by Aniceto and Virvong.

Louise and Valley of Tas also went to the 2nd set before losing to Bella and Gerimay.

Bella and Gerimay are in the finals and they will meet Vic He and Jodee Vega who are seeded 1.

http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=60F9CD61-CD91-4467-97B2-A10FA1CD1186&draw=5


All the boys are now out of the competition. They have tried their best I am sure and will have learnt lots.

Only Bella and Geri May remain fighting for individual gold.

Good work girls and good luck.

To Erin, Louise and Katie, I hope you have all enjoyed yourselves and learned lots from the comp. Carry that experience to your next comp and good luck.


Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Sad day for the teams

Dear readers

The day did not turn out well for both teams. Despite the players giving their best, WA 1 could not secure a medal after our top singles boy Kai Chen pulled a hamstring. So many dreams shattered. I feel for the players. I woke up to the sound of the wechat rings announcing the scores. It did not sound good as the teams were going through tough challenges.

Well, that is the nature of the game. Physical fitness is as important as mental fitness and skills. The players have given their all for WA and we cannot ask more of their young bodies and minds. They still have the Under 17's and Under 19s to continue their fight for excellence.

Lessons will have been learned by all. The players now need to pull up their spirits and concentrate on the individual events. Many still have a chance of doing well and even be ranked.

I am hoping Kai Chen can recover and play on. However, if his injury is bad, it is best to recuperate instead of aggravating the injury. My thoughts go out to to his family who have supported his badminton dreams. I know that he will lift himself up and become stronger in mindset and skills. He has shown that he is one of the top ranked players in his age for Australia.

WA 1st team lost 3-5 to Vic 2. It was so close.

The other players will have to knuckle down and give their best to make their parents proud.

I have seen the draws for the individual events and the players will continue to have a few more tough challenges ahead.

Who says competitive badminton is easy. These young players have stepped up for WA and we have to say thank you to them for representing WA. They should be proud of what they have done.

Their parents also need to be very very proud of their child's achievements.

Many of the players are playing for the first time for WA. I am sure they will savor the experience. This will have a  possible effect on their future as badminton players, students, life etc.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA (VNT10)036 - 036VICTORIA 2 (VNT 7): 3-5

Time:Tue 9/30/2014 2:00 PM
Draw:Val Nesbitt Trophy
Score:3-5
Match overview
OrderEventWESTERN AUSTRALIA (VNT10)036-036VICTORIA 2 (VNT 7)ScorePoints

Duration
1MD
Sunyee ZhengAustralia
Milain RanasingheAustralia
-
AustraliaElton Zhang
AustraliaWilliam Chau
10-21 11-210-1

0:16
2WD
Bella LiuAustralia
Gerimay NicolasAustralia
-
AustraliaSasha Lim
AustraliaElla Bradwell
21-16 21-171-0

0:16
3MS1
Milain RanasingheAustralia
-
AustraliaJared Song
18-21 6-210-1

0:17
4WS1
Bella LiuAustralia
-
AustraliaSasha Lim
21-15 21-131-0

0:24
5WS2
Gerimay NicolasAustralia
-
AustraliaValencia Wu
22-20 21-101-0

0:23
6MS2
Sunyee ZhengAustralia
-
AustraliaElton Zhang
14-21 9-210-1

0:12
7XD2
Sunyee ZhengAustralia
Louise BradfordAustralia
-
AustraliaWilliam Chau
AustraliaSasha Lim
20-22 12-210-1

0:17
8XD1
Milain RanasingheAustralia
Bella LiuAustralia
-
AustraliaElton Zhang
AustraliaValencia Wu
21-15 19-21 21-230-1

0:33
Statistics

PointsWonDrawsLostMatchesGamesPoints
WESTERN AUSTRALIA00013-57-10288-319
VICTORIA 201005-310-7319-288




WA Hurricanes triumphed against Tasmania giving them 9th place out of 11 total teams. I am sure they all felt they could have done better. Good luck to the players for their individual events.


TASMANIA (VNT 2)036 - 036WA HURRICANES (VNT9): 3-5

Time:Tue 9/30/2014 2:00 PM
Draw:Val Nesbitt Trophy
Score:3-5
Match overview
OrderEventTASMANIA (VNT 2)036-036WA HURRICANES (VNT9)ScorePoints

Duration
1MD
Sharad RaiAustralia
Thomas GreenAustralia
-
AustraliaJason Lee
AustraliaWill Klein
13-21 21-16 21-181-0

0:27
2WD
Montana VineyAustralia
Rebekah ThomasAustralia
-
AustraliaErin Hope Els
AustraliaKatie Ting Xue Zhang
14-21 21-15 21-131-0

0:30
3MS1
Sharad RaiAustralia
-
AustraliaJason Lee
9-21 17-210-1

0:15
4WS1
Montana VineyAustralia
-
AustraliaErin Hope Els
16-21 21-12 21-161-0

0:27
5WS2
Rebekah ThomasAustralia
-
AustraliaKatie Ting Xue Zhang
14-21 11-210-1

0:19
6MS2
Kayden GardnerAustralia
-
AustraliaRupert Kang
8-21 6-210-1

0:14
7XD2
Sharad RaiAustralia
Niamh WoodfieldAustralia
-
AustraliaRupert Kang
AustraliaErin Hope Els
22-24 21-10 15-210-1

0:32
8XD1
Thomas GreenAustralia
Montana VineyAustralia
-
AustraliaJason Lee
AustraliaKatie Ting Xue Zhang
15-21 14-210-1

0:18
Statistics

PointsWonDrawsLostMatchesGamesPoints
TASMANIA00013-57-13321-376
WA HURRICANES01005-313-7376-321