LIN DAN
Wednesday, 27 Aug 2008
LIN DAN ….. I Had Believed My Time Will Come!   The dust has settled on the Beijing Games and the Championship flag lowered to the strains of the Olympic Hymn in a brilliant closing ceremony at the ‘Bird’s Nest’ . Most athletes are homeward bound except for the fortunate few privileged to stay back to enjoy China ’s continued hospitality.       As we recall the events of the last seventeen days and zero in on badminton, we are reminded that through the last five Games since it was inducted as a medals sport in Barcelona in 1992, no nation outside China , Indonesia , Korea and Denmark has ever won a gold medal. It is as if the sport is governed by some unwritten law which stipulates that gold medals are the prerogative of players from only this select group of countries.   So obviously there was a moment of hopeful expectation of a New Order coming into being when Malaysian Lee Chong Wei entered the final of the Men’s Singles. With all other gold medal disciplines being contested among Chinese, Indonesian and Korean players, this was the odd one out where someone from outside that ‘inner circle’ was in line for a gold medal.   This optimism stemmed from the fact that Chong Wei was one of the top players of the day, he was ranked second at the Games, he had been extremely impressive on his route to the final, had a ‘decent’ lose-win record against Lin Dan, the man he would meet in the final. Further and importantly, he was totally committed to rewarding his Motherland which had dominated the sport through the forties, fifties and sixties and yet had no Olympic gold medal to boast about.

LAOS JOINS THE BIG LEAGUE
Friday, 02 May 2008
When Santiphon Phomvihame and his council decided that Laos will venture into untested water by hosting its first international badminton tournament in 2008, they must have somehow quietly felt apprehensive of their capacity to play host to a tournament of this proportion. Not having the experience of inviting foreign teams – practically the whole of Asia, the personnel to manage its running, limited accommodation, untested playing arena and related facilities, it would really be starting from the scratch. But fortunately for the landlocked country which is not often spoken of in badminton circles, Santiphon was a man of vision; not one to sit back and watch the rest of the world go by while his country remained in the backwaters of the sport.   Encouraged and supported by Badminton Asia Confederation, Laos finally set the date 23-27 April for its first Asian-level Future Series. It was a small start but an encouraging beginning. The series had all the trappings of an international tournament except for the fact that in place of cash prizes, it offered very attractive silverware – a welcome change from the norm these days.   And when the tournament finally came to a close on the Sunday evening, the consensus among the eight participating teams, visiting officials and spectators, was that it was a huge success. The loudest cheer came from the BAC through its chief operating officer, Karen Koh. “ Laos put across a marvelous show. I cannot but speak highly of the patience, sincerity and willingness of Santiphon and his organizing team to learn and share. There were a number of shortcomings but they were willing to listen and work closely with us, resulting in a first class tournament.”   Karen had ensured BAC support to the Laos organizing committee by arranging for the tournament referee Ben Domingo of the Philippines to get to Vientiane days before the start of competition to make sure that everything was in place. “We also assisted them with three umpires. Laos did not have sufficient qualified umpires and line judges. The presence of BWF and BAC technical officials inspired the locals to perform beyond themselves for a well- disciplined tournament,” Karen said.

Lao Future Series 2008
Tuesday, 29 Apr 2008
CONGRATULATIONS to all winners of LAO FUTURE SERIES 2008                               MEN'S SINGLES CHAMPION : HENDRI APRILIYANTO (INA) RUNNERS UP : PAMULANG BAYU SUKMO (INA) WOMEN'S SINGLES CHAMPION : LE NGOC NGUYEN NHUNG (VIE) RUNNERS UP : INTHANON RATCHANOK (THA) MEN'S DOUBLES CHAMPION : WIRAWAN AFIAT YURIS + WIFQI WINDARTO (INA) RUNNERS UP : YANU KRESNAYANDI RIZKY + ALBERT SAPUTRA (INA) WOMEN'S DOUBLES CHAMPION : WAHYUNI ANNISA + WJAYANTI NIMAS RANI (INA) RUNNERS UP : LE NGOC NGUYEN NHUNG + THAI THI HONG GAM (VIE) MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPION : DUONG BAO DUC + THAI THI HONG GAM (VIE) RUNNERS UP : POODCHALAT PISIT + INTHANON RATCHANOK (THA) FOR FULL RESULTS PLEASE CLICK : CLICK HERE

Yonex Sunrise Badminton Asia Championship
Sunday, 06 Apr 2008
Yonex Sunrise Badminton Asia Championship 15th to 20th April 2008 Stadium Bandaraya Johor Bharu Closing Date for submission of entries :  28th March 2008 Date for Rankings :  3rd April 2008 Click here for Listings updated:      MS          WS          MD         WD         XD Schedule of play:  CLICK HERE  (Updated 11-APR) Draws for Qualifying Rounds: MS          WS          MD         XD Draws for Main Rounds  :   14th April 2008 at 4pm at New York Hotel,Johor Bharu Qualifying Draws are maked by Staffs at BAC Secretariat,KL - 10th April 2008