Aviva Open 2006!
    - Sunday, June 11, 2006

Went to watch the Aviva Open with Jeff and Alexis this weekend..It was kind of a disappointment for me because many of the winners last year did not take part in the competition this year..for example the men singles finalists both did not play..taufik hidayat had an injury and lin dan did not come..so yeah in the end,the men singles finalists were both from Denmark-Peter Gade and Kenneth Jonnasen.Sigh.How boring..Of cos,I was expecting Gade to win and he did..but the match was nothing fantastic since it was kind of expected.

And it was so strange to see that none of the Chinese made it to the finals for the women's singles.Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang from China both did not take part in this competition. Instead Pi Hongyan from France and Mia Audina from Netherlands competed with each other, with Pi winning the title.This was a rather close match but luckily no need to go into the third game if not sure take super long one..since both are pretty the same standard...

Generally this year's badminton competition was really quite different from last year..not as exciting and no one I knew was line judging this year so could not ask them to help me take photos of the players..haha...But this year,Gade was even more charming man..haha..He was very friendly throughout all his matches...waving to the crowd when he walked towards the court and when he emerged winner,he also waved and smiled at the crowd...Next year I confirm will buy the premium tickets which are priced at $50 I think.Some of the fans managed to take photos with Gade cos he too was sitting in the area of the premium seats!!And he so willingly agreed to sign autographs and take photos with them...so jealous!!!

At the Indoor Stadium...

That's Peter Gade in white and Bao Chun Lai from China in red...was a pretty close semi-finals game..

The price presentation to the men's singles winner and runner-up..

A not so nice photo..so had to use adobe to add words to it..haha..

Me and alexis again!!Asked Jeff to take a not too close shot of us...=)

raeanchiq penned her thoughts @ 10:21 PM