Li Ning China Masters 2011 - Day 3 results

Saina Nehwal survived a huge scare in Round 2 where she had to spend almost an hour and a quarter to overcome Ayane Kurihara of Japan 21-11 18-21 27-25. She now faces an acid test in the next round where she faces the top seed Yihan Wang of China.

Kashyap Parupalli had a tough Round 2 and as expected lost to Peter Hoeg Gade, who is the 2nd seed here.

Diju V. and Jwala Gutta have also made it into the Quarterfinals. On route they demolished Tao Jiaming and Qing Tian who were the 2nd seeds!

Yonex BWF World Championships 2011 - Semifinal Predictions

An off color Saina Nehwal lost in the quarterfinals to Wang Xin of China. Saina didn't look comfortable at all and surrendered rather meekly. An unfortunate result for India as Saina was looking good till this match and a lot was expected of her.

Anyway, lets move on. Here are my predictions for the Semifinals today -

Xin WANG [3] - Yihan WANG [2]

Chong Wei LEE [1] - Jin CHEN [6]

Shao Chieh CHENG [7] - Juliane SCHENK [9]

Qing TIAN/Yunlei ZHAO [5] - Jwala GUTTA/Ashwini PONNAPPA

Peter Hoeg GADE [3] - Dan LIN [2]

Yonex BWF World Championships 2011 - Day 4 update and Day 5 predictions

100% on my prediction made here for a second day running!

Today's predictions -

Saina NEHWAL [6] - Xin WANG [3]
Haven't seen Wang play yet as none of her matches were on the "show" court. Saina has been in exquisite touch and I think should be able to pull this one off too.

Vita MARISSA/Nadya MELATI - Jwala GUTTA/Ashwini PONNAPPA
And the dream run for the womens doubles pair continues! I tip Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa to win this encounter as well.

Some other predictions -

Hongyan PI - Yihan WANG [2]
I think Pi Hongyan will pull this one off! Lets see.

Juliane SCHENK [9] - Tine BAUN [5]
I think this is going to be a close affair. Probably the match to watch out for. Will be a long and close match. Again both have not played on the "show" court so its tough to choose the winner. I will probably go with Juliane though.

Yonex BWF World Championships 2011 - Day 4 predictions

My predictions for India's matches today at the Yonex BWF World Championships 2011.

Pui Yin YIP [14] - Saina NEHWAL [6]
Saina showed get form yesterday when she dispatched Chloe Magee from Ireland in quick time. I foresee another 2 game demolition of Pui Yin YIP.

Diju VALIYAVEETIL/Jwala GUTTA [16] - Joachim FISCHER NIELSEN/Christinna PEDERSEN [5]
Haven't seen Diju/Jwala playing since their Round 1 match was not on the "show" court so its a difficult choice and more of a guess. Diju has been in rehab since his back surgery and it will all depend on his fitness. I will go with the Danes on this one, but I really want us to win this!

Jin CHEN [6] - Ajay JAYARAM
Ajay has had a fantastic run in this tournament and will get some good ranking points but I think this is the end of the road for him in this tournament. Jin Chen is just too powerful. It will be great if Ajay can get a game off Jin.

Lok Yan POON [11]/Ying Suet TSE - Jwala GUTTA/Ashwini PONNAPPA
Another upset from the womens doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa. They should beat the 11th seeds in 2 games.

Yonex BWF World Championships 2011 - Day 3 update

100% on my predictions for Day 3 here, though my heart goes out to Parupalli Kashyap who lost leading 20-15 in the 3rd game! Ouch!!

Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta pull off the biggest upset of the tournament so far beating the 2nd seeds in straight games!

Stay tuned for Day 4 predictions!

Yonex BWF World Championships 2011 - Day 3 predictions

India's match-up's today -

• Chloe MAGEE - Saina NEHWAL [6] --> Saina NEHWAL in 2 games
• P KASHYAP - Tien Minh NGUYEN [7] --> Tien Minh NGUYEN in 3 games
• Jwala GUTTA/Ashwini PONNAPPA - Wen Hsing CHENG/Yu Chin CHIEN [2] --> Jwala GUTTA/Ashwini PONNAPPA in 3 games
• Jien Guo ONG/Sook Chin CHONG - Diju VALIYAVEETIL/Jwala GUTTA [16] --> Diju VALIYAVEETIL/Jwala GUTTA in 2 games
• Ajay JAYARAM - Vladimir IVANOV --> Ajay JAYARAM in 3 games

I am going with one upset today - from Jwala GUTTA/Ashwini PONNAPPA - looks very difficult for them to pull this off but let's see!

Yonex BWF World Championships 2011 - Day 2 update

Not a lot of Indian's in the fray today.

Parupalli Kashyap didn't do himself much good by taking almost an hour to beat Dieter Domke in a Round 1 match. He now faces Tien Minh Nguyen early tomorrow and has little time to recover. It will be a good match to win for him, although I doubt he will.

Ajay Jayaram is much better placed. He had a day off today and faces Vladimir Ivanov tomorrow. It will be tough but I think he has a good chance of making it to Round 3 by winning this Round 2 encounter.

The mens doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas bowed out of the championship after a defeat in Round 2 as predicted by me here.

Ofcourse, the star of the day was Carolina Marin who beat 15th seed Eriko Hirose in a marathon match lasting over an hour.

Yonex BWF World Championships 2011 - Day 1 update

A very pleasing day for India.

Ajay Jayaram upset the 15th seed Kenichi Tago. He was out of the blocks fast and wrapped the match up in 2 games in 40 mins. Kenichi started slow and seemed lethargic but all credit to Ajay for keeping him under pressure for most of the game. Towards the end of game 2 it looked like Kenichi was just getting into rhythm but Ajay held on, albeit nervously, to clinch a fantastic win.

That set the tone for the Indians. In the next match, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa made quick work of the American pair in 23 mins.

The next match was experience and suave versus youth and power. It took 3 games and all of 53 mins for Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas to overcome their opponents. They lost the first game in quick time at 9 but then rebounded really well to take the next two with well thought out tactics and strategy.

The day however belonged to Kevin Cordon from Guatemala who upset the 5th seed Chinese Chen Long. It was an amazing match and Kevin showed great heart in staying in the match and wrapping it up 21-19 8-21 27-25 in 1 hr and 15 mins. One of the best matches I have seen in a long time! Go Kevin!

YONEX BWF World Badminton Championships - India's chances

The World Badminton Championships will be held in London between 8-Aug-11 to 14-Aug-11.

Saina Nehwal has been seeded 6th. Here are my predictions for her possible opponents in the rounds.

Round 1 - Bye
Round 2 - Adrianti Firdasari (should win this)
Round 3 - Yip Pui Yin (14th seed) (should win this)
Quarterfinals - Wang Xin (3rd seed) (tough, but possible - should try to close it in 2 games. Any more and she will be playing to Wang's strength)
Semifinals - Wang Yihan (2nd seed) (will depend on fitness and length of earlier matches)
Finals - Wang Shixian (Top seed) (will depend on fitness and length of earlier matches)

Here is Parupalli Kashyap's draw. I think it will be great if he can make it out of Round 2. His possible opponents.

Round 1 - Dieter Domke (should win this)
Round 2 - Tien Minh Nguyen (7th seed) (tough)
Round 3 - Boonsak Ponsana (10th seed) (very tough)
Quarterfinals - Peter Hoeg Gade (3rd seed) (impossible! lets stop here!)

In the Mens doubles Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas also have a tough draw and they would do great to cross Round 2.

In the Womens doubles Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa would create waves in Badminton circles if they can cross Round 2 where they unfortunately face the 2nd seeds.

In the mixed doubles 16th seeds Diju Valiyaveetil and Jwala Gutta should do well to cross Round 3 where they meet the 5th seeds.

Fastest racquet sport?

Badminton is the fastest racquet sport in the world. A shuttlecock can travel up to 200 mph. Fu Haifeng of China set the official record of the fastest badminton shuttlecock speed at about 206 mph. That's an incredible 92.1 m/s or 332 km/h.

So a badminton shuttlecock can travel faster than a Eurostar train at its maximum in-service speed of 83.3 m/s (186.4 mph).

Comparison with other sports -

• Cricket - Fastest ball clocked at 161 km/h
• Ice Hockey - Fastest hockey puck clocked at 191.5 km/h
• Tennis - Fastest serve clocked at 251 km/h

Difference between feathered and synthetic shuttlecocks

If you leave out the durability factor that is the obvious reason for synthetic (aka plastic) shuttlecocks' existence, following are some more differences between the two -

1. synthetic shuttlecocks fly more slowly on initial impact with the racquet, but slow down less towards the end of their flight compared with feather shuttlecocks that fly a lot faster on initial contact but slow down faster as they drop
2. on the clear shot feather shuttlecocks drop straight down, whereas the synthetic shuttlecocks never quite return to a straight drop falling more on a diagonal

What is the right age to start Badminton?

I started taking my son along with me when I play Badminton and he developed an immediate interest. He will complete 4 years this September and that got me thinking what the right age to start playing Badminton is.

There is a coaching class for kids right before our slot and I checked with the coach if he would admit my son. He mentioned the minimum age for enrollment was 6 years!

I am sure I remember reading somewhere that Maria Sharapova started playing Tennis at the age of 4 years! I am also sure some of the other greats in their games started really early.

So then, what age is right to start Badminton or any other sport for that matter? Is there a difference between how we Indians approach sports and the other nations do?

Use the right shoes when playing Badminton

I write from experience. After a couple of weeks I developed pain in my heels. I was using a pair of "sports" shoes and not shoes made specifically for Badminton. After I switched to Badminton shoes I am doing fine!

In Badminton, you will be doing a lot of pivoting and fast movement, so you don't want to slip and need shoes that provide excellent grip. Also ensure that your Badminton shoes are used exclusively for Badminton. Do not use them for other sports.

Get the shoes from your local sporting-goods store and not from a shoe shop. Ideally, Yonex made or a similar brand recognized in the Badminton world.

One last thing, do not buy shoes with black soles. Black soles can leave scuff marks on the court.

Badminton courts in Pune

How many places are there to play Badminton in Pune? I am looking to create a list of all places where courts are available on hire in Pune. A quick search yielded the following -

1. Balewadi Sports Complex
2. College of Engineering Pune
3. Happy Colony Community Hall
4. Heerabaug Sports Complex
5. Maharashtra Mandal Badminton Hall
6. Mahila Mandal Badminton Hall
7. Laxmi Krida Mandir
8. PDMBA
9. Deccan Gymkhana 
10. Poona Club
11. PYC
12. Modern Complex
13. Kataria High School

Let me know others that I have missed out. I would eventually like to add # of courts available at these locations along with their charges.

Deals on Badminton shuttlecocks

As a customer, how would you prefer a deal making site to work?

1. Show deals already worked out, OR
2. Aggregate orders from customers and then work out a deal with the vendors

Both are similar in that they need a minimum volume to be reached in order for the deal price to be honored since the price is tied to the volume commitment. They are different in that in one approach a deal is struck before the orders are aggregated and in the other the deal is struck after the orders are aggregated. With the latter you may be in a better position to negotiate a deal since the orders are already there while the advantage of the former is that the customers know exactly what price they will pay for a certain volume and can influence (by inviting other friends to join in the orders) the volume based on how attractive they find the deal.

Or maybe the best approach is a combination of the two? Thoughts?

Buying Badminton shuttlecocks in Pune

Other than the Badminton racquet's, strings, shoes and apparel which are a one time or an occasional buy, the one thing you need to purchase on a regular basis is shuttles. These come in varying types (plastic or feather) and price ranges.

There must be over a couple hundred groups in Pune and each must at least need a box of shuttles a month or in a couple of months. That makes shuttles an ideal candidate to buy in bulk! What if all these groups consolidated their orders for shuttles and placed one big order? They could get a great deal due to the volume. Here is a site that lets you aggregate your individual orders into a large one - http://punebadminton.dyndns.info/

Try it out. Enter your order and share it with your friends/other groups you know so that one big consolidated order can be placed and everyone can save!

Badminton - Restart

After a long hiatus (read 13 years), I decided to restart playing Badminton last week. The first thing I did was search for a site which helped me connect with badminton groups in the area. There is unfortunately no site that lets people connect with each other to form sports groups and play. As the search on the net was unproductive I made a few calls and in a day I was set.

But that begs the question - Do we need a site where people can create sports groups, advertise vacancies or interest and connect with others to manage their sports groups?