2006 yonex open

day 41

okay, so here's the next best thing to playing badminton. a world open competition - something we will never see in vancouver.



i arrived early, because i hadn't reserved a seat. don't bug me about it - the reservation system is in japanese.






i managed to get floor seating - with the players - and freedom to walk up and down to watch any match. it doesn't get any better.






it's a five day event - i was watching the first day of match play - which means non-stop games from 11am until 7pm on all 8 courts.






there were three canadians entered! i chatted with bobby milroy, who's a good sport, and was kind enough to spare me a few minutes even though he'd just lost a tough game. you lose, you're out, and he was heading to china the next week for another tournament. that's him on the bottom right.






anna rice was another canadian - she's from north van. unfortunately, all three canadians lost in the first round. still fun to watch though.






because the tournament was in tokyo, there were plenty of japanese entrants (in pink). at times, there was one on every court. the crowds were still thin for the first day.






lin dan - world number 1, and winner of this tournament. it's fitting that he's alone in these two pictures - the whole game was pretty much that way.