LOVE ALL PLAY Men’s Doubles winners. (from far left) Silver Medalists Sergiy Shatenko and Andrew D’Souza (CAN), Gold Medalists Hock Lai Lee and Christian Yahya Christianto (USA) and Bronze Medalists Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng (CAN)
YONEX USA International 2013 Nov. 6-10, Orlando, FL
Double Crown for Zhang & Lee Beiwen Zhang and Hock Lai Lee win double crown at the BWF International Series by Elmo Ramos Photographs: Elmo Ramos
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ONEX USA International was an exciting tournament in every aspect from the preliminary matches to the heart-pounding finals. Badminton players from around the world gathered to participate in the historic event in Orlando, Florida from November 6-10, 2013. Most notably the players were all friendly and in good spirits. In Men’s Singles Hock Lai Lee was in top form. He took first place against Tatsuya Watanabe in a tense and fast-paced match. Lee and Watanabe exploded into action on the court from the start. The action was fast but in the end Lee’s return slice to the very left corner of the court was what brought down Watanabe. After winning the Singles title, Hock Lai Lee said, “I’m very happy. He was a good competitor!” While performing flawlessly during her last two games against Iris Wang (USA), Beiwen Zhang (USA) won first place in Women’s Singles. In the opening minutes of the first game, Zhang struggled at first to take the lead. Wang looked very focused and was concentrating on winning every single point. Then Wang hit a rough patch and lost 3 points in a row to Zhang. She never recovered after that in the first game. In the second game Wang led by a point then was tied twice with Zhang. Wang sent two shuttles right into the net and
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that’s all Zhang needed to pull away and take the lead. Following the match Wang said, “This was my first time getting to the finals in an international competition. I’m happy.” Hock Lai Lee also won first place in the Men’s Doubles competition with his partner Christian Yahya Christianto against Sergiy Shatenko and Andrew D’Souza of Canada. The first match was an all-out intense game up until the fifth point when Lee began putting on a smash clinic. Lee scored 5 unanswered points in a row. D’Souza and Shatenko fought valiantly in the second game shaking off the cobwebs of the first game and playing their best game until the tenth point when Christianto scored twice followed by a smash by Lee.
D’Souza and Shatenko strategized in private huddles ostensibly to regain the court, but in the end Lee’s powerful smashes and Christianto’s masterful strategies were too much for the Canadian duo. Beiwen Zhang with her partner Jing Yu Hong took first place in Women’s Doubles. Hong and Zhang had it rough in the first game against Paula B Pereira and Lohaynny Vicente of Brazil. They were neck to neck for the first 5 points until Pereira missed a break. Every time after returning four straight birdies Pereira sent it into the net. Vicente continued to encourage her teammate despite her frustration. In the second game Pereira and Vicente battled for the first 8 points against Hong and Zhang but in the end the US pair began executing some brilliant set ups. Hong and Zhang would smash on the fall and slice the birdie across the court to the opposite side sending Pereira and Vicente diving and missing most of the shots. The strategy worked and Hong and Zhang took a commanding lead that Pereira and Vicente could not close. In mixed doubles Toby Ng and Michelle Li of Canada delivered two crushing games against Halim Haryanto Ho and Jing Yu Hong of USA. They were neck to neck in the first game, but Li began to hit high birdies that fell in the left and right corners and had Ho and Hong second guessing that the shots were out. Li consistently returned the shots winning 5 crucial points in the first game. Ho and Hong who began returning solely to Li’s partner Ng in an effort to avoid Li. Ng held up his end and after the second game Li and Ng began to dominate and pull further and further away. Ho and Hong were no match for the tight partnership between Ng and Li. After the match Michelle Li said, “I’m proud of myself. I feel good. I accomplished what I came to do.” YONEX USA International was a great experience for the players and the spectators. The spectators saw firsthand how badminton is truly on the rise in the world of sports. Robert Wilson, co-chairman of the YONEX USA International 2013 said it best, “The YONEX USA International was a smashing success!” Women’s Doubles winners Beiwen Zhang (left) and Jing Yu Hong