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Global Shuttle: Istora, Singapore & Birmingham.

Each year I go to the All England in Birmingham to enjoy the superb quality of play. However, I have long been curious about tournaments held in the heartland of Badminton – Asia – so this year I elevated my fandom to new levels; resigned from my job, packed my case, and satisfied some long-held ambitions.

This is my personal albeit brief account of my visit to a S750 in Singapore and the Indonesia Open (S1000) with a few comparisons with the All England. Lets be honest; few people go on holiday in Birmingham UK.

The All England offers fans the chance to watch the best players competing for one of the most prestigious titles in badminton. Yet, the immense queues to get in and the lack of food choices can be frustrating. It can cost a lot to attend as well so I was eager to find out how other tournaments meet these challenges.

KFF Singapore Badminton Open 2024

We only have to look at the tournament winners to see that it featured many athletes who are genuine gold medal contenders for this year’s Olympics. The Chinese team were dominant, and the resurgence of SHI YuQi was a joy to watch. There was a focus on letting the matches speak for themselves; unlike the AE there was little ‘cheerleading’ with spectators, or DJs. There were well publicized, professionally managed M&Gs with a variety of players all through the week and it was a genuine thrill to participate in this.

Public transport to the stadium was superb – cheap, clean, and efficient – and I arrived relaxed and happy. Security checks were thorough, but quick as there were lots of officers on duty.

Singapore prides itself on the high quality of its drinking water and while spectators may not take bottled water into the stadium but there are free-to-use drinking fountains to fill your own bottle inside. I thought that this was a brilliant innovation. The food for sale inside was not particularly inspiring especially in the context of the quality/cheapness of food in Singapore malls.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole tournament and would love to go again someday. I had a season ticket which covered entry for 6 days. It was easy to buy online from the UK and it cost $154SD which is roughly £90. An absolute bargain!!

Kapal Api Indonesia Open 2024

Stepping through the curtain into the arena, I was hit with a pure ‘Wow!’ moment when I realised I was standing only about 5 meters from the players on Court 2. Visiting the legendary Istora has been a dream of mine for a while now and this year I finally made it. Despite some withdrawals I relished watching AN Se Young, SHI YuQi, Anders Antonsen et al. The highlight for me was the dramatic clash between MAN Wei Chong/Kai Wun TEE & LU Ching Yao/YANG Po Han.

It’s surprising that there wasn’t a better overall performance from home players & in fact none made it through to contest a final. This, coupled with the controversy over ticket prices contributed to the low-key atmosphere. Given the context of an average local wage the ticket prices are sky-high leaving some empty seats. Pricing out passionate, knowledgeable fans feels like an own goal. I was disappointed that the VIP category didn’t guarantee a specific seat.

Like in Singapore I used the MRT to get to the arena – it was cheap, cool and clean. While the extra layer of bureaucracy with wristbands and passport checks was a hassle, arriving for the QF sessions after the Friday Prayer break meant no queues. The staff and volunteers were friendly and helpful, and security was efficient.

The food stations at the IO was the best of any arena I’ve been to this year. Not only was there a wide variety of reasonably priced food but also huge screens let me watch the action whilst eating.

I would jump at the chance to watch badminton in Jakarta again. As in Singapore there was no distractions from the action on court and I liked that experience. I think that was probably the last time the tournament will be held in that stadium. It was easy to buy a ticket online from the UK and a VIP QF ticket (ie one day) was RP1050000 so approx £52.

Takeaways

My original plan had been to watch TAI Tzu Ying in both of these tournaments, but she withdrew owing to injury. Despite this, I had the best time and I’m already wondering when I could visit again; maybe adding in Malaysia too. It’s starting to feel like the end of an era. A few of our favourites will be retiring this year and some have already. A badminton scene with no Kevin & Marcus or TTY is hard to imagine. Here’s to happy memories and new adventures in the world of badminton.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to visit and who shared their top tips. Special mentions to @ttyings, Ninuk and Veronica.

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Brilliant TAI Tzu Ying wins the Indonesia Open

Playing in front of a packed Istora Senayan TAI Tzu Ying won her third Indonesia Open with a display that underlined her sheer class. Using exquisite net play, incredible drops, and outrageous angles this was a performance that highlighted her outstanding talent. Again, she had to come from behind and again her intense sporting instincts pushed her to victory.

WANG Zhiyi started the first set very strongly. Her sharp smashes from the rear combined with great court coverage were intimidating and effective. She has built a reputation as a giant killer over the past couple of months and it was clear that she had TTY in her sights. As TAI’s creative genius started tipping towards errors WZY was solid and closed out the first set 23-21.

Then TTY entered a different dimension. Suddenly, like a true champion she found another level in the second game. In an astonishing passage of play she annihilated WZY to go to the mid set interval 11-0. She was simply unplayable; her net shots were divine but more importantly she was making fewer errors and had activated a deep desire to win. Uncharacteristic shouts and occasionally a clenched fist betrayed her emotional response to the challenge. WZY was outclassed and although she fought back bravely the second set was wrapped up 21-6.

Set 3 belonged to the Queen. She controlled the game even though the score was close up to 13-13. Her momentum was irresistible towards the end and she wrapped up the match 21-15 with yet another brilliant net shot.

Triple champions are rare: this third Indonesia Open win can be added to her three All England titles. This was an awesome campaign; she is truly one of the greatest, most remarkable players of all time.

If you enjoyed this then take a look at my article about her epic victory over CHEN Yu Fei https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2022/06/18/tai-tzu-ying-the-comeback-queen/

Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi: Hotter Than July

Wow! Akane – what a July!

Akane has always been a formidable player with plenty of successes along the way but suddenly her achievements have become supercharged and she is unstoppable. Women’s Singles is an incredibly competitive discipline at the moment so what is it that is giving her the edge over her rivals?

Bizarrely I think it was failure that has spurred her on. Looking back to the Sudirman Cup, the crucial tie in the final was the Women’s Singles: Akane Yamaguchi against Chen YuFei. It was a three game battle with neither player consistently dominant. The Chinese crowd was very noisy; it was an intense and passionate atmosphere with huge emotional pressure exerted on both athletes. It’s been noted that at one point in the game Morten Frost described Akane’s play as erratic. That’s quite a brutal assessment, but the point is that in the end she lost.

Both players finished flat out on the floor but CHEN Yufei was the victor.
Video courtesy BWF

We all know it’s a team competition but losing that three game match was pivotal to Japan’s eventual loss in the final. The Japanese team oozed togetherness and exuberance as they supported each other through the tournament so it must have been utterly devastating for them all not to get gold.

Up until recently Akane has always been known as a retriever, which often means that she is a defender. This is a very simplistic reduction of an elite athletes game; it’s quite a reactive style but she is great at covering the court and very quick to regain her base position.

However, things have changed since the Sudirman Cup…everyone had some time off before they got back to training. Time to recover physically and mentally but also an opportunity to take stock. Then came July and one of the principal events in the badminton calendar: The Indonesian Open.

It was a fresh Akane with an evolved style. Suddenly she was applying her explosive power to a more attacking game and the final against P V Sindhu showcased how effective this new aggression was.

Sindhu found her game being squeezed. Yamaguchi, above all, was being ferocious in her follow-ups. There were some ruthless flat drives, and midcourt smashes. There was more pressure applied in rallies. She began each game like a tornado and barely relaxed her focus. No longer content to react, Akane was taking the game and demanding to win.

Akane wins the Indonesia Open – Video by kind permission BWF

It was a great victory. Sindhu played well but just couldn’t equal Akane’s fierceness; without warning Yamaguchi had stepped up her game.

So we come to the Japanese Open – her home tournament. Her progression to the final took in triumphs against Sindhu and Chen Yufei to set up a meeting with her compatriot Nozomi Okuhara. The scoreline of 21-13, 21-15 lets you know it was an emphatic victory. Again, this was the evolved style. Yamaguchi went toe-to-toe with Okuhara and it was her intensity allied to some awesome accuracy that meant she was able to withstand Okuhara’s propensity for lengthy rallies.

“I was worried I wouldn’t be able to win the long rallies, but I was patient, and whenever there was a chance to make a decisive shot, I was able to make the sharp shots,” said Yamaguchi.

I think it’s a good measure of Akane as a woman and an elite player that she took the worst kind of defeat and used it as fuel for progress:

“I wish I could’ve played this well in the Sudirman Cup final. The loss in the final made me learn and helped me improve.”

The road to Tokyo 2020 has a lot of twists and turns yet but momentum and big match experience counts for a lot. I want to end this piece by urging you to watch the film clip below – the happiness on Akane’s face is so infectious it is an utter joy to see.

https://twitter.com/AYamaguchiFans/status/1155455793610629121

If you enjoyed this follow the link to my piece about Nozomi Okuhara https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/04/23/nozomi-okuhara-racket-ready-for-tokyo-glory/ and also this one about Tai Tzu Ying https://womensbadminton.co.uk/2019/07/01/tai-tzu-ying-goddess-or-mortal/