US Adult Nationals (4/23-4/25)

While the team was battling it out at UC Davis, a few of our top juniors and coaches went to Affinity Badminton Club to participate in the 2011 U.S. Adult Nationals Championships. This is by far the most prestigious US tournament each year. The juniors from the team played well against the more seasoned coaches and pro players. It is definitely a great learning experience for them.

From Bintang's pro players, only Ilian Perez and Jacky Zhang played. Ilian played singles and Jacky played doubles with Chun-Ming. Both played very well, but Jacky lost in semi's and was not able to play for 3rd because his partner suffered an ankle injury.

Ilian took out Arnold Setidadi in quarters and then had a long, grueling game against Howard Shu (from OCBC) in semifinals. Ilian pulled through and advanced to finals against Wijaya Agusriadi, a former Indonesian singles and mixed player. Sadly, on the day of finals, the majority of the people in the gym were cheering, coaching, and supporting Wijaya. Only Ricel, Ilian's mom, and a handful of Bintang team members came to watch and support Ilian (since the rest of us were in Davis). Nevertheless, Ilian played well, fought hard, and never gave up. He pushed to the limits and rose above as the victor, winning his opponent in two straight sets!

So Ilian is now the 2011 U.S. Men's Singles Champion -- the most prestigious title in the U.S.! A big hand to you from all the Bintang team and family. You make us very proud!!!

Davis Spring Open (4/24-4/25)

The Davis tournaments are a true Bintang tradition. In the past 8+ years, we have only missed one! And even though this time around it fell on the same weekend as Adult Nationals (which some of our players and coaches went to), we still managed to bring along a team of 50 plus players! Needless to say, all the courts in the gym were filled with Bintang players in the first and second rounds. And as always, on Sunday night, we were the last court still playing! And unfortunately, we only had four coaches for all the 50 of you. But, all of you played hard, fought to the last point, and showed everyone that once again, the Bintang team would shine through and bring home most of the trophies.

Results are as follows:

AMS 1st = Minh Nguyen
AWS 1st = Stella Chun
AWS 2nd = Huong Tran
AWS semi = Priscilla Long
AMD 1st = Minh Nguyen & Phu Khuu
AWD 1st = Huong Tran & Stella Chun
AMX 1st = Minh Nguyen & Huong Tran
AMX 2nd = Phu Khuu & Stella Chun

BMD cons = Gavin Chan & Jan Banquiles
BWD 1st = Huong Tran & Stella Chun
BMX semi = Jan Banquiles & Priscilla Long

CMS 1st = Justin Ma
CWS 1st = Cally Chung
CWS semi = Angela Lin
CMD 1st = Chetan Potu & Ryan Ke
CMX semi = Danny Chan & Cally Chung

DMS 2nd = Alex Cawit
DWS 1st = Lily Wen
DWS semi = Madeline Sporkert
DWS cons = ShuShu Hsia
DMD 1st = Justin Ma & Timothy Lam*
DMD cons = Yik Hin Wong & Patrick Tsai
DWD 2nd = Lily Wen & Christine Wang
DWD cons = Madeline Sporkert & Erika Sporkert
DMX 2nd = Yik Hin Wong & Tracy Chu

A big hand to all the winners! Thank you to everyone for participating and we hope you all had as great of a time as we did!

UBC Open Championships (4/15-4/17)

Our team attended the first UBC Open Championships, held April 15-17, at UBC in Fremont. Though the gym was quite small with only 8 courts used for the tournament, the tournament was run very smoothly with most games on time. Our team sent about 35 players this time and we brought home a good handful of medals! Our coaches dominated the Open flight in men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles too. Good job to all!!!

Results as follows (I am only listing 1st, 2nd, cons):

AMS 1st = Ilian Perez
AMS 2nd = Jacky Zhang
AMD 1st = Ilian Perez & Minh Nguyen
AMD 2nd = Jacky Zhang & Chun-ming Hua*
AMX 1st = Jacky Zhang & Yee Theng Lim*
U17 Boys Singles 1st = Chetan Potu
U17 Boys Singles 2nd = Jan Banquiles
U17 Boys Doubles 2nd = Jan Banquiles & Gavin Chan
U17 Mixed Doubles 2nd = Jan Banquiles & Cally Chung
U17 Girls Singles 2nd = Cally Chung
U15 Boys Singles 2nd = Justin Ma
U15 Boys Singles Cons = Darren Lo
U15 Boys Doubles 1st = Eric Cheung & Albert Li*
U15 Boys Doubles 2nd = Justin Ma & Brian Duong
U15 Girls Singles 2nd = Priscilla Long
U15 Mixed Doubles Cons = Darren Lo & Katie Lam
U11 Boys Singles 2nd = Karthik Kalyasundaraman
U11 Boys Doubles Cons = Karthik K & Eric Duong

If I am missing anything, please let me know. Also, if you have any photos to share, please pass them along! Again, good job to all for fighting hard and showing your Bintang spirit!