I had the opportunity to participate in a badminton competition - with some folks from my work team. There were about 10 team mostly from people working for (or had previously) the MNC based in KL Damensara area. Lucky for me, it was a team competition (3 teams of doubles - one a mixed doubles). I have never played badminton seriously and hadn't batted around the shuttlecock in probably 20 years. My intention was to show some team spirit while learning more about Malaysian culture. Tournament started at 9:00 and we were supposed to be there by 8:30 (I forgot my camera) and was expected to last until 2:30 and then we would go out for lunch and some adult beverages.
Luckily for me, my doubles partner - was a good sport. I had hoped to watch a few games before playing but as luck would have it - we were up first (at least it wasn't center court). I felt like I was hitting off the first tee playing golf the first time. We hit the shuttlecock around for a couple of minutes and then into position. I'm sure it didn't help my partners confidence when I whispered to him - what are the rules. More than you would think. Game is to 21 and breaking the serve counts a point.
I wasn't good but the first two matches we were able to get to 10-12 points before our opponents won the game. Our team mates won all their matches so we were on to the quarterfinals. This time you played two games and if there was a split, total points were the winner. Our number 1 team lost, the mixed doubles won (they were undefeated during the day) and so the pressure was on us to move to the next level. Sadly, this was not to be a Rocky story - we struggled to get to 6-8 points in both games and it wasn't that close. Plenty of holes in my game but I didn't have an effective serve so kept trying different things with even less success.
I thought we were done but there was a match for 3rd place - both our other teams won so we didn't need to play but the other team wanted to. I'm glad they did. Typical 10 points the first game but by the 2nd game we were playing like a team and actually made a game out of it - if I could serve we might have won. Nice to finish on a high note.
There was an award ceremony with pictures, getting medals (with pictures) as a team and individual presented by a pretty girls and a "Championship cup" for the winners. Then off to lunch, adult beverages and some good conversation. Janet joined us and luckily had another cheerleader to talk with during the day. A very good day for both of us.
Thoughts about badminton
- Just like soccer (football) - a really good game for all levels - a person can come in and start playing while at the top levels it is very intense
- Good exercise (with competition) that is much easier on a 50 year old body (joints) than Tennis
- Janet and I are going to find a place to play in Bangsar and take some lessons - hopefully we can find an over 40/50 league
- The net placement is key in making the game - in the US, I had always seen the net placed at volleyball height - the net here was placed about 2 meters (I think) which made for a much better game.
- The level of competition (training juniors) is as intense as tennis or any other competitive sports. Saw kids and instructors coming in and running drills - nice that the shuttlecocks didn't wander all over the courts like tennis balls would have.
- Raquets aren't $10 but in the pro shop saw raquets at over $200USD - which makes sense but just needed to shift my paradigm from kids backyard game to an international sport.
- Just a lot of fun with a learning curve that I can handle - I'm looking forward to playing more
- So for everyone in the US who is laughing about badminton being a sport - I'll see you on the courts!
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