Yonex SHB-85 LTD - my new shoes

SHB-85 LTD is the shoe that I am using currently. I bought this after my earlier shoe (SHB-SC5EX) started getting cracks on the side around the side of front toe area.

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Initially I felt that sole was thinner since I was using SHB-SC5EX which had thicker cushioning. Since SC5EX got a hole on the left shoe near to the right toe, I put two layers of white medical plaster around that area on the new shoes as soon as I bought it. The wear and tear leading to a hole in the show near to the right toe side on the left shoe happens due to the fact that the left foot is dragged along when lunging on the right foot.
 
After using it for a month, it had expanded bit and it feels roomy, sometimes a bit too roomy and I have to tighten the lace a bit too much. No cracks on the side or on the sole anywhere. I play almost 3 to 6 days a week, both singles as well as doubles and this shoe feels comfortable. I bought it in May 2013 and it is around 7 months as of now.
 
I feel pain sometimes under my heel when I play with this shoe on, but this happens only when I play for 3 to 4 hours continuously, so not sure if this is related to the shoe.
 
I paid around Indian Rs.4200 for the shoe and feels it is worth the money. I wanted to buy the maroon one of the same model but was not able to get it. Now I feel that black looks better as it goes with any color of tshirt and shorts. Also this is the color that was used by Taufik Hidayat :)

IBL 1, 24th August 2013, Awadhe Warriors vs Mumbai Masters at Bangalore

After booking the ticket on ticketgenie.in with lot of struggle, got the tickets by courier. It was great to get the ticket for the first ever IBL. Have been hearing about IBL on and off and finally the day has arrived to see the first match live. This is between Awadhu Warriors and Mumbai Masters.

 

Main stars I was looking forward to were Sindhu and Srikanth from Awadhe Warriors and of course the legend and world number one, Lee Chong Wei from Mumbai Masters!!! Was eager to see Marc Zweibler, Kido, Tina Baun and Ivanov as well.

 

Arena was Kanteerava Indoor Stadium. Reached there around 6:30PM. It was late as we were planning to reach early. Charge for 4 wheeler parking was Rs.50/. There was a stage set for some kind of show but on this day they did not have permission hence no one performed on the stage that day. Stadium is there in the background. Unfortunately I did not have my camera so had to be content with my mobile.

 

 

My friend and myself walked over to Gate.No 3. It was open at that time (around 6:30PM) and we entered the stadium. Found a seat in second row in the lower tier. And, behold, there was Mr. Lee Chong Wei sitting few meters away in the players arena!!! It was great sight. The world number one right in front of your eyes!!! Bad that I did not have my camera with me! :( Here are few pictures of Lee Chong Wei immediately after I entered the stadium. Apologies for the picture quality. I have better ones which I took on the semi-final day, will be posting those shortly.

LCW checking something on his mobile:





LCW checking his racket:

Marc Zweibler walking across:

LCW testing speed of the shuttle:

Team get together before the start of the match:

Following were the matches scheduled for the day (Mumbai Masters vs Awadhe Warriors):
MS - Vladmir Ivanov vs RM V Guru Sai Dutt
WS - Tine Baun vs P V Sindhu
MD - B Sumeet Reddy and Manu Attri vs Markis Kido and Mathias Boe
MS - Lee Chong Wei vs K Srikanth
MX - Vladimir Ivanov and N. Sikki Reddy vs Markis Kido and Pia Z Bernadet


In the end, Awadhe Warriors won 3-2 over Mumbai Masters. Results are shown below:

Matches won by Awadhe Warriors:
P V Sindhu beat Tine Baun: 21-12 19-21 11-8
Markis Kido and Mathias Boe beat B Sumeet Reddy and Manu Attri: 21-16 21-14
Markis Kido and Pia Z Bernadet beat Vladimir Ivanov and N. Sikki Reddy: 21-19, 21-15

Matches won by Mumbai Masters:
Lee Chong Wei beat K Srikanth: 21-15 20-21 11-5
Vladmir Ivanov  beat RM V Guru Sai Dutt: 21-18 20-21 11-8
 

Bruce Lee of Badminton - Tian Houwei

Tian Houwei defeated World Number 1 Lee Chong Wei in Australia Open 2013 Mens Singles Semi-finals. Very attacking play with a touch of Lin Dan. Amazing court coverage as well.

Also looks a bit like Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee of Badminton! :)

Here is the SF Singles match link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwRZhvDBGd0

A clip of 2009 World Junior Championship link I found on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZYShrZyM3w

Review of the book "Pullela Gopichand - The World Beneath His Feat"

Nicely written book. It talks about the amount of effort he and his family spent so that he continued his effort on badminton. How he came across badminton is also mentioned in the book.

Some of the other points noted from the book are the very poor and bad attitude of Indian Government towards sports and sporting infra-structure which we even see today. I remember the number of times I had to go to my sports teacher's office to get a barrel of shuttle which any would be very old outdated shuttles which would break on couple of shots! We have so much talent to beat the world but our government does not care much about it.

This book speaks volume of his return to Badminton after a very bad knee injury. The journey of recovery from knee injury, to winning All England Championship is nicely detailed. The commitment in Gopichand is commendable.

Overall a good read for any Badminton lover. The 2001 All England semi-final match between Peter Gade and Gopichand has been one of my favourite and I keep watching it again and again (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ru9V5FPeiY). The way he kept Peter Gade guessing all through out the match is super tremendous. It was great to read about what was going through Gopichand's mind during these games. The description of the final of All England Championship is wonderful.

Gopichand is one of my favourite sports person, so it was a wonderful read for me!

Someday I am hoping to lay my hands on the book "Dare to be a Champion" by Lee Chong Wei! :) That sure would be a great read as well like this one.

Playing to Win - Saina Nehwal

This is an autobiography by Saina Nehwal. Overall a simple book, but the amazing feeling that she has with aspects related to badminton is well detailed. Especially her experience at Olympics is well conveyed.

Very simple English and easy to read. Some folks criticized this as a compilation of blogs and shabbily written, but I feel it is well written, detailed and interesting.

The maturity with which even an young player has to deal with winning and losing is nicely conveyed. It was good to understand the huge amount of effort and sacrifice required by the player and their family to reach the top in world ranking. Currently she is world number 2.

Good number of photographs are there in the book which is a nice add.

Ko Sung Hyun and Lee Yong Dae wins Korea Super Series Mens Doubles

Nice to see new Korean Mens Doubles pair of  Ko Sung Hyun and Lee Yong Dae win the first Super Series of the year. Ko's confidence was high and his service was also good and consistent.

They played against Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark to win the finals. Lee Yong Dae as usual was superb! It was nice to see Jung Jae Sung on the tv as well. He was in the audience watching the match.