Best NZ story to date:
A NZ player, who shall remain nameless, got to the hotel late Friday night, opened her suitcase and proceeded to unpack it, exclaiming about the bad choice of clothes that her daughter had made when packing her case for her. PJ's found, put on and into bed for the night. In the cold light of day, room mate asks where her badminton rackets and badminton clothes are .......... ummmm looks like this is not my suitcase. Take off the PJ's, repack the bag to look like it originally did, note in the suitcase - "sorry I wore your PJ's", back off to the airport on Saturday hoping to find the rightful owner and find her correct suitcase - yes it has whizzed round and round the carrosel for hours with no-one claiming it. The poor person who's bag was accidentally taken, they were going to a wedding on Saturday, what was in the suitcase - wedding clothes and wedding present!!! Morale of the story - stay off the NZ wine on route to Akl airport and when in the air!!
Click for the results from the team event
SATURDAY:
The bulk of the New Zealand players are all together in one apartment building in Paramatta and are part of the Kiwimasters group. There are also groups from Waitakere, Canterbury and the South Island. The atmosphere at the badminton venue is very jovial and friendly with people renewing old acquaintances and making new friends.
The accreditation process was a true test of ones patience, or lack of it. If you managed to get your accreditation in under 2 hours you did very well. There are stories of people lining up in a queue which went on forever for over 5 hours. Eventually the organisers saw the light and realised they had a problem, closing all systems down on Friday night and issuing all future passes with no name or photograph on them - time-frame - 10 minutes max.
The badminton competition consists of a team event and individual events. There are three divisions: Open (A), Competitive (B) and Recreational (C). The age groups are in five year blocks, starting at 35 years and going through to 70+. Kiwimasters have 14 teams across all divisions and age groups. Pool play finishes Monday morning with semi-finals commencing Monday afternoon.
Another interesting feature of the team event is the scoring system. This event is trailling a new scoring for the BWF, rally point, best of 3 games to 15 points, sudden death at 17 all. This shortened version certainly changes the game, the pressure is on right from the beginning with every point really counting. The other interesting and controversial feature is that only 3 hours have been allowed for each tie, on one court. A tie consists of 3 mens doubles, 3 womens doubles, 3 mixed doubles. 9 matches, 3 hours = 20 min per match which includes change over times, warm-up etc. there is certainly no mucking around between matches it is on quick as if the tie is not finised in three hours, the bell goes and the score is taken as it stands. Teams are not allowed to use the court from another tie who has finished, so it is get it finished in 3 hours or put up with the frustration of an incomplete tie. If a team wishes to protest a decision made, they can do so but must pay a $100 fee to lodge the protest - interesting concept!!
New Zealand teams:
35+ Open - NZL 35
40+ Open - Shuttle Blacks
40+ Open - Waitakere Warriors
40+ Competitive - E-Lemon-ator
45+ Competitive - Magnum
45+ Competitive - Kiwana
45+ Recreational - Magnum
45+ Recreational - Masterpieces
45+ Recreational - Blind Dates
50+ Open - BBGG's
50+ Competitive - Xtreme Executioners
50+ Competitive - Southerners
50+ Recreational - Shuttlemasters
55+ Open - KI55's
60+ Open - RSL NZ
60+ Recreational - Valz Palz
65+ Open - Kool Kiwis
65+ Recreational - Super Kiwis
65+ Recreational - NZ South
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