Conclusion of Singapore Open

It was a hectic day of Badminton fest in Singapore. I made regular trip to Kallang Singapore Indoor stadium to watch the full display of Badminton joust. The many upsets by unheralded players over more illustrious players highlighted why we humans enjoy watching sporting events so much, the triumphs and defeats. There is a saying in sports, anything can happen.

With regards to the sponsor Li-Ning, I think they did a good job considering this is their first major sponsorship of a major badminton tournament outside of their motherland.

Their slogan 'anything is possible' is kinda ambigous, which is a rephrase of Addidas, 'impossible is nothing'. But I feel, this is a young company, born in 1989.
Considering Li-Ning is a China company, their main market is China and foreign market second. The brochures of Li-Ning badminton has so much grammatical error that it looks comical given the amount of cash they charged their badminton racquets, shoes and apparels. This is understandable given, that it is Chinese own with Chinese mentality. What they did is a direct translation of the Mandarin sentences/phrases into English. This is not recommended as English has a more complex/precise grammar/syntax than (spoken) Chinese.

I think the did a great job selling Sun Zu's four elements of Woods, Rocks, Storm and Flame which played on Chinese elements and selling them to Western consumtion.

I'll say despite some distrust on its price and gimmicks, I think Li-Ning did ok, most importantly there's no major hiccup and things move smoothly. Besides, the wining of Bao Chun Lai, Mixed Doubles pair and Women's doubles cemented their reputation as sponsors of winners.

Aviva Singapore Open 2009

Xie XingFang warming up. In this match, she played Salakjit Ponsana of Thailand with the Yellow Gosen racquet.

Attended the Singapore Open Quaterfinals.

Managed to obtain Markis Kido's sginature on my AT900P.

But I found Li-Ning's price is too expensive.

A funny thing is that in order to get an autograph from the China badminton player, you need to buy SGD50 worth of Li-Ning's merchandise.
Talk about desperation given the economic climate.

Sudirman Cup

After beating Malaysia 3-0, China started the sudirman cup finals with a win over favourite the XD pair of Korea Lee Yong Dae/Lee Hyo Jung. China went on to sweep Korea 3-0. What a debut of team Li-Ning.

Another incident vs Malaysia, Koo Kian Kiat showed his middle finger at his racquet.
Why you cuss the poor Titanium Mesh-10?

Where is the badminton?

It's been a while since the last Superseries tournament?

Thank goodness, the Sudirman cup is coming next week.

Review of AT900 Technique

Flex: Stiff

Balance: Headheavy

Composition (Frame): Ultra H.M. Graphite, Micro Ti, Elastic Titanium

(Shaft): H.M. Graphite, Elastic Titanium

Weight/Grip size: 4U(80.0-84.9g) / G43U(85.0-89.9g) / G3, 4, 5

Technology: Nanoscience, Power Armor System, Elastic Ti, C.S. cap, new grommet system, isometric, built-in-T joint

Review Date : 1st June 2008

Racket Type : Yonex AT900T JP

Specs : 3UG5

Strings: Yonex NBG95 Tension: 25lbs ,1 Piece Stringing

Stringing Machine : Pacific Stringing machine

Technology : Elastic Ti, C.S. Cap, Power Armor system, New grommet system

Grip: Cyber Plus Beta plus Wilson Pro overgrip

Shuttle Used: RSL Tourney

First Impression: Beautiful color, a mixture of red, white and black, with white being the dominant color. The word 'technique' are emblazzoned at the top of the frame and the shaft. The racquet is headheavy at about 290+/-5mm. The racquet has high swing speed, owing to slim shaft and aero head. This racquet feels solid and well constructed, with a handle slightly longer than AT700. I found the balance of the racquet to be slightly above even balance and the racquet feels lighter than its counterpart, AT900P.

Warm Ups: The swing of this racquet is easy as the headheaviness has its own momentum. It is fantastic when clearing and driving. The clears are easy to excecute and defending is fun with this racquet. The control is excellent at the net. The smash is good, not exactly fear inducing but is enough to finish off rallies. This racquet is easy to get used to.

Game Time: Serving is good with this racquet, as the long grip and cs cap allows good flick serves and receiving service near the net. Driving with backhand and forehand are superb. The clear is also good, but need to control your strength. The smash is good enough . What can I say for defense, it's one of the better defensive racquet, but if you defend using forehand or backhand, you can counterattack easily. Netkills are easy too with this weapon. Drops and sliced drops are accurate with this racquet, thus, the feel is good too with this racquet. The aero head design has superb maneuverability.

Conclusion: It's an improved version of Armortec 800 Defensive. This racquet is an counter attacking racquet by nature, best used by defensive players as the drive is awesome and the net play fantastic. Moreover, this racquet is a proven commodity in international competition, wielded by Yip Pui Yin and Chai Yun.

Feel: 9/10
Control: 9/10
Power: 8/10

Defense: 9/10

Maneuverability: 9/10

Pros: Excellent counterattacking racquet and one of the best balance racquet.

Cons: A bit trying to attack all day with this racquet.

Suitability: Intermediate/Advance/professional Doubles and Singles player

YONEX/Sunrise sports recommendation for player type:
Allows players with more head speed & agile maneuvers

Yonex rating 1-5
Power 5
Control 5
Flex 5
(Ref: Yonex badminton chart)

Review of AT900 Power

Flex: Stiff
Balance: Headheavy
Composition (Frame): Ultra H.M. Graphite, Micro Ti, Elastic Titanium
(Shaft): H.M. Graphite, Elastic Titanium
Weight/Grip size: 4U(80.0-84.9g) / G43U(85.0-89.9g) / G3, 4, 5
Technology: Nanoscience, Power Armor System, Elastic Ti, C.S. cap, new grommet system, isometric, built-in-T joint

Review Date : 14th April 2009
Racket Type : Yonex AT900P SP
Specs : 3UG5
Strings: Yonex BG66 Tension: 25lbs ,1 Piece Stringing
Stringing Machine : Victor Stringing machine
Technology : Elastic Ti, C.S. Cap, Power Armor system, New grommet system
Grip: Cyber Plus Beta plus Wilson Pro overgrip

Shuttle Used: RSL Tourney

First Impression: Beautiful color, a mixture of red, maroon and silver, with maroon being the dominant color. It has the word 'Power' emblazzoned at the tip of the frame and on the shaft. The racquet is headheavy at about 295+/-5mm. This racquet feels solid and well constructed, with a handle slightly longer than AT700. I found its flexibility to be extra stiff, rather than just stiff. The racquet has a boxy crosssection on the lower portion of the frame.

Warm Ups: The swing of this racquet is easy as the headheaviness has its own momentum. It is fantastic when clearing or smashing. The clears are easy to excecute. Howver, this racquet has it's own momentum and the follow through can be tough on the wrist and shoulders. Does feel tiring to use if lifting too much.

Game Time: Serving is good with this racquet, as the long grip and cs cap allows good flick serves and receiving service near the net. Driving with forehands is superb, but backhands is a bit more difficult. The clear is also good, but need to control your strength. The smash is fantastic, with a big square head, the follow through is excellent and can generate quite a very loud smash, with a 'snapping' sound. What can I say for defense, it's not exactly one of the best, but if you defend using forehand, you can counterattack. However, it's tough to defend using backhands as the headheaviness impedes quick wrist action. Netkills are easy too with this weapon. Drops and sliced drops are accurate with this racquet, thus, the feel is good too with this racquet.

Conclusion: It's an improved version of Armortec 800 Offensive. This racquet is an attacking racquet by nature, best used by aggressive players as the smash is awesome, on par with AT700. Moreover, this racquet is a proven commodity in international competition, wielded by Lee Chong Wei and Markis Kido.

Feel: 9.5/10

Control: 9/10

Power: 10/10

Defense: 6.5/10

Maneuverability: 8/10

Pros: attacking racquet par excellence.

Cons: A bit trying to defend all day with this racquet.

Suitability: Intermediate/Advance/professional Doubles and Singles player

YONEX/Sunrise sports recommendation for player type:
For players who want rapid counter attacking power

Yonex rating 1-5
Power 5
Control 5
Flex 5
(Ref: Yonex badminton chart)

Review of AT700 (2nd Gen)

Flex: Extra Stiff
Balance: Headheavy
Composition (Frame): U.H.M. Graphite, gForce Ti
Composition (Shaft): H.M. Graphite, Ultimum Ti
Weight / Grip Size: 4U(80.0-84.9g) / G4 and 3U(85.0-89.9g) / G3, 4, 5
Technologies: Power Armor system, Isometric, Built in T-joint, Ultimum ti, C.S. Cap

Review Date : 4th April 2009
Racket Type : Yonex Armortec 700 SP
Specs : 3UG4
Balance point: 295+/-5 mm
Strings: Yonex BG66 Tension: 27lbs
1 Piece Stringing Stringing Machine : Pacific Stringing machine
Grip: Yonex cyber plus beta + Babolat syntec Overgrip
Shuttle Used: RSL tourney 1

First Impression: This racquet has a very distinct color, bright red. The top part of the racquet from 10 to 2 o'clock is the usual power armor system with the micro titanium tape on top of the grommets. The bright red color starts from the shaft all the way up to the t-joint and and black color starts at 6 to 8 o'clock. Red then continues from 8 to 10 o'clock. Similar on the right side.

Warm Ups: Clears are rather effortless, the headheaviness aids in power generation. This racquet really feels headheavy and 'heavy' compared to all modern Yonex racquets. Other strokes are fine in the begining of warmup. The handle seems shorter than AT900T and AT900P. The flex of the racquet does not seem very stiff as claimed by Yonex, rather stiff.

Game Time: Clears and smashes are outstanding, can't get any better than this. Controls at the net is good and drops are ok. Driving is very tiring with this racquet, similar for defense as well, need to input a lot of energy on the wrist to get any power to lift the shuttle.

Conclusion: This racquet is a double edge sword. On the one hand, you get unsurpassed firepower from this beast. On the other hand, you trade defense for power.

Feel: 9/10
Control: 8.5/10
Power: 10/10
Defense: 5.5/10
Maneuverability: 8/10

Pros: Very good power if you look for an excellent singles racquet, this is it. Clears and smash are very powerful. Defense/maneuverability (or shot making pressure) is not so important in singles, the 3 important parameters for singles play are feel, control and power which the AT700 excels in.

Cons: Introduced in 2004, this racquet lacks new technology, some questioned its durability and harder to defend with it in doubles. Some hardcore players feel a sentimental longing for the 1st generation AT700.

Suitability: 3U for High intermediate/Advance Attacking type singles player and 4U for doubles player

YONEX/Sunrise sports recommendation for player type:
For young adults-advanced players looking for greater power, speed and more maneuverability

Yonex rating 1-5
Power 5
Control 5
Flex 5
(Ref: Yonex badminton chart)