We got 5th place! Out of 16 teams!!! Sure 1-3 would have been best, but I’m actually really psyched and a little relieved. I was afraid that we would do so much worse.
I’m the kind of person who gets excited about things, overly excited and bouncy at times. And I hate waiting. So my partner Azhi and I arrived an hour early to a dark and empty court. (in China people sleep during lunch, and we found the owner and a few others sleeping away in the office.)
We found the roster for the day and our names on it. So excited!
I was super nervous, it was at a place I don’t normally go, and I knew very few people. But two friends came to surprise me and help cheer me on. I also used them to take pictures of us while we played. I’ll admit that having friends, and looking over and seeing friendly faces as I was playing did make me feel better and more at ease.
The Xiao Bing cheerleading team! They loved getting their picture taken, haha.
Right at three our games started and they went by so quickly! Here’s some pics of us in action. (By the way, notice the shirt my partner Azhi is wearing. It’s from the Becky Cup!)
The way this tournament was organized was there was four “groupings” with 4 teams each. We were in group A (team A4) and there was also group B,C, and D. All with 4 teams. So everyone played three games against their group. Our first game was against A1, then A3 and A2.
After three games, half of the teams were disqualified and only the top two teams from each grouping went to play with the other top teams of the other group. Our group A went to play Group C. As the second best team in A we had to play the first best team in C.
This is where we fell out. Then the top team in A played the top team in C in the semifinals, The final game was the winner of the A and C group who played the winner of the B and D group. It was a new style of tournament for me, but it was easy enough to follow (though I relied on my partner to tell me when and where to go.)
You know the final outcome, but what about each game. Here is our game in “reaction selfies!”
The first game we lost. Pretty bad. 21:8
For our second game we were a million times better than our opponents and beat them in a swift 21:2 victory. (Yep, they only got 2 points. Is it cause we are so awesome? Or because they were so bad? I choose to believe the former.)
For our third game we kicked ass pretty hard again with a score of 21:6. This was the preliminary round and because of our two wins we got to move onto the quarterfinals!
We were the second best team in our grouping, and for the quarterfinals we had to play the best team of another grouping. Unfortunately these guys were amazing–the won the entire competition–so obviously we lost. We held our own at the beginning but with each lost point I got more and more nervous and we fell further behind. Finals score 21:13
First, second and third got medals, but top 8 got money! As we had the most points out of the losers of the quarterfinals, we won 5th place! We got our names called, and pictures taken and everything. (Totally Chinese style.) We also got a cash prize, 100rmb ($15)!!
The top 8 teams. The people behind us were top 4, but out of the people on the ground, we were the best! Woot! Suck it sixth through eighth winners!
While everyone was being serious and mature, we were giggling like little kids with our envelope with 100rmb. Even in China that’s not a lot of money, but it was ours dammit!
This picture is totally redundant, but I love it. Don’t we look like little kids? Keep in mind I’m 40 and he’s 39. Yet in this picture we look like 12-year-olds! Bwahaha.
Money baby! Look how rich we are!
The whole thing was really fun. It was my first time playing with umpires who watch you and makes all of the calls. Before the game starts they drop a birdie and whoever it points to gets to chose which side of the court they want to start on, while the other team chooses who will serve. They also announce your name before you play and update you after every point. At the end of the game we would high five the other team then shake the umpires hand, just like the pro’s do.
It was the first time I played a game with an umpire watching us, writing down the score and controlling the game. Felt très professional.
So that was it! My first tournament! Hopefully now people see that I want to play in competitions more so hopefully they will tell me when more happen. Xiamen is a huge badminton city and there is always something going on so hopefully it won’t be too long until my next competition.
Now, back to training so next time I can get top 3! *Fist pump* (Cue inspirational music.)
Woohoo!! Congratulations on a job well done! It looks like you had a lot of fun and slightly richer than you were a day ago.
Congrats! And yeah, it does look uber professional with umpires in real chairs!
haha, thanks Autumn. One of the umpires was this cute college age kid that was giggling a lot when he spoke to me in Chinese. (Like it was soooo funny that a foreigner would speak Chinese.) But it was kinda cute.
Yeah, congrats on having enjoyed your first tournament to the fullest. You look super cute and radiant on the pictures!
Thanks!