Tuesday, 19 August 2008

a friend like henry

Uni today was fun, music tech stuff. The midi sequencing thing is pretty fun IMO. Gotta do assignments earlier. I haven't done last week's.

I'm just finishing a book called "a friend like henry," a real-life story about a boy who was born autistic and how the parents raised him. It's an awesome and a heartwarming book. I love it, since I love all sort of books which can make me get teared up.

Anyway, heaps of stuff to think about.

Sunday, 17 August 2008

Mix Doubles, and 63rd Birthday

Well, not a great day at all for mix doubles today. Both teams failed to win, so one team got silver and the other got nothing. Oh well, at least they have done their best. I'm still proud of Indonesia! :D

This makes Indonesia earns 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronzes this year. 5 medals, not bad at all :D

Anyway, Indonesia's Independence Day today, Happy 63rd Birthday Indonesia!

Kido and Hendra

Yes

Yes! Indonesia got a Gold medal from Men's Double match in Badminton. They beat the Chinese double team in a three set game. The first set wasn't too good on Indonesia and I'm pretty sure whoever watched it must be pretty distressed as they lost 12-21. Situation was much better in the 2nd and 3rd game where they won 21-11 and 21-16, barely giving them a chance to even have any hope to get it close to a deuce or something.

Well, after winning, the two embraced, before the coach came and tackled them.


Err, this happened... Looked a bit wrong, but they are excused as they just gave Indonesia one of the best birthday present Indonesia can have (Indonesia's 63rd birthday today!)

Saturday, 16 August 2008

Crazy Badminton Day

Maria vs. Lu Lan

In the female badminton, Maria Kristin Yulianti presented Indonesia with another bronze! She beat Lu Lan from China, the 3rd seeded player. This stopped China from dominating the whole female badminton medals; the other two are from China, Zhang Ning, who beat Maria in the semifinals retained her gold medal from the last Olympic, making her the oldest olympic gold medal holder this year (33yo).

Meanwhile, Nova/Liliyana is going to play in the finals against two Lee's from Korea. The two Lee's beat Marissa and Limpele :(

Kido and Hendra playing tonight!

Thursday, 14 August 2008

Nova/Liliyana and Flandy/Vita

Both of these mix double pairs in Badminton played today and they won both! Nova and Liliyana seemed to have quite a safe match with 2-0 against Thailand while Flandy and Vita had to play three sets, in which they won the outer two (2-1 against Denmark).

It seems like Flandy/Vita played intensely in the third set, from 5:5, they proceed to lead until 15:5 before the opponent could gain another point. Good job on Denmark though, they held the Match point for quite a while, from 20-12 to 21-19, which was pretty scary. They almost deuced it.
Nova/Liliyana

Male Single
Meanwhile, Sony got pwned badly by Lee something something from Malaysia! I was sort of expecting it, although of course I had hoped for Sony's victory. Oh well, better luck next time, Sony!

Anyway, tomorrow will be exciting too, male double Kido and Hendra, and women single, Maria Kristin. Now, we mustn't doubt must we?

Maria Kristin

I think she deserve to be in the title of today's blog. She got to the semifinals! She's like the only female shuttler from Indonesia to get to the semifinals ever since Susi Susanti and Mia Audina in 1996. I'm rather excited for her, even though she is going to play against Zhang Ning, the 2004 Olympic Winner in Female singles in Badminton! Well, no matter how she does, I'm proud of her and Indonesia! =D

Meanwhile, Kido Markis and Hendra Setiawan are playing second set against Malaysian team now for Male double. Last time I checked was losing 14:16... I'm not going to check! T_T

Oh well... They also haven't been playing as well as they should, but I'm proud of being Indonesian! =D

Ok, just checked again, it's 17:17...

EDIT: After 2 minutes
Yay! They won... phew, it was close, 21-18 for the second set. I didn't want to keep my hearts beating like mad for another set if they lost the set! But yeah, that's quite a treat! :D

Wednesday, 13 August 2008

Indonesia's Badminton in Olympic 2008

As usual, some of the very few events Indonesia participated in are Badminton, Archery, Weightlifting and Sailing (I think I missed something). Indonesia sent around 21 people, most of which are competing in Badminton.

In the Men's Single we have Taufik Hidayt and Sony Dwi Kuncoro.

Taufik, just recovered from dengue fever got a really bad end in his Olympic career by being beaten by an older Malaysian Badminton player, Wong Chong Hann, in the first round. Apparently he's had been getting worse in his performances lately. It's rather sad, especially if you guys know how great he was at Badminton before.

Our last chance in getting the medal for Men's single lays in Sony's hands. Well, he's got to play with the second seeded Malaysian player, Lee Chong Wei next, so he's going to have to work hard for it. Even if he gets through, to the end, eh would have to face super Dan, which wouldn't be so good.

In women singles, we have the first first female shuttler that Indonesia has who got through to the quarterfinals ever since the legendary Susi Susanti (pic below). I'm quite proud of her, because she ranked the 21st, and she is unseeded.

In her first Olympic game, she beat Juliane Schenk (rank 12?) from Germany, Martinez Yoana from Spain, Tine Rasmussen (6th seeded) and she is off to play against India's Saina Nehwal (who beat the 3rd seeded Chen Wang from HK). All the best for her match today!

I miss Susi Susanti! Even though I didn't watch her, I was too young. But I watched her videos on YouTube. There are not many, and most are soundless, but it's awesome to see her play, especially with her leg split for saving shuttles from far away. Apparently she's quite a well known person from Indonesia, as she and her fiance, Alan Budikusuma, presented Indonesia with the very first Indonesian gold medal since 1952, in 1992, when the Badminton was introduced to the Olympic Games.

In our mixed doubles, we have Liliyana and Nova Widianto, first seeded. They got through quite a few challenges and are going to play against Thailand's duet tomorrow.
We also have Vita Marissa and Flandy Limpele, third seeded, playing Denmark tomorrow. These few days are just way too exciting.
In the Men Double, we have Markis Kido (Kidho?) and Hendra Setiawan who are also the first seeded. Let's hope they win! Playing against a Malaysian team today.

We also had a women's doubles, and they are the female members of our two mixed double pairs. They lost like in their first round I think.

Well, all the best to Indonesian athletes who are still playing/competing. Congrats to those who have won the two Bronze medals (weightlifting) and to those who have tried their best. Let's make Indonesia proud! I am proud of people like Susi Susanti or Taufik (minus his bad temper). Let's have more Indonesian! MOAR Indonesia plzkthxbai.

Anyway, next will be about the weightlifting and the rest of the events Indonesia participated in.