Sunday 14th June is the finals of the Aviva Open 2009. It was an exciting day at the Singapore Indoor Stadium with crowds filling up the seats on four sides of the stadium. The crowds filled the seats to huge capacity amidst the colorful cheering plastic clubs. The atmosphere was highly electrifying throughout the whole tournament from beginning to end.
I was fully entertained except for the men's doubles game between Indonesia and England. The Indonesian pair of Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan did not live up to their expectations. The game was a whitewashed in straight sets by the English pair of Anthony Clark and Nathan Robertson. The Indonesian Olympic champion was totally outclassed by the unseeded English pair. The score stood at 12-21, 11-21 . The Englishmen took home a price money of US$15,000.
In the women's double the chinese pair of Zhang Yawen and Zhao Tingting easily beat the Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii in straight sets with a score of 21-14, 21-13. In the mixed doubles it was an All-China affair. The pair of Zheng Bo and Ma Jin performed better to take the game in the rubber against Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen. The score stood at 19-21, 21-19 and 21-11. The champion pair took home US$15,800 with the runners-up taking home UD$7,600.
The main singles event in both the men's and ladies finals was the climax of the day. In the ladies singles game it was a 'fight' between Xie Xingfang and the ex-Chinese player Zhou Mi who now represents Hong Kong. She came out of retirement and in her desire to win this event she did it in a splendid way. She showed finesse and stamina to take the game to 3-sets in a class-performance to capture the title with a win of 21-19, 18-21 and 21-10. Zhou Mi pocketed a cool US$15,000 as ladies' singles champion.
The main attration was the last game of the day in the men's singles finals. It was a show that brought the whole stadium to live with support for both the Chinese and the Thai players. Although the game was interrupted by a few disputed line calls, it was indeed a perfect ending to a excellant performance by both players. Bao Chunlai stood tall and Boonsak Ponsana was well received by all spectators. The performance was one of 'world-class' with a rubber game that has displayed a string of impossible shots and retrieves by both players. The 3-set game ended at 21-19, 16-21 and 21-15. What a performance that I have witnessed! Bao Chunlai held the trophy and a check of US$15,000 that is equivalent to Singapore $22,000. Boonsak was happy with US$7,600 as a runner-up. The final game was a fitting grand finale in this Super Series. Viva Aviva!
video @ www.youtube.com/tarzenpeh
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