Seize the daY!

it was a saturday afternoon. i was preparing for my usual badminton game in pasig. and as i was dressing up, i was watching the live telecast of the korean open. before i took a bath, i watched the mixed doubles and the ladies doubles semi-finals match. both won by china. the commentator announced that the next game was the men's doubles... and she announced that indonesia is up against korea. i was actually curious who's the team from indonesia... and then she said those magical names... candra wijaya and tony gunawan!!! i literally screamed in excitement! i watched these two play (courtesy of youtube), and they were just phenomenal!

as a pair, candra and tony (naks! first name basis! close ko sila!) won gold at the 2000 sydney olympics. after that, they seperated because they were both given different partners. i don't know, but when i watched them play against each other, i felt sad, (naks! affected tlga ko noh!) because i thought they should've been partners.

later on, tony left indonesia with his wife and migrated to US. He continued to play and was representing US. he paired off with bach, a vietnamese-american. candra continued to play for indonesia with sigit budiarto. and if i am not mistaken, they got to play against each other at the world championship, and it was won by US.

after candra retired from the national team of indonesia, he reunited with tony and joined tournaments representing US (by Tony) and Indonesia (by Candra). Last year, they bagged the championship crown at the Korean Open. This year at eh semis, they bowed down to the young Koreans.

It was awesome watching them, they have not lost their magic touch in terms of defense (best i have seen so far, besides that of Taufik of course!), their smashes, they dropshots. I was actually in a dilemma when i was watching them. i have longed for this match, to see these two play again as partners (you can actually see the bond they have in the court), but on the other hand, i had to go already to pick up somebody for my badminton game (arghh!!!!) i left after finishing the 1st set.

i hoped against hope for a replay of the game. ( did i tell you guys that my body clock wakes me up anytime between 2-3 am just to check on solar sports if there's a re-run, baddict!) and just this morning (30 january), as i was dressing up for work, there it was!!! the replay of the game (only the 3rd set though) and this time, i stayed to watch (di baleng ma-late sa office! hehehe! bibilisan ko na lang magmaneho! hehehe!) and though they lost, i still enjoyed seeing them again. there's actually a request from Candra and Tony to the Olympic Committee and the National Badminton Team of Indonesia ( i think) to allow them to play together to represent Indonesia at the Beijing Olympics. Wow! that's something i will definitely look forward to! ;0)