GNR8 Cup is back!

It's been a while. <-- What an understatement

Anyhow, time for another GNR8 Cup!

Tentative date: Saturday 14th May 2011

Time: 7 to 10 pm

Venue: TBA

Get your games ready!

Saturday Showdown

Calling all GNR8 members.

Friendly match with a group that usually plays in Centrepoint as well.

Date: Saturday 21st March 2009
Time: 9 - 12 PM
Venue: Centrepoint

Let's show them what we got!

Second GNR8 Cup

What a night!

No less than 12 players turned up for the second version of GNR8 Cup which was held on 22nd Feb 2009 in Centerpoint Gadong. With 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies to play for, everyone was excited. We initially had 11 male players in the draw and at the last minute, we added 1 female player.

When the draw was made, we tried to make it fair for the all the teams to have equal abilities. As it turned out, some teams were stronger than others! (You know who you are..... heheee)

From the draw, here are the teams formed:

Team 1: Isham / Nab
Team 2: Jester / Auntie (the only mixed doubles team in the lot! haha)
Team 3: Halfiq / Papz
Team 4: Bung T / Hj Bahar
Team 5: Jerry / Hj Besar
Team 6: Sui / Manon

The format of this one-night tourney was round robin where all the teams get to play each other. Straight sets win would give 3 points to the winner and 0 point for the loser while Rubber sets win would give 3 points to the winner and 1 point for the loser.

Since we had 6 teams altogether, each team will play a total of five best-of-3-set matches. This means at least 10 sets alogether. The matches were great especially in the beginning, but towards the 4th and 5th game, everyone was tired.

By the time all the teams played 3 matches, there were 2 teams that won all their matches at that point. This was Team 4 (Bung T/Hj Bahar) and Team 5 (Jerry/Hj Besar). When they met each other, an ensuing battle was in store. I didn't keep score but it went something like this: First set was won by Team 4 and in the second set, Team 4 was leading 18-12. Somehow, Team 5 found the will to fight back from there to win the 2nd set. Not an easy thing to do! In the rubber set, it was also a hard fought battle with victory to Team 5.

In their last games, Team 5 won comfortably against Team 2 (nanti kamu! haha) and Team 4 won their game as well against Team 6.

When the matches were finished, the standings went like this:

1) Team 5: Jerry / Hj Besar (with 15 points)
2) Team 4: Bung T / Hj Bahar (with 13 points)
3) Team 2: Jester / Auntie (with 10 points)
4) Team 1: Isham / Nab (with 7 points)
5) Team 6: Sui / Manon (with 3 points)
6) Team 3: Halfiq / Papz (with 1 point)

The matches went on until 11:30 PM! Very tiring indeed.

All in all, another great GNR8 Cup. Thanks to all the players and congratulations to the winners!

The event also marked the lauching of the new TEAM GNR8 jerseys.



Learning points

- Format of round-robin proved to take too long. Consider changing format to combine round-robin with knock-out.

- A better venue is always welcome like PGGMB building.

The Comeback

Team GNR8 makes a comeback.

With old faces back and the addition of new members, Team GNR8 is back.

The long-delayed 2nd GNR8 Cup will take place this Sunday night (22nd Feb 2009) Insya-Allah. All members are of course invited. In the same format as last time, doubles partnership will be randomly selected on the day itself. Trophies will be up for grabs for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. So, plenty to play for guys!

Also, if everything goes well, we will be launching the new Team jerseys during the event. This will be the 2nd official jersey for the team. For the members who are not in Brunei at the moment (Arip and Hau), don't worry we saved some for u guys. Too bad you won't be able to join this time around.

Will try to update this site.

The event coming up...

2nd GNR8 Cup.

Calling all TEAM GNR8 members...

It's been a year since the 1st ever GNR8 Cup has been played. The annual event is planned for Q4 this year, hopefully with the presence of co-founder, Bung T.

After the Ramadhan month and all the Hari Raya food, it will be time to take the rackets of the bag and see who can take the title this year.

Farewell game in Manchester

Today would be the last day of badminton in Manchester for me. With the upcoming Ramadhan month starting tomorrow, today's game became a sort of a farewell game. This pic was taken in Armitage Sports Centre.

The badminton scene in the UK is very different than Brunei. Together with Bung T, we've had our experiences playing with all sorts of players. From the novice up till some pretty good players (including British national ranked players). But I think overall, players in Brunei are better than those that we've met here.

There were also many memorable badminton-related moments in the time that I'm here. The highlight definitely has to be winning the Men's Doubles gold medal in the BruManch tournament with Bung T. That was really great. Also, participating in those other tournaments in which we gained valuable experiences. Playing here is also nice in the sense that you don't get to sweat profusely as in back home. That's one of the things that will be missed. The other being Pizza Co.'s spicy wings and chips!!! The badminton sessions in Sugden always have to be concluded with those succulent wings and bbq sauce. Hehehe. Talk about mixing sports with food.

In the last few months, we've also made friends with some Chinese players who are working here in Manchester. I hope the gang will still continue to play on a regular basis. All in all, I had a great badminton experience here in Manchester. Hope to be able to play here again in the future!

Arc Saber 10

Got hand-delivered the Yonex Arc Saber 10 today (Cheers Bung T). This is actually my first purchase of a high performance racket from Yonex.

Overall, I prefer rackets that are light, easy to control and highly strung (good for smashes). Used to own a Pro Kennex Boron (excellent racket with a sad demise), but now play with Prince Oversize Gold and Wilson V2 as back-up. Both rackets are really good with a preference for the Prince racket. So, I shall see how the Arc Saber feels. First impression is that it's light and feels very solid.

A description for the racket reads something like this:

"Introducing the long awaited Yonex Arc Saber 10, one of the most technologically advanced badminton rackets from Yonex. A new addition to the Yonex line of advanced level badminton rackets featuring Carbon Nanotube

	Features Level: Advanced Flex: Stiff Head: Isometric Composition (Frame):H.M. Graphite, CS Carbon Nanotube, Super HMG Composition (Shaft): H.M. Graphite, Ultra PEF Weight: 85-89gm(3U-) Balance Point: 6 (Even Balance Cover: Yonex Full Cover The new ARCSABER10 has adopted High Modulus Graphite which has been integrated into the side of the frame to produce a high repulsion power. Hybrid frame, the combination of "Cup-Stack Carbon Nanotube" inside and "Super HMG" outside the frame, makes it possible to control a hard shot with flexibility and repulsion power. "UltraPEF - Ultra Poly Ethylene Fiber" has stickness and high shock absorbtion. The material is extremely light enough to float on water, and the 1 inch across is able to hang up about 20 tons. The telling shot which is requested by advanced-level players and the high repulsion by stretching and recovering its shape are achieved."

I hope all this description will translate to some improvement in my game. Haha.