ready... set... smash!
Last night, I played my first badminton tournament. It was a mini-tournament I set up, with the help of friends and sponsors, in the office.
Honestly, it started out as a stressful event. What initial was an effort for 16 people or 8 mixed doubles turned into organizing matches for 14 pairs! I had to talk to the office heads to support our outside-the-office-bonding-effort, collect fees, prepare prizes and drinks, and come up with a scheme that would end up having 8 pairs in the quarter finals.
30minutes before the scheduled event, it was getting more stressful, especially with the Friday night traffic. Tine, Rick and I did last minute Gatorade and H2O shopping. Only to later find out that we weren't allowed to bring a lot of drinks in the courts since there was a snack bar there. We had to sneak the stash we bought as if they were illegal drinks and substances.
People started arriving 30minutes later than the appointed time. Good thing there was no reservation after us, hence I was able to request for time adjustment. Rick was my partner for the night and while he was asking me to practice with him, I had to say no. I still had to arrange scorers, referees, among other things.
Come 7:40pm, the games began. It was a race to 11, best of three kind of setup.
4 out of the 7 elimination games started. Rick and I were matched against our CFO and his wife. To cut the story short, we lost 11-4 and 12-10. I didn’t get to watch the other matches since I had to organize the seeding and who was to proceed to the quarter finals.
When the 7 teams won the elimination round, we had to get the top scorer from the bottom 7. Fortunately, Rick and I had the one of the highest scores. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only one – J.C. and Irene also got 14 points.
And so we battled on for the place in the quarter finals. After 3 grueling games, Rick and I emerged as victors. In the quarter finals, we battled Ardy and Agnes. Good that Rick and I warmed up already, we were able to beat them in only two games and entered the semi-finals. We lost to Ador and Jen, who later emerged as champions, after seven matches straight.
Personally, I was satisfied with the way Rick and I played considering I only learned how to play real badminton (not street badminton) a week before the tournament. It was a nice feeling to reach 3rd/4th place and share it with the people who beat us in the first place. (And that my new badminton racket was worth buying!)
Oh yeah, Rick and I won baseball caps and P500 worth of gift certificate from Sidebar. It's time to drink once more! Hehehe :) We went to Gerry's Libis afterwards and I broke my seven days record of no alcohol with one bottle of beer.
Everybody had a great time, so they say, and congratulated me to a job well done organizing the event. Next stop… Bowling Mini-Tournament!
Honestly, it started out as a stressful event. What initial was an effort for 16 people or 8 mixed doubles turned into organizing matches for 14 pairs! I had to talk to the office heads to support our outside-the-office-bonding-effort, collect fees, prepare prizes and drinks, and come up with a scheme that would end up having 8 pairs in the quarter finals.
30minutes before the scheduled event, it was getting more stressful, especially with the Friday night traffic. Tine, Rick and I did last minute Gatorade and H2O shopping. Only to later find out that we weren't allowed to bring a lot of drinks in the courts since there was a snack bar there. We had to sneak the stash we bought as if they were illegal drinks and substances.
People started arriving 30minutes later than the appointed time. Good thing there was no reservation after us, hence I was able to request for time adjustment. Rick was my partner for the night and while he was asking me to practice with him, I had to say no. I still had to arrange scorers, referees, among other things.
Come 7:40pm, the games began. It was a race to 11, best of three kind of setup.
4 out of the 7 elimination games started. Rick and I were matched against our CFO and his wife. To cut the story short, we lost 11-4 and 12-10. I didn’t get to watch the other matches since I had to organize the seeding and who was to proceed to the quarter finals.
When the 7 teams won the elimination round, we had to get the top scorer from the bottom 7. Fortunately, Rick and I had the one of the highest scores. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only one – J.C. and Irene also got 14 points.
And so we battled on for the place in the quarter finals. After 3 grueling games, Rick and I emerged as victors. In the quarter finals, we battled Ardy and Agnes. Good that Rick and I warmed up already, we were able to beat them in only two games and entered the semi-finals. We lost to Ador and Jen, who later emerged as champions, after seven matches straight.
Personally, I was satisfied with the way Rick and I played considering I only learned how to play real badminton (not street badminton) a week before the tournament. It was a nice feeling to reach 3rd/4th place and share it with the people who beat us in the first place. (And that my new badminton racket was worth buying!)
Oh yeah, Rick and I won baseball caps and P500 worth of gift certificate from Sidebar. It's time to drink once more! Hehehe :) We went to Gerry's Libis afterwards and I broke my seven days record of no alcohol with one bottle of beer.
Everybody had a great time, so they say, and congratulated me to a job well done organizing the event. Next stop… Bowling Mini-Tournament!
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