The result is available at:
http://northwestbadminton.org/2008/WaMasterDraw.htm

This year, we're lucky to have a dream team of young Rochelle Ng
and Bryan Lam running the tournament desk. The following is from
Rochelle:

2008 Chris Gulin Masters Event



This year's Chris Gulin Masters Event was a memorable one with more
than 70 players from all across the northwest region. We were
fortunate to have a diverse group of players this year ranging from
Bellevue locals, to Montana, to Vancouver, BC. We also had great
diverse levels of play, ranging from recreational to experienced and
competitive. Nonetheless, the atmosphere of the event was very upbeat
and positive, filled with competitive spirit and enjoyment.



We would like to thank all of those that put so much time and effort
into making this tournament a successful one. We believe that Chris
would be proud to see the fruits of his labor prospering so well.



A special thanks goes out to everyone who worked at the desk to keep
the tournament running smoothly. Melissa Tang, who worked so hard at
the registration desk is very much appreciated. Registration was a
very pain-free process this year thanks to her! Patcrick Ip, Katherine
Ip, and Clinton Chen also did a great job at manning the desk and
teaching Bryan Lam and me how to run the software on Friday and to
help run the tournament on Saturday. Without their help, the
tournament could not have stayed so close to schedule. There would
have been major problems if it were not for their great experience in
running these tournaments. Also, thanks to all of the other juniors
that assisted me and Bryan at the desk by making announcements,
preparing scoreboards, running scoreboards to courts, giving players
new shuttles, collecting old shuttles, and posting up the draws.
Thanks to Christine Chen, Vicky Chen, Renata Baker, Erika Baker,
Herman Wu, and Quincy Wu!



I can't thank my dedicated partner enough, Bryan Lam, for helping me
so much with his calm head and logic at the desk. Together we pulled
off a decent tournament on Saturday, not bad for our first time! Also,
thanks to Steven Ip for helping us on Saturday so that we could eat
lunch halfway through our work! I now have a newfound appreciation for
those that juggle scoreboards, microphones, a tournament software, and
70+ players for other tournaments!



Thanks to those that went out of their way to prepare the food for the
players so that they could keep their energy levels up between play!
And a big thanks to Ufililya Davis and everyone else who made the
Saturday night dinner so great with a 50-50 raffle, tons of great door
prizes (ranging from teas and wines to gift cards to Yonex shirts,
bags, and rackets), and excellent Thai food catered to us by Thaiger
Room (courtesy of Duncan Lau). The food was delicious, and the dance
was lots of fun! Congratulations to all that won a door prize, and
Wayne Dalin as the winner of our 50-50 raffle. Part of the rest of
those donations goes to the junior program here at BBC! Thanks to all
that participated in the raffle!



Last, but not least, we couldn't have hosted this event without
players! Thanks to everyone that participated in this event, and
congratulations to all that won certain events! This year was a very
exciting year, with many heated and close games in many of the
semi-finals and finals. Here are some of the highlights from this
year's tournament:



To start things off with a bang, the 30+ Men's Singles Final was
played on Saturday and was very intense. Leslie Lau was matched up in
the final against Tao Yuan. Leslie took the first game from Tao 21-19,
but Tao came back and won the second game 21-18. Tao continued his
winning streak and won the final game 21-15. Both players did a great
job, and there were some extremely long rallies, but luckily for
enthusiastic spectators like me, both Tao and Leslie put up a great
fight. Almost immediately after the long game, Leslie had a bad case
of cramps, but did well to endure it throughout the day in his men's
doubles. Congratulations for winning, Tao!



Andre Chan and Lindy Liu put up a good fight, but in the end Greg Ung
and Ying-Fang Lai pulled off a victory for 30+ Mixed Doubles 21-16, 21-16.



Also, in the round robin draws, congratulations to the winners of the
40+ Mixed Doubles, Chris Hubbard and Esther Masuda, and to the winners
of the 50+ Mixed Doubles, Frank Price and Sanne Drybrough. Both pairs
had to play many games to win their events!



For Mens Singles, congratulations to Vincent Chong (40+ winner) and
Tony Knott (50+ winner). There were some very intense matches that I
saw playing in the round robin draws. By the end of the tournament, I
would be surprised if they weren't completely exhausted from playing
so many long games!



Even though Andre and Lindy were the runner ups for their Mixed
Doubles event, that didn't stop Lindy Liu from taking the 30+ Women
Singles crown home. Congratulations to her great victory (especially
since that was the only women's singles event!).



As usual, men's doubles was very intense among all age groups, and all
of the matches were exciting. Congratulations to Geoff Stensland and
Tony Knott (35+), Chris Hubbard and John Leung (40+), and Frank Price
and Raymond Wong (50+) who all won their men's doubles events!



On court 1, everyone was watching the 30+ Men's Doubles Final when
Greg Ung and Ronald Langingi pulled off a victory against Kevin Yu and
Tao Yuan in three long intense games. Greg and Ronald won 11-21,
21-11, 21-19. After the game, Greg commented that he must have smashed
more than 300 times in the last game. It was difficult with Tao and
Kevin's strong defense, but eventually, Greg and Ronald took the last
two points and won the match. Both teams did a great job!



Congratulations to Mike Britten and Wayne Dalin who beat Geoff
Stensland and Sing Lam in the 45+ men's doubles final! They make a
great team, even though they were competitors against each other in
the 45+ Mixed Doubles Finals and the 35+ Mixed Doubles Semi-Finals!
Wayne Dalin paired up with Susan Rogers to beat Mike and Karren
Britten both times. But both times, the matches went to three games,
and the scores were very close. Wayne and Susan won the 45+ Mixed
Doubles Finals against Mike Karren with a score of 22-24, 21-8, 28-26.
Great job to both mixed doubles pairs for putting up such a great fight!



Yukiko Kumakawa and Katherine Ip did a nice job in winning the 35+
Women's Doubles event! They didn't lose a single game in their event –
nicely done!



Ying-Fang Lai and Masako Cochran did a great job in their Women's
Doubles events. They won both the 30+ an 40+ titles! In the 40+ finals
against Siu-Imm Tay and Susan Rogers, the three games they played were
very close. But, at the very end, they were able to get 2 last points
and win with the score 21-9, 15-21, 21-19. Siu-Imm Tay and Susan
Rogers made a great team, but had to play each others in the intense
35+ mixed doubles final.



In the 35+ Mixed Doubles, Leslie Lau and Siu-Imm Tay eventually beat
Wayne Dalin and Susan Rogers in the final after 3 long games. Being
the last event played in the tournament, extra pressure was definitely
added as they were put on court 1 for everyone to watch. The silence
was so intense before each serve; you could hear a pin drop. But both
experienced pairs handled the pressure well and gave spectators a very
entertaining match to wrap up the tournament. Despite the pain that
Leslie still felt the next day from cramps the previous day, him and
his wife pulled off a narrow victory at the end, winning 21-17, 12-21,
21-17. Congratulations to both pairs for giving everyone such a great
game to watch to end the tournament!



It has been my pleasure to help out with this tournament and to watch
some incredible matches! Everyone – players and helpers – contributed
greatly to making this year's Chris Gulin Masters Event a memorable
one! We hope to see you all next year for an even better tournament!



~Rochelle Ng