Anticipation for Racket Rally Badminton Tournament Heats Up With Taufik Victory Over Gade at All England Super Series
March 9, 2009
…Racket Rally at the Richmond Olympic Oval to see historic re-match of long-time rivals
News from the All England Super Series in Badminton adds an exciting element to Racket Rally 2009 at the Richmond Olympic Oval taking place April 3-5. Racket Rally will see the world's best in Badminton and Table Tennis competing in a round-robin tournament at the Oval later this month in what will now be a re-match of long-time rivals and top Badminton superstars Peter Gade of Denmark and Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.
Entering the prestigious All England tournament, Gade was ranked #4 in the world and Taufik ranked # 7 with the two evenly matched in 12 past meetings. Peter Gade had won the All England only once before, 10 years ago when he beat a 17 year old Taufik Hidayat in the finals of that tournament. In 2004 Gade again beat Taufik at the All England this time in the semi-final. At last, Taufik was successful in beating Gade in a long and dramatic quarter-final match-up. Friday's victory by Taufik over Gade took him to the semi-finals where he lost to world #1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. The All England is the one major tournament that has continued to elude Olympic Gold Medalist Taufik.
Gade and Taufik next meet in Richmond, BC for what is sure to be a meaningful competition that adds prestige and excitement to Racket Rally 2009.
“With Peter Gade said to be retiring next year, this could be one of the last times Gade and Taufik compete. Badminton fans and those new to the game are in for a treat at Racket Rally 2009 and the Richmond Olympic Oval is delighted to welcome them to Canada.” said John Mills, General Manager, Richmond Olympic Oval.
In addition to seeing three of the world's best badminton players compete, Racket Rally also features three of the world's best in table tennis. Racket Rally features a four session round-robin tournament with each session presenting both a badminton and table tennis match. Series packages for Racket Rally 2009 are now on sale with single session tickets going on sale Saturday March 14. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster or for more information, go to racketrally.net
