U.S. Games
Shuttlecocks Fly on the Badminton Court
By Andrea Disario
Tension was high in the gym at the D.L. Lawrence Convention Center as Cindy Snyder and Gay Eisen faced off against one another for a gold medal the second time in two days at the National Kidney Foundation 2008 U.S. Transplant Games. The two, who had battled one another just 24 hours earlier for the women’s table tennis title, worked their magic on the court with drives, drops, flicks and overhead smashes. Cindy Snyder, a recent kidney transplant recipient from Florida and table tennis champion, chased down her opponent’s shots with high clears and smashes. Gay Eisen maintained her lead with a combination of low serves and fast foot work.
The two women, who had both trained for the competition for several months, kept spectators on the edge while shuttlecocks flew. In fact, Cindy had braved one of Florida’s lightning storms to make it to one of her badminton practices. While husband and son cheered for Gay, Cindy’s sister (and donor) and parents sat on the sidelines for support. “That’s my kidney out there playing,” said Karen Hyde, Cindy’s donor sister.
Although both games had close scores, Gay Eisen prevailed and landed the gold. Says Gay, “All we wanted from each other was to do our best. Now Cindy has a gold and I have a gold. Now we both have a chance to go to the World Games in Australia.”
See photos from the event here.
Games 2008: Badminton
By Jim Gleason
In the huge convention center, six badminton courts were kept busy with action filled round robin match play by age bracket. From the youngest to the over 70 set, play was hard and fast, supported by bleacher filled fans cheering on their favorite teams, but also shouting praise for opponents’ great plays. As a backdrop for the women’s match for the gold, two little girls gave their own entertaining cheers, shouting “Two, four, six, eight. Who do we appreciate? Stacey! Stacey!!” to the smiling amusement of all.
On the court before them was a good example of the fine talent playing out the drama that caught everyone’s attention. Robin from Team Philadelphia was defending her gold medal title of six Transplant Games running against Stacey from Team Northern California. The shuttlecock flew back and forth in one strong rally after another as both players gave everything they had. But behind that great play was an even more amazing drama being played out. Robin was in the hospital just last Sunday recovering from having her appendix removed in emergency surgery and playing – abdomen belted with a huge bandage - with her doctor’s orders to “Just go and play and bring back the gold,” knowing her personal dedication to this bi-annual achievement. On the other side of that court, Stacey is fighting her own life challenge with lungs functioning at just 40%, failing in recent years after her long term successful double lung transplant. But only family and close friends would know as the hard-fought play went on rally after rally as the score went one way, then in the other’s favor, with Robin finally digging out the two point lead to win the gold, Stacey the silver. With tears flowing from the emotions of her 7th title win, Robin fell into the arms of her husband, a donor family member, adding yet another dimension to the unfolding story.
On the next court over, the men’s title fight was equally hard fought. Rob, a double lung recipient just 16 months out, playing for Team Liberty, was taken to the final game to decide for the gold against Barry from Team Philadelphia. With furious slams and high hit shots, they ran and slid back and forth, both kept on their toes between those vicious deep slams, each winning one game apiece in the final round of best two out of three. The crowds shouted encouragement to both as Rob’s wife, Mary, sat tensely watching on the sideline. It came down to the wire, but Barry pulled it out, and Mary was in tears of joy at seeing what her husband could do with those new lungs compared to the past 36 years of fighting for a breath with CF. They hugged and fans from both teams streamed onto the court to offer their congratulations to both their own teammate and the opponent, in the true spirit of the Games. As an epilogue to this story, afterwards, Barry and Rob agreed to join together and compete as a USA doubles badminton team in next year’s World Transplant Games, completing the transformation from competitors into teammates and good friends.
Medal ceremonies throughout the day saw family, friends and donor families present medals to smiling players, giving evidence, to the success of transplantation, the overall purpose of the US Transplant Games. Congratulations to all who fought so hard, everyone a winner, everyone taking home memories and new friendships that will last a lifetime.
See photos from the event here.
