Traditionally there is a lunar new year cup or a specific match to celebrate CNY, I picked this one on the 2nd day, date wise it feels more like the CNY match instead of the official one, but also to bring some gear for test.
>>>>LINK TO ALBUM<<<<
Tai Po was tipped to win by many, against the mid to lowly tabled BC Rangers. Below is a closer look, available on Shutterstock.
There is some history regarding this historic cup game in Hong Kong. Briefly speaking, the design was drafted by an official during his time as Stanley Prison inmate, the word RESURGO of course means resurgence. If you put the perspective into 1942-1945, you will get the picture. After Japan surrendered, this design is used on some items including this shield plaque. The ribbons on both sides engraved the winners of this cup game every year since 1945/46 The Royal Navy. Although this cup gives no weight to the team (it doesn't bear any qualifications to Asian games), it is the pride and honour of this plaque that deserves the fight.
So what HKFA did to make the match more festive, besides playing a bunch of EEG artists' CNY songs, was having this young man dressed up as God of Fortune, who is usually depicted as middle-aged.
The official poster for the final, was up for grab right after entering.
It's lovely to return to MKS after some time, nothing much has been changed, still feels familiar. Last time I had a 10mm APSC lens and felt inadequate, this time is better.
Mong Kok Stadium
The first goal happened quite soon, the Rangers' goalkeeper couldn't do much about it.
13' Remi Dujardin
Speaking of lens, I brought Zeiss Batis 135mm F2.8 for testing, a lens I wanted so bad for sports for some years. Now I get a second hand one, just our time together won't be too long. Bringing this to MKS is like a bucket list thing. It's a lens of 2017, meaning its technology is a few generations away. It was a top tier lens when it released, 8 years later it is still great for its image quality and weight. But pairing it on a newer body, the focusing shows the inferiority - losing focus even it's on tracking, distracted by nearer face... 75% of the shots that day were in focus, not bad for prosumer level. The one below is taken with a 135, also those goal and award celebrations. On the Flickr album, I've tagged those with 'Zeiss Batis 135' for your reference if interested.
I'd love to take more players in action, but the celebrations and the off-field scenes are more interesting.
Gabriel (Tai Po #33) and Ibrahim (Rangers #14) are the two most active players in the game in my memory.
The HKRT interim coach Chino showed up at half time for a audience-participation game.
The Man of the Match is back (prior it was changed to 'Player of the Match", political corectness?), in the game it was voted by the attendance and the goalkeeper of Rangers got it. Well deserved.
For quite a long time it stayed 1-0 and most think the game is dusted. But out of a sudden,
Ibrahim gave Rangers supporters hope, and extra 30 minutes for everyone.
Just before the extra time begins, here are two teams in comparison.
After that it'd be some photos of goal celebrations and the award ceremony. I don't think I have much to add, so take a look at my Flickr. Anyway I'll leave one here. See you in my next entry,
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