First day of 2010 Nationals

I started nice and early playing my first round singles against Hugo Le Dorze (MB). Being the first match of the tournament and of the day, I felt rather sluggish and slow to succumb to the slippery floors. Having to train on a matted court all the time, it's quite a challenge when I suddenly start playing on a wood court with a nice layer of dust. But the end result of my first round was in my favor, 21-12, 21-11. My next round was against another Manitoban! I defeated Andrew Harrison 21-12, 21-15, advancing myself to the round of 16s. Here I stood up against Philipe Gaumond (QC)! He has always been a good singles player and has had a pretty decent track record. Playing 3 events this tournament in a span of 3 days, I did not feel motivated enough to fight hard and win. But who am I kidding... Being a doubles player with okay fitness, even if I won... it's just going to hinder my performance the next day.. especially if I had to play David Snider (MB), #1 seed, the next day. So in the end, I lost 12-21, 21-16, 9-21. I'm happy I played and I'm happy I'm not dead from playing singles.

3 singles matches already, 1 being 3 sets.. so that would equal 7 sets of badminton. But wait, it's only 2pm.. and IM NOT DONE YET! I still have 2 more doubles and a mixed left to go. This is going to be by far the longest tournament day of my life..

First round doubles was against Hugo Le Dorze (again) and Dominic Guzman (MB). I believe they are both U16. It was definitely a good match to have being my partner has been lounging around the venue and hasn't touched the bird yet. Final score: 21-5, 21-8.

Second round doubles... It's definitely me vs Manitoba this tournament.... I played Thoby Cameron and Nich Rush. The first game went by relatively well but the end of the 2nd game, they were really picking up the pace and really caught both Kyle and I off guard. It end pretty tight in the 2nd game. 21-11, 21-17.

5 games down, 1 more to go! Mixed doubles.. Before I start with my game, let me clear up some changes that occurred in the draw right above me. At first I was suppose to play Sam Parrish and Kristin Szuminsky at 630pm. Now apparently Badminton Canada has forgotten to add another mixed pair, Ardy Wiranata and Christina Guiffre (AB), into the draw and Badminton Canada just so happened to put them in last minute above me to play Sam and Kristin (MB) and then Melody and I will play the winner. SO.. Sam Parrish, unfortunately his ankle was hurting.. he was last second substituted by Nich Rush, so Nich Rush and Kristin played Ardy and Christina. They played their match at 630pm and I was pushed back to the last match of the day to play at 730pm... GREEAAATTTT...........

Ardy Wiranata, for those who do not know him... he is former #1 world singles champion and even former world jr champ for mixed doubles! He's indonesian and is super tricky. He beat me last year, first round doubles with Darren Hong (AB) at the 2009 National Champs. I already beat Darren after at the U23 Nationals but I still havent gotten my revenge on Ardy!! This time, I'm ready!!

We started our match and Melody and I came out playing strong. Christina was the weakest on the court so most of the shuttles did zoom by her way. First game Melody and I played a lot to Christina and won hands down. Second game, I played a bit more to Ardy and eventually came through winning the match in 2 games! I admire Ardy's efforts in diving for the bird multiple times and bouncing back up with a smile! The day has ended, 21-11, 21-11.

Now for the tournament. Steve Smith (AB), the fan favourite, pulled out some serious singles defeating Tommy McKee 16-21, 21-10, 21-18! He then impressed us all some more by taking down Richard Liang 23-21, 22-20. Unfortunately his reign of terror was stopped cold by up and coming Martin Guiffre, 21-8, 21-14.

Tim Ma (BC) was taken down by Mark Docksteader (AB), 18-21, 22-20, 21-12 but Mark didn't seem to have enough gas after losing to Joseph Rogers (ON), the 3/4 seed.

Tommy McKee and Kevin Lee (ON), the 3/4 seed, was upsetted first round by Phillipe Charron and Pieric Langlais Gagne (QC). Final score was 26-24, 21-14.

For the mixed doubles, competition was very fierce today! Martin Guiffre and Kathleen Lougheed of Alberta lost to Francois Bourret and Florence Lavoie (QC) in three, 21-13, 20-22, 21-13.

Alvin Lau and Fiona McKee (BC/AB), the 3/4 seed, had an exciting game against Nyl Yakura and Christin Tsai (ON/BC). Alvin and Fiona were down late in the 2nd game but ended up victorious. Watch out for Alvin's flick serve!! Final score, 21-7, 21-18.

On the court next to theirs was Adrian Liu and Michelle Li (BC/ON) against Darren Hong and Stephanie Ko (AB/BC). Adrian and Michelle were the pair favored to win but came out short 21-18, 21-19! It was a true nail biter! Darren had an amazing lucky shot from the back which hit the tape and bounced over to put them at match point, 20-18!

Good quarter-final games to watch tomorrow:

Men's Singles - Martin Guiffre (AB) vs Joseph Rogers (ON)

Women's Singles - Christin Tsai (BC) vs Joycelyn Ko (ON)

Men's Doubles - Alvin Lau (BC)/Jon Vandervet (AB) vs Darren Hong (AB)/ Richard Liang (BC) ---THIS WILL BE THE GRUDGE MATCH!! ALVIN VS RICHARD!!!

Men's Doubles - Kyle Holoboff (BC)/Derrick Ng (BC.. me..) vs Maxime Belanger/Francois Bourret (QC)(The Canadian Thomas Cup doubles pair)

Mixed Doubles - Alvin Lau (BC)/Fiona McKee (AB) vs Darren Hong (AB)/ Steph Ko (BC)

Mixed Doubles - Tim Ma/Lydia Jiang (BC) vs Derrick Ng/Melody Liang (BC)

Well it's time for me to sleep and rest up! Thanks for reading and good luck to those who survived today's competition!