First International Title in Peru!

Hey everybody! Firstly, I want to apologize for not updating my blog in a very long time. It is a lot of work and I am quite occupied with training, coaching, and just resting hehe. Well anyways, here's just a quick summary of my trip/tournament of the XV PERU INTERNATIONAL 2010!

the draws: link

Monday, April 5, I left Vancouver on an early 7am flight. I was feeling like crap and by the time I reached the gate, I had a sore throat, a head-ache and a slight fever. Mentally, I was pretty pissed to be going to my first International tournament feeling sick. I just had to do well! I kept hydrated on the flights drinking cup after cup of water. A few tylenols and advils helped too! We got in past midnight and got a shuttle to the hotel. I passed out after that.

Tuesday, April 6. I was woken up by a phone call from the Peruvian Tournament Organizer. She told me that the accreditations are coming to the hotel at 1pm. Now, you would think that by now we could go to the Venue (Club Regatas Lima) to go hit and practice. WRONG! Everybody was told that there will be no courts to practice on until the tournament starts! Great!! And also, the draws were STILL not up!! So I waited past 1pm for the accreditation and nobody came. I emailed the organizer and was told that they were going to come the next day at 1pm. Greeeaaaattt..... So with nothing to do, I went to the mall which was only a few minutes away. Feeling sick still, I just had a soup and salad at the Chili's Restaurant. After I went back to the hotel to sleep some more. Later that evening, I walked over the local grocery store, Vivanda. Now one thing to know about Peru is that the food is CHEAP! I bought a whole roasted chicken, a box of fries, and a 1.5L of Inca Kola (like a peruvian cream soda) for around S./24.00! That's like 8 bucks Canadian and was enough food to have left overs for another meal! Their chicken was also super juicy and tasted great! Lastly, the draws finally were done and was posted on tournamentsoftware!

Wednesday, April 7. Every single Canadian playing that trip had arrived the night before. We didnt get our accreditation at 1pm but a shuttle came at 245 to drive us all to the Regatas. We all got inside the venue and had a pretty decent practice. My fever and head-ache was pretty much all gone and I was feeling ready to play!

Thursday, April 8. I had 1 round of mixed against a Peruvian team. They were quite young and my partner Phyllis and I didn't have much trouble getting through 21-12, 21-17. We won but looked on as we would face the 4th seed from USA, Nicholas Jinadasa and Rulan Yeh.

Friday, April 9. 4 games to be played today!

My first round of doubles with Adrian was against a Mexican team. They were also a junior team. One had a ridiculous fast drive serve. Was rather annoying to play with but we ended up defeating them 21-10, 21-19. Annoyed with giving them 19 in the 2nd set, I told myself that I would put all my focus and play 100% every game no matter how easy the opponent was.

Next game I played was my mixed against the USA 4th seeds. We played quite well and claimed a quick victory 21-11, 21-16! All that training and practice poking the bird down early paid off! My mixed game has gone up to another level!

2nd round doubles, Adrian and I played mexico again. Focused and ready to kick ass we defeated our opponents 21-8, 21-9. Defending felt great. Nothing could get by us and when attacking, nobody could stop us.

Last game of the day for me was mixed. We played Arthuso and Cury of Brasil. They were a heavier hitting team but couldn't play against my tight shots dinking the girl around at the net. I do not know how many times the line judge had to get up to wipe off sweat off their side of the court because I made them dive so many times. They must have dove at least 8-9 times! We won 21-14, 21-17. I was now in the semi-finals for Mixed and Doubles. I was to play the 1st seeds in doubles, the team that defeated the Canadians to get into the Thomas Cup, Antonio De Vinatea and Martin Del Valle of Peru. For mixed I played fellow COBA athletes and partner, Adrian Liu and Joyce Ko.

Saturday, April 10. SEMI-FINALS! This is the furthest I have ever gone in any International tournament! Okay, so when I woke up this morning, I was feeling like SH!T! I had a huuge migraine. I went down to try and eat some breakfast but couldn't eat a bite. I drank 2 cups of tea went upstairs, and threw up.. I didn't let my partner or my opponents know, but I felt like hell. I took more tylenol and advil! I was feeling a bit better before the match. I had to just sit down, close my eyes, and just focus on my migraine going away. I went on court 100% focused on winning. No thought was on my migraine. Phyllis and I defeated Liu/Ko 21-12, 21-8. Phyllis and I played great and the feel esctasy had depleted my migraine! I was now in the finals.... to play my brother Toby Ng and his partner Grace Gao... the 1st seeds.

Next was my doubles. I knew this was the team who defeated Maxime and Francois just a few months ago. Did that scare me? No.. I was determined. I was playing great, and I was feeling confident. Adrian and I pummelled the first seeders 21-9, 21-8 in front of the home crowd. It felt great. I was now in 2 finals!

Sunday, April 11. I could barely sleep. All I was thinking was strategy and how I was going to play. The first match of the day was my mixed doubles against Toby and Grace. Phyllis and I took the first set easy winning 21-11. They didn't seem ready but I knew that there was no way in hell the 2nd match would go as smoothly as the first. I was right, the 2nd match Toby and Grace was leading us by the first 11. Phyllis and I caught up but continued to trail but then got the lead 18-17. We had a huge rally and Grace pulled a tremendous cross court block that rolled over. Phyllis and I then pulled ahead to match point but could not gain one more ralley as Grace and Toby won 4 points in a row defeating us 22-20.

Doubles against the Japanese, Komiyama Hajime and ! Adrian and I were down 2-0 but got the serve back and won a quick 4-5 points just off service. They could not return my serve for some reason. We won the first 21-18 but got killed the 2nd game 21-10. We were a bit unfocused and was driving way too much. They were quick and got the lift too many times. 3rd game, again they got a quick point or two but when I got the serve back, they couldn't return my serves! We were up to 11 first but they were not too far behind on the scoreboard. At around 16 or 17, Komiyama Hajime pulled an amazing fake which got both Adrian and I. I literally did not see the bird until it landed on the floor! But soon to our demise, the Japanese were up 20-19, 3rd game. Staying clutch, Adrian and I tied it to 20-20 deuce. It was my serve and I had no intention on screwing up and serving into the net. I served, it was perfect. Saeki hit a soft push towards me, and I pushed back down the middle. Komiyama drove a high one to our forehand side and BOOOM!!! Adrian crushed a winner cross court right through Saeki's defense! 21-20, match point, for the win.... my serve.... Can't screw it up now.. I serve, cross-body to Komiyama's left hand, and... he hits the bird into the net!!! Adrian and I had just won our first International Title in Peru on our first tournament back playing together! Adrian went nuts, I went nuts, the crowd went nuts!! Adrian had his shirt covering his head as I cheered to the crowd! Ecstasy could not describe whatever it was pumping through my veins. I had won. The end!

So I've been training everyday still and I seem to be getting a little wear and tear on my right hand. I had a pretty thick callus on my hand which had a blister underneath which eventually popped and was hurting like a b-tch for awhile... and then 2 mornings ago doing a smashing drill, half the callus came loose and you could literally see the red meat of my hand.. pretty gross eh?? So I took the next day off from playing with my racquet and just did leg weights and dead lifts.

Today we had a guest player come in from Guatemala, Pedro Yang. He's a part of the IOC and was in Vancouver because he was a torch runner for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. So guess what he brought to ClearOne???? The Olympics Torch! It was pretty cool and I got a couple pictures of myself holding it! Unfortunately those couple pictures are not on my camera and I will post it when it gets emailed to me..

Now tonight I had a family dinner. I had to drive my grandma and it was just her and I in the car. My GM is notorious for talking, talking, talking, talking, and preaching everything that's in her mind. Now at the dinner was my dad's cousin from HK. He's a real big shot. Very successful and charming. He use to race cars professionally and now he sells luxury yachts. If you ever need a nice yacht to keep in HK ---and around $20,000,000 CAD---for the nicest one ;) --- I know who you can call! But yes, anyways... My GM... on the way back from dinner she was telling me a little more about my dad's cousin. She was telling me how he was always outgoing, daring, and just loved to play. He raced cars and did a lot of things and that I should never attempt to do stuff like that. She said racing is too dangerous and I should always focus on being safe. She started saying stuff that all led to the fact that you should never take a risk in life and it's always better to live safely. Sorry, but that's not me at all... I believe there that life won't be exciting if you aren't willing to take a risk. Okay, Im done ranting. The mentalist is on! Goodbye for now!

A winner never whines. -Paul Brown

Here's a something to think about from a book I borrowed from the library ("Get Motivated!")

"What's important is not being like some other athlete, but being the best athlete I can be."

Back to life

I have been back in Vancouver for a few days now. I started training again the next day cuz I didn't feel like I deserved a break from training. It's Thursday now and I'm at the centre stringing up my racquets and I thought "Holy crap, I havent updated my blog in awhile!"

So here I am, 30 minutes before afternoon training quickly trying to put some words down..

Let's start with the national finals. Mixed doubles, Jon Vandervet and Milaine Cloutier claimed victory over Alvin Lau and Fiona Mckee in 3 games. I won the 3/4 playoff and came out with a bronze medal and a pair of red Vancouver 2010 mitts.

My first prediction was correct!

Second prediction... I was half right.. Anna Rice won in 2 games over Michelle Li. Watched only the end because I was ordering/waiting for my victory poutine! Oh yes do I love poutine!

Third prediction... 3 for 3 now on the winners. Alex Pang defeated Martin Giuffre in 2. Martin put up a good fight but was not enough over Pang's speed and skills.

Fourth.. Womens doubles... Melody Liang and Lydia Jiao.. Need I say more?!!! Praise to Lydia, she is a machine!

Last and most exciting match, mens doubles.. Jon Vandervet and Alvini Lau fought back after losing the first to win in a out of your seat match against Toby Ng and Adrian Liu. Ng and Liu were up 20-18 in the 3rd but lost 22-20. Alvin Lau tied the match point with his flick serve! What did I say before??? Watch out for his flick!!

So that was the 2010 Canadian Nationals. I found this year was rather.. anti-climatic?? I dont know... I just know I can do better.. and I will do better...

So there has been some talk about going back to work after Nationals. I called my Union Hall to see if I would be sent back to work but it seems with the Olympics, I would not be working for a very long time. I have decided that I will continue training full-time and will start travelling in a few months. Olympics is creeping up and will be here before we know it. So I need to start preparing now. This is it... Derrick Ng and Badminton begins now!

2nd Day of Nationals

Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals were played yesterday... I can't describe how disappointed I feel from losing my doubles in the quarters, and then losing my mixed in the semis... But with this disappointment comes inspiration and motivation.. I swear, next year's results will change dramatically. I'm sick of losing and I'm craving to win.

Besides my games, the other matches were great to watch. Martin Guiffre upsetted Joseph Rogers in the quarter-finals. Martin came onto the court 2 minutes before he was defaulted... luckily I found him in the Junior boy's locker room!

Michelle Li had a late arrival only to step into the club when her match was called. It was like she has slept in or something... Her badminton was definitely affected and was down 3rd set 17-13. She ended pulling through with many clutch, down the line smashes winning 21-19.

Another huge upset in the quarter-finals was Francois Bourret and Florence Lavoie defeating #1 seed Toby Ng and Grace Gao. I did not see this match because I was playing my quarter-final at the same time.

Semi-Final commenced and I became the first upset of the semis... I lost 3 games to Jon Vandervet and Milaine Cloutier, 22-20, 18-21, 21-17. I played like crap. PERIOD. I was not moving like how I normally move and just couldnt find the timing to hit the bird.

Alex Pang vs David Snider. This match was absolutely amazing. Super fast pace and intense rallies throughout the game. Alex Pang upsetted the #1 seed David Snider 21-19, 21-17! Alex was moving much quicker than David, and with the bigger range of shot variety, Alex was sure to succeed. Congratulations Alex!

Martin Guiffre vs Stephan Wojcikiewicz. With a steady play like Martin, he came back twice to win 2 games against the second seed Wojcikiewics. Well done by the first year U23 player.

After that, all other seeds advanced.

Finals:

Jon Vandervet/Milaine Cloutier vs Alvin Lau/Fiona McKee

My prediction: Jon/Milaine in 3

Alex Pang vs Martin Guiffre

My prediction: Pang in 2. Martin's attack is no match for Pang's defense and Pang's attack is too much for Martin's defense.

Anna Rice vs Michelle Li

My prediction: Anna Rice in 3. Michelle seems to be having a bad tournament. She isn't playing that well this week.

Women's Doubles: Lydia Jiao/Melody Liang vs Alex Bruce/Michelle Li

My prediction: Lydia Jiao/Melody in 2. Have you seen Lydia play?? Holy crap.. DOMINATION

Men's Doubles: Adrian Liu/Toby Ng vs Jon Vandervet/Alvin Lau

My prediction: Adrian Liu/Toby Ng in 2. If they play as well as they did yesterday.. no competition. Alvin and Jon are too unstable when put into a stressful situation.

Good luck to all competing.

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!

There's a new President in the house!

Badminton Canada Player's AGM was today. Like I said before, the main importance of this meeting is to elect a new President and Vice President to represent the player's association.

So here it is:

President: Derrick Ng (ME! MUHAHAHAHAHA... ok just kidding on the evil laugh..)

VP: Fiona McKee

Committee Members: Stephan W., Alvin L, Pieric L-G, Phillipe C.