VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3 Event Name Here
PHYLLIS CHAN The next Queen of Badminton? Badminton Canada Magazine 1
President's Letter
Badminton Canada
700 Industrial Ave. Suite 401 Ottawa, ON K1G0Y9
Phone: 613-569-2424 Fax: 613-748-5724 E-mail: badminton@badminton.ca
January 2014 To our Badminton Community across Canada; January is here a new year of badminton begins. We wish all you good play and successful training in your long-term development. Our tournament schedule is on track and we encourage all of you to contact Badminton Canada or our Provincial Organization to find the details of all tournaments. During the past few weeks of December, the Board of Director’s has retained Mr. Joe Morissette (Morissette@badminton.ca) as our new Executive Director. Joe has spent much time with the Canada Games and CIS and brings a wealth of knowledge to this position. Joe is bilingual and will endeavor to advance our web site development, our training programs and our tournament schedule. His sound strategic planning will assist greatly and wish him well in this new position. Badminton has a lot to accomplish in the next few years. We are anxious to determine the progress of the development of the new facility in Markham to house the Pan Am Badminton Games later this year and we are working with the Pan Am Organizing Committee regarding the Pan Am project schedule in the summer next year. Please make plans to visit a portion of the Games as athletes compete in a spectacular competition. Enjoy the season, play well and invest in the sport. Young people are our future and we welcome your participation. Enjoy the year!
Peter Golding President – Badminton Canada Cc. Board Of Directors
Upcoming Events Black Knight Ontario Junior Elite Series February 28 . March 2- 2014
CLICK HERE TO ENTER ONLINE
ON . BR Club and Granite Club Deadline to register: February 14th- 2014
Yonex Canadian Masters Badminton Championhips
CLICK HERE TO ENTER ONLINE
April 21 . 25- 2014 ON . Haber Rec Centre Deadline to register: march 31st- 2014
Yonex U23 and Junior National Championships
CLICK HERE TO ENTER ONLINE
April 28 . May 3- 2014 BC . ClearOne Centre Deadline to register: march 28th- 2014
College University National Championships
CLICK HERE TO ENTER ONLINE
March 21 . March 23- 2014 QC . Laval University Deadline to register: March 14th- 2014 Badminton Canada Magazine 5
Featured Athlete
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Twenty-two year old Phyllis Chan was recently selected to CIBC’s Team Next - a first program of its kind in amateur athlete sponsorship. Phyllis has her sights set on qualifying for the 2015 Pan American Games with partners Alex Bruce (WD) and Philippe Charron (XD), and with recent podium results at the 2013 Pan American Championships she’s not far off. Team Next offers athletes a three year sponsorship which includes mentorship, lifeskill programs and monetary funding to help them achieve success at the 2015 Pan American Games. “The Pan American Games would be a chance to show [my family] how their support got me to the Games. CIBC helps maximize my chances of succeeding by providing me funding and a network of supporters to help me obtain my goals.” - Phyllis Chan Badminton Canada Magazine 7
Featured Athlete
VIDEO
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Pan Am Event
This past October, I was lucky enough to be able to compete at Pan American Championships held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
playing in the heat.
Canada has always been a strong contender in the team event of Pan Ams, and this year was no different as we sent a team The week consisted of two of 14 to Santo Domingo. tournaments, the team event and the individual Being in an individual event. sport, the team event at Pan Ams is one of my faCompeting in another vourite events of the year. country always involves Feeling the support of the adapting to the environ- whole team and cheerment, the main challenge ing each other on is a this week being the tem- unique experience for an perature. The gym did not individual sport. This was have air conditioning so especially important in the two days before we this event as one of our started competing were top mens doubles playcrucial in adapting to ers, Adrian Liu, ended up
rolling his ankle while jogging on the second day in Santo Domingo. Luckily, we had lots of strong players on our team and Nyl Yakura and Kevin Li stepped up to play the doubles in the pool play. In our pool for the team event was Mexico and Jamaica where we came out first beating Mexico 4-1 and Jamaica 3-2. This gave us a buy to the semi-finals and we ended up facing Brazil, another strong team. In the semi-finals Sergiy Shatenko started off in the mens singles falling Badminton Canada Magazine 11
Pan Am Event
to Brazils best team member, Daniel Paiola 21-10, 21-16. Canada came out very strong though in the next three matches with Michelle Li in womens singles, brothers Toby and Derrick Ng in mens doubles and Phyllis Chan and I in womens doubles. This brought us to the finals of the team event, a great result, but our goal was always to win gold and our toughest opponent came in the finals, the United States.
support of the team, we came out on top in three sets setting up team Canada with a 1-0 lead. Next up was Sergiy in the mens singles. With his best performance all week he lost a close three sets to the top American, Sattawat Pongnairat.
tory for Canada was the coaches that were there, Jeff White and Denyse Julien. Every team I get the privilege to be on is an amazing experience. Getting to know my teammates a little bit more each time, practicing together and experiencing each others support I feel always makes me a little bit better as a player.
Our next two matches would seal the deal on Canada defending the gold medal as Michelle in singles and Toby and Derrick in doubles dominated their match finishing off Toby and I started the fi- the team tie. nals with a close mixed There was doubles but with the A key aspect of the vic- no rest for
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us, as the day after we won gold in the team event, everyone started competing in the individual events.
with Toby. Phyllis and I came in as the second seed and Toby and I, still a new partnership, were seeded sixth. My partners and I played very well through the individual event and I came out with gold in mixed and silver in doubles.
Competing in the team event always gives you an edge - as long as you aren’t too tired - as you are already are adapted to the courts and hopefully Overall I could not have the heat! imagined the week going better. Although Phyllis I was com- and I lost in the finals to peting in an American pair, I feel we the dou- are improving with every bles with tournament we play toP h y l l i s gether and next time we and mixed face the Americans, I am d o u b l e s confident we will be able
to win. It’s always exciting and an honour to be able to compete for Canada in another country. When you’re travelling it can be challenging to adapt to unexpected conditions, but facing those challenges alongside other Canadians also makes for amazing and unique experiences. Alex Bruce Member of Team Canada
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BWF Event
Eighteen Canadian Masters players travelled to Ankara, Turkey to compete against the best of the best in a thrilling week-long event. Riding the wave of excitement from the recent 2011 World Senior Championships held in British Columbia, this was Canada’s largest team yet. Though small in numbers, these 18 Canadian players left with honour, finishing 11th in the medal pool ahead of the largest team - 138 players from India. Photos and article by Mike Mitson
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BWF Event
The BWF World Senior Championships is a week-long event held in various parts of the world every two years. The last time around, Canada hosted this event in Richmond, BC with over 600 athletes competing at the Olympic Richmond Oval.
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This year, 2013, the event was held at the Ankara Arena in the Turkish capital of Ankara and was a record holding event with 900 players from 42 nations. The largest team came from India with 138 players and with the tournament
being in Turkey, the bulk of players came from Europe. Not many Canadians have travelled to this tournament in the past, but with the last event being held in Canada, there was more interest among Canadian players. Although a small team, Canada was represented by its own re-
cord of 18 athletes. The Ankara Arena is the home venue for Ankara’s basketball team. Originally there were going to be 8 courts but with the record entry the organizers had to add a further 4 courts into the main
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BWF Event
hall. Additionally there were 4 warm up courts in another hall in the stadium plus 4 practice courts in a stadium nearby. The 12 championship courts were all portable courts each with 2 electronic scoreboards. It was a magnificent effort from the Turkish organizers to accommodate the extra courts and provide the additional officials required for an international tour-
nament at such short notice. The line judges were all juniors from the Turkish junior badminton program. Monday was the first day of competition. Play commenced at 9am and was halted at 1:30pm for two hours whilst the hosts welcomed players from around the world during the opening ceremony. It was a strange decision as many players
Henry Paynter - in the finals 18 Badminton Canada Magazine
were already eliminated from the tournament and many more were away preparing for their first matches later in the day. Unlike Richmond in 2011 where the players took center stage during a national team parade into the arena, the Turkish event was a more symbolic ceremony, with the player’s patriotic flag waving restricted to the spectator stands.
Overall it wasn’t a good day for Canada, we only managed 3 winners from 12 attempts. It was also the first day of the sickness that was going to affect most of our team and many players from other teams as well. Unfortunately the stomach upsets carried on for the whole of the week and some of our players had to spend most of the day in bed, rising just to play a match.
Murray Foubister & Marge Hudson with Lars Kure & Kaya Garbrecht
Bill Metcalfe & Sanne Dryborough
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BWF Event
Above: Mike Mitson & Bill Metcalfe with Graham Holt & Bill Hamblett
Above: Allan Fraser & Trevor Stewart with David Eddy & David Hutchinson Below: Mike Mitson & Debbie McCoy with Debbie Rigby & Eric Plane
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Tuesday was a far better day for Canada. We had 8 winners from 13 matches but the day was marred by an injury to Tony Knott, our only reigning gold medal winner from Richmond to travel to Ankara, who tore shoulder muscles early in his singles match and had to withdraw from the tournament. This left Allan Fraser without a men’s partner in his only event. Fortunately for Allen, we managed to find him a German player, Trevor Stewart, who had also lost his partner to injury. Wednesday was the round of the last 16 and the matches were getting tough. Allan won his men’s doubles match with his substitute partner. Henry Paynter, Siew Har Hong and Marge Hudson all cruised through their singles and Marge also won her doubles partnering Norwegian Randi Gulbrandsen. Unluckiest player of the day was Joanne Gillette who lost all three of her matches – two of them very tight in the third.
Thursday was the quarter-finals. Anyone who won today was going to get a medal. Marge won both her singles and doubles relatively easily. Henry breezed though his singles and Siew Har beat the 2nd seed Jessie Havelaar from the Netherlands in a marathon. Allan
“With silver medals already in the bag, what else could our two gladiators achieve?”
Above: The Canadian Team at the Opening Ceremony
had a heart breaking 20-22 in the third loss to David Hutchinson and David Eddy from England Eddy won an All England and two European titles in his prime. Semi-finals were on Friday, already 4 medals guaranteed but could we improve the colour?
Above: Joanne Gillette & Sue Rogers Below: Debbie McCoy & Barb Heaney (in black) with Mei-Ting Lee & Lone Knudsen
First up was Siew Har playing Lieselotte Wengberg from Sweden. It wasn’t looking good, she was a game down and behind 18-12 in the second but Siew Har dug in and clawed her way back to win that game. She also took the third
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- a giant slayer having easily taken out the 1st seed in Henry then showed his class the semis. However, Betty in defeating the 2nd seed in was no match for Siew Har two sets. Marge lost her sin- who won the first game at gles to a German, Rita Gerst, and also unluckily lost her “Henry struggled doubles to Gerst and Chrisagainst Croutel Klaar but not without a kamps’ style in terrific fight – 22-20, 19-21, 23-21, probably the best the first not match of the day. for a well earned victory.
On Saturday, with silver medals already in the bag, what could else our two gladiators achieve? Yet again Siew Har was first to battle. Her opponent was Betty Bartlett from England
Henry had to play Johan Croukamp from South Africa. Croukamp was unseeded but definitely the surprise package of the event. He’d already beaten the Swedish 5/8 seed, the Indian number 1 seed and the 3/4 seed from Denmark with a mixture of very clever and very late shots.
knowing where the shuttle was going next. “
Henry struggled against Croukamps’ style in the first not knowing where the shuttle was going next. a canter and, although the Croukamp also took an earsecond was closer, Siew Har ly lead in the sec- ond but was in control all the way to Henry had start- ed to Playa magnificent gold medal. figure him out. ing the long rallies
This page: A view of Ankara which is built on many hills Right: The Ankara Stadium
BWF Event
Henry began to fight his way back. Croukamp was visibly tiring. However, it wasn’t meant to be, Croukamp found a bit of extra at the end and just squeezed out the second game and the match. As expected, the traditional powerhouses won the bulk of the medals; England with 35 medals and 9 golds, Denmark with 24 medals and 6 golds and Japan and Germany both with 17 medals and 5 golds. Canada’s small team acquitted themselves with honour, 11th in the medal table ahead of India’s 138 player team. The event finished off with the party in the park. How do you accommodate over a thousand players and officials? You take over a patio area next to the lake, put on a live band, organize catering for all, keep the speeches to a minimum and let everybody have a good time. The whole event was a great effort by the Turkish organizers.
Above: Medal carriers
Above: Laser show at the party in the park
Would I go again? Absolutely! We get two to three hundred participants at our own National Championships. It would be nice to see if we could get 50 of those to the next World Seniors event in 2015.
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National Coaches
With National Coach Stephane Cadieux and featuring Fitness Pro Deb Singer
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Elite Series
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Elite Series
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Elite Series
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Elite Series
afternoon at Humber ColThis event was well atton Canada. lege. All of the finals were tended. Participants included members from 150 players participated played on Sunday. Badminton Ontario clubs, “There were about 500-600 appreas well as from all over the country and some ciative spectators that came out that from overseas. weekend to watch.� - Dave Kumar The members from the Badminton Ontario competitions committee helped coordinate this event along with Badmin-
(highest number in 6 years), and the majority of them began their weekend in the Singles draw which started Friday
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There were about 500600 appreciative spectators that came out that weekend to watch and en-
joy the high quality of badminton play in Toronto. We would like to thank the staff from Badminton Canada, Badminton Ontario and Humber College for all of their help.
Line Judges. Without Dave Kumar: Co-Presieveryone’s help, the tour- dent, on behalf of the nament would not have Competitions Committee been a success.
We also appreicate the services provided by all of the Officials and
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Elite Series
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Event Name Here
Badminton Canada Magazine 35
O F D E IN
Officials News
T S DE
Mike Walker is one of Canada’s top BWF officials, and has spent the last twenty years travelling the world to various International events. With BWF mandatory retirement looming, Walker shares some of his most memorable moments and plans for his last year on the job. Walker started umpiring in 1988 after injuring his back while playing badminton. “I was fortunate to be trained and mentored by Pauline Ingall, who had a great deal of umpiring experience, and to have the support of my employer. This allowed me to get lots of tournament experience in a short time.” “I enjoyed umpiring and the players and organizers also seemed to appre36 Badminton Canada Magazine
ciate my umpiring. I quickly made it to national level as an umpire,” Walker shares. In 1994 the Commonwealth Games were in Victoria, BC, and Badminton Canada planned to use about 20 National level Canadian umpires for the early rounds of the tournament. “I thought this would be fun to do so I applied and was selected for it. While I was at the tournament one of the senior BWF officials came to me and asked if I had ever thought about umpiring internationally. It was an unexpected but welcome opportunity. I was assessed in Prague in 1996, Norway in 1998 and I was certificated (the highest level of international umpire) in The Netherlands in 2002,” he says.
OR
s to l a i c i f f do n t a a s h r e w y , r a eve r pl o w f o t H n . a s ke ort hat t a p t t s m i u i p s m i o “It ake ity t l m i l b l i a w r ou ou n.� y y o s : i e e v t t r o o a n dm ap n u a o y u t o e y ind h will s e ~ b r e e k k a l t a s i W m ~ Mike
Officials News
Umpiring at the BWF level has its perks; the main being the ability to travel around the world, and experience the top level of badminton there is. “I have umpired almost every major international tournament: 2 Olympics (Athens and Beijing); 4 World Championships; 1 Sudirman Cup; 2 Thomas & Uber Cup Finals; 2 PANAM Games; 3 Commonwealth Games; 4 World Juniors; 1 World Seniors; 4 Super Series
Finals; and numerous national open tournaments (Malaysian; French; Indonesian; Denmark; 2 All Englands; Hong Kong; several U.S. Opens; Singapore; and many Canadian Opens).” Umpiring at this many events is bounds to come with its ups and downs, as well as its favourable moments. “One of my favourite matches was when I umpired the WD bronze medal match
s a h F W B i “The e e h t f o one .” s e r i p m U of ed:
Pictur a Walker Ju World io Champ
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at the Athens Olympics between China and Korea. It was a fantastic match with 100 shot rallies which received many standing ovations including some during the rally! The quality of play was unbelievable! “I also service judged the MD gold medal match in the Beijing Olympics between China and Indonesia. Being
Walker has seen it all, and is keen to help others learn from his experiences. “As an official in any sport, I have committed errors,” Walker admits. “My worst nightmare is to make a mistake which affects the outcome of the match. “One vivid example of this was when I umpired the first MS of the Thomas Cup tie between Sweden and The Netherlands. Sweden was the huge favourite to win the match. The Swede easily won the first game (15-5) and was ahead in the second game 10-5. His opponent then complained to me that the shuttles were too fast so I asked the Swede what he thought. He agreed so there was a delay in play while the referee came on court and sorted out the new speed of shuttles for the match. Once that was sorted out, the referee left the court and play was resumed.
e b o t e m s d r e o k s s e as s s A F W inB t h volved in an ig Olympic gold medal match in China involving a Chinese team is an incredible experience,” he says.
He continues to reminisce, remembering ecstatic fans at the Thomas Cup. “Another favourite match was when I umpired the first MS match of the Thomas Cup semi-final tie between Indonesia and Denmark which was played in Jakarta, Indonesia. The crowd in Jakarta is unbelievably noisy. There was a band in the stands, the crowd was singing songs, shouting cheers, waving scarves and banners and dancing throughout the match. It was more like a European soccer match than a badminton match. It gave me goose bumps to be a part of that match,” he says.
Mike at the unior s onship
“Both players and I looked at the scoreboard which reflected the score as 9-5. The Swede’s 10th point had not been recorded by the scoring device operator. My error #1: I should have looked at my score sheet to confirm the scoring device was accurate before resuming play. “The Swede served from the odd court Badminton Canada Magazine 39
Officials News
which constituted a service court error. The Dutchman returned the serve from the odd court which also constituted a service court error. Immediately upon his serve I looked at my score sheet and realized the score was 10-5. My error #2: I should have called “Let” immediately as, under the pre-rally point rules, where both players commit a service court error on the same play it is a “let”. “The players had a long tough rally which the Swede won at which time I called “Let”. Needless to say the Swede became very upset. He stormed over to me complaining that he shouldn’t be penalized for my mistake. There was a very long delay as the referee was called on court to confirm my call was correct under the Laws of Badminton. “The Swedish coach and manager were hotly disputing the matter at the referees’ table but, at the end of all the arguing, my call was upheld and the Swede had to serve with the score 10-5. He didn’t win another point until he was losing 10-0 in the third game which, he ultimately lost. My error probably affected his concentration which cost him the match,” Walker shares. “Lesson learned: where I have a scoring device I now try to confirm it is correct before every rally and especially following any stoppage in play and I 40 Badminton Canada Magazine
call the score before play resumes,” he says. “It is important for players and officials to note: you will make mistakes. However, what will set you apart is your ability to put that mistake behind you and move on. I have seen many examples of an official making a mistake and then losing focus because he’s dwelling on that mistake which results in making more mistakes. The same applies to players when they make a mistake,” he says. This isn’t just an important lesson for officials, but also for players. “Players need to be able to retain their focus when a mistake is made by an official or something unusual happens on court. It happens. I have seen many situations at the elite level of play where something u n e x p e c te d happens – not even a bad call by an official and the player falls apart. The players who best keep it together mentally are the ones who succeed,” he wisely shares.
M S A "IT W C O S PEAN D A B A M E V GA
Although there have been many memorable moments, and many important lessons learned, at some point all good
things must come to an end. In 2014, Walker will be 55 years old which is the mandatory retirement age for BWF umpires. Although, he can still umpire in Canada and PAN AM which don’t have a mandatory retirement age. In 2014, he will be sent to umpire the Arctic Winter Games in Alaska, the World Juniors in Malaysia, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and the Super Series Finals. But retirement does not mean he will no longer be involved in badminton
at the BWF level. “The BWF has asked me to be one of the eight BWF Assessors of Umpires. I acted as an Assessor at the World Juniors in Chiba, Japan in 2012 and I am scheduled to be an Assessor at the Thomas & Uber Cup Finals in 2014 in New Delhi, India. “I am very much looking forward to pursuing this new challenge which enables me to continue to contribute to the sport we all love so much.” By Mike Walker
O R U E A E K I L N E A R H O T M H C T A M T I R . E H C C C T A M N O O T T N I S M P D M U B E S " . O T I O F G O T ME R A P A BE : Mike d e r u t c Pi at the Walker ries e SuperS ls a MD Fin
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When Lisa Davison attended the 2013 Badminton Canada AGM in June, she heard a presentation on para-badminton by Wayne Somers - the Badminton World Federation Deputy Chair of the Para-Badminton committee - and was inspired to take action. Although the timeline was tight Lisa was certain she would be able to hold a para-badminton camp in Prince George, BC before the end of the year.
It made sense to have the camp in combination with Sports Day in Canada, November 30 and December 1. With some concerted effort, enthusiasm and creative thinking, Lisa’s camp was a success. Although there have been para-badminton camps held in Canada before, notably with Eric Boucher in New Brunswick, this was the first time the BWF offered their support by sending para-badminton expert and coach Lyndon Williams
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Para Badmiinton
from Edinburgh Scotland. The goals of the weekend were to introduce the sport to both able bodied and para-athletes, celebrate Sports Day in Canada, train coaches and to have fun. Overall there were sixty-two participants in a wide variety of ages and experience who took advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Along with Lisa, National Coaches
Ram Nyaar and Stephane Cadieux participated and were exposed to some of the unique aspects of coaching para-athletes. Along with other participants, they were able to play wheelchair badminton to experience the challenge first hand. Lyndon’s broad experience, skill and great attitude was an inspiration to all. As a result of the Prince George camp, Coach Stephane Cadieux will
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Para Badminton
“The BWF offered their support b expert and coach Lyndon Williams f be holding a para-badminton camp in fall 2014. This is another important step in further identifying and developing para-athletes. Those interested in knowing more about this camp should contact Stephane at badminton@thebandr.com Although the development of the sport in Canada will take some time to gain momentum, the support for camps and initiatives through Badminton Canada and the BWF will be critical. We can also play our part in developing the sport internationally. For more information on para-badminton, to share ideas, volunteer or, apply for assistance with initiatives to broaden participation, please contact the the Executive Director of Badminton Canada, Joe Morri44 Badminton Canada Magazine
by sending para-badminton from Edinburgh Scotland.� sette: morrisette@ badminton.ca. Congratulations to Lisa for her success with the para-badminton weekend in Prince George. Many thanks to the BWF and Lyndon Williams for making the trip, and to all those who participated. It’s the start of an important development in our great sport! Cindy Bruce Chair Para-Badminton Committee, Badminton Canada
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