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s any good marketing student will tell you there are 4P’s to marketing; Product, Price Place and Promotion. As any involved with the Yonex Canada Open will tell you, there are 3P’s to hosting a world class event namely; Planning, Perseverance and Passion and one additional C; the Club Sandwich.
Yonex has been the lead sponsor for the Yonex Canada Open badminton event at the Richmond Olympic Oval over the last 3 years. To turn their sponsorship into an event you need the passion planning and perseverance of Darryl Yung and his plan-
ning team to lead the charge for bringing badminton to the community of Richmond, BC and Canada over the last 10 years. Darryl started first, with opening ClearOne in Richmond, a conversion of a warehouse into a centre for badminton excellence. That evolved from his passion for the game. Darryl represented Canada at the 1996 Olympics and played many years internationally at the end of his playing career he initiated the badminton craze that is now part of main stream Richmond a suburb of Vancouver with a population of about 180,000. On any given night there are a few thousand
Planning is easy. Well not really, it requires the perseverance and creativity to solve problems, keep the project moving ahead, and motivate a team of people who support you. And it requires lots of late nights with two club sandwiches. Darryl manages to do all of that.
Each year brings its’ own level of experiences. In 2010 we invited Taufik Hidayat one of the best players in the world over the last decade to come and be a main draw. That was great until it was found out that he didn’t get a visa to go to the USA in order to compete in that tournament. Taufik was only able to come to
people planning badminton in Canada after last minute manRichmond. agement of flight logistics. How do you move that passion to hosting the Yonex Canada Open - enter planning! Everyone understands that large scale events like the Olympics take years of planning and 100’s of man years of coordination. Hosting a tournament that attacks upwards of 300 players from over 40 countries, plays host to thousands of spectators and marshal’s hundreds of volunteers takes a fair bit of time as well.
In the end he made it and played his first game in a jet lagged mode on a center court that had a ray of light streaming into center court just as the match was at its cusp of excitement.
Alex Pang, a top Canadian, almost took out Taufik in his first match. Having him out in the first match would be somewhat devastating to the draw. Taufik survived and went on to win the
event. It was a nail biting time as everyone wanted to see him play and yet we all wanted Alex to win at the same time. The match had to be delayed for a number of minutes as creative minds had to find ways of setting up screening to block out the sunlight in order that play could continue.
This creativity is fueled by hours of late nights with two club sandwiches in hand. The Leisure Taiwanese Bubble Tea shop in Richmond knew this well. After spending 10 to 12 hours on court
at ClearOne coaching a range of badminton players all the way from beginners to our Olympians, most people would head to a well-deserved rest. Darryl headed over to his favourite midnight hangout and spent a few hours going over everything from where sponsor booths should be located, to what we charge the paying public to come to the event. That all started right after two of the best club sandwiches you can have were brought out from the kitchen.
In sport you often hear you have to be good to be lucky. Gary Player, a top golfer said,� The more I practiced the luckier I got.� In 2011 we got a bit of luck when Lee Yong Dae from Korea decided to participate in the event. In the 2008 Olympics, Lee Yong Dae was the only player to break the Chinese strangle hold on gold in badminton at that event when he managed to win the gold in mixed doubles. Along with Taufik, we had another marquee player. It was evident that the Korean badminton community 9
knew that as well. Lee Yong Dae then won men’s doubles finals and 100’s of Korean fans came out to support him in the finals. As soon as he made the finals, ticket sales for the final day got a huge boost.
In 2012, an Olympic year, luck went the other way. We lost the marquee players to the Olympics as the top names stayed home to practice for this event, which started only a few weeks after the Yonex Canada Open. Our draw was our own Olympians. They are all great players however, not the same drawing power as the top names in the game.
In 2012 there was no Lee Yong Dae, and no Taufik. We replaced them with our own Alex Bruce, Michelle Li, Toby Ng and Grace Gao. It was these players that carried the tournament for us. Our poster featured these players and we put all of promotion efforts behind them. That was thanks to the second of the two club sandwichs that Darryl had on one of the planning nights. Being an Olympic year brought the benefit of Olympic coverage by the media. CBC was doing a feature on the financial struggles that players from “lesser known” sports endure. They picked Toby Ng, our mixed doubles specialist, to be featured in a documentary. CBC came out to film Toby’s first game where he and Grace drew an excellent pair from Chinese Taipei; a team that Grace and Toby had just beat at the Yonex US Open a week earlier in a
3 set match where they won the last two games 22-20 and 22-20. This was great for badminton as we would get to show case the sport to a major TV Network.
draw throughout the tournament as they were inundated for requests for pictures, interviews and autographs.
Taufik or Lee Yong Dae”. But in 2012 with these names it was a far greater challenge. All of these challenges need the perseverance of Darryl’s guidance The club sandwich decision to and the passion to put on the To say the game was a nail biter put them on our feature poster best event possible in order that is a bit of an understatement. indeed paid off. In prior years Continued on page 30. Toby and Grace split the first it was easy to say, “Let’s have two games. In the third and final game they got off to a poor start being down 6-0 out of the gate. They managed to claw their way back however they couldn’t make up the gap. At 19-16 an opportunistic put away was missed and instead of it being 19-17 it was 20-16. Ugh, our top team seemed destined to go out in the first round and our showcase game wasn’t going to be a storybook ending. However, we did get the storybook ending. Toby and Grace focused and managed to win the next point the director for CBC turned and said “I can’t watch”.
There was so much electricity in the air, BC Hydro could have offered all their customers a rebate. Somehow Toby and Grace did it they won the next point to tie the game at 20-20. And a few points later they won the game! The crowd erupted with applause!
Toby and Grace went on to the semi finals where they eventually lost to an excellent pair from Japan. Our other finals hopefuls also fell through. Michele Li lost in her semis and so did Toby and his brother Derrick in the men’s doubles. Nevertheless, our team of Olympians remained a top
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and get playing.”
Canada had the honor of sending four athletes to represent badminton at the 2012 London Summer Olympics Games. Toby Ng (Vancouver) and Grace Gao (Calgary) paired up for mixed doubles and Alex Bruce (Toronto) and Michelle Li (Toronto) paired up for doubles. Michelle Li also competed in singles. The four found out they qualified after the news hit stands in May 2012. “I am very proud to be nominated to the Canadian Olympic team,” said Li in an article by the Canadian Olympic Committee. “It is a dream come true to compete for Canada at the Olympic Games.”
“This is a very big honor, to represent Canada at the Olympic Games,” said Ng. “We’re going to take everything we’ve worked on and practiced and bring it all together in London.”
“It has taken a lot of hard work to get this far,” said Gao. “There is still a lot more to do before London, but I can’t wait.” Gao couldn’t be more right. There is a little more than three months before the Opening Ceremony and a lot stands between all four athletes and that final day. Bruce Li competed in the Canadian Junior National Championships in May, losing the U23 women’s doubles title to fellow National team members Phyllis Chan and Christin Tsai. Michelle Li, the youngest of the four team members, also won silver in mixed doubles, and gold in singles.
to back events in July, just prior to the Olympics. Seeded 2nd at the US Open, they fell to the 3rd seeded team from Japan in the quarter-finals. Right after, they returned home to compete in the Yonex Canadian Open with fellow Olympic team Bruce Li. Again, Ng and Gao, seeded 1st in the event, came out short to a team from Japan, losing in close matches in the semi-finals. Bruce Li, seeded 2nd, lost their first match in the quarter-finals also to a team from Japan. Li also competed in singles at the Yonex Canadian Open, seeded 1st and eventually losing to a Japanese woman in the semi finals.
With these final competitions behind them, Team Canada finally had a chance to focus on the important competition ahead of them. Prior to departure, they arranged for a pre-camp with Team Australia in a little town called South Derbyshire, just “The Olympic Games are the goal 3 hours north of London. The for any high performance athsmall town was exactly what lete,” added Bruce. “I’m excited Ng and Gao competed in back they needed to calm their nerves to get on the court with Michelle 12
in preparation for day one. “Having the bit of quiet really lets the athletes focus on the task at hand,” Ram Nayyar, Canada’s coach said in an interview with a local paper.
But all that quiet was only good for resting because members of both teams fell sick with a norovirus, – the English 24-hour stomach flu – which prevented them from taking part in the friendly matches. After what Ng describes as a “short incubation period for a virus”, Team Canada was alive and well shortly after and ready for day one. “Appetite back in action and ready to roll out of Derby to London today!” Bruce tweeted on July 24th.
legend. “I constantly feel like I have a lot of his teaching echoing through my head every time I make a mistake, or when I’m not sure what to do,” Ng tells BCAN Magazine.
“We were fortunate enough to meet with Kim at the Olympics before our matches started, and he reminded us of the style of game that we have been training for, and to use that in our best interest,” Gao adds. Ng and Gao went on to face Japan in their next match of pool play, which resulted in a tight 3 set loss to Japan. They faced Po-
land in their last and ultimately, their final match.
Athletes prepare for this competition their whole lives, but in hindsight it is often difficult to accept the outcome after spending so much time, energy and money on getting to that point. “It was my first Olympics,” says Gao, “and it is difficult to say that I have prepared enough now looking back. But at the time, I felt like I did my best adjusting to the atmosphere and was able to perform a lot better in the second and third match in my group play.”
And just like that, everyone was off to London.
Ng and Gao were the first team to play, falling to the 4th seed from Denmark. “[I] was nervous up against Denmark therefore not performing my best,” Gao says. “Every match felt different.”
Hoping to make it out of their pool, the team did not lose sight of their goals. They received expert training from two previous Olympians before heading to London, Kim Dong Moon and Darryl Yung, which had an enormous impact on their ability to compete at this event.
Moon had won gold in mixed doubles and men’s doubles at the 1996 and 2004 Olympics, respectively. Ng owes his qualification to the Olympics to this
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“I felt content with my preparation as badminton is such an unpredictable sport,” Ng shares. “Even against the same opponents, every match can be similar in ways, but also so different in others. It’s like studying for a test. You don’t know what is on the test, so you study and prepare yourself in whichever way you feel is best. I did not procrastinate, I just did what I could and went in with what I had. Sometimes, that’s all you can do.” With one of the top coaches in the world instilling wisdom into their game, it’s no wonder these two are well spoken. Gao credits all of hersuccess to their famed coach Moon, but Ng also praises the longevity of their partnership. “It seems Canadians try things for a year, or less even, then switch partners when things might not work out,” Ng says.
“There have been many times when things weren’t going well, but sticking with the partnership to overcome problems has given us a significant advantage over other teams at times.” This is a valuable lesson for young players in Canada as Ng explains how impatient athletes can be, “This does not compare as well Internationally, as there are teams that have been paired even longer than we have on the circuit.” The most valuable advice Ng received from Moon was about his partnership with Gao, “He
said to do my best to encourage Grace and be more supportive in the matches.” This advice is more crucial in a co-ed game than most athletes may realize. With emotions in plain sight and hearts on the line, the rollercoaster of competing at the largest event in the world can bring
Four teams, two of which were in Canada’s pool, were disqualified from the draw for throwing matches which, was seen as unsportsmanlike behavior for an Olympian.
Seen as having both a positive and negative impact on badminton, it is hard to point fingers. The BWF (Badminton World “There have been Federation) decided on a pool many times when play format that feeds into an things weren’t going elimination draw. With teams qualifying from continental rewell, but sticking gions, rather than based purely with the partneron their world ranking, the less experienced teams would be able ship to overcome problems has given to play more matches, gaining a longer ‘Olympic experience’. But us a significant adtrouble started mounting almost right away. “I doubt they will atvantage over other tempt the same format again,” teams at times.” Ng says. “The stronger countries Toby Ng exploited the system. Perhaps it wasn’t the best choice to atups and downs for anyone. tempt a new format for such a prestigious event, but I also do Bruce Li had a similar start to not agree with the punishments the Olympic Games, losing all of disqualifying the teams.” matches in pool play only to be re-entered what felt like only As a Canadian, it is understandmoments later. “It’s quite hard to able that you are responsible for explain everything that went on your own actions, but Ng goes in those two weeks (lead up and on to say that for some of the tournament),” explains Bruce. disqualified countries this may “I think I’m still trying to figure not be the case as players reit out for myself. From feeling ceived orders from their coachdefeated while being very sick es to throw the matches to gain before the actual tournament, a more favorable position in the to being excited to play the #1 elimination draw. “I felt the playteam in the world, to the quick ers were in a lose-lose situation; turn around feeling of ‘it’s al- either they disobey their coachready over’, then the miracle sec- es, or they throw their match. I ond chance.” don’t think anyone would want to be in that situation, despite all 15
the hindsight bias.”
Gao agrees, “It wasn’t up to the players, it was most likely directed by their coaches. It is really sad for the players, because they are all top players who have consistently done well in other major tournaments. It is really sad to see they’ve trained so hard and come so far to get disqualified.” It may come as a surprise that some teams tried to cheat their way into a favorable position in the draw. Athletes in North America are taught a different form of honor in the gentleman’s
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sport of badminton, where honesty is prevalent and expected. But the four disqualified teams might have had more riding on their success than just a medal or cash reward.
“In recent years, no Chinese athlete ever did anything without being explicitly ordered by their coaches and officials [country leaders],” Declan Hill says in a blog on August 3rd, 2012. He goes on to say that independent minded Chinese athletes are unlikely to make it through the sport system, as if to say the Chinese Athletic Associations are running some sort of athlete
tyranny for an underground betting empire. Just one way their rich get richer. Aside from speculation, his experience in match fixing is far from inexperienced, and raises more questions than it answers. In the end, the players agree that the BWF did the right thing for badminton on a whole, even though it was one of the toughest decisions they’ve had to face yet. The real reasons behind the scandal however, do not disprove the fact that this gave Canada a second chance.
As soon as word of Bruce Li’s
re-entry into the draw reached Canada, phone calls started circulating, “Did you hear?” Media started devouring ‘Canada’s Darlings’ and just like that, two young women were launched into the International spotlight. “I’m sure many people following at home couldn’t believe what was going on. It was the same for me.” Bruce continues, “When it was confirmed that we were going back into the tournament (after getting over the initial shock), we just tried to focus on our game plan for the match and nothing else.” Head coach Nayyar couldn’t have said it better to the girls as they headed into their next match, “Essentially [I said] they have nothing to lose so let’s go for it.”
With nerves surmounting as they walked into Wembley arena, they saw their next opponents from Australia whom they had practiced with at the pre-camp in South Derbyshire. They adapted the fearless attitude spoken by their coach and with the weight of Canada on their shoulders, emerged onto the court quite literally glowing.
It was obvious from the crowd’s engagement that they were 100% behind the Canadian underdogs. One side of the crowd chanted ‘Bruce’ and the other side ‘Li’ back and forth. Although Ontario has nicknamed the favorite duo ‘Bruce Li’ after their gold medal performance at the 2011 Pan Am Games, Bruce indicates that the concept was coined much earlier from her recollection. “I love the nickname,” she starts. “Michelle actually wasn’t the first ‘Li’ I have played with so the joke has been with me since I was 12 when I played with Carrie Li.”
Bruce Li won that match against Australia in three sets, launching a media frenzy in Canada and all over the world. All of a sudden people were starting to notice this underrated sport. “There is a lot of good things in badminton”, Gao says about the reaction from the public to badminton’s limelight. “If people are exposed to it more, they will be able to see that in the long run.” All athletes agree that although there
She also indicates that the nickname likely made it easier for people to catch onto all the attention surrounding badminton and their second chance at the podium.
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are negative implications surrounding the scandal, but a lot of positive publicity came from the event.
Bruce continues to replay the whirlwind experience, “I think the real craziness started after we played the quarter final match and beat Australia and
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our first interview said, ‘We just aired your match live across Canada, how does it feel?’ I was speechless.”
Japan, from the US and Canada Open to pool play matches at the Olympics, Canada has definitely fallen short of a win. They most definitely have strong teams, but Winning the match against Aus- once again, Bruce Li walked onto tralia sent them into the semi- the court with no fear in their finals, where they faced the 4th eyes. seed Japan. If you look back at Canada’s recent matches versus Huddled in a tiny room at Lee’s Badminton Training Centre in Markham, Li’s home club, CTV aired this match live. The anticipation in the room was electric. “I had never seen badminton live before on TV in Canada and hearing that it happened, let alone the fact that it was us on TV was such an amazing moment it inspired me to keep fighting for our next match.” Bruce says. Any avid Bruce Li fan will agree that this was a pivotal moment in their badminton careers. “Let’s put this effort into context,” Cathal Kelly from the Star said, “In their first three matches, Li and Bruce failed to score more than 12 points in any set. In the last two days, they’ve won three sets and haven’t scored less than 13 points in any one of them. Essentially, it’s a different team. And the only reason they can really put their finger on, is that
people started to give a damn.”
After losing the first match quite convincingly, Bruce Li regained composure and turned the game right around, showing their true Canadian colours. With the support of the world on top of their support from Canada, Bruce Li defended the mass attacks in the next match from Japan with ease and enjoyment. With hairs rising and chills down everyone’s spines, they took the second match from Japan 21-19, and right there was the most important moment of the entire experience. “We proved we can compete with the best in the world,” Bruce says with a sigh, “[This was] a true breakthrough for us as we had never come close to beating a team in the top 10 before. I think we proved that we ended up being a threat.”
The amount of adrenaline pumping through their veins entering the third game was likely enough to fuel a small army for a year, and so nerves and inexperience started to take over. “I am glad they performed so well under such circumstances,” Gao says of her fellow teammates. Bruce Li lost the third set with smiles on their faces, and a renewed sense of determination in their abilities. They now had a chance at a bronze medal, which no other Canadian has ever had the honour of attempting.
anstemmle tweeted part-way through the match – ‘The Olympics are not just about medals. It’s about the stories behind the medals. That’s why I’m watching badminton.’
chants of ‘Bruce-Li, Bruce-Li, Bruce-Li’ … it’s hard to top that.” The Canadians faced Russia in the bronze match, a team they played in pool play and lost to 21-8 and 21-10. Although they were entering this next match
NBA stars LeBron and Kobe are great. But for now you can have your NBA superstars. You can even have your Roger Federers and Serena Williamses. I can watch them – and I do – most weeks.
as a different team than in pool play, the Russians brought experience and precision to the table that Bruce Li was not able to handle.
Airing in Canada at 6:30am, it was an early morning for Team Terry Bell shared on his blog But a Wembley Arena crowd Canada fans. Sadly to say, it was with The Province, “As @bri- cheering on the underdogs with a quick match and a quiet finish 19
to the enormous buzz they created. “I think both Russia girls are very good at the front four corners,” Li’s personal coach Jennifer Lee advises. “They are very fast at the net and driving.”
Finishing fourth at the Olympics when seeded 28th, which is the best result of any Canadian badminton athlete, is nothing to hang your head at. Bruce Li joined arms with teammates Ng and Gao who were more than supportive and overwhelmed at their friends’ success, and Canada left the Olympics with a renewed spirit. “I’m so proud to be Canadian,” Bruce says.
“I think this experience really gave me belief in myself and all players from Canada or other countries that have a historically weak reputation in badminton. I think one of the biggest barriers we have as Canadian badminton players is that no one has ever done so well in badminton on a world level. The example that comes to me is when the 10s mile was broken. No one thought it could be done. But once one man broke it, so many others did right after. It was the
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fact that people saw it was possible. I think it’s the same for Canadians. We need to know that anything is possible.”
and pressure on a lot of the athletes, especially at the Olympics because there are a lot of expectations set. I guess some of my own expectations were too “Belief,” Nayyar agrees, “I think grounded in reality.” that we need to understand that on any given day anything can When asked what he feels would happen and we just need to be have helped him perform better, in there long enough for that to Ng adds a lot of ‘perhaps’. “Peractually take place.” haps if I could have left to train with Kim in 2008 instead of Like Ng and Gao, Bruce Li also 2009, the extra year could have have a personal coach they made a difference. Perhaps if I credit a lot of their success to. had trained more in Korea, perJennifer Lee saw talent in Li haps if I trained more with Grace from a young age and has dedi- in the Olympic year, who knows?
cated years to developing Li as a world-class athlete. After seeing Bruce in competition, she quickly paired up Bruce and Li for the Pan American Games and from there they started to quickly rise in the BWF (Badminton World Federation) rankings. Her secret to success, “I use my heart to coach and sacrifice a lot.”
“My only regret is that I hoped to do a little better overall in an attempt to try to reflect his coaching ability through my results.”
“The biggest challenge is one of communication,” Nayyar calmly states. “That is, to truly understand what is being said and to reflect on that. Communication is an art and requires both verbal and non-verbal communication.”
Nayyar’s coaching style on court is best described as “calm in the face of a storm”. “I try to understand what kind of feedback the athlete needs, as in most cases I am not their personal coach, and try to deliver that to the best of my ability.”
Nayyar’s coaching resume is quite extensive, and with the highest level of coaching certification you can acquire with NCCP (National Coaching Certification Program), he has managed to succeed in his role as head coach. “[Nayyar] was able to resolve some communication issues between Toby and I,” Gao says, “and I think that was important.”
Gao agrees and adds, “It would have been nice if Kim had been there to coach us during the matches, as I believe he would have helped us both emotionally After all the dust has settled, the and strategically.” athletes have had time to reflect on their experience and perfor- A personal coach, it seems, is immance. “I felt my performance portant to the success of athletes With both teams having such was pretty typical,” Ng shares. in an individual sport. A con“I did not feel pressured at all. cept that National head coach Continued on page 30. I know there is a lot of tension Ram Nayyar is well aware of.
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LOOKING BACK: ANNA RICE
A nna Rice is a two-time for-
BCAN: How did you feel about mer Olympian, competing at your performance at the Olymboth Athens in 2004 and Bei- pics? jing in 2008, In Beijing, Anna became the first female singles AR: In 2004 I was happy with player from the Pan American how Denyse and I played, even if we lost our first match against zone to finish in the top 16. a top ranked pair. I gained huge Anna is now settled in Vancou- experience from that trip and ver, British Columbia with her felt much different four years husband, Bobby Milroy. She later heading into Beijing. I was is actively coaching and busy happy with my overall perforas an ambassador for a non- mance in Beijing, as I overcame profit association called Right some big personal challenges of dealing with pressure and also to Play. grief, as my Grandma died the BCAN: Was the qualification day I arrived to Beijing. I don’t process different for you than think I performed to my best in the athletes going to the 2012 my third match, but I gave it all I had on that day, which is all we Olympics? AR: Every Olympic qualification is unique. Depending on the player and their situation, there are so many factors that can affect the outcome. For Athens in 2004, Denyse Julien and I had a really hectic schedule as we tried to qualify for women’s doubles. We knew it would be down to the wire as to whether or not we’d qualify, so that was really stressful, and then so exciting and rewarding when we did end up qualifying as one of the very last spots. For the Beijing Olympics, my focus was on my first love of singles and I was lucky to know quite early on in the qualification period that my spot was secure. That allowed me to concentrate on developing my game as much as possible, without having to play too many tournaments and chase the qualifying points.
and I credit this work for helping me perform as I did.
BCAN: CBC did a documentary on struggling athletes and the cost to go to the Olympics. Were you a struggling athlete as well?
AR: There is a huge financial and emotional cost to pursuing your dreams in a sport such as badminton. The only way I was able to pursue my badminton dreams was by moving to Denmark, where I was able get the training and sparring necessary while also getting paid to play and coach.
The toughest times for me were my first few years in Denmark, when I had to coach a lot to make FIRST AND FOREMOST: ends meet. I remember some days where I would be up at 5:30am and on the public transit with my bike in order to get to the badminton hall by 7am, where I would coach a group of students from 7-8:30am, then train myself from 8:30-10:30am, then take the bus for another two hours to another badminton can ever ask of ourselves. club where I would coach from 1pm-6pm, then train myself BCAN: Did you feel prepared for from 7-9pm, then coach again that level of competition? from 9-11pm, then take the bus for another hour and be home AR: I definitely felt prepared for by midnight. Beijing with regards to the physical aspects of badminton, and That season really tested my reI guess I was also prepared on solve and I almost quit badminthe mental side, even if I didn’t ton altogether as I was so menanticipate to be dealing with the tally and physically exhausted loss of my Grandma during that by the end of the season. Thankperiod. The mental training I fully, my level had improved and had done in the two years before Continued on page 31. Beijing really taught me a lot,
MAKE SURE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH BADMINTON.
- ANNA RICE -
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It is with great sadness and a profound sense of loss to announce the passing of our colleague official and long time Badminton supporter Donald John Newhouse.
one of Manitoba’s original five national officials, and just last year he received the “official of the year” award from Badminton Canada.
Don spent lots of his time Below is an excerpt from visiting his mother, Margathe Manitoba Badminton ret Newhouse. Margaret Association, which Don was says that he passed away a member of: happily, after a weekend doing what he loved most, “Don has been involved badminton. with badminton for over 40 years and is known today She said that it was typical across Canada as one of the for Don’s conversation to most knowledgeable offirevolve around badminton, cials in the game. but most recently it was an increasing amount, showWhen the Canadian Bading that it truly was his pasminton Association created sion in life. its national officials association, Don was named as She was glad to see that he
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was officiating the weekend of his passing.” Don passed suddently and unexpectedly in his home on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at the age of 70 years.
Left to cherish Don’s memory are his mother Margaret; brother Ken; his cat and great friend Bandit; nieces; nephews; aunts; and uncles; as well as many new friends he had made.
Along with being a National level Referee, Don was a badminton player at the Winnipeg Winter Club, the Wildwood and Air Force. He was known for his sense
of humour, of which will be dearly missed by his friends and family.
“I had met Don at the Canoe Club. The last time I saw him was in 2006 while he was in Edmonton. We had a chance to share some laughs, he was amazing!” - Cheryl Johnson “We met Don 7 years ago when we joined the Winter Club. Our children played badminton and that’s how we had the opportunity to meet Don. Over the years we shared many laughs at tournaments. We will miss him and his sense of humour.” The Beettam Family.
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YONEX CANADA OPEN Continued from page 11.
getting Canada on the podium. “Emotions and expectations of athletes play out in many ways for many people,” Nayyar starts, “The thing for me to remember is always that finding balance is key. You cannot be over or under excited. For me, pressure is a part of the job, and success is different at every level and stage.”
the badminton public would be treated to seeing some of the best badminton in the world. The Yonex Canada Open 2013 will be held and it will bring its own nuisances of problems and opportunities and as long as we have Darryl and two club sandwiches 2013 will be the best Nayyar gives a piece of advice for aspiring Olympians, “I think year yet for the tournament. that both athletes, coaches and And how do I know all this? Well parents need to understand the I worked with Darryl as a com- path and complexity. Any sport mittee member for two of the at that level will require massive last three years and for 2012, I amounts of commitment, educaco-chaired the event with him. I tion, understanding and personalso sat on the other side of the al growth. It is an absolute must table while we ate those club that all parties understand the complexity around such a goal sandwiches. and have good council around them to help them filter the necCheers, Robert Wilson essary information.” In other words, it’s a long and tiring jour2012 OLYMPIC GAMES ney, but the reward on the other Continued from page 21. side of the fence is greater than simply a spot on the podium. excellent personal coaches, but only room for one on the OlymNg shares his learning experipic court, it remains up to Badences through his personal blog. minton Canada to hire someone “My goal is only to give a more through an open application realistic interpretation of how it process. The role of the National feels to travel and compete for Team coach remains extremely Canada.” Active on the Badminvaluable to Canada’s badminton ton Canada’s Player Association, program. “[It is] much different, Ng hopes to better promote badand more complex than people minton. It is through these outmay understand,” Nayyar says. lets that he shares his trials, in “What most people see is simply the hopes that someone will be the on-court portion, the realable to avoid his mistakes and ity is much is done behind the get a head start. “I was growing scenes.” up with terrible training ideas, but that was only because I The job undoubtedly comes with didn’t know any better. I used to a difficult task; the pressure to think that I shouldn’t play up to succeed. And success means a day before my match so I can 30
be ‘rested’.
“When I finally had the chance to go to Thomas Cup Finals in Indonesia in 2008, I saw Lin Dan training before his match, playing his match, and training after his match. I was terribly behind due to misguided belief. The sad thing was that I honestly didn’t know at the time. Now that I’ve taken the time to learn most of the system in a relatively short period of time, I try to share information when possible so future athletes can start training more effectively and efficiently.” He continues his advice to future Olympians, “Train now, compete now. Think of it this way; if you are trying to find your way to the center of a maze, would it be best to run through it head on, or try to survey the maze first? Be sure to [identify] your goals. There is a huge difference between ‘qualifying’ for the Olympics and ‘medalling’ at the Olympics and especially ‘winning’ the Olympics.” Gao added her own advice, “Train hard and believe in yourself.”
“If you have a passion and you truly love it, you will surprise yourself with what you can achieve,” Bruce says. Passion and belief, paired with hard work and preparation, can bring serious results. “Leading up to the tournament I would have said [that I felt fully prepared for this competition],” Bruce says. “But going through
everything we went through, I don’t think anything could have prepared me.”
ANNA RICE
Continued from page 23.
their best effort. It’s a bad situation all around.
I was able to earn more the fol- BCAN: Can you give any advice When everything finally came lowing season without having to to those Canadian team memtogether for these four fantastic coach as much. bers who plan to continue on for athletes, it was certainly the exthe next Olympics in 2016? perience of a lifetime, one that BCAN: What is your opinion on these athletes hope to repeat at the match fixing scandal? Have AR: My advice to the current Nathe 2016 Olympics. you ever seen this in Interna- tional team members who are Ng sums up the next level of tional competition before? aiming for the 2016 Olympics competition for any athlete, and would be to put the Olympics out it begins in your mind. “The ma- AR: Anyone who knows me of their minds, especially for the jor difference I felt which was knows I’m quite opinionated, coming two years. For now, it is hampering my success - other so of course I had an opinion important to set other goals and than shot quality and efficiency on the match fixing scandal. really focus on developing your - is quite simple. I knew HOW Firstly, I blame the structure of game, and then when it comes to hit shots, WHAT shots to hit, the doubles and mixed doubles time for the qualifying period WHY I should hit them, but the pool play. Only one team per to begin again, you can be conWHEN and WHERE was signifi- pool should have progressed to fident that you are a much imcantly different. the single knockout rounds. Sec- proved player and the necessary ondly, I blame the BWF for not results will take care of them“I didn’t have [Moon’s] experi- dealing with match fixing in our selves. If you focus too much on ence and I felt that this really sport when the perfect opportu- qualifying for this team or that separated me from being an nity arose back in 2008, when team, your game doesn’t develideal player with his techniques. Chinese head coach Li Yongbo op and then qualifying for the Sometimes I knew WHEN to ex- publicly admitted that China de- Olympics becomes much more ecute a strategy, but the shot cided in advance who would win difficult. My coach and I took placement was wrong. Other when there were two teams or this approach between Athens times I knew WHERE to hit, but players from China competing and Beijing and it made a huge it might have been the wrong against one another. China is not difference for me. time. Otherwise, I could easily the only country who does this, explain what, how, and why a but they are the only ones to BCAN: Can you give any advice player should do certain things, have admitted it publicly in such to our future aspiring Olympibut I guess it was the when and a way, so the opportunity for dis- ans? where that really separated me cussion was there. Unfortunatefrom the player he hoped I could ly, the BWF chose to ignore the is- AR: First and foremost: make be. sue until the situation in London sure you fall in love with badforced them to finally address it. minton. The exceptional players “Sure, it may be an over-sim- With the amount of betting that and coaches I’ve been fortunate plistic way of analyzing bad- goes on in our sport nowadays, enough to work with taught me minton, but I hope the upcom- I think badminton should follow this, as it will not only help you ing Canadian players can reflect tennis and start implementing a achieve your goals, it will also on these simple things: at some lifetime ban for any player found stay with you long after the tourpoint, it gets more complicated to be losing on purpose. I saw naments and titles won are forthan WHO to hit to. And WHERE many matches throughout my gotten. might not really be the backhand career where it was evident that anymore.” one player or pair was not giving 31