VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 Event Name Here
Badminton Canada Magazine 1
Featured Athlete
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Badminton Canada Newsletter 5
Special Report
He came, he saw, he conquered; but badminton in Canada won! Peter Gade one of the greatest badminton players of the last 2 decades chose ClearOne to make his first appearance in Canada this last February. Peter did this in support of Darryl Yung the owner of ClearOne and a leader and pioneer for badminton in Canada. Darryl, a former Canadian Olympian (1996 Atlanta) Badminton player has taken the leadership role in promoting badminton in Canada. He started the badminton warehouse craze 10 years ago in Richmond and has since expanded to Calgary and to
Orlando Florida. He has coached many students to the Canadian Championships, the Pan American Championships and Toby Ng to represent Canada at the London Olympics. For many years Darryl has wanted to bring Peter Gade to Canada. In fact, Peter and Darryl had been working to coordinate this event for a number of years. Schedules never matched until February of this year when it finally clicked. Peter came to ClearOne and in addition to performing an exhibition night also put on training sessions
QUICK STATS: Country: Denmark Highest Ranking: 1 Current Ranking: 23 Age: 36 Height: 6ft Status: Retired
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Special Report
for what were many of Canada’s next Olympic hopefuls. Anyone taking his class will never forget the passion and intensity that Peter brings to coaching. Often the
HIS TRADEMARK SHOT: The “double action”. The so-called “double action” of the racket sends the shuttle to the back of the court, while aiming to bring the player towards the net. 8 Badminton Canada Magazine
best players don’t make good coaches. Not the case with Peter as I can attest to firsthand experience having taken a class.
worked, well almost worked. Peter’s defensive skills were simply too much for Jacky and when Peter was able to advance his own offensive weaponry it was too much The highlight of Peter’s visit was for Jacky. So after a brilliant disindeed the exhibition night. Hun- play of offense and defense, Peter dreds of badminton enthusiasts prevailed and won in two straight gathered at ClearOne on Sat Feb games. Jacky’s efforts were ex9th to pay witness to an entire eve- ceptional and especially in lieu of ning devoted to the speed, grace the fact that Jacky had suffered a and skill necessary to perform at severe back injury snowboarding the highest level in an extremely a year ago and had only recentchallenging sport. ly been approved to start playing again. First up was a singles match with ClearOne’s Jacky Ruan. Jacky a top First event of the evening- Advanjunior national player in China and tage Peter. now a top coach at ClearOne put on a display of “fireworks.” He was Next up were a series of mini relentless, attacking everything games where Peter played some of that Peter put over the net. And it ClearOne’s rising stars. Peter man-
aged to eke out a few more wins. Advantage Peter Peter then put on a display of “trick” shots with what the viewing audience must assume requires a type of being double jointed. It just looks that way. These shots you watch over and over again and muse to yourself, “how did he do that”? Advantage Peter The last game of the evening was a doubles match that pitted the ClearOne reigning Canada and Pan American Champions of Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng against Peter and Thomas Stavngaard. This proved to be very interesting as Peter was a world doubles champion when he was a junior and Thomas was a doubles specialist when he played and achieved a world number 2 ranking. The matched lived up to its billing. Derrick and Adrian fought valiantly and took a small lead with only a few points to go. Then Derrick attempted one of Peter’s “trick” shots that he had only a few minutes ago shown to the viewers.
match. Advantage Peter…well actually Advantage Canadian Badminton
Darryl’s perseverance in bringing Peter to Canada paid off for Canadians. We were treated to exceptional badminton by an exceptional individual in Peter Gade. Peter put on a wonderful display of skill and grace and carried the grace over to signing autographs and having his photo taken with the The attempt failed, much to the fans. He imparted knowledge for chagrin of Peter who immediate- our youth badminton players and ly during the match stopped ev- he helped enhance the foundation erything and held an impromptu for excellence in badminton that lesson to show Derrick the proper Darryl has pioneered at ClearOne. form. The crowd was ecstatic! After that Peter and Thomas managed Peter came, won all his games, to win the last point of the game put on a great display of skill and 30-29 in a one game only doubles coached our next generation of
badminton stars and the winner was badminton for all of Canada! Cheers, Robert Wilson
ON LIN DAN: “Its normal for Lin Dan to drop a set but in the end, he will secure the match. When everyone starts questioning his condition, he will prove his prowess and that's Lin Dan for you.” Badminton Canada Magazine 9
EventFans Super Name Here
Badminton is a Family Affair Badminton Outaouais in their for the Richer Clan hometown of There was lots of excitement Gatineau. on the courts at the 2013 Yonex Canadian Badminton Cham- With their Dad, joining pionships this past February in Patrick, Gatineau, QC - but for 11-year them in the stands old Noah Richer and his 9-year and their Mom, old younger brother Kian, the Anick, the courtthrill of seeing their Olympic he- side tournament roes on and off the court made physiotherapist, the event extra special. You the Richer family see, during the chilly Canadian didn’t miss a secwinter months, when other kids ond of play during are on the ice of a local hockey the 5-day nationchampionship rink or plummeting down the al slopes of a nearby ski hill, Kian event. Badminand Noah are chasing shuttle- ton is in all of their cocks, learning court position blood so they made and having all sorts of fun with the commitment to their court friends at Club Élite make the tourna10 Badminton Canada Magazine
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ment a family affair. “We all play several day a week at Club Élite,” says Anick, “and when we heard that the national badminton championships were going to be in the area, only months after the London
Olympics, we were all super excited to see so many of the athletes we saw on TV last summer play in-person here. It was a phenomenal opportunity to see our sport played at the highest level and to meet all of the players we admire so much.” There was no question who the boys were there to see most. “Alex Bruce!” said Kian. The Richer’s were captivated by the success Bruce and her doubles partner, Michelle Li, had in London when they reached the Bronze Medal match. When Badminton Canada Magazine 11
Noah and Kian received a personalized autograph from Bruce shortly after the Games, their favourite player position was cinched. “Missing a bit of school and badminton practice to be here for the week was well worth it,” said Patrick. “Meeting Alex and Michelle and other national team players will be something that all of us, but especially the boys, will remember for the rest of their lives.” But the hero status is something that Bruce has to get used to. “The experience in London was crazy - certainly on the court, as I never could have imagined we’d get to a medal match, but with the media attention the whole situated generated, the activity away from the court was a lot of fun too,” said Bruce.
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“To have little guys like Noah world-class badminton comes to the Capital region at the Ottawa and Kian look up to me is a bit International Challenge in June 2013. surreal. I still remember what it felt like to meet my favourite players when I was younger. But I also think it’s important for younger players to see what the next level looks like so you can visualize yourself being there.” The experience at the national championships has fueled an even greater fire for the sport of badminton in the whole Richer family. They’re already counting the days until the next time
National Officials
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Badminton Canada Magazine 15
International Event
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International Event
November 3-4, 2012: First of all, the flight and bus ride were long and exciting. They even let us discover beautiful landscapes when we travelled over Alaska. Once we arrived in Korea, our first culture shock was when we stopped for dinner, and it was then that I really understood that I was in another country, and I would even say, a completely different universe from Canada.
men, it was impressive to hear them all practice at the same time. This gave us confidence in the tournament’s umpiring. Once practice was over, everyone was tired from the jet lag so we went to bed at around 8:00 p.m. November 6, 2012: Tuesday was the tournament’s first day of team competitions. Canada was ranked eighth. In fact, we were equal with Hong Kong, but during the coaches’ meeting, lots were drawn and we ended up in eighth position and Hong Kong in ninth. So that put us in the pool with Japan and South Africa. In the morning, we went to see the match-up between these two countries to prepare ourselves for when we played them.
November 5, 2012: The next day was a training day for all countries. So we had our first training at 9 a.m. in the smaller of the two badminton stadiums, which has approximately 1,000 seats. We then had a training session at 2 p.m. in the bigger stadium, the one with 8,500 seats. When we entered the stadium, it was really amazing Our first match against South Africa was at 4:00 p.m. The to see its size. opening ceremony was at There was also a training ses- 2 p.m. When Canada was sion in process for the lines- named, we entered the stadiBadminton Canada Magazine 17
International Event
and a huge shiver travelled through every athlete. And when the words “LEE YONG DAE” were announced, it was even more intense; there were hundreds of girls screaming and crying because they wanted pictures with him. He is a star over there, as he’s 2nd Every country received this kind of in the world in men’s doubles and had welcome, however, Korea was the host already won an Olympic gold medal in country and they came last. When they mixed doubles. said the words “SOUTH KOREA” into the microphone, the number of deci- After the ceremony, it was time for our bels in the stadium almost doubled first match against South Africa. Everyum and the feeling was indescribable. The stands were almost full and all the supporters were shouting as if it was a huge performance. The whole crowd greeted us and took pictures of the athletes.
thing went well; we won the game 5 to 0. The closest match was the women’s doubles with Bethany So and Caroline Vézina where we won 21-19, 18-21 and 21-16. As for me, I was a little nervous because of all the emotions that I felt during the ceremony, and because it was my first time representing Canada in such a large scale team event. November 7, 2012: On the morning of November 7, at 9 am, we 18 Badminton Canada Magazine
had to face Japan, ranked 4th in the tournament. It was a tough game for all team members. The Japanese quickly set the pace and won the five games. Martin Giuffre from Western Ontario University was able to win a set against the singles player from Japan. In this match, I lost in the mixed doubles with Pierre-Étienne Pilote. Philippe Charron and Pieric Langlais-Gagné played the men’s doubles and Roxanne Fraser
International Event
played the women’s doubles with Tracy Wong. Despite our five losses, our coach Stéphane Cadieux was proud of our performances. After these matches, we finished second in our pool, which put us in the quarterfinals. This match was at 4:00 p.m. against Chinese Taipei, ranked 2nd in the tournament. This match-up was also very tiring. We weren’t able to keep up with the high speed of the Taiwanese game. The match therefore ended
3-0 in their favour. As we weren’t in the pool anymore, five games were no longer required. However, our tournament didn’t end here. We had the chance to play for positions 5 to 8. November 8, 2012: The first match was against Russia. The game started with Pieric Langlais-Gagné and Philippe Charron in the men’s doubles. This Badminton Canada Magazine 19
International Event
match was key and very intense. The match was very close. The boys finally won the game, 21-19, 11-21 and 22-20. We were leading 1-0. The women’s singles came next. Although she was very nervous because she was desperate to win, Bethany So played exceptionally well to win against the Russian 21-14 and 21-14. There was only one game left to win to go on and play for 5th position. The next match was the men’s singles with Martin Giuffre. We were very confident of winning this match 3-0, knowing that Martin is a very gifted and consistent player in singles. He actually won the first set 21-10. We sensed victory, but 20 Badminton Canada Magazine
things got a little tougher. Martin began to play nervously and eventually lost the other two sets 8-21 and 11-21. Nerves were at their worst when the women’s doubles with Roxanne Fraser and Tracy Wong began. In the end, they won both sets with scores of 21-13 and 21-5. The whole team was really happy as we were now going to face Spain for 5th position. The games were quick, we lost 3 to 0. So we finished 6th. November 9, 2012: November 9 was the first day of the singles tournament. We spent all day at the stadium
International Event
cheering on all the Canadian team members. Every player had the right to participate in up to two disciplines. I would say that everyone delivered a strong performance, some managed to win their first round in either one or both disciplines. In fact, Pieric Langlais-Gagné, Nathan Lee, Bethany So, Roxanne Fraser, Pierre-Étienne Pilote, Tracy Wong and Caroline Vézina all managed to win at least one game. Nevertheless, we were able to see some very impressive games between the Koreans, Chinese, Japanese and even the Europeans. Just participating in this event was great for us to improve as players, as it showed us how much speed is a key factor in badminton.
Then, we had the opportunity, with our missionary, to be able to visit the soccer stadium where the Soccer World Cup was held in 2002. It was a great moment; it was very impressive to see. Next, the tournament organizing committee had organized a small tour of the city’s sights for all the players who were interested. So we joined in the tour. We visited parks, lakes and temples. It was a long walk outside which allowed us to enjoy the moment and relax after the week of badminton we had experienced. We then had the chance to visit downtown Gwangju. It was completely different from what we see here in Canada. Everything is really closed in, but at the same time very open. There are colours and lights everywhere. It really is a science-fiction environment.
We also had the chance to go to a typical Korean restaurant where we had to sit on the ground. It was really an awesome experience to discover this culture that is so different from ours.
November 10, 2012: On Saturday, the tournament was over for all Canadians, so we went to watch the quarter-final matches. Each of these games was more exciting than the last.
In general, this experience was very rewarding. It allowed us to discover new cultures, a new country, new people, and very high calibre badminton. We have all grown from this experience. I would like to thank all the players who shared this experience with me as well as coach Stéphane Cadieux and our manager, Jimena Rebolledo. Badminton Canada Magazine 21
Nutrition
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Women’s Doubles was the specialty of Dorothy Tinline of the Boulevard Club, Toronto. A strong team player, she made up for the lack of a powerful smash with superb tactics and shot selection. Partnered with the incomparable Marj Shedd, Dorothy won nine consecutive provincial doubles championships in the 1960’s. Nationally, she made her
presence known by winning four consecutive doubles titles in the Canadian Open events in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, as well as four titles in the closed championships in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966. Dorothy represented Canada in three international appearances in the contest for the Ladies International Badminton Championship for the Uber Cup. Her love of the game was evidenced by her activity
in tournaments over the past 40 years. She is the all-time indefatigable competitor. Dorothy has amassed numerous honours for her contribution to badminton: Badminton Canada’s H. I. Evans Award, Province of Ontario Special Achievement Award, BWF Distinguished Service Award, and Induction to the Canadian Amateur Sports Hall of Fame to name a few. - Badminton Ontario Badminton Canada Magazine 23
International Events
TEAM CANADA WINS BACK TO BACK PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS!
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Many of the Yonex Canadian National Team members, in addition to some of Canada’s finest upcoming players, attended the 2012 Pan Am Championships to compete in both Team and Individual Events. The Team event was represented by Nyl Yakura, Adrian Liu, Derrick Ng, Toby Ng, Joycelyn Ko, Christin Tsai, Alex Bruce, Phyllis Chan and coached by Jeff White. Although Olympians Michelle Li and Grace Gao were missing in action, as they were sidelined to recover from their injuries, the team was able to come through and defeat the USA in the finals to take a consecutive team event title! Joining the team for the individual events were Philippe Charron and Sergiy Shatenko. In the end, Canada took 4 titles and 6 overall medals from the event! Toby Ng - Badminton Canada Players Association
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“After winning [singles at] the Pan Am Championships, I was extremely careful not to let it get into my head as I knew the level of badminton in Asia and Europe is much higher. Yes they are only juniors, but a lot of these players are making it to the semifinals in Senior Grand Prix Gold tournaments if not further, and have incredibly high world rankings. But winning the Pan Am Champs definitely set me onto the right path going in
to compete at the World Ju- merely the variety of techniors. niques and the incredible speed and power in their I’ve competed in the World game, but it’s also how they Juniors for two years in a row put their hearts into every now (previously in Taiwan, match they play, regardless if 2011), and I have to say that it’s the first round or the finals. simply getting to watch the sport being showcased at the It is truly an inspiration that highest possible level is the pushes me to just try that most remarkable part for me. much harder at every practice.” Even though all the competitors are juniors, what they’re Christin Tsai - in an interview capable of doing never ceas- with the BCAN Players Associes to amaze me. And it’s not ation
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Club News
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