I have been so busy lately that I haven’t had time to be a “normal” person as I like to call it. I have seen friends here and there but it’s usually just the passing by hi and a quick 5 minute (ok that’s being optimistic) conversation about how life is going. Then I have to run off to either one of the few classes I have or off to the club for training. Training takes up the greater majority of my day with minimum 2 hours on court a day (ranges from 2-4 hours) and then another hour in the gym for weights and one more hour for fitness/cardio type workout. On top of that there are 1-3 hours of school depending on the day and then 2-3 hours of work coaching as well depending on the day.
I’m not complaining about it, I know that I choose this and I have my goals that I want to meet. I would like to compete in the 2014 Commonwealth games in Glasgow, Scotland. After that I would potentially like to try and qualify for the 2016 Olympics. That is 3 and 5 years away from now but it will all be determined by what I do today and tomorrow, etc. To get me one step closer to my goals I will be traveling to Asia once again this summer to train there for a couple of months. My coach (Ardy Wiranata, 1992 Olympic silver medalist and winner of countless other prestigious titles) was able to arrange for me to train in Indonesia.
To facilitate all this I will be playing more internationals in the coming years and this summer as well. The current line up for 2011 is as follows, how closely I will be able to follow it is unsure yet.
April 6-10, 2011: Osaka International Challenge (as long as it’s still on)
July 12-16 2011: US Open Grand Prix Gold
July 19-24 2011: Canadian Open Grand Prix
August 31-September 3 2011: Carebaco International
September 8-11 2011: Cuscatlan Open International
November 9-12 2011: XIII Miami International
December 13-17 2011: Canadian International Challenge
It is a big list of tournaments and will be a tough year as well since starting in May of 2011 it is Olympic qualification period for the 2012 London games. That means that there will be a lot of big names making it out to tournaments to boost their world ranking. The only thing that will keep me back is funding which is why I am always looking for sponsors but it’s a circle of you need results to get sponsored but need money to go to tournaments to get the results. So for the time being we will see how this goes, that’s the tentative schedule though.
So that’s the start of everything, As of Thursday March 10, 2011 I am ranked 554 in the world for men’s singles. My goal for the end of the 2011 year is to be ranked in the top 200 in the world. Well it all starts here so I will keep this updated as best I can with everything that is happening.
Dude, if you want to save money on tournaments, then it's better to save up and do a couple of tournaments at a time.
ReplyDeleteYou're also better off playing something like:
Apr 14-17 - Peru IC (vs. Osaka IC)
Jul 12-16 - US GPG (maybe... depends on your ranking)
Jul 19-24 - Canada GP
Sep 08-11 - Cuscatlan FS (maybe...)
Sep 14-18 - Guatemala IC
Sep 22-25 - Brazil IC
Sep 29-Oct 02 - Columbia FS (maybe...)
Oct 15-20 - Pan Am Games (can't you?)
Oct 27-30 - Santo Domingo IS
Nov 02-06 - Puerto Rico IC
Nov 09-12 - Miami FS
Dec 13-17 - Canada IC
Anyway, to quickly explain things, Future Series tournaments give really really weak points even for winning, so I wouldn't really recommend them especially because they are usually quite out of the way. The Pan Am region has really started increasing their prize money so there are a lot more International Series or Challenge tournaments which would be better for you. The draws are a little harder, but you also get more points for making more rounds. Another plus is that you can usually go play a few tournaments in a row, getting more value for your plane ticket. Try not to book Air Canada but see what your options are on various internet sites, like Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak, etc. for a multi-city trip. Otherwise, check with a travel agent. The other plus with the Series and Challenge tournaments is that you may be able to network a little more and possibly share accomodations with other people. There are usually a decent group of Canadians going and there are also some Americans who may be looking for people to share with as well.
Anyway, if you want more info, just message me off Facebook or something.
Weird, I thought I posted a comment a few days ago. It was about playing more International Series and Challenges in the Pan Am region and looking for at least two tournaments to play, instead of going out for a single week.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if you didn't get the message, let me know and I'll write out th gist of it again.
hum dont think I got your comment Toby, I was looking at the list and there are some its just the case of having school as well to deal with unless I take the semester of.
ReplyDeletefor Miami I could either go to puerto rico or suriname the week after. We will see all depending on what happens.