This tournament was kind of a last minute deal and something
sort of spontaneous. I was fortunate enough to acquire a sponsor that gave me
full support to attend the tournament and that made it a must attend. As well
two of my friends were living/training in Korea so I would get to see them. In
2013 I competed in the Brazil international cup and made it to 2nd
round there which gave me a lot of world ranking points. This year however they
were testing the 11 point system at that tournament and I was not really
wanting to enter because of that. Due to not entering this meant I would lose
all those ranking points and my rank would drop, not something I needed to
happen. So out of the blue this opportunity presented itself and I jumped on
it, play a tournament and go back to Asia of course I was in. I had traveled a
decent amount this year but the thing is that I booked a lot of flights on
rewards points which meant that I didn’t acquire status miles on those flights.
This meant that I might not even get status for 2015 and that’s a year that a
lot of travel would be happening be it Olympic Qualifications starting in May. Because
of this I booked my flight to Korea through Asiana airlines but that meant
flying to LA first then to Seoul, Korea.
The day came it was time to leave and of course being
Calgary there was snow on the ground, it was November after all. Arrived at the
airport checked in and went to catch my flight but guess what it would be
delayed. No big deal I thought I had a 2 and a half hour layover in LA before
my flight to Korea how bad could it be right? Wrong turns out we were delayed
almost 2 hours so I got into LA half an hour before my flight to Korea
departed. Talk about stressful the next flight to Korea was the following
morning and that would mess everything up, so I had to run (me and one other
guy) through the terminals to get to the international terminal. Arriving at
the gate just as the last few passengers were boarding the plane I had
successfully made my flight but unfortunately my luggage didn't. 12 hours later
I stepped off the plane in Incheon airport and had no luggage just my badminton
bag and backpack. Now the fun part because the journey wasn't over I still had
to take a bus roughly 4 hours south into Korea to make it to Jeonju. This was
the killer part after flying for almost 15 hours already to sit down even more,
I just slept the majority of the ride except when we had a pit stop.
4 hours of driving through the Korean countryside
So I arrived in Jeonju and got picked up by the tournament,
dropped off at my hotel and told that my luggage would arrive the next day at
1pm. Thankfully I was in main draw and that meant that I did not have to go
through qualification on the first day. This let me rest and wait for my
luggage but not really explore or walk around. I got a little familiar with the
immediate area but there wasn't much to see just places to eat and the odd
store. There was a bunch of hotels grouped together where we were but they were
almost like hostels or “other” kind of hotels judging by the area and all the
gentlemen’s clubs that surrounded us. The interesting multicolored lighting in
the rooms and the light up hot tub didn't help break the perception of the
place either. Regardless it was still a nice hotel and perfectly fine for
staying a week in the country. After having a hit in the main hall it wasn't
looking to bad, the venue was big but because of the altitude and weather it
felt similar to playing in Calgary which would be nice. The downside though was
that the venue was cold and during the tournament you would see the umpire and
service judge wearing actual winter jackets to stay warm.
The area around the hotel
Signs like this everywhere
My hot tub/Jacuzzi changed colors...
The following day rolled around and it was match time, I was
scheduled to play one of the first matches in the morning while Grace and Henry
(my 2 friends from Calgary who are living/training in Korea) were scheduled to
play just after noon. I played a left handed player from Korea and at first
appearances it was obvious just the physical differences between us. He was
easily 6 feet and a bit as well was stockier in a good way compared to me. I
appeared to be a small kid standing next to him, this also made him a beast on
court easily covering the court and making moving him around a tough mission. Needless
to say I got my ass handed to me on that faithful day, I just was not able to
keep up to him in any way, shape, or form. There were some points where I
played amazing and just by looking at that one would think I was on top but in
reality they were rare strokes of pure luck mixed in with a bit of genius but
my lack of experience or my uncertainty/over thinking was what ultimately lead
to my downfall. After my match I stayed and watched Henry's and Graces mixed
match, they had a close one with a Korean pair.
Tournament Venue
Well that was the tournament for me, nothing I wasn't
accustomed to fly all that way play 1 match and then be done. For half of the
draw that is the tournament, you fly all that way and lose 1st
round, the other half wins and advances. But although the tournament was done I
still had a day left in Jeonju to go out and explore. When we went back to the
hotel Grace and Henry invited me out to eat and also invited the Egyptians out
as well. So I would make 2 more friends as well as get some good Koran food
that day. The following day would be my last in Korea before beginning the long
journey back home, a quick turnaround just 5 days in the country which is
normal for me traveling to tournaments. We all went out for some Korean hot pot
and then later on in the day me Grace and the 2 Egyptians went to sight see in
a place referred to as Hanok Village and it was a traditional looking area,
lots of shopping as well as a fantastic church to see, Pungnammun Gate which
was quite the sight located in the middle of a built up shopping area. Also
went to Gyeonggijeon Hall which was a symbol of the Joseon Dynasty where the
king had his royal palace. We spent a few hours browsing around and I was able
to get some gifts for people as well as take lots of pictures to remember my
trip down south in Jeonju, Korea. The day was not done yet though, there was
still dinner plans for later.
Pungnammun Gate
Once we left the area and got back to the hotel, Grace told
me that we would be meeting up with one of their friends for dinner and drinks
later. The night started off with Korean BBQ and as always everything is so
much better in its country of origin. The food was amazing, the various cuts of
meat we got melted in one’s mouth and the flavor was both intense yet
satisfying. The night was still young an after Korean BBQ and getting loaded up
on both Soju and Korean beer we headed to get what else but fried chicken,
something Korea is famous for and does damn well. Finding a location that was
close to our hotel we hit it up and went crazy with the chicken and of course
more drinking both Soju and beer. At this point we had had a lot to drink but
at the same time I made sure to drink my fair share of water so I wouldn't have
a nasty hangover to deal with the next day. I had already done the party all
night and then fly super early in the morning the following/same day many times
before and doing it without a hangover makes it substantially more bearable. We
finished around 2/3 am and I had to catch the bus at 8am to take the 3 hour
drive to Incheon Airport near Seoul in order to catch my 1pm flight back home
to Canada. Needless to say I ended up getting a few hours of sleep followed by
a hot shower to wake me up but ended up sleeping the entire bus ride up to the
airport.
Before...
The aftermath
Friend Chicken in Korea
So that was that, the trip to Korea had come and I was on my
way back home well to LA then to Calgary. The upside was that I would be flying
in style on the Airbus A380, the double decked plane, but would be in for a
surprise. I had only booked an economy class ticket on the 2nd floor
but at the last minute I was able to upgrade it to a business class ticket on
the 2nd floor. It might not be one of the private suites downstairs
but it was still nice to fly a 12 hour flight in business and have a pod with a
lay flat bed to relax on. The trip was complete I arrived back home Friday
night and would sleep then go to work Saturday morning for 8:30am only to
finish 9pm that same night. What about jet lag you ask well it was there and was
it every a tough, long, and painful day…another that was repeated on Sunday as well.
That was Korea, my 2nd last international of the year, I would play
1 more tournament to cap off 2014 and that would be Puerto Rico.
After moving back from Vancouver I didn't have any immediate
tournament plans other than potentially playing in the Pan Am Championships
which is our yearly regional badminton championships. July to be correct with
the US Open in New York was my last international, so come October 15, 2014 I
headed out on tour again. This year Pan Am’s were in Markham, Ontario because
in 2015 Markham will host the Pam Am Games which happens every 4 years and is a
replication of the Olympics just on a regional level/scale. This time I would
see myself competing in my 2nd Pan Am Championships but only in the
individual event as there were no other Trinidad players attending to enter a
team. My 1st Pan Am’s were in 2011 in Lima, Peru but this time it
was a lot closer to home…it was in Canada just on the other side of the country.
It would be stupid of me to pass up that opportunity with it so close to home
and I would not have to spend much money to attend just fly over for the
weekend play and come back home. One of my friends from Barbados also wanted to
attend and she was the only player from her country going to so we ended up
playing mixed together for the individual events to get in an extra match and
make the most of the trip.
So I left Calgary and jumped on a plane to Toronto which
isn't that long of a flight and because of how often I've flown that by now its
next to nothing. Thankfully it wasn't a red eye flight so I arrived at a decent
time and wasn't tired from it. Sabrina arrived a few hours before me but didn't
get picked up so when I arrived we linked up and were driven to Markham in
style. The hotel was fabulous a nice brand new Hilton suits built almost on the
outskirts of the town. There was a shopping center and park across the street
and then not much else aside from stuff a 10-15 minute walk away. The best part
though was the room that we got it was a suite with a kitchenette in it and
pretty much looked and felt like a condo. There was also a fitness club, that’s
right an entire club built into the hotel as it was also for outside use but we
got free access to it pool and all.
The room was a condo pretty much
The facility was the new Pan Am center which they built
specifically for the Pan Am games happening in 2015 at the same location. The
Games are a multisport event that happens once every 4 years so it is a big
deal and there is a lot of infrastructure going into preparing for them. So the
facility was brand spanking new you could smell the paint that was recently
used as well as they were still building or completing parts of the building.
When I arrived the team event was just finishing and the finals were going on
so went to the facility to watch those as well as try to get a hit in the
practice area to adapt to the conditions. The thing is that the practice area
and the main hall felt like 2 different areas despite being in the same
building and just separated by a wall. The following day was a break and then
matches for the individual event would commence the following day but first there was the opening ceremonies for the individual event. This had all the athletes walk in together showing what country they were from and of course I was the only representative from mine. Following that were some speeches from the planning committee, city officials, etc and then a lion dance proceeded and concluded the opening ceremony.
I and
Sabrina had our mixed match in the morning followed by a nice break and then
singles in the afternoon/evening. In mixed we played a pair from Peru and
things got interesting as we were doing pretty well for never playing together
before but the Peruvian got a lot angry when Sabrina flicked him a few times
and got all giggly about it. He was pissed off and started to show his anger
both verbally as well as in his shot selection. So that was my experience with
the mixed doubles it was fun and I thank Sabrina for playing with me for it we
had a good time out there. Evening came and that meant time for the main event, men’s
singles to start. I was one of the first matches up and was on the TV court
playing against Daniel Paiola from Brazil who was also the 4th seed
for the tournament. It was going to be an interesting match and despite the
scores the match was pretty good with decent quality rallies and some good
points. Ultimately though the difference in skill level proved too great and
Daniel had a relatively easy time closing out the match to win. That meant my time
at Pan Am’s was over but I still had 2 days left in Markham to kill before
heading back home.
One night I ended up going to play badminton with a friend
from the area named Vincent, we ended up playing out of a club based in one of
the local high schools. Armed with my badminton gear and google maps I made my
way to the club and had some matches with him and his friends, it was a fun
time to just relax and play some fun badminton for a change. Other than that I
did not do much sightseeing as going to downtown Toronto or even out to Niagara
Falls was a pretty far drive/transit ride as well the weather wasn't always
nice. I did however venture around Markham or at least the area I was in when
it was sunny enough to. Apart from all that I spent my free time sleeping or in
the gym at the hotel because sleep is something I don’t get much of at home.
More so the opportunity to sleep in till 11am or 1pm since I have training and
stuff to do in the early mornings. Plus I have been to Toronto before and am sure
that I will go back again, despite being a 4 and a half hour flight away for
being in the same country.
Just like that Pan Am’s had come to an end and I would be
flying back home, another tournament completed another trip taken be that not
too far from home. I got to spend time with my friends, Kamasha and Sabrina.
The 3 of us ended up going out for sushi that night before both me and Sabrina
left the next day, I had an unfortunate 6am flight back to Calgary which meant
leaving with the Brazil team at 4am in the morning. Returning to Calgary I
would end up coaching that night what a life it is that of an athlete from
training, competing, coaching, that leaves very little time to myself or to
relax even. All was not over though I would have to start preparing for the
next tournament which would be a bit further away, back to Asia again this time
Korea for a tournament there.
