2016 Mexico International Guadalajara, Mexico

Just like that my time in my own bed was over and it was back into the air to fly away again. Thankfully this time it wasn’t too far and was still on the same continent. Mexico was the destination this time, Guadalajara to be exact. Originally the tournament was scheduled to take place in Cancun but just 20 days before the tournament they changed the location, thankfully I didn’t book my flight yet at that point. Cancun would have been a fantastic place, beach and everything but the location change was beneficial as a bunch of players withdrew due to it. The singles draw was just a 32 size while the doubles draw ended up being a 16 size draw but there was less than 8 teams present which usually would not award any world ranking points. Due to the discretion of the tournament referee he choose to leave the withdrawn doubles pairs in the draw therefore having it more than 8 teams and awarding world ranking points.

 

Being in Mexico for so few days I didn't need much cash

But first before we even get to the tournament it was the matter of flying there. I would once again be going through Houston airport. Matt would have the same route but we would be arriving on different flights, I got in around 8pm and Matt arrived just after midnight. So I waited in the airport for him this way I wouldn’t have to taxi by myself, I did send in a transportation request though but when I landed there wasn’t anybody around to pick me up. So I was waiting for matt for sure. We made it to the hotel in one piece but it was super late already so being able to crash into bed was greatly appreciated. Not that it was super long flights I had to endure but just cumulative it was a lot of travel already and taking a toll on my body.

 

The tournament venue was set up really well

This is the unfortunate blog entry because I really didn’t see much in Mexico I was just in Guadalajara for a grand total of 3 days. But first things first the following day we were able to head to the hall and practice and the set up wasn’t bad. For an international series it was comparable to Brazil the week before, of course Brazil was better but Mexico was in the right direction. The venue itself was good no windows, there was a drift but not the end of the world like in other venues. We used the practice courts behind the main courts at first and then eventually we had our time on the main courts later. So feeling decent about playing there the draws were changed for singles due to the withdrawal of players. I had a bye then a local Mexican for my first round followed by Hock Lai Lee of USA, which was not the most ideal match. But I would worry about that the following day when the tournament started, Matt had a local Mexican first round too.

 

First day of competition kicked off and it went really well, I played against a junior and won my match fairly easily. It was the only match that I would have for the day and I was feeling good about playing Hock the following day as well as doubles. When the second day rolled around I played singles in the morning and boy was that quite the adventure it was a tough match against a good player. Hock use to play under the Malaysian flag and trained with current world #1 and 3 time Olympic silver medalist Lee Chong Wei. It was an uphill battle the whole way as he just had so much more experience than me and was able to read the game so well as to what I was going to play. We did have some good rallies and it was always when I was able to rally him I would win the point. It was not the match that I wanted, if I would have won that I would have made a semi-final and gotten a medal which would have been nice. But alas it was not meant to be that day and I lost, I would have to regroup fast though as we had doubles shortly afterwards.

 

Doubles came around and that was quite the matchup, we would play both the players we played in singles. It was quite the battle with both me and Matt making lots of mistakes and letting the youngsters score lots of points against us which isn’t what we would have liked. 3 games in and it wasn’t our day either, 3^rd tournament for world championships qualifications and we had a disappointing loss in the semifinals. After that happened we were scheduled to leave the next day back to Canada and USA respectively but we decided to try and leave that same night. I had just acquired gold status with united which also gave me star alliance gold status to. This being said we were able to fly on standby and were successful getting through to our destinations a whole day early.

But aside from the tournament I didn’t see much at all in the city. There was a plaza not more than a few blocks away from us but I was so busy that I didn’t get time to go over and fully explore it. Just the quick stroll down the street as we went to find food to eat. There was a giant Guadalajara sign in the plaza though that I would have really liked to get a picture with but that didn’t happen. This just happened to be one of those times where I only saw the airport, hotel, and tournament venue. The real life of a professional athlete not always getting to see the city I’m in or explore. Some things that people always get jealous of me for getting to do or so they think that I get to do. But the truth is most of the time I’m in completion mode and my schedule can be quite packed with training and matches. Usually I will get one day though to at least go out into the city and try and see as much as I can.

 

I don't even have a cool shot of anything, just this random street in Mexico

3 tournaments in a row done for me and just one more left. A week back home in Calgary and then it would be off to Nevia, Columbia for the Columbia International. I was already starting to see negative effects of so much travelling. I had been living out of hotels for 3 weeks and not always able to eat the same quantity or quality of food that I am accustomed to at home. Not to mention all the flying back and forth from each destination. My body was starting to break down and muscle mass deteriorated. But to sleep in my own bed for a week is definitely something I was looking forward to at the time. Thankfully it was a quick flight home just to Houston with a short layover and then straight to Calgary. Something that doesn’t happen much having either a long flight 6+ hours or long layovers 5+ in the airport. At least now I could go into the star alliance airline lounges. But this trip to Guadalajara I didn’t see anything. Hopefully the next tournament in Columbia I would get to venture out and explore the city.