tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36173690160376104742024-03-09T18:46:13.776-08:00Nicholas Bonkowsky Badminton BlogNicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-34458455897792629142020-06-03T13:09:00.000-07:002020-06-03T13:09:10.972-07:002016 YONEX SUNRISE Hong Kong Open – Kowloon, Hong Kong
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3sq3mqBh0R1FX7OevCBx7mkubaY61ct7_5NIWIDN5GDN3Yll7QAHAe1nH0E2g1DGMrSXxfYttd3ywVKVgI6z9EuVLKOfugRTHhdvi_XH_CgbPmp3XjAfV5hKFe2csNx2JFHtb6xFOJ6c/s1600/oh252oe10a765ugf4Qh-o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="900" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3sq3mqBh0R1FX7OevCBx7mkubaY61ct7_5NIWIDN5GDN3Yll7QAHAe1nH0E2g1DGMrSXxfYttd3ywVKVgI6z9EuVLKOfugRTHhdvi_XH_CgbPmp3XjAfV5hKFe2csNx2JFHtb6xFOJ6c/s400/oh252oe10a765ugf4Qh-o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was an incredibly rushed trip let’s start with that, I
was only in Hong Kong for 1 night and not even 2 full days. The thing was that
I didn’t find out I was going to the tournament until just 4 days before the
tournament was to start. So that didn’t leave me much time to book my flight
and hotel and let’s say that it wasn’t that easy seeing how little time and how
expensive everything was working out to be. Lucky I found a flight directly
from Beijing to Hong Kong for around $400 with air china so thankfully it was a
star alliance airline. The hardest part was the hotel though, the official
hotel was the Harbour Plaza Metropolis Hotel in Kowloon and it was crazy
expensive at about $204 US a night which was even more Canadian around $260 for
one night which is super hard to justify for a struggling athlete but at the
same time it was such a unique experience to play in the event so was justified
that way.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqACZaNGjo4xZwkLijATj6tTefGrBvTV-ns46yIxydxUy17TWowzCBYmMcMuKGkzljf56HuL6fbf1HsyztRv5Ic8kGQuCKF-aWa9pbSPj0MDfpmhl_MObUw4LZwPIMPYQRkEfN5f3Prpk/s1600/DSC_5728.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqACZaNGjo4xZwkLijATj6tTefGrBvTV-ns46yIxydxUy17TWowzCBYmMcMuKGkzljf56HuL6fbf1HsyztRv5Ic8kGQuCKF-aWa9pbSPj0MDfpmhl_MObUw4LZwPIMPYQRkEfN5f3Prpk/s320/DSC_5728.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hotel room doesn't look to bad</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now that all that was taken care of it was just time to
prepare, the tournament started on Tuesday morning with the qualifications
draws at 9am. My flight was Monday morning and I would get there Monday
afternoon just in time to attend the team managers meeting at the hotel.
Thankfully nothing was delayed and I made the connection to the bus to get to
the hotel in time and was able to attend the managers meeting at 6pm on the
Monday. I got to the hotel and lots of players were arriving and around so I
checked in and got to my room which for the price was incredibly small but then
again it’s the location and the hotel that made it so expensive for such a
small room. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Until you realize exactly how small it is foe what it costs</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That same night they had a welcome dinner, something that
the china super series didn’t have despite being a higher level tournament. But
let’s talk about the dinner itself, it was a buffet but the quality of the food
was amazing and they didn’t skimp out at all on anything. There was an
orchestra there playing live for everybody as well as some live singers
throughout the night. The food was plentiful and abundant but the taste and
variety was amazing from Alaskan king crab to caviar and some top cuts of meat.
Then there was dessert, oh my gosh the dessert section was out of this world,
cakes, pastries, anything and everything sweet that you can think of and
everything that does not fit into an athletes diet. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the food from the buffet, there was so much </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many desserts they were amazing</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6CEwk-K5cWsB-BgZdSokX28Sq7tsyoDaf1gW4ETisrU5DQNZi8QV4z-2InsSHhGw7rEICl23eiL5HOu3kYpsv_ew3Qkt2vccia7hRGcmCHRMQpzDIPb0YQpsgpivYO8uEp4UzzpDe2fw/s1600/DSC_5739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6CEwk-K5cWsB-BgZdSokX28Sq7tsyoDaf1gW4ETisrU5DQNZi8QV4z-2InsSHhGw7rEICl23eiL5HOu3kYpsv_ew3Qkt2vccia7hRGcmCHRMQpzDIPb0YQpsgpivYO8uEp4UzzpDe2fw/s320/DSC_5739.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Live orchestra and singers</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I spent some time at the dinner but I was alone for it as
I didn’t know anybody there very well, I recognized a few faces but nobody who
I was close friends with and had hung out with before. After a few platefuls of
food (I hadn’t eaten much at this point, the last time was the lounge in the
Beijing airport) I headed back to my room for the night to rest and prepare for
my match the following morning. Now keep in mind I got into Hong Kong at 4pm
and to the hotel at 5pm then the managers meeting at 6pm then the welcome
dinner at 7pm. That means I actually didn’t get to practice in the venue at all
or even go over and see the venue period so I had no idea what to expect other
than what I have seen from pictures of the event in the year past. My match was
one of the first few up and there was nobody to warm up with let alone any room
on the warm up courts to even have a hit. This meant I just had to warm up very
well and get ready to adapt to the courts during the warm up. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We got a nice invasion to dinner and my player tag and program</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5jQ-f9MZpXJ8wtxy74iR4x-ykwrFevfj5XR79FaQhWaD2Nrcr8q28cyszCo3JrVBTqa-4zeI7VE68hur4xBOAZOuxEydgfFX-ZHQIzG6Jv1JkR0fpU99xdSUzisCrOuhyi3d5AjqwW8/s1600/DSC_5740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5jQ-f9MZpXJ8wtxy74iR4x-ykwrFevfj5XR79FaQhWaD2Nrcr8q28cyszCo3JrVBTqa-4zeI7VE68hur4xBOAZOuxEydgfFX-ZHQIzG6Jv1JkR0fpU99xdSUzisCrOuhyi3d5AjqwW8/s320/DSC_5740.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tournament venue, very cool set up</td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My opponent was from Hong Kong, Lee Chak Wai and like the
greater majority of my opponents he was younger than me, not quite a junior but
still younger 20’s. There was 4 courts in the venue and it was a very intimate
venue, the courts were in very close proximity to the crowd and for a Tuesday
morning the stands were completely packed with people watching the event. I was
on court 4 which was on the far side of the stadium right next to the stands.
Hong Kong super series is always known for its giant banner, this is the promotional
banner that is behind the courts and serves as an amazing backdrop but very
colorful and somewhat distracting at time. The venue dynamics itself weren’t
horrible, the lights while bright wasn’t blinding and there weren’t horrible
drafts it was just the case that one side played faster than the other with not
much wind movement side to side. Once again the match started good, as always
I’m able to rally and keep up with my opponent but then there’s that moment
when I try and force it to much and make too many mistakes or they push more
and put more pressure on me. Overall given the situation of not practicing at
all or having a hit in the venue other than the warm up I’m pretty happy with
how thing went, of course I hate to lose but I was fortunate enough to qualify
and play a second super series even being the first Trinidad player to play one
let alone two. So that was my super series experience in Asia none the less
where badminton is at its greatest. These tournaments would also technically
help for my world championships qualifications for men’s singles but not by
much as I didn’t get to many points because I was qualifications, more points
than first round of some of the lower level tournaments. </span></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Since I was out of the tournament and my flight back to
Beijing wasn’t until 8pm that night I had some time to kill. I had been to Hong
Kong a few time before and seen the city more so the harbour front at night
which is a beautiful sight with all the lights and the light show. This time it
was in the middle of the day but the weather was not favorable and raining but
that wouldn’t stop me. I ventured outside and headed to the walk of stars but
it was actually closed this was a bummer but they moved the statues to a garden
close by now calling it the garden of the stars. The Bruce Lee statue was there
and that I of course what I wanted to see and got my chance. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harbour front on a slightly gloomy day</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcTbgkHsFhjOQKaemq1Mk238uZijbq1tDpJNiqiNdj50923C_BOmDPqtFKLvlJoOTvCkkgo9Yk2Yk3pFwUldJMdIoHkAGVV0RSU8XXTpeXeuKK_oPGOm0mMOoRDetyszNzStjtIawPZro/s1600/DSC_5752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="1600" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcTbgkHsFhjOQKaemq1Mk238uZijbq1tDpJNiqiNdj50923C_BOmDPqtFKLvlJoOTvCkkgo9Yk2Yk3pFwUldJMdIoHkAGVV0RSU8XXTpeXeuKK_oPGOm0mMOoRDetyszNzStjtIawPZro/s320/DSC_5752.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I do love me some panoramas</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXOeuolOltoPJWdoQJ-F9QooakXM8VFEkz9kQlUf9D2j_sp5FJivZxbe5Ba_zxo84K0vPOY3Cbl8O50DM6LgohMzYMeHHxhRxM3aIGq7JrR0eE8UQD8zQVHxKELAHeopzLFt_5TUWa3zk/s1600/DSC_5749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXOeuolOltoPJWdoQJ-F9QooakXM8VFEkz9kQlUf9D2j_sp5FJivZxbe5Ba_zxo84K0vPOY3Cbl8O50DM6LgohMzYMeHHxhRxM3aIGq7JrR0eE8UQD8zQVHxKELAHeopzLFt_5TUWa3zk/s320/DSC_5749.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bruce Lee statue </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After walking around that area I headed down to the harbour
front and spent some time there getting pictures during the day this time as
well as enjoying the view and avoiding the rain. I have been to Hong Kong quite
a few time before but always ended up at the harbour front in the night, not
really the day. That killed a decent amount of time so I headed back to the
tournament hall to get through the rest of the time before leaving to the
airport and to eat as well. I had already packed up everything and left my bag
at the hotel storage. Since this trip was so last minute and so expensive
already I didn’t bring or take out any Hong Kong currency and was actually able
to get away with not spending any money on food or anything else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJP2776N3OY6t-2SN1lMFYZAPojqXjNsQrhndzRpcwGBhyBmRjQZldB9zARamjovW5xe8m8lpZuzngYOHrc1zQznL0pLPisO-yTJvRoVEKkzev5M2YiJpZJFq-pTTAlyoaySq-XxTOmUg/s1600/DSC_5757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJP2776N3OY6t-2SN1lMFYZAPojqXjNsQrhndzRpcwGBhyBmRjQZldB9zARamjovW5xe8m8lpZuzngYOHrc1zQznL0pLPisO-yTJvRoVEKkzev5M2YiJpZJFq-pTTAlyoaySq-XxTOmUg/s320/DSC_5757.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside the Tournament venue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ulS8dO1KPnpk_sDLn6HOa2QeSu6MTPABPk6xeQzID8UGXT1ZKw4yMEz8mXI35vhXoy36WnpKeLJ1-um1zdDO1pptplFEip26jAf9IYsK35s4R-vD6M_n0VJgY0zwIfMpCo2Y3VdF7wQ/s1600/DSC_5758.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ulS8dO1KPnpk_sDLn6HOa2QeSu6MTPABPk6xeQzID8UGXT1ZKw4yMEz8mXI35vhXoy36WnpKeLJ1-um1zdDO1pptplFEip26jAf9IYsK35s4R-vD6M_n0VJgY0zwIfMpCo2Y3VdF7wQ/s320/DSC_5758.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside the tournament venue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Back at the venue spent my time in the players’ lounge which
was outfitted with players’ Wi-Fi and of course the most important part food.
After spending some time eating and browsing through the web it was getting
close to head to the airport or well more so I was ready to head there early
and spend some time in the lounge before my flight. I was happy to be heading
back to Beijing even if just for a day as my flight home was the next day but
that meant since I would arrive back to Beijing after midnight and my flight
home was not for another day so I booked a cheap hotel for the rest of the
night. The flight leaving Hong Kong was delayed a little but what happened when
we landed in Beijing wasn’t the most fun experience. When we landed the
hydraulics on the airplane failed and the front landing gear gave out. We ended up stopped on the runway just
waiting there to be towed into the gate, but this took a long time and was
slightly nerve-wracking. Eventually we did get towed in be in very slowly but
got through custom and claimed my bag then got a taxi to the hotel which was
very close to the airport. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJresWdtKumj6darlYonvBqNAyOiIP0I_pW3nbEh-roCTek_3WfgiOrW_-Z26ZNjYznG6D2F1n-cuqWaGC1HeQS0Vtt52ecm_WIBhewZXfsR9H4qaevdaNz4gE41wmOvVgHjZ8I_za1u4/s1600/DSC_5762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJresWdtKumj6darlYonvBqNAyOiIP0I_pW3nbEh-roCTek_3WfgiOrW_-Z26ZNjYznG6D2F1n-cuqWaGC1HeQS0Vtt52ecm_WIBhewZXfsR9H4qaevdaNz4gE41wmOvVgHjZ8I_za1u4/s320/DSC_5762.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gotta love lounge food</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinlCslwgTbk_cRBneq70XQjGUPDA6oPY_XRhUBJohr2Kp6BSknxJvT-bPptz2iL-jMGW7COJZVYVwm5-EO33TO8uHcGklft60CB7ELozOG1OhFhcEzzQGEhFIyaFT1z6H9SguB04_t9DY/s1600/DSC_5763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinlCslwgTbk_cRBneq70XQjGUPDA6oPY_XRhUBJohr2Kp6BSknxJvT-bPptz2iL-jMGW7COJZVYVwm5-EO33TO8uHcGklft60CB7ELozOG1OhFhcEzzQGEhFIyaFT1z6H9SguB04_t9DY/s320/DSC_5763.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Security and all coming to our rescue while stranded on the runway in Beijing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This would mark the end of the super series tour and at this
point it had been about 2 weeks and a bit that I was away from home so it would
definitely be nice to get home for a little while. I was happy to go on the
trip and finally play my first super series tournaments, they are the highest
in the world and it was an honour to collect some player’s badges from them to
add to the ever-growing collection. I just had to sit through the 12 hour
flight back home and that would be it for this long trip. One last tournament
for the year and that was the 2016 USA international challenge down in Orange
County at OCBC. A tournament I had played many times and also a venue I have
played at even more times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-85230663677531187682018-02-12T10:32:00.003-08:002018-02-12T10:33:44.283-08:002016 THAIHOT China Open Super Series Premier Fuzhou, China<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFhN1akqva1rpXadjF55-Vq7ayJDjlTCIVEXYRxc8uTwLwjmDzlklB4pFoyXCd00vksvf6BO3RbthGzNPnKdHZbbdq0rV85rcrthq4G_feAOeFHxERfs8YBWKjBrmmaD2tSuoqI5WQm0/s1600/CHN-SSP16.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="629" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFhN1akqva1rpXadjF55-Vq7ayJDjlTCIVEXYRxc8uTwLwjmDzlklB4pFoyXCd00vksvf6BO3RbthGzNPnKdHZbbdq0rV85rcrthq4G_feAOeFHxERfs8YBWKjBrmmaD2tSuoqI5WQm0/s320/CHN-SSP16.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I hadn’t played a tournament in a month at this point which
for me was a weird thing after playing 4 in a row. But this would be a special
trip, this would be my first super series tournament, and a premier super
series at that. Let me give you a little breakdown of the levels of badminton
tournaments in the world, I’ll do that with a helpful little chart. Not to long
of a read but gives some context to how special of an opportunity this was. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">BWF tournaments <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Olympics – top of the top, highest level tournament and
requires players to qualify over a 1 year period</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">World Championships – same as Olympics just a level down,
still need to qualify over 1 year period (64 players in men’s singles, 48
players/pairs in all other draws)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Team tournaments – Surdiman cup, Thomas cup, Uber cup </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Super Series Premier – top 40 in the world regularly attend,
top 10 always present (32 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Super Series – top 50 in the world regularly attend, top 10
always present (32 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Grand Prix Gold – usually players ranked top 100 in the
world will play (64 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Grand Prix – usually players ranked top 150 players in the
world will play (64 in main draw, 16 in qualifications) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">International Challenge – low level and ranges by region for
strength (32 or 64 in men’s singles and 32 in all other draws, 16 in
qualifications)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">International Series – low level tournament (32 or 64 in
men’s singles and 32 in all other draws, 32 to 64 in qualifications) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Future Series – lowest level tournament and does not have
any prize money, minimal world ranking points as well <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now in order to get into any tournaments listed below the
team ones it is all based on your current world ranking at the time of entry (1
month before the tournament). This ranking will be used to make the main and
qualifying report which lists all the players present in the tournament
accordingly on theory world ranking. A super series of either level has a 32
size main draw meaning there are 28 spots guaranteed and 4 spots for qualifiers
from the qualification. Super series of either level have 4 qualifiers and a 16
size qualification, meaning you have to win 2 matches to make it to the main
draw. On top of that there are players who simply won’t be ranked high enough
to make either of those lists so they have what’s called the reserve list,
listing players in descending rider of world ranking. This is in case a player
from the main draw or qualifications withdraws before the draw or even after,
then players from the reserve list can be used to fill their spots. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So based on all this information for me to actually make it
into the qualifications was a decently big deal. Be it that I was only in the
qualifications it was still a Super Series Premier event and I was thrilled. I
was also on the reserve list for the Hong Kong Super Series that was happening
the week after China. China Super Series has always been notorious for not
being well attended despite being the week before Hong Kong, so this was my
best chance to play one and I wouldn’t be passing up the opportunity again.
Earlier in the year I had been on the reserve list for the Australia Open Super
Series but did not find out until 3 days before the event that I had been
promoted into the qualifications. Because of the short notice and how long it
would take to fly to Australia I was unable to attend the event. This time
would be different as I already knew I was in the qualifications draw when the
draws came out so I booked my flight. I did not know for sure about Hong Kong
though so I booked my flight to stay in China past Hong Kong just in case I did
get into play. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6KBlbORfIMUDG6ngMhYvMijN7hKGcmgvccDWlpN_HHQnnl3FboCHcTSaQrsFAEVksVEs19GZzUSb9e0RDbvbAnsN84GXtzlioIekJwNwVSJub-U115jow3G7NYKMoB2ZXFsLLt03ZCsg/s1600/DSC_5633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6KBlbORfIMUDG6ngMhYvMijN7hKGcmgvccDWlpN_HHQnnl3FboCHcTSaQrsFAEVksVEs19GZzUSb9e0RDbvbAnsN84GXtzlioIekJwNwVSJub-U115jow3G7NYKMoB2ZXFsLLt03ZCsg/s320/DSC_5633.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lounge in Beijing, I am no stranger there </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2imfQ-38wqscOJCUTYWRpgx7mKUscAUHeodIW0SqxI2Hr2jWCnaeyhOW-Cd5IN6xjwQ7JbKuEQtB0TvdV8ttTbKdvDnfiKKJ-UmVm8Virstg0VGc9HVkXeAIxE-r0XvqL9qUyebv8D0/s1600/DSC_5632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2imfQ-38wqscOJCUTYWRpgx7mKUscAUHeodIW0SqxI2Hr2jWCnaeyhOW-Cd5IN6xjwQ7JbKuEQtB0TvdV8ttTbKdvDnfiKKJ-UmVm8Virstg0VGc9HVkXeAIxE-r0XvqL9qUyebv8D0/s320/DSC_5632.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lounge food in Asia is easily the best period </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">That time again to head to the airport, a place I hadn’t
been in a whole month. Boarded and started the route with a flight to LA, then
to Beijing and finally to Fuzhou where I would be meeting up with Yuko and Tuck
who were playing mixed. The flights were long and it had been a long time since
I went to Asia so that 13 hour flight from LA was a little long but nothing I
hadn’t done multiple time before. Arriving in Fuzhou it was late at night and I
made it to the room to see Yuko there and get some well needed rest after all
the travel, Tuck would arrive the next morning. Let’s start with the breakfast
at the hotel...the buffet was simply amazing so much variety and choice. After
eating for what must have been an hour just trying all the different food
mostly the Asian items, we went back to the room and waited for Tuck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_5NLGRWYSwOwomxqfnnfokeZciS9lRhr_PnyL1H6gXSx6qGLj9KW1pbJpKXojSFQ2n-KSz9TfDaU-CLd8i0cppL-rJhZnDzNofFmRxETIQV8s8HFK4UkQWkwpdb1F5sMS4adP8-6C_0/s1600/DSC_5682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_5NLGRWYSwOwomxqfnnfokeZciS9lRhr_PnyL1H6gXSx6qGLj9KW1pbJpKXojSFQ2n-KSz9TfDaU-CLd8i0cppL-rJhZnDzNofFmRxETIQV8s8HFK4UkQWkwpdb1F5sMS4adP8-6C_0/s320/DSC_5682.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast at the tournament hotel, yes all that is just for me</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We had practice in the main hall that day as well as in the
practice courts which words cannot describe. The venue was amazing and not to
mention had some intense security outside to go through. We were given our
players accreditation which had a special chip inside that would be scanned
when we passed through scanners. The arena though let’s start with the area
shall we. This tournament was being held in a sports park and it was huge it
had everything from a swimming center, tennis center, stadium and many other
buildings for sports and other activities. One of the later days Yuko and I
wanted to see what there really was around so we did a walk through the park
and saw it all. There were not many people using the facilities at the time
though but that might be due to the tournament taking place. So we toured
around and saw the giant stadium as well as all the other buildings, amazing
for a sport park and something that you would never really see in North
America. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODdmuHTfylGm6kGYyCtaWfMMrVcVpV-9EJyhbRxjv5fm_pjJXIuMJEUldPMr1FNDCUXswidb4Z6R_RAR0giPzPQqR3-GmK7rNi_fx_L4zk0t-SmM8DY6i_CfPLbm-8NZvlE9UNjEFTD4/s1600/DSC_5684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="1600" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODdmuHTfylGm6kGYyCtaWfMMrVcVpV-9EJyhbRxjv5fm_pjJXIuMJEUldPMr1FNDCUXswidb4Z6R_RAR0giPzPQqR3-GmK7rNi_fx_L4zk0t-SmM8DY6i_CfPLbm-8NZvlE9UNjEFTD4/s320/DSC_5684.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main stadium</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisouZceXdcoklBB_10deIDNc1KNKggHNObpSUBFOcnlGPhQhFm1yxDKjwx2igwZbBh7Fap3cD5lL-cDO97CL9aBzmYHybGYviY60vMtvOY_uq37vNX8cvVJTd6cou7Z8l0SUCsQYg0_50/s1600/DSC_5641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisouZceXdcoklBB_10deIDNc1KNKggHNObpSUBFOcnlGPhQhFm1yxDKjwx2igwZbBh7Fap3cD5lL-cDO97CL9aBzmYHybGYviY60vMtvOY_uq37vNX8cvVJTd6cou7Z8l0SUCsQYg0_50/s320/DSC_5641.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practice hall </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now getting onto the venue, this was a super series after
all and the set up was nothing short of amazing. Macau Grand Prix Gold was the
best set up tournament that I had attended up until this point but seeing this
venue blew that out of the water. Maybe because it was a super series that’s
what made it that much more amazing but it was huge. That also meant that it
was very hard to play in the main hall, the practice court area itself was huge
too and you could easily hold an international tournament just in there. We
spent quite a bit of time in there as we didn’t have a court in the main hall
as of yet. That is when we saw the majority of the top international players,
super casually we were surrounded by players ranked top 10 in the world. Famous
names like Chen Long, Rathanot Inatanon, Jan Jorgensen, and many more. This is
when we took the opportunity to get a picture with Chen Long, another top
player to add to the collection (Taufik, Lee Chong Wei, Peter Gade, were
already in the book) and later on would be fortunate to get one with Viktor Axelsen
but we will save that story. After some time of hitting in the practice hall we
finally had a court in the main hall and moved into there to practice with 2
other USA players, Beiwen Zhang and Maya Chen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipq6lC2XhIlg-ZqxNqWX6UXURgqSpB7_ryReI7CL6-wLiGeUKxO44z1EV5sDoXboTVUFTQlveewx-X4d_f4tu8gaxYhifYoC2VRke_FTWS9gmk2LY6xnP_Blv1mpIXdWrbg7D-TswMrw/s1600/DSC_5640.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipq6lC2XhIlg-ZqxNqWX6UXURgqSpB7_ryReI7CL6-wLiGeUKxO44z1EV5sDoXboTVUFTQlveewx-X4d_f4tu8gaxYhifYoC2VRke_FTWS9gmk2LY6xnP_Blv1mpIXdWrbg7D-TswMrw/s320/DSC_5640.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiNzZvSgsX8cXGiqvvaZjtXTGccTt302HMP04Jbr6nQqJ46r43Ws15RNTl-zEgFLO4XTMaTUnvLChM1L3FENL67nOsf9G_AqCB1NUt4laGa_oMD7fYkDArPT7-_9R_slZ2D2Kzad4tt4/s1600/DSC_5649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiNzZvSgsX8cXGiqvvaZjtXTGccTt302HMP04Jbr6nQqJ46r43Ws15RNTl-zEgFLO4XTMaTUnvLChM1L3FENL67nOsf9G_AqCB1NUt4laGa_oMD7fYkDArPT7-_9R_slZ2D2Kzad4tt4/s320/DSC_5649.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Playing in the main hall was so different than the practice
courts for sure. It was easily 3 times as large not to mention a few drafts and
you can’t hear your shot at all. Despite all this we were able to get a great
session in before qualifying started the next day for Tuck and I in single and
first round mixed doubles was also after qualifying for Tuck and Yuko. As that
was it for training we headed back to the hotel and went in search of food for
the night. Luckily there was a mall across the street with an abundant supply
of restaurants and a grocery store. This was the first time Yuko went to China
so everything was very new and shocking but to me it was pretty straight
forward and I had been to China many time before. Later that night came the
second picture with a big player of the trip. Yuko is very close friends with
Viktor Axelsen and long story short his room was next to ours in the hotel and
on top of that he brought his bronze medal from the 2016 Olympics to show Yuko.
So to sum it up I got to meet Viktor and hold his medal while getting a picture
with him. That means that at this point the only picture left that I wanted to
get was with Lin Dan (he wasn’t at this tournament despite it being in China). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrQI1n9bpR4IbpYBPVDe1lKzaneNBy7i6oQ-dMwjJyE2lKNYEjSesRXucsJvhRzOcEY-wFh2emK5ZcNbe3dP11etJEpczzFaBIFGMSPVwBV1Y08wpSBo4vm6v4Ef2FNuaThTy5CmEkDY/s1600/DSC_5654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrQI1n9bpR4IbpYBPVDe1lKzaneNBy7i6oQ-dMwjJyE2lKNYEjSesRXucsJvhRzOcEY-wFh2emK5ZcNbe3dP11etJEpczzFaBIFGMSPVwBV1Y08wpSBo4vm6v4Ef2FNuaThTy5CmEkDY/s320/DSC_5654.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to Yuko I got to know Viktor and hold his bronze medal from the 2016 Olympics</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxVDEbpHfpeLWUwrI-6H52dizHpsKZcVMEwl_AUFchfREqNSSmzLxmiiTrf-TQhD7KvUCF2DhfPiMu6XuHGwhxrKnaE6B6lvMJsRD5oHgVP0H7M5s9xalN2K0ab1YHVLNrMtCEW8jxts/s1600/DSC_5657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxVDEbpHfpeLWUwrI-6H52dizHpsKZcVMEwl_AUFchfREqNSSmzLxmiiTrf-TQhD7KvUCF2DhfPiMu6XuHGwhxrKnaE6B6lvMJsRD5oHgVP0H7M5s9xalN2K0ab1YHVLNrMtCEW8jxts/s320/DSC_5657.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also got fortunate enough to get a picture with Chen Long, Olympic gold medalist</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now it was time for my match, due to this being a
Superseries it started on Monday with qualifications for all events in the
morning and first round of mixed. The matches came around, Tuck was up first
for men’s singles qualifications first and we all watched that one. I was up
next with my match and it was definitely a fun experience. I was fortunate
enough to play on court one, show court, and on top of that I had one of the
best badminton photographers to take pictures of me during the match. I was
playing against a Chinese backup national team athlete, Wu Xin and that was a
tough one to begin with. The match started off pretty good we had some long
rallies and then he stepped it up a gear taking the lead. I was able to rally
with him though and through the match was able to control him around the court.
He wasn’t always able to just overpower me or hit straight up winners which was
a nice feeling. The hall wasn’t a bad one to play in and didn’t have a crazy
draft the day of matches, it was almost ideal situation for such a huge venue.
Ultimately in the end though it was my mistake that ended up costing me the
match. Just like that my superseries experience was over but we had a few days
left in Fuzhou to experience the city and culture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CE3Ru7CVgZc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CE3Ru7CVgZc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">First up Yuko wanted to really get a cupping session done as
well as a massage so that was the first thing for us to find. We (each country)
were given a certain number of volunteers based on the amount of players that
the country had. I was given 1 because it just me but Tuck and Yuko being part
of team USA were given 2. So we went to our respective volunteers and asked if
they would be able to help us find a place. Low and behold they were able to
and we soon jumped into a taxi and were off to our destination. The place
provided massages (lower body, upper body, whole body) as well as cupping on
top of that. Tuck and Yuko choose the lower body massage while I picked upper
body, then we all got cupping done on our backs. Going into the room we were
given these retro looking clothing to put on and then lay on these chairs/beds
waiting for the ladies giving the massage to come in. The massages started with
screams from Tuck and Yuko as their feet were being massaged not only by hands
but also by wooden dowels and various other instruments in addition to scolding
hot water. I, on the other hand had a very relaxing time as the lady worked
over my shoulders, arms, back and the rest of my upper body. Now that all that
was over and the screaming had stopped it was time to bring out the cups for
use. If you have never seen or had cupping done then it is when there are glass
cups which are heated up and placed on the skin in strategic places. At this
point the skin is then sucked up into the cup because of the pressure
differential and it is left on the skin for 10 minutes or more. At this point
all the blood has been drawn to the surface and then the circle I a different
shade of red, the shade represents the amount of “toxins” in the blood and the
darker the circle the more bad stuff that has been removed. Overall it was a
great experience and a fantastic bonding experience for us all to have
together. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6h6bXOjLNtV6WkE0VbQb6B6TyWESDkV6xooQieTgNjvK-7AdUlBex9N9Hq62YwT8zixGDzSEDfjSRJpCNmQ0nbWQWX0BHlB3gHVEqEx5Hgg3K58QGibHa71qJoGikYNUqVOrIEiPiPkg/s1600/DSC_5673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6h6bXOjLNtV6WkE0VbQb6B6TyWESDkV6xooQieTgNjvK-7AdUlBex9N9Hq62YwT8zixGDzSEDfjSRJpCNmQ0nbWQWX0BHlB3gHVEqEx5Hgg3K58QGibHa71qJoGikYNUqVOrIEiPiPkg/s320/DSC_5673.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was very relaxing</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xW3cygU_Las4wXnkMs5-qGo1mSOfMiZ60L3xk5sRTonzRL3bTilDXgZQpcSA9MgZoJ6KMP2wAW-U3lCFQo8_JYHYag_aolsI647E02TYEJxF6B_d1__VpPn1iTy0j300CAflFN1eyxs/s1600/received_10154739771342299.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1136" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xW3cygU_Las4wXnkMs5-qGo1mSOfMiZ60L3xk5sRTonzRL3bTilDXgZQpcSA9MgZoJ6KMP2wAW-U3lCFQo8_JYHYag_aolsI647E02TYEJxF6B_d1__VpPn1iTy0j300CAflFN1eyxs/s320/received_10154739771342299.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somebody say fire</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxN64u4CflVggx1fxq8QzvBiiqHu4ITxA5H8tRCKOOw2_5VCOy3kgwN6pzoUU3bGneu3HnIilWb3NpLiFMzf2ObIY5ve8vAyZ3LgmOkUMXRJAQKrIQAzuEJ7BL0zJS-UmDmflWID3VKkQ/s1600/received_10154739771417299.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxN64u4CflVggx1fxq8QzvBiiqHu4ITxA5H8tRCKOOw2_5VCOy3kgwN6pzoUU3bGneu3HnIilWb3NpLiFMzf2ObIY5ve8vAyZ3LgmOkUMXRJAQKrIQAzuEJ7BL0zJS-UmDmflWID3VKkQ/s320/received_10154739771417299.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9T9wrjkJwRqenulCzGZMPgaK4R2D6VdyuqwRdpdA642kWbAZCULN5hGCITRWSKrTbhEvM9-_23l6GQyfXfo7eWxAC_233K4d3oSAnF0ibRjd17lzhvgqGnkNNcSeqPbMw3AxII3QpOs/s1600/DSC_5674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9T9wrjkJwRqenulCzGZMPgaK4R2D6VdyuqwRdpdA642kWbAZCULN5hGCITRWSKrTbhEvM9-_23l6GQyfXfo7eWxAC_233K4d3oSAnF0ibRjd17lzhvgqGnkNNcSeqPbMw3AxII3QpOs/s320/DSC_5674.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The aftermath </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Once that was done and we were beaten up but built a new it
was time for a walk and to find some food. There was a street market outside
which we took a few walks up and down, checking out all the local goods,
counterfeit items, street food and various other things present. This marked
our second last day in the city and the following day was the last we would
have together as Tuck and Yuko were heading back to the states and I would go
into Beijing and stay with my friend for a little as I awaited to hear about
the Hong Kong superseries. So the Wednesday came and we started with Yuko and
me going to the tournament venue to watch matches while Tuck rested at the
hotel. We watched some matches and checked out the shops outside then headed
back to the hotel and walked around the mall a little bit more. I ended up
going for a workout later in the day which was nice even despite the small and
limited gym that the hotel had. We all went out for dinner together and then
settled in for the night, packing bags and getting ready for departure the
following day as we were all on the same flight back to Beijing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg33GKzk5M_wcmRMBedKj4OxfUq64Tv_24dM2AFDLwxkInRu-_ILE26w2nwhsadntunA9FLTxCAIDG_bYvfWTlClvev5m_0LPR-cx1F2CKqCoBD3wYbpUj2mkJkG6ED93vRfkl8uEj0EAY/s1600/DSC_5659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg33GKzk5M_wcmRMBedKj4OxfUq64Tv_24dM2AFDLwxkInRu-_ILE26w2nwhsadntunA9FLTxCAIDG_bYvfWTlClvev5m_0LPR-cx1F2CKqCoBD3wYbpUj2mkJkG6ED93vRfkl8uEj0EAY/s320/DSC_5659.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stadium from the outside</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsc970diX9isfVF7Wu0TktkvhqA3LZtQMkP1rQ98DaRQBX9ICF7mmMHSNxwP7V7MNJqHrF5zOGxYC3aQ2G2Tcc8EaAvZ4iar-im7r_zX_etNxIpqcD1d8yTAKxypVEW7gFFPaI642pU8o/s1600/DSC_5689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsc970diX9isfVF7Wu0TktkvhqA3LZtQMkP1rQ98DaRQBX9ICF7mmMHSNxwP7V7MNJqHrF5zOGxYC3aQ2G2Tcc8EaAvZ4iar-im7r_zX_etNxIpqcD1d8yTAKxypVEW7gFFPaI642pU8o/s320/DSC_5689.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant Soccer stadium</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2apKLPIPRCRYMSkZRG691kRN0Yd2FNuFccYBvFhD7FxGZf6rtraaoFfz5_5GrvA3v7iS32LhG4ilmpb_c6W6n20UWlcMyx5RzOEc2WjavNXi7v7oavBjLWBE5H7jM_WLVSGV1HNjgNwQ/s1600/DSC_5661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2apKLPIPRCRYMSkZRG691kRN0Yd2FNuFccYBvFhD7FxGZf6rtraaoFfz5_5GrvA3v7iS32LhG4ilmpb_c6W6n20UWlcMyx5RzOEc2WjavNXi7v7oavBjLWBE5H7jM_WLVSGV1HNjgNwQ/s320/DSC_5661.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Up bright and early we headed to the airport and checked in,
we weren’t the only players heading back home as a few of the Europeans whom
had lost were also on the flight. The flight itself was a nice quick one and
definitely not too hard to handle like the 12 hour flight to Beijing. Now it
was just a waiting game for Hong Kong, I sent an email to the HKBA (Hong Kong
badminton Association) and was just awaiting their reply to see if I had been
promoted to the qualifications draw of the tournament. Until then it was time
to relax in China and have some awesome food as well as experience the culture.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com5Fuzhou, Fujian, China26.074478 119.2964819999999724.247042999999998 116.71469499999996 27.901913 121.87826899999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-51085584944932719462017-08-30T15:22:00.002-07:002017-08-30T15:22:42.655-07:002016 Columbia International Nevia, Columbia
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This would be the last tournament for a month and a bit but
at this point I at least had a week off after 3 in a row. Now it was time to go
to Columbia for the Columbia International, my 7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> tournament for
the year and 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> tournament with Matt for doubles. This was in yet
another little city and not one of the main ones so it meant quite a few
flights to get there, 3 to be exact. After arriving into Bogota in the early
hours of the morning we had to take a small propeller plane at sunrise to the
city of Nevia which was where this edition of the tournament was being held. On
arrival we were picked up at the airport which was actually a surprise for me
since in South America if you get picked up by the tournament can be a hit or
miss. Checking into the hotel we noticed that we were in fact in the center of
the city but there actually wasn’t much around in terms of food. The hotel
itself was relatively nice and it had a roof top where you could have a 360
degree view of the city. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZY4vZd2Y2tqvyHQtOJL_uj4vQixRLnxFtn3TALFVR1jZsaJvfshqZ18CL6nFM2ocJIMXVxsB9fVB6pJyxi1Oc0jfoA7bv6px74YYVXht2r56BmJuaD0zq-xwa99jN2enVO_66Ac6Wj4/s1600/DSC_5572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZY4vZd2Y2tqvyHQtOJL_uj4vQixRLnxFtn3TALFVR1jZsaJvfshqZ18CL6nFM2ocJIMXVxsB9fVB6pJyxi1Oc0jfoA7bv6px74YYVXht2r56BmJuaD0zq-xwa99jN2enVO_66Ac6Wj4/s320/DSC_5572.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our hotel, pretty much in the middle of the town</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The same day that we arrived we were able to go to the
tournament hall and get some practice in, the tournament would start 2 days
later. We were fortunate to have a good amount of time to practice in the hall
and believe me when I say it was much needed. The venue was in the top 5 for
worst venues that I have played in and of course all of them have been in the
Pan Am region mainly the Caribbean and South America. This was an open air
facility aka there was slits in the wall for air/wind to come through as well
as giant open areas so there was a lot of wind and weird drafts. The lighting
wasn’t the best but all these holes also allowed for the sunlight to come
through and create massive blind spots on the court. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdCjGMDL3tJPiBNeE7v0O1eJ6lhQLqXfcyi3jJpWkK2cuNw1IkoP0k1P3qAvDr62VOc9nD-9O4SORl6CUb6dkAV_pRYXOVR_feVflN0B9We-mDwLM2bYdPJDXdHCZrGuT2j8A_8jagb4/s1600/DSC_5567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdCjGMDL3tJPiBNeE7v0O1eJ6lhQLqXfcyi3jJpWkK2cuNw1IkoP0k1P3qAvDr62VOc9nD-9O4SORl6CUb6dkAV_pRYXOVR_feVflN0B9We-mDwLM2bYdPJDXdHCZrGuT2j8A_8jagb4/s320/DSC_5567.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The open air venue that we would be playing in </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For this tournament I was first seed in singles and we were
2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> seed for doubles, Guatemala made up the majority of the other
seeds for the tournament. Due to this when Matt and I were practicing there was
a lot of Columbian players around who pretty much stopped what they were doing
and started to watch me practice. It was humbling and made me nervous at the
same time as I’m usually the one watching the top players practice when I go to
these big tournaments but this time the roles were reversed and I was being watched.
It was a different feeling, one that I have only felt a handful of times like
in Tahiti back in 2013 when I had lots of fans cheering for me as I won round
after round. Aside from this we were able to get some good practice in at the
main hall and it would be crucial because as I said before this was an open air
huge facility which was definitely not designed or made for badminton in mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwc901mqtYipuZFkTEUzPz5N3k2iMZ_o2-SBddV49KtYaZIg65io_qjoSnOD5TH-ixHkCr7FOd1aL3busCTxA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The matches were scheduled to start with singles occurring
first, I had a local Columbian player as my first match in single and the same
for doubles. The first match went rather smoothly with me getting a feel for
the player as well as the venue. The courts were taped out onto the floor and
the draft was an interesting one changing every few seconds. I was able to stay
on top and made it through my first round with a win, that would be all for the
day and with a win I was into the quarterfinals since I had a bye first round. For
doubles Matt and I had only played 3 tournaments together and were still coming
together as a pair, figuring out what the other does and how we work best
together. We had a bye and then would play against a local Columbian pair. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCJJi8jDcNiUwjyLyeB7K2H7uM8xsCFIxTM5dMfUoRuLMk-qWuyrIsV_4Rs67gjC3gjl5nEhFE2P1ocucBbSRmxtEun0JvRlhUUmTdlSRu6hG7zEbYf8sghQuw4mfEPDfo7x9-TRZQUk/s1600/DSC_5564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCJJi8jDcNiUwjyLyeB7K2H7uM8xsCFIxTM5dMfUoRuLMk-qWuyrIsV_4Rs67gjC3gjl5nEhFE2P1ocucBbSRmxtEun0JvRlhUUmTdlSRu6hG7zEbYf8sghQuw4mfEPDfo7x9-TRZQUk/s320/DSC_5564.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtside view of the facility, can you spot the badminton lines? Yeah it was really hard to see the duct tape courts.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next day was both singles and doubles with singles being
up first. I had another local player and this time it was a lot easier as I was
more use to the courts and just played my game moving him around playing a
consistency based match. I won my match with ease and was onto the semifinals
in singles. But before all was over there was a doubles match to be played with
Matt. This match was not as easy as we wanted, it was a match that would go to 3 games with us winning the 2
games that we did fairly easy yet losing one very close. It was a weird
situation yet one that we came back from as a pair adding yet another win to
our partnership. This marked the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> semi-final that I would be in
for the tournament. Now it meant back to the hotel to rest up and prepare for
the following day. In both semifinals I would be playing against Guatemala,
singles would be against Rodolfo Ramierz who I previously played at the Pan Am
Championships in Lima, Peru back in 2012. In doubles we would be playing Ruban Castellaons
and his partner Anibal Marroquin for the opportunity to go to the finals, I
have yet to play them in doubles but had played Ruban in singles at the
recently concluded US Open. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxzguDiEHE_dqDBNm0Pl5WyJMM_GtYPK_H0Ygn7qjDFvefF7BeWPfbQBQ7C8AxqTxnWOExIB9nClXb7BXbpGvuvY6QwcnUN5JcyGV9TsLdSTgmonBfNAQ0o9EVY2x4__nd5WgEynpZSA/s1600/DSC_5582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxzguDiEHE_dqDBNm0Pl5WyJMM_GtYPK_H0Ygn7qjDFvefF7BeWPfbQBQ7C8AxqTxnWOExIB9nClXb7BXbpGvuvY6QwcnUN5JcyGV9TsLdSTgmonBfNAQ0o9EVY2x4__nd5WgEynpZSA/s320/DSC_5582.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Setting up for the prize giving ceremony.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Semifinals day came and as always it was very windy in the
venue. Singles was up first against Rodolfo and it was a tough match, nothing
went my way I tried to force too many things and ended up losing due to my
errors. This was not the way I wanted to start my first semi-final appearance in
an international tournament. I would definitely be wanting to redeem myself in
the doubles which would happen in a little while. Matt and I played good
together, we were coming together as a pair and this time there was no go
again, we lost the doubles semi-final but it was a close match just missing out
on the win 18-21, 19-21. We were sad but happy in a way, that meant that I
would get two bronze medals at the Columbia international which I was pretty
happy about in that regard. Matt would however leave that night as opposed to
staying for the medal ceremony the following day. Seeing as how these were the
first international medals I would win for the year (aside from the team bronze
medal at CAREBACO in Aruba a month prior) I wanted to stay and get my pictures
on the podium with my medals as well as collect my prize money. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6i34F0A_tzBtuKWBxgkV3wixMiUVUeJw3Z9KLFuc6AedfBURAYEkSKHXmvGx83Uaa2ow0gqbwrtPjvjVoogqZM0vFPzbMutHVb1YqccwTQZ1H4_bPjpiVi2H8ES5639q6xRqALztIR1c/s1600/DSC_5588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6i34F0A_tzBtuKWBxgkV3wixMiUVUeJw3Z9KLFuc6AedfBURAYEkSKHXmvGx83Uaa2ow0gqbwrtPjvjVoogqZM0vFPzbMutHVb1YqccwTQZ1H4_bPjpiVi2H8ES5639q6xRqALztIR1c/s320/DSC_5588.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the podium for men's singles, the other 3 players were all from Guatemala. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The finals day came and I went with everybody as there was
only 1 bus there in the morning and then 1 bus back. Up till this point I
hadn’t really talked with any other players at the tournament, not because I
was antisocial but it just didn’t come up I would play and then leave. This
time I sat in the stands and was approached by some of the local Columbian
athletes playing and they spoke decent and enough English to have a conversation.
So we watched the matches and talked about lots of stuff, they asked about my
travels and we talked about school, badminton, etc. There was a substantial
amount of wind though during the finals and that was noticeable by the flags
that were courtside during the whole tournament. You could see them blowing in
the wind as if they were outside just waving back and forth. Finally the finals
finished and it was time for the medal ceremony. They brought out the podium
and started to do them event by event. I had my name called and went up for
doubles first followed by going up for singles to claim my second bronze medal.
It felt great to be standing on the podium to receive a medal not only for me
but for my country too. Afterwards we took some pictures of everyone followed
by the awarding of prize money to the athletes which I got in both singles and
doubles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNq215B05kgohB78BiayCoWZ-5CxaeboN9um1gf30DbOqAgXHRuLcQ2heu1nFUiAYJLtOiAZqEl77DrUHAO_GrHHCM_5KxhQn0FKJNdW29QWx_M5DGzgpXMJLzSG-03dVf9f0aZ_93q8s/s1600/DSC_5597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNq215B05kgohB78BiayCoWZ-5CxaeboN9um1gf30DbOqAgXHRuLcQ2heu1nFUiAYJLtOiAZqEl77DrUHAO_GrHHCM_5KxhQn0FKJNdW29QWx_M5DGzgpXMJLzSG-03dVf9f0aZ_93q8s/s320/DSC_5597.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Got some medals and prize money too. Not bad for a few days work.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now that was the tournament but we haven’t covered Columbia
as a whole yet. I decided to write this blog post a little different and get
the tournament out of the way and then discuss the exploration of the small
town in Columbia. We were not in the capital of Bogata instead we were in the
small town to the south about a 2 hour flight away called Nevia. It was a
beautiful smaller town with a main river running through it and a small
population. Their downtown wasn’t anything fancy but they did have a university
and some other big buildings just nothing overly big. Across from our hotel was
a large plaza which was always full of people and vendors selling anything and
everything. Down the street was the same a slightly smaller plaza that was
surrounded primarily by grocery stores and shops. Beside our hotel was also a
church which I did venture into and took a look around, it was rather big and
definitely stood out in the city. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT9NKDQMB1F939mf1C0raNFNnApYHbrvLXYpjcP8tYrbk2nq0xW1LWCYZ3zuyZ-EmNrACYngF7R9VMXht3w5oxAu24XCAeEVXLhWBABvlNQHvHSWL1-ipqtoK_CQ3W2vyDRwxZis28Mvs/s1600/DSC_5562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT9NKDQMB1F939mf1C0raNFNnApYHbrvLXYpjcP8tYrbk2nq0xW1LWCYZ3zuyZ-EmNrACYngF7R9VMXht3w5oxAu24XCAeEVXLhWBABvlNQHvHSWL1-ipqtoK_CQ3W2vyDRwxZis28Mvs/s320/DSC_5562.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plaza under the trees across from our hotel, always looked like shady deals were going down </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XCTJayKwvTSd73LZ_Z7f48f3EMKCsX4VsUJiLYfbNS0wI5CbOjShvT5h4f9JTFEd0sxsaKv2ZZ_gCuq2u-biXF1I2WjBfP6fUFYyvC3Az0kZVgnVWvhqjn-myJl-69o7RqF7F4Jyu-A/s1600/DSC_5571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XCTJayKwvTSd73LZ_Z7f48f3EMKCsX4VsUJiLYfbNS0wI5CbOjShvT5h4f9JTFEd0sxsaKv2ZZ_gCuq2u-biXF1I2WjBfP6fUFYyvC3Az0kZVgnVWvhqjn-myJl-69o7RqF7F4Jyu-A/s320/DSC_5571.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The big church beside our hotel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2X3k1XCQ-2YJwxOdPkxNx2vlzX1nijpIgq9hEl5A2YHtmigMZzoBdG0GH7t-XsY9ZF9k7YcuzZtJP1VLu5RSZteIkP8q9aC5qjJsAOE6AhcfV8p3T2W_e5P3td_GRwUa2K_igHnFFVDI/s1600/DSC_5573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2X3k1XCQ-2YJwxOdPkxNx2vlzX1nijpIgq9hEl5A2YHtmigMZzoBdG0GH7t-XsY9ZF9k7YcuzZtJP1VLu5RSZteIkP8q9aC5qjJsAOE6AhcfV8p3T2W_e5P3td_GRwUa2K_igHnFFVDI/s320/DSC_5573.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contrary to popular belief I didn't burst into flames upon entering.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Around our plaza at night the side streets or allies would
be turned into a market with the entire street being taken up by more
stalls/carts catering to anything you could every need. Finding food was
actually on the challenging side as there wasn’t many food places directly
around us. There was a burger place in the plaza opposite the hotel which I
ended up eating most of my meals at. One day though we ventured up the street a
ways and were able to find a bunch of restaurants none of which were open for
lunch though. There was a Chinese place which Matt and I sat down and ate at
and the food was great not to mention a large enough portion that I had food
left over for dinner that night too. Aside from that most of the meals were
eaten across the street at the burger place where the chicken breast burger was
very delicious and filling for a fair price. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGBi1c0Qjo7uCltmTv8cryq_tTzvayhyphenhyphenTzutrrVql982gUupz7VKHJnkteOFf51Xf5aDaof0PpXjYhq4Qe88yiOmptJYPOjaypVtTWjT9idgh5u7P-8P01MSJL3EEuvtVrsfbZIEXZgQ0/s1600/DSC_5566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGBi1c0Qjo7uCltmTv8cryq_tTzvayhyphenhyphenTzutrrVql982gUupz7VKHJnkteOFf51Xf5aDaof0PpXjYhq4Qe88yiOmptJYPOjaypVtTWjT9idgh5u7P-8P01MSJL3EEuvtVrsfbZIEXZgQ0/s320/DSC_5566.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The side stress at night, set up with temporary shops selling anything and everything.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As for exploring there wasn’t a lot of stuff to see, walking
down towards the river lead to some nice scenery and a fantastic statue which
you would never guess a place like that had. It was hard to get a good picture
of it though due to the lighting. I did miss seeing one thing though it was a
giant head which you could climb up into and look out from. I didn’t venture
far enough along the river to see it. Aside from some other plazas and statues
there wasn’t anything crazy notable unlike the waterfalls and the dam in
Brazil. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtm3hcPMAa92IEdoUPWBdoXoACfpj-aRYm9b53BJh9SkW2N7WeB8Xj-ga5O02fPfHXFJXwxreQQ6V7S13IP257hWl-N4VqrykrI4n6bP_Q7KdSbYmf4cf8_eOMQITRSlXXCo9RovcnqY/s1600/DSC_5574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtm3hcPMAa92IEdoUPWBdoXoACfpj-aRYm9b53BJh9SkW2N7WeB8Xj-ga5O02fPfHXFJXwxreQQ6V7S13IP257hWl-N4VqrykrI4n6bP_Q7KdSbYmf4cf8_eOMQITRSlXXCo9RovcnqY/s320/DSC_5574.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04s9vySVRUBBSJ2RxBQeWTmMRZoyhnjtvFlQJ3TeMpI980Bu9P61e3ZVx6s73LsgqImEqLXWgv8SoM7QkYhRZ0P_-UAENaX3B9HYEzTXP_KHhDOspq40WJr7iwif5FtYt7iWaMjxjwcg/s1600/DSC_5579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04s9vySVRUBBSJ2RxBQeWTmMRZoyhnjtvFlQJ3TeMpI980Bu9P61e3ZVx6s73LsgqImEqLXWgv8SoM7QkYhRZ0P_-UAENaX3B9HYEzTXP_KHhDOspq40WJr7iwif5FtYt7iWaMjxjwcg/s320/DSC_5579.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally though the string of tournaments had come to an end,
I could go home for a month and not have to travel. As weird as that sounds to
people, who would have thought but it’s true I’m travelling for competitions
and not for pleasure. But not only that, for each trip I went back home to
Calgary and then back out. That was 4 round trip flights from Calgary to the
Caribbean (Aruba), South America (Brazil), North/Central America (Mexico), and
back to South America (Columbia). I had gone through the Houston International
airport 7 times with the exception of my flight to Brazil going through
Chicago’s international airport. On top of this I had already acquired gold
status with united and gold status with star alliance so that would make all my
future flights even better with all the perks and upgrades. But alas was time
to catch my small prop plane back to Bogota and then fly home for some much
needed rest. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com12Neiva, Huila, Colombia2.9344837 -75.28090012.8076212 -75.4422616 3.0613462 -75.1195386tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-6388158530786017842017-08-18T16:05:00.000-07:002017-08-18T16:05:55.294-07:002016 Mexico International Guadalajara, Mexico<span style="font-family: Calibri;">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. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisOQLakGc8y_kw-TWJKVTaN_hmAxa2cVjQOLuG8uouBdObYmBBGZyFuenqT_a98buIYqqKsZ9vL_U-1utmF-8TRNwmSpqECZITLSMEtJRmJYIiymQ_E0fg2M139DxkyTf6RXgm2fFWMcU/s1600/20967798_10159286069390327_451622248_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisOQLakGc8y_kw-TWJKVTaN_hmAxa2cVjQOLuG8uouBdObYmBBGZyFuenqT_a98buIYqqKsZ9vL_U-1utmF-8TRNwmSpqECZITLSMEtJRmJYIiymQ_E0fg2M139DxkyTf6RXgm2fFWMcU/s320/20967798_10159286069390327_451622248_o.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Being in Mexico for so few days I didn't need much cash</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5eXTV-qIKsxuSeEenNfkmBggUk54lSTJelWDRea5oXjg92ORe3VgW86RS9DcubvTKIjwpCS8c9WKr3XkrFMmfz5NY-8DmlmDqZGM4IEb8RHFDLtF9-WGBBqCBWEJOraGsZFvJb_VAKE/s1600/20961073_10159286069385327_1127456650_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5eXTV-qIKsxuSeEenNfkmBggUk54lSTJelWDRea5oXjg92ORe3VgW86RS9DcubvTKIjwpCS8c9WKr3XkrFMmfz5NY-8DmlmDqZGM4IEb8RHFDLtF9-WGBBqCBWEJOraGsZFvJb_VAKE/s320/20961073_10159286069385327_1127456650_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tournament venue was set up really well</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4UDSh-OcLvPxRagpYYHBMzZCfWvvuGkRJgsfJmxEfxMbtqaO5ftAh-lPtVCu5krm7A9zeu-JCl5QXcTzHPcCDTc4LTdE_Xln4N5QPtqwpx-jooZOaBHEf2R9qFQID1kGlrSwv9VGI7k/s1600/20960837_10159286074230327_827137772_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4UDSh-OcLvPxRagpYYHBMzZCfWvvuGkRJgsfJmxEfxMbtqaO5ftAh-lPtVCu5krm7A9zeu-JCl5QXcTzHPcCDTc4LTdE_Xln4N5QPtqwpx-jooZOaBHEf2R9qFQID1kGlrSwv9VGI7k/s320/20960837_10159286074230327_827137772_o.jpg" width="204" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">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<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> 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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_VS3FIKFwaOw068jVWlw6jdkOt-zpDVtHT33zO1a00qHJ_YXE6qBYyhcFB2VUwTzIRuA9l-fYLMIWFV8DDMpabF8yXTAMuvVnUVQjyEBF4UZUT6bThZM3ZIcKeJTrOKB2bDCJ_bg5lg/s1600/20991672_10159286069425327_511653335_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_VS3FIKFwaOw068jVWlw6jdkOt-zpDVtHT33zO1a00qHJ_YXE6qBYyhcFB2VUwTzIRuA9l-fYLMIWFV8DDMpabF8yXTAMuvVnUVQjyEBF4UZUT6bThZM3ZIcKeJTrOKB2bDCJ_bg5lg/s320/20991672_10159286069425327_511653335_o.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't even have a cool shot of anything, just this random street in Mexico</td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com2Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico20.6596988 -103.3496092000000320.4220003 -103.67233270000003 20.8973973 -103.02688570000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-65740424256418086192017-07-28T00:20:00.003-07:002017-07-28T00:20:39.288-07:002016 Brazil Grand Prix Foz Do Iguacu, Brazil<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1bKIJlmcHgKdZZxeo-FXqKNWMxvI6KRjpI6DgVtsua8tYaeLcPaJ8ozxxSpjH9CiVVVS0BF310X7dJDGf54jKcfELwrxw86gZql6quOp4xWEZ94sShtY_yAUhG456U0LmYmhT4zyr9bc/s1600/PSX_20170727_020828.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1055" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1bKIJlmcHgKdZZxeo-FXqKNWMxvI6KRjpI6DgVtsua8tYaeLcPaJ8ozxxSpjH9CiVVVS0BF310X7dJDGf54jKcfELwrxw86gZql6quOp4xWEZ94sShtY_yAUhG456U0LmYmhT4zyr9bc/s320/PSX_20170727_020828.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So Aruba was last week and now after a quick layover in
Calgary, just enough time to do laundry and repack, I was off to Brazil. This
was an exciting trip because although I have been to Brazil before this time it
would be to a city that I haven’t gone and there was a major tourist attraction
there, Iguacu Falls. The city is borders both Paraguay and Argentina but this
waterfall is located on the Brazil/Argentina boarder and is massive so that
would definitely be something that I would have to check out while there can’t
pass up that opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But before any
of that could happen I had to get there which required a flight to Chicago and
then onwards the long flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil and finally a domestic flight
to Foz Do Iguacu. The flights themselves weren’t bad, the flight from Chicago
to Sao Paulo was a long one but nothing I haven’t encountered before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt had arrived a day before me so he rented
a car and when I arrived into the small airport he was there to meet me and we
went off to our hotel for the night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Matt booked us a hotel very close to the venue, it was about
2 blocks away so perfect to walk to the venue and not have to worry about
catching transportation. This was my first time playing in this city but Matt
had played this tournament before in the past and was very familiar with the
city. The tournament was a very small one especially for a grand prix level
event, the men’s singles was a 32 size draw and doubles was a 16 size at that.
There were quite a few Europeans that came over but not many people from the
Pan Am zone. It is true that it was right after the Olympics and most
countries/players really didn’t have the money to spend on travel. This made it
the perfect time to try and qualify for worlds and even better time to get a head
start at the tournaments where people were not attending. At this point I was
just thinking about qualifying for doubles with Matt, the idea of trying to
qualify for singles hadn’t even crossed my mind yet and wouldn’t for a little
while. <o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaTznA2e3P6rdjAM2m5SpdlTO5Sef9v3CX_3GZOFOPHONqwe6WUPun4W5QKCLPxyzyABX7uwjkQ0oxLJa6K0FFpX-nSXHCZxEcVOSGsH1TX-Jd4pftgndjegJWVRfP793TaIBNKAY4Fo/s1600/DSC_5436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaTznA2e3P6rdjAM2m5SpdlTO5Sef9v3CX_3GZOFOPHONqwe6WUPun4W5QKCLPxyzyABX7uwjkQ0oxLJa6K0FFpX-nSXHCZxEcVOSGsH1TX-Jd4pftgndjegJWVRfP793TaIBNKAY4Fo/s320/DSC_5436.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our hotel 2 blocks from the venue</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So we had a day before the tournament started to practice
and adjust, the venue itself was actually set up very nice. For the location
and the rest of the building they did wonders. The courts were great, no
blinding light, no terribly drafts, and good lines of sight all around. There
were 3 match courts and 2 practice courts, given the size of the tournament it
would be more than adequate to run all the matches with no delays. We were able
to get in a good amount of practice before the matches commenced the following
day with singles in the evening. Matt signed up for singles as well and had
drawn a local Brazilian player first round as did I. My player however did not
show up for the match so I was granted a walkover, a walkover into round or 16
at a Grand prix level tournament was a lot of singles points to be awarded 2110
to be exact and more if I won the next match. I would have to play Milin Ludik
of the Czech Republic the following morning for my shot at a quarterfinal
appearance. That did not happen though and I lost to him, it was a fun match
and aside from Aruba and Canada Open one of the few times I had a coach behind
my court with me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Singles was done and now it was doubles time, the real
reason I had travelled all the way down to South America. We were up against a
mixed country pair, how appropriate since we too were a mixed country pair, of
Brazil and Paraguay. The player from Brazil was an accomplished player as well
the guy from Paraguay was a former Japanese national level (not national team)
player and had since moved to work and live in Paraguay but was now playing
under their flag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a harder
first round than some of the other teams had, a local junior Brazilian pair
would have been nice but that’s alright we were up for the challenge. The match
started and it wasn’t as shell shocking as the US Open against the other
Japanese pair, we were able to have rallies and actually win points. Matt is
known for being able to control the net and serve exceptionally well and of
course he demonstrated it here but he can also play from the back. Being this
was only our second tournament together there was for sure some times of
uncertainty with shots and rotation as well as sequences but that was something
that we would learn as we went along. We lost the match but weren’t blown out
so although a crappy feeling for losing it wasn’t as terrible a feeling as it
could have been. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKDqIh0x56e_YuY0fg0Wd0AN6zZ2RPVK9SIqiz6TYUm9RrsmQESL1p1CNGLujM9TlNNeNIZyEKTO-0Mu5ke3SX5JrTn-7Pm_ol7rOI1J_98jD_tPAD-Gg0o0xQrgg7hAbBJIsQghWe1I/s1600/DSC_5430.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvKDqIh0x56e_YuY0fg0Wd0AN6zZ2RPVK9SIqiz6TYUm9RrsmQESL1p1CNGLujM9TlNNeNIZyEKTO-0Mu5ke3SX5JrTn-7Pm_ol7rOI1J_98jD_tPAD-Gg0o0xQrgg7hAbBJIsQghWe1I/s320/DSC_5430.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tournament venue was set up very nice for a South American Grand Prix</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So the tournament was over and we had a day left in Brazil
before heading home. Me and matt were on the same flight from Rio to Houston
but we had a different departure time leaving Foz Do Iguacu. The weather
wasn’t the best during the week and had limited moments of sunshine with mostly
rain both heavy and light. This did not make the most ideal weather to go see
the Iguazu waterfalls and the Itaipu dam (largest hydroelectric dam in the world in power generation). But we
caught a break, the Friday it was sunny and the forecast said that the rest of
the day would be more of the same. This was the time we took the opportunity
and drove out to the falls, it wasn’t that far from the city actually which was
surprising. It was located in a sort of national park as you would call it and
when we paid to go in we boarded a bus which drove us off to the various
stopping points. We were interested in the falls but wanted to do the little
trek to them in order to get a better appreciation for them as well as see the
scenery. The hike started off with a nice open area before retreating to the
side of the cliffs for a more intimate view of all the various waterfalls on
route to the large main falls. Because we were on the Brazil side we were
seeing the waterfalls located on the Argentina side. Likewise the people on the
Argentina side would be seeing the waterfalls on the brail side. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2_gSBUQU0cxkxUmE3sXiPFMnriYIDyokIINx8ki8C9autXkinUb9QXU0q-1MnjiOjn9MA-xeqeHUkdSYq9VBcUCpQmDEMToCaptFNCwYoCvAK0B_KJwTcSEWqrj15tAYEPG7phz0zlM/s1600/DSC_5441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2_gSBUQU0cxkxUmE3sXiPFMnriYIDyokIINx8ki8C9autXkinUb9QXU0q-1MnjiOjn9MA-xeqeHUkdSYq9VBcUCpQmDEMToCaptFNCwYoCvAK0B_KJwTcSEWqrj15tAYEPG7phz0zlM/s320/DSC_5441.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beginning of the trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrWX4plKydURk9hL6-7hUOv8pjbZq7qrtTaHlZebzS8R75gsHjXIse8lvVS4as2oQtXwQ5_e9zltfypJKZVnbA5dvM3tiifLUGXK72ZpFs-lOUKt1TTkec9cGhEbyl1mJE-qiUS2_mUlk/s1600/DSC_5466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="1600" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrWX4plKydURk9hL6-7hUOv8pjbZq7qrtTaHlZebzS8R75gsHjXIse8lvVS4as2oQtXwQ5_e9zltfypJKZVnbA5dvM3tiifLUGXK72ZpFs-lOUKt1TTkec9cGhEbyl1mJE-qiUS2_mUlk/s320/DSC_5466.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was simply amazing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOqGndFQP9ewZvOgL_3TazgFNIobLCzHPzalaABgoIFRP0alSfEb7MgG8IWyWUhmUIs8uYQuIEHMiLbgFOPgKsikUTEbXVjB53qXZdbAbYbp4AOX-vaovtS4O7REsbvDycS_ce2A7PWo/s1600/DSC_5469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOqGndFQP9ewZvOgL_3TazgFNIobLCzHPzalaABgoIFRP0alSfEb7MgG8IWyWUhmUIs8uYQuIEHMiLbgFOPgKsikUTEbXVjB53qXZdbAbYbp4AOX-vaovtS4O7REsbvDycS_ce2A7PWo/s320/DSC_5469.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nothing short of breath taking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We snaked our way along the trails, stopping at the various
viewing points to catch more glimpses at the power each waterfall held. Finally
after some time passed we were at the mouth of the beast, the devils mouth as
it was called. There was a catwalk of a bridge leading out over the raging
water and up to the edge of one of the falls. We were right in the middle of
the beast, getting soaked by all the water blowing in the wind. The people on
the Argentina side did not get the same experience as their catwalk was at the
very top of the falls, allowing them to see a magnificent top down view but not
an inside the area experience. From the Brazil side we were also able to go up
to above the falls on a tower to get the same sort of top down view but we
would do that after. Standing there and seeing all that water was an eye opener
to the true power of Mother Nature and sheer force the water had. For those of you who can conceptualize it, Iguazu falls has a flow of 1,756 meters cubed per second of water flow. Once off the
catwalk there was a landing area literally right next to the waterfall where
you could stand, the area was a soak zone and oh did I ever get soaked. But you
could see just how fast and how much water was coming down, not to mention the
sound as well. Standing there it really made you think where is all this water
coming from that this much flows through every second of every day every year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPtxsENNDCHcnY3V0gfbQje3CE7HoPV6wg5bTxURMfyqh7IPRmqk1aozZrbGbTUgNThFFe0c7ujgsRFndjEI7TVWLrOG-6lJ6FosDzCvqOHF1I3tbY6hMEU1Aq7ul_PC7O-_XuzcLX_g/s1600/DSC_5476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPtxsENNDCHcnY3V0gfbQje3CE7HoPV6wg5bTxURMfyqh7IPRmqk1aozZrbGbTUgNThFFe0c7ujgsRFndjEI7TVWLrOG-6lJ6FosDzCvqOHF1I3tbY6hMEU1Aq7ul_PC7O-_XuzcLX_g/s320/DSC_5476.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those are the waterfalls on the Argentina side</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOu6e6cGLS_4q2or8Mmxu4ezDOSwaht1bRWcuuBFTFV2zKF0TwibWbJKSyfYs3i_HmIGqc41al5ji3wDTMSK45bTWBszTyVo2-eYanhxACxOepSqUdqSBMe9KWtijj4O1Dfx-Nx_I-Uec/s1600/DSC_5480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOu6e6cGLS_4q2or8Mmxu4ezDOSwaht1bRWcuuBFTFV2zKF0TwibWbJKSyfYs3i_HmIGqc41al5ji3wDTMSK45bTWBszTyVo2-eYanhxACxOepSqUdqSBMe9KWtijj4O1Dfx-Nx_I-Uec/s320/DSC_5480.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting closer to the main falls, time to bring out the rain jacket</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCor8FB5lQTmWIC9MJ4vPT3LY4f3tfTb7_D4NNHK1YD-G4CxKIfwcwLDOUOYyRdya_tIAGZ2xMXYj1_xjZ0FkmxRyDyqGeFc8dao5FlQc5WI4gUidjWhzDZ8mkiqbkNj9DJfPnYO3SOo/s1600/DSC_5489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCor8FB5lQTmWIC9MJ4vPT3LY4f3tfTb7_D4NNHK1YD-G4CxKIfwcwLDOUOYyRdya_tIAGZ2xMXYj1_xjZ0FkmxRyDyqGeFc8dao5FlQc5WI4gUidjWhzDZ8mkiqbkNj9DJfPnYO3SOo/s320/DSC_5489.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the soak zone, it was crazy to see so much water falling down</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Upon completing my time in the soak zone we preceded up to
the top of the observation tower and got a nice top down view. You could see
the whole area from the river before the falls to where it all ended up, truly
a breathtaking and amazing sight to see. We then walked a little further up river
and viewed how calm the water was, you would never think there was that
monstrosity lurking just a few hundred meters downstream. There was some gift
shops and food places but that was about it so we took a quick look and then
boarded the bus back down to where we had parked. It was still pretty early in
the day though and we had one more stop. It was a dam, but not just any dam,
the largest hydroelectric dam in South America and let me tell you it is
definitely worthy of that title. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZOoeFfx9UG_arxt05q7I0zJvDfmNLpJr_OwKsTHQtatkvCO4vMNWJZ6uSdCuANM6AZKH0gcspZxT9v4nPPdBrrCXfkBj5r_uFr30BZukq7UjScW-5Ex2tb7IoYvQ4_50vc-4F6Rqzdc/s1600/DSC_5501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZOoeFfx9UG_arxt05q7I0zJvDfmNLpJr_OwKsTHQtatkvCO4vMNWJZ6uSdCuANM6AZKH0gcspZxT9v4nPPdBrrCXfkBj5r_uFr30BZukq7UjScW-5Ex2tb7IoYvQ4_50vc-4F6Rqzdc/s320/DSC_5501.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from up top, Argentina is on the other side in the back </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdqjrW0YO8-oRiDL_TsgcABKJFAcG19I567PcQrlZVwKmUdLrf81FRr_CT8jZ20Opi_nVeCCcCBCdht0JbgOcUTyluJl74T6yQzLBL09XgCXj96fLmHGejRDhm1nh7j2XBdjNIvOtSfA/s1600/DSC_5516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdqjrW0YO8-oRiDL_TsgcABKJFAcG19I567PcQrlZVwKmUdLrf81FRr_CT8jZ20Opi_nVeCCcCBCdht0JbgOcUTyluJl74T6yQzLBL09XgCXj96fLmHGejRDhm1nh7j2XBdjNIvOtSfA/s320/DSC_5516.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">River up atop the falls, you would never guess what lies beneath and ahead</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We arrived later in the evening but were fortunate as there
was 1 more tour bus going out to the dam for the day, of course we jumped on to
it and got ready to see what all the fuss was about. Matt had already been
there before so he knew what was what but to me it was all brand new. The drive
up was interesting, everything was so artificial and the dam actually served as
a border between Brazil and Paraguay so on the far side there was border
control for those driving the route but we wouldn’t have to worry about that. We
stopped at 2 different viewpoints of the dam, the first was a ways away to
grasp the size of it from a distance which was actually quite hard to do. You
could see busses and trucks driving on the road that up the dam but they looked
so tiny in comparison. The second view point was closer and offered a little
more context to the scale of this man made giant. Ironic just earlier we viewed
the waterfalls which was raw and uncontrolled nature but now we were viewing a
manmade structure all about the control of nature. Finally the bus took us
along the dam, driving the full distance and that’s when I truly got an
appreciation for the size of this thing. To see the pipes and sheer size of
everything running up and down let alone the distance that it covered was mind
blowing. We then proceeded to drive along the top having a view of both the
lake behind and then drop off to the waterway below. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAE77_IWwgT3bpd-PAzKYb3qWVRhFKWYnUkGfLX1EKEEWJC-OvR1hBAjuyOuhn8ZvAmItzdQ_siDKoFoWZlMr-2FE4c8ZaQzJWpon7OoC48mf5PrNqc4oXmeLnPhZ-ODsoe9nLn1bSUrk/s1600/DSC_5523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAE77_IWwgT3bpd-PAzKYb3qWVRhFKWYnUkGfLX1EKEEWJC-OvR1hBAjuyOuhn8ZvAmItzdQ_siDKoFoWZlMr-2FE4c8ZaQzJWpon7OoC48mf5PrNqc4oXmeLnPhZ-ODsoe9nLn1bSUrk/s320/DSC_5523.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Itaipu Dam, this thing was damn big... ha ha couldn't resist the pun</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQudFjbcfQUr4oMmX_CR-ZZWGzjRSVZPX0_w5kgwvab4uYAOR-SSHLNcDokz-UrLQu43vFFbnDsrk96mWP7VetD1kt6c7ZddEaN0zpi-PMy9o_M03ClF5gDjqE_0cGlmXZF87eH86lD8/s1600/DSC_5527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQudFjbcfQUr4oMmX_CR-ZZWGzjRSVZPX0_w5kgwvab4uYAOR-SSHLNcDokz-UrLQu43vFFbnDsrk96mWP7VetD1kt6c7ZddEaN0zpi-PMy9o_M03ClF5gDjqE_0cGlmXZF87eH86lD8/s320/DSC_5527.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Driving on the lower level of the dam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpswvRwZ8XA9ISREf1_Dw2Bmzh70NQFB_lgIZx1SomXxFMyvwuMXkaJQn85ZG8v4RnTTzt0sYdhAOYVwotroJXkZFEro5Lf4z3GwtozlMHN_W0bCbcncwB7OICd46lkWgnY4STnnYZSs/s1600/DSC_5529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpswvRwZ8XA9ISREf1_Dw2Bmzh70NQFB_lgIZx1SomXxFMyvwuMXkaJQn85ZG8v4RnTTzt0sYdhAOYVwotroJXkZFEro5Lf4z3GwtozlMHN_W0bCbcncwB7OICd46lkWgnY4STnnYZSs/s320/DSC_5529.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up from the lower level</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The final stop was towards the back on the lake, there was a
restaurant and a whole area purely based and run on tourism as nobody lived
back there. There was also a cruise around the lake where a large ferry would
take you for a soothing sail around the lake to enjoy the view but it had ended
for the evening as we were the last tour. So we walked the little dock and took
in the view of a setting sun in South America over a manmade lake teeming with
the beauty of nature. Boarding the bus the ride down was peaceful and left one
with an overwhelming sense of the sheer size of things. You think you can
conceptualize distances, sizes, etc but until you are standing right in front
of it and seeing it yourself then your mind doesn’t know what it thinks it
actually knows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4sTg1S8ab1u29ZSSG1FQ2PmhpUidyyY_FyD7FisvkvTtXOtizQvqlldM0UKP0VjasD5BWdAXdcHxFJJe-2Gv6-jSI5t1_i57pwaM2n1UunM23_PIN3jMIlQz4TUDUQ8HtDbWPVKExyGI/s1600/DSC_5541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4sTg1S8ab1u29ZSSG1FQ2PmhpUidyyY_FyD7FisvkvTtXOtizQvqlldM0UKP0VjasD5BWdAXdcHxFJJe-2Gv6-jSI5t1_i57pwaM2n1UunM23_PIN3jMIlQz4TUDUQ8HtDbWPVKExyGI/s320/DSC_5541.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pristine lake that was created when they built the dam and an amazing sunset </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So that was the end of Brazil, I would fly out to Rio the
next morning on an early flight and then Matt would join me later in the day
for the flight from Rio to Houston. Following that I had my final flight
onwards to Calgary which at that point I was super happy to get home and sleep
in my own bed for the first time in over 2 weeks. But it would not be for long
as I would just be home for a few days and then heading back out to
Guadalajara, Mexico for the Mexico international series. I was happy with this
tournament, some big results in both singles and doubles getting major world
ranking points and this was my first thought of hey my singles ranking is going
to go up. I still wasn’t thinking about qualifying or trying to qualify for
world championships in singles yet though. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnNyPeQx7Gug4_AzYsvJSBjhwlc_1VU5xawqGNomAiktiyHFKNM2s_OSfQMlazlX5UQOP4MtX5y56zW__mXZwSI1buUn0CCRONamugrEM8VP5gKBwnuAf_4tKkE536U4JdGlVo9n2CQU/s1600/DSC_5526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnNyPeQx7Gug4_AzYsvJSBjhwlc_1VU5xawqGNomAiktiyHFKNM2s_OSfQMlazlX5UQOP4MtX5y56zW__mXZwSI1buUn0CCRONamugrEM8VP5gKBwnuAf_4tKkE536U4JdGlVo9n2CQU/s320/DSC_5526.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rio 2016 Olympic touch at the dam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-64058607851971365652017-07-25T00:48:00.000-07:002017-07-25T00:48:01.607-07:002016 CAREBACO Team and Individual Championships, Aruba<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXBWObT3dyE5n7pwCqSOCzmaOHcUTkjf_k1ke-x9I3Q7P7Z6gQs_LrHz5z4SSUiMOeyOXGvt8BzA72gTEs7gKQ9uRGS1f-BG8lDv3WyahAFgM9yrJGhRef1bdKZ0SBG5Vou2XBMSKkrkM/s1600/13000268_1058698704203531_8446652484067172507_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="851" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXBWObT3dyE5n7pwCqSOCzmaOHcUTkjf_k1ke-x9I3Q7P7Z6gQs_LrHz5z4SSUiMOeyOXGvt8BzA72gTEs7gKQ9uRGS1f-BG8lDv3WyahAFgM9yrJGhRef1bdKZ0SBG5Vou2XBMSKkrkM/s320/13000268_1058698704203531_8446652484067172507_n.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was time to fly out again, this time I would be gone for
almost 4 weeks in a row with a packed tournament schedule. Aruba, Brazil, and
Mexico back to back then a week break and off to Columbia. This time I was
heading to the Caribbean for the CAREBACO championships which happen every
year, last year it was in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and we got a bronze
medal in the team championships. This year we would see what we could fight to
get. I was also the first seed in the individual BWF singles event.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1u4VSktyVvFHtagzY_OtIN1m9DO2nqqp-1CNIdiCyx0XK_86uoA4MUKiMLPxvZuKIdocTG_gzXGA9_N_lsDDrbGCcB2NvPNNlPaZQ68lXlgsqpHju55GFkO4ME_lWVqagGa46FmB5r4/s1600/IMG-20160824-WA0008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="1328" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1u4VSktyVvFHtagzY_OtIN1m9DO2nqqp-1CNIdiCyx0XK_86uoA4MUKiMLPxvZuKIdocTG_gzXGA9_N_lsDDrbGCcB2NvPNNlPaZQ68lXlgsqpHju55GFkO4ME_lWVqagGa46FmB5r4/s320/IMG-20160824-WA0008.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2016 Trinidad and Tobago Senior CAREBACO team (L to R: Me, Solangel, Leanne, Kerian, Will, missing Alistair)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Flying to Aruba proved a little longer and harder than
expected but nothing terrible just an overnight layover. For all the upcoming
trips I would be flying through Houston international airport in Texas as it is
a united hub for South America and the Caribbean. It was substantially cheaper
to book all my flights as round trips than trying to go from one location to
the other, weird yes I know. Unfortunately didn’t have status yet so I wouldn’t
be able to enjoy the lounges or anything for the next few trips, I was just
star alliance silver which doesn’t get the perks of lounge access but got
priority check in and boarding. The last time I went to Aruba was when I was
very small and we went island hopping one summer with my mom, aunt, and cousins
so I didn’t remember it to well from back then. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2H7ttWAqO-9EbaEX3MnC8_TC8mQir5fvs1RXtm8Vzt1c804-1SzZLFm2MODmNo2KteVl-LL4j3ioG7yLASZdJRkoLe-2oi8udnGyMNutWBSHg2Yho9qnwKLZSOkF5-rrzmupoLlHIvw/s1600/DSC_5397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="1600" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2H7ttWAqO-9EbaEX3MnC8_TC8mQir5fvs1RXtm8Vzt1c804-1SzZLFm2MODmNo2KteVl-LL4j3ioG7yLASZdJRkoLe-2oi8udnGyMNutWBSHg2Yho9qnwKLZSOkF5-rrzmupoLlHIvw/s320/DSC_5397.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who could pass up these beautiful beaches on the island?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arriving in Aruba was nice, the weather was hot and sun
shining bright. It was still summer in Calgary, well ending, but the weather
was good there however winter was looming around the corner. Upon arrival I was
unfortunately not picked up from the airport which is something I am quiet use
to despite submitting my arrival information. After some time and using the
wifi I was able to contact somebody from the Trinidad team and the tournament
organizers came and took me to the tournament hall where the junior team
tournament was happening. I stayed there for a while to support the juniors.
The rest of the senior team was to arrive the next day. The venue didn’t look
terrible, definitely not the worst place that I have been to before. That night
I got a decent rest and the following day me and Rahul (President of the TTBA),
Navin (TTBA position), and one of the juniors Renaldo went to have an early
morning practice at the hall. It was a good first hit in the venue and
something well needed as the Senior Team tournament would start the following
day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7TvhOU8Qx_LbT2SK0zXzaYzzjGFEm1nsJL9J42mcRCfdwLj0M-4k-qQkKYJAEFRfTRD4JBj9hwIML0A0luMlJhj4_GuOxvk-qUGV3YeF2ysttI2KZHKd9x6DSNYDL_H6zyh6DtqxO9zE/s1600/DSC_5367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="1600" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7TvhOU8Qx_LbT2SK0zXzaYzzjGFEm1nsJL9J42mcRCfdwLj0M-4k-qQkKYJAEFRfTRD4JBj9hwIML0A0luMlJhj4_GuOxvk-qUGV3YeF2ysttI2KZHKd9x6DSNYDL_H6zyh6DtqxO9zE/s320/DSC_5367.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tournament venue, practice day</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I headed back to the hotel and rested for the majority of
the day, venturing out for food and to explore a bit but didn’t stay out long
due to the heat. That night the rest of the team thankfully arrived and we were
relieved to see them. Team matches would start the following day and was in the
format of men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and
mixed doubles. To win the tie you had to win 3 out of 5 but they would play out
the entire tie for completeness sake. There was only 4 countries entered this
year; Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, Barbados, and Suriname. Every
team was strong and it would be a fight right to the end. We played Suriname
first and unfortunately lost 1-4. I played singles against Suriname for that
tie. While Dom Rep played Barbados and won their tie. Next tie was playing
against Dom Rep and we lost 1-4 yet again. This time I played both doubles and
mixed doubles having 2 close matches. Suriname played Barbados and won their
tie. This meant that playing for first and second place would be Suriname and
Dominican Republic. Playing for third and fourth place would be Barbados and
Trinidad and Tobago. There was only 3 medals; gold, silver, and bronze nothing
for fourth place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxW5A1BClLx6w8M32S4ZInhgadNGSN4obRFbm6PUspIM-9UoVS2Sex3E_-pr0guzQzIpJ3ZsaCLIT-AEz5zsAQhslwLO_lqiYoRtMbXeZ9X7_QhWA5ouiJ-HB59lC8v8hqRpFBhyphenhyphenueE0/s1600/DSC_5361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxW5A1BClLx6w8M32S4ZInhgadNGSN4obRFbm6PUspIM-9UoVS2Sex3E_-pr0guzQzIpJ3ZsaCLIT-AEz5zsAQhslwLO_lqiYoRtMbXeZ9X7_QhWA5ouiJ-HB59lC8v8hqRpFBhyphenhyphenueE0/s320/DSC_5361.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tournament venue during the competition, it was actually a good venue for an island</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Game day. It all came down to this tie against Barbados,
either we would be going home with a medal or we would be going home empty
handed. I played first singles and it was national champion against national
champion. I was able to beat the Barbados player but it went 3 games because of
my nerves and safe play at times. Next up we won women’s singles with Solangel
winning in 2 straight. Then came doubles, if we won this match then we would
win the tie and be bronze medalists at CAREBACO. Alistair and Will were able to
beat out the other 2 players winning us the tie and taking it home 3-0. That
was a good feeling to have gotten a bronze medal at least from the tournament
which was a big moment for national pride and made me feel good about being
Trinidadian. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxdZXg3tedqTm58EDb-ByyOv8D3OvC-Ci_uoZTSDEv1CAh0ym7be14IPSQruFSKU1bAzGbcAPlxNlk6gpNZ2Uv_mh2rzodxSYU36ge3AeKvDZ9N81k16vcCujiv5mCVqUtW6JnI1Phno/s1600/IMG-20160830-WA0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxdZXg3tedqTm58EDb-ByyOv8D3OvC-Ci_uoZTSDEv1CAh0ym7be14IPSQruFSKU1bAzGbcAPlxNlk6gpNZ2Uv_mh2rzodxSYU36ge3AeKvDZ9N81k16vcCujiv5mCVqUtW6JnI1Phno/s320/IMG-20160830-WA0005.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2016 CAREBACO Team Event Bronze Medal, award ceremonies </td></tr>
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</span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbMvdh7Rq69QLjGkz5uS9NKVMPaxm_Riaf5KdKUluDRd34uaDteCxbZhwQ0Gib_zbnnJraZvw-d7cXfYfDfjKSvseztG8gGGtEyNE9__o8BNwIHWM3svRvmzaSqFMFqliu7X-6B9hy-8/s1600/DSC_5420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbMvdh7Rq69QLjGkz5uS9NKVMPaxm_Riaf5KdKUluDRd34uaDteCxbZhwQ0Gib_zbnnJraZvw-d7cXfYfDfjKSvseztG8gGGtEyNE9__o8BNwIHWM3svRvmzaSqFMFqliu7X-6B9hy-8/s320/DSC_5420.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The medals that we got, they are actually pretty cool </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That however was not all that took place in Aruba, I was
there for just over a week due to the amount of events I was participating in.
there was a day where I did have no badminton due to the team tournament
finishing and the international starting the following day. What better use of
a day than to explore the island or as much as possible and within walking
distance of the hotel. There were 2 shopping malls down the road which we
checked out earlier in the week to find food but this was the first time that
actually spent time walking through them and seeing what was what. There was a
dock where the cruise ships came in and then just retail all along the strip
since it was a very tourist heavy area. Located there was also a giant “I love
Aruba” sigh which of course is the perfect photo opportunity and a must have
picture. The walk to the mall/shopping area wasn’t terribly far maybe about 15
minutes but the heat is what was really the killer, it was also deathly dry
there so not a good combination. The view however could not be beat, blue clear
water just tropical paradise status, and was always a welcome sight. Not to
mention very tempting to just jump in and go for a swim. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NhnaJ7ZLc2z8Cy71Lp89OagRPYnvOZoe4bBnqeP48ZPIVnaGVZRZaCnKZgkvafj7TtlQHO1jq9-F_t5P_kF5Xy_-R8GhVXB6i756pneWuRikHJguVRAXHR8jZH2m2Yzzia81xiOg7lk/s1600/DSC_5388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NhnaJ7ZLc2z8Cy71Lp89OagRPYnvOZoe4bBnqeP48ZPIVnaGVZRZaCnKZgkvafj7TtlQHO1jq9-F_t5P_kF5Xy_-R8GhVXB6i756pneWuRikHJguVRAXHR8jZH2m2Yzzia81xiOg7lk/s320/DSC_5388.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Climbing up on the Aruba sign</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw4rJeR2XG00s0gRvpmGw1yFZ7ADlaru578HGICb9bx4BPWbNJJiojorLdnY8QtR6g0UAGhg2Qkxrv_snl-nsxSbCbt-qB2E8TxwoKNqI6jnHikBB4Z5HqVywrEZRRbZoaTHKuQnrcvZM/s1600/DSC_5391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw4rJeR2XG00s0gRvpmGw1yFZ7ADlaru578HGICb9bx4BPWbNJJiojorLdnY8QtR6g0UAGhg2Qkxrv_snl-nsxSbCbt-qB2E8TxwoKNqI6jnHikBB4Z5HqVywrEZRRbZoaTHKuQnrcvZM/s320/DSC_5391.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another Aruba sign and of course I needed to climb it again</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Talking about going for a swim and the ocean this was yet
another trip where I was not fortunate enough to actually go into the water.
Despite our hotel literally being across the street from the beach the most
that I went into the water was up to my knees for a picture…but it was a good
picture and the water was so warm. We did however spend some time hanging out
on the beach both during the day and at night. During the night there was a
food truck which came out and the food that they served was delicious. What
better thing to do than grab some food and walk down to the beach. Listen to
the calming of the sea and stare into the abyss of space seeing the sky lit up
with the stars of our galaxy…alright if you couldn’t tell I enjoy space a lot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTxqATzW24m-5Bk0f22pr82lleuPCAaGGep3Q3XvFDRG5LKkSQUFaVaKIsu8PPlrXI9PoUuebo1OVuYizeAlVlUZl8NOE2mHzysj6MBpyDCFXkoex4nDfIPKUGI2UN_DvIzfX0zHv3pQ/s1600/DSC_5387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTxqATzW24m-5Bk0f22pr82lleuPCAaGGep3Q3XvFDRG5LKkSQUFaVaKIsu8PPlrXI9PoUuebo1OVuYizeAlVlUZl8NOE2mHzysj6MBpyDCFXkoex4nDfIPKUGI2UN_DvIzfX0zHv3pQ/s320/DSC_5387.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Couldn't leave without getting a picture in that perfect looking water</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMSsZRcY8620Z2DbWs6kB0K-hqkA0v8iERonxbMaY8IglEITl2nf9eO78kmx4ErNQ2o5A-5EZJSFzvhFKVE34ApK8OdNyM91_hBn9YfM_AFTjvFEKKXgc_I3sq1VVX914f5veB5eOr_5o/s1600/DSC_5419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMSsZRcY8620Z2DbWs6kB0K-hqkA0v8iERonxbMaY8IglEITl2nf9eO78kmx4ErNQ2o5A-5EZJSFzvhFKVE34ApK8OdNyM91_hBn9YfM_AFTjvFEKKXgc_I3sq1VVX914f5veB5eOr_5o/s320/DSC_5419.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We spent a lot of nights eating at this food truck, it got lots of business</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With the team tournament over it was time for the senior BWF
individual event to start as well as there was a junior international event
happening too. The draws were late to be posted and we only found out the draw
2 days before the tournament was to start which is almost unheard of for
international standards. This international was only a future series which is
the lowest level offering no prize money, and very limited points. I had a
decent draw playing against a Suriname player first round and then that took me
into quarterfinals where I played a Jamaican player and unfortunately lost.
This loss would cause me to leave Aruba the next day and focus on my tournament
in Brazil which was a much higher level and offered a lot more points. Because
of the tournament in Brazil I did not play men’s doubles or mixed doubles due
to the time constraints of getting to Brazil on time. It would also be the next
step in my new partnership with Matt for world championships qualifications so
was important to get to and adjust to the venue. All that was left was to leave
Aruba and fly back to Calgary for believe it or not a 5 hour layover before
flying straight to Brazil. I know what you are thinking that is a major
backtrack but it was insanely cheaper (over $1000 cheaper) to do it this way,
also I would get a lot of qualifying miles for my United reward status so not a
total loss. Just meant that I would be spending a lot of time flying and in
airports, something that I have become accustomed to over the past few years.
So now onto Foz Du Iguassu, Brazil for the 2016 Brazil Grand Prix. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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2016 CAREBACO team event men's singles, me vs. Barbados</div>
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</div>
Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com15Aruba12.52111 -69.96833800000001712.2730915 -70.291061500000012 12.7691285 -69.645614500000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-81132479357022305182017-04-23T15:55:00.000-07:002017-04-23T15:55:09.275-07:002016 US Open Grand Prix Gold
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCVOSC6ffBG47pjHgue3YkJaVm1OOgdvkGJJl5Yq-SBFlaUvG_7u9DJbGVVUIfB9DqFuU5wYSK_ClYYLJqTTj7euI3WZywbtLOAr0qkf8N6tm3dDAdHEq5nBozGyZ3CwluPXvdW1ayfXA/s1600/us_open.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCVOSC6ffBG47pjHgue3YkJaVm1OOgdvkGJJl5Yq-SBFlaUvG_7u9DJbGVVUIfB9DqFuU5wYSK_ClYYLJqTTj7euI3WZywbtLOAr0qkf8N6tm3dDAdHEq5nBozGyZ3CwluPXvdW1ayfXA/s1600/us_open.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The US open had been moved back to LA since its move to New
York for 2 years. Despite the move back it was not given back to OCBC down in
Anaheim so this was something new. It was awarded to a facility called the Los
Angeles Badminton Club (LABC) which I actually played at once before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was good news as I would be staying at
Yukos house and it wasn’t a terribly far drive, nothing compared to trying to
go from Manhattan Beach to OCBC. This tournament I would be playing all 3
events. Singles, Doubles with Matt Fogarty, and mixed with Yoshi (Yukos
daughter). So let’s discuss something first, let’s talk about this doubles
partnership. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Earlier in the year the opportunity came up to play with
Matt in the attempt to make a run at qualifying for the 2017 world
championships in Glasgow, Scotland. This meant that we would be playing
tournaments together in order to get the required points and the world ranking
needed. The qualification for world championships is May 1, 2016 to April 30,
2017 so a one year period. The best 10 tournaments in that time count and only
2 teams from the same country are able to qualify. Because we are a split
partnership we would count as one team from Trinidad and one team from USA. The
US Open would be our first tournament together and first set or
ranking/qualification points. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the time I wasn’t even thinking about qualifying or
trying to qualify for singles but that would come into play later on. So that
is the new partnership that was formed and that would also lead me to some more
travels than I had intended for the year. Canada open passed and then a few
days later I was on my flight to LA and to see Yuko again. We got to practice
at the tournament hall with Dean and Dean’s partner, also with Tuck and Jenn
Yee too. The tournament venue wasn’t terrible it was a darker hall and they had
adjusted the lighting to make it more “professional” but that wasn’t
necessarily the case. Yuko was the nurse on duty so she would be going up each
day which was nice for me as it was at least an hour to an hour and a half
drive each way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1k0kqP7Vir3BzaLf5tR8mINQcS2Ut-mSKb0gXsgl347UlzIBmHQe5MQRYcA6htzQcrNDjC5wfyhT1wgNiuNGnaZLHwN_71Rj51C9BcJVsUzLlTAKsuN6Qrb_XyPKzu_uh4UQrFQ7MJcs/s1600/DSC_5260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1k0kqP7Vir3BzaLf5tR8mINQcS2Ut-mSKb0gXsgl347UlzIBmHQe5MQRYcA6htzQcrNDjC5wfyhT1wgNiuNGnaZLHwN_71Rj51C9BcJVsUzLlTAKsuN6Qrb_XyPKzu_uh4UQrFQ7MJcs/s320/DSC_5260.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2016 US Open GPG venue at LABC</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before the tournament started though it was time to
celebrate 4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> of July American style, aka go down to the beach and
suntan. Of course everyone was out on the beach partying and drinking it up so
it was definitely a great time and so relaxing as well. That evening we went
out to the tournament hall to practice again and while driving back we could
see the 4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> of July fireworks being set off all over the place. It is
about a 40 minute to 1 hour+ drive depending on traffic but with fireworks
going off it was enjoyable. The next day would be the start of the tournament
and I would need to get a good night’s rest for my singles match. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5tbuZumFJ_NVn6M4CpGBYpfcw1Mf8EakZRk6LbpLFOCw-VgqJHIhV1WhrPYhiCWNuxiKLhKa9nSDuTf2zs_CEmPSScL_8NWhi1zr0eckMyDmOEkwtVz4OIoLeeYf1qIyZD7xCvGvIwc/s1600/DSC_5254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5tbuZumFJ_NVn6M4CpGBYpfcw1Mf8EakZRk6LbpLFOCw-VgqJHIhV1WhrPYhiCWNuxiKLhKa9nSDuTf2zs_CEmPSScL_8NWhi1zr0eckMyDmOEkwtVz4OIoLeeYf1qIyZD7xCvGvIwc/s320/DSC_5254.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manhattan Beach on 4th of July </td></tr>
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</span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxw_rqBgufFjxH_qWQsM-LQPfBqLzd7pJIBCrxEjjTfMHMpFRLBYX_T9eNAb8T7kOxVVdXs-RqF-unLJGhLIX75p-SIWIyZ6KmJLhfQvG9g31_V3VaN6C7a6tJNsQujJyb4IG4ya8CNk/s1600/DSC_5251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxw_rqBgufFjxH_qWQsM-LQPfBqLzd7pJIBCrxEjjTfMHMpFRLBYX_T9eNAb8T7kOxVVdXs-RqF-unLJGhLIX75p-SIWIyZ6KmJLhfQvG9g31_V3VaN6C7a6tJNsQujJyb4IG4ya8CNk/s320/DSC_5251.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soaking up some sun </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First day of play, singles. It started off just like that
and I was playing Ruban of Guatemala, I have never played him before and he is
about the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> best Guatemalan after Kevin Cordon. This match was
something else, I did not play smart and did not have my focus where it should
have been. Because of this it left me shell shocked and scrambling around to
try and figure out what to do. Ultimately that did not end well and it was a
loss in singles for me. So my day was over, we stuck around and watched some
other matches that were happening before me and Yuko did the long drive back to
Manhattan Beach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG371MoY3mZEez2zN7MtRi0Lzjd_rgjq8RFvD30VpSWc1Ybft6EGz505DCa_UMmpvBhQburxdaiNqMe_G3wwInI7H2bhzDf3YaL-SLu_amF4PzTyQtm-ABwMZmwfkTG32st_PTfPKZ4aQ/s1600/FB_IMG_1482286725440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG371MoY3mZEez2zN7MtRi0Lzjd_rgjq8RFvD30VpSWc1Ybft6EGz505DCa_UMmpvBhQburxdaiNqMe_G3wwInI7H2bhzDf3YaL-SLu_amF4PzTyQtm-ABwMZmwfkTG32st_PTfPKZ4aQ/s320/FB_IMG_1482286725440.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During Mens Singles </td></tr>
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</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mixed doubles was up first with me and Yoshi playing against
Nyl and Britney from Canada. That was a tough match from the start but we
didn’t do badly actually and it was a lot of fun. We ended up being on the
streaming court as well so that was a bonus. Afterwards I had to play doubles
and that would be the debut of me and Matt playing together. We had a decent
first round against Dean (his former partner of many years) and a younger
university student Ali. This was a good warm up match and ultimately we ended
up winning, it was a little bit of a bittersweet win though because I like Dean
and we are great friends off the court but I know this one hurt him a little.
Every match from there on out I play for Dean because it truly is because of
him and Yuko that I am having this opportunity available to me and I don’t
think I can ever repay them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXy_sUFfAUjOvaA-KfCFRsf2SoDWwavURnTiU6eWa53f_HE-l5NGbjSPbLMtd70M_ilVPdyr9ZEcoue0gzReDF9mepR-IKR8TQZczp5qBK3sqfSKDS1h7pvzAley8HwK_4ZnzePImhD5g/s1600/DSC_5261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXy_sUFfAUjOvaA-KfCFRsf2SoDWwavURnTiU6eWa53f_HE-l5NGbjSPbLMtd70M_ilVPdyr9ZEcoue0gzReDF9mepR-IKR8TQZczp5qBK3sqfSKDS1h7pvzAley8HwK_4ZnzePImhD5g/s320/DSC_5261.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not gonna lie, fanboyed a little and finally got my picture with Peter Gade</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is where things would get once again interesting. We
had now progressed to round of 16 at a grand prix gold tournament. The first
time I could say I have been that far, even if it is just winning one round.
Now we were in for a real shock, we would play a pair from Japan. The match
started and I have never felt this lost before ever. No matter what we did, no
matter how good a shot, no matter what everything came back with interest. I
could hit a net kill straight down at the service line and somehow they would
get it back with a crosscourt tight winner. It was brutal, of course they are
good and it would be easy but I have never felt that lost, even when I have
played top 20 singles players in the world. But the simple fact of the matter
was we got absolutely destroyed on the TV/betting court. This was the beginning
of a partnership though which would take us too many countries and hopefully
many more wins. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/loHfsSzKpNQ/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/loHfsSzKpNQ?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For the time being my experience at the US Open was done and
I would spend a few more days in LA with Yuko and her family before heading
back home. The next few days involved doing some simple things, badminton and
checking out Venice beach of course. We ended up going kayaking in the marina
with Dean and one of his friends which was super fun to do. Having some good
food and great company is always the best way to spend time. First doubles win
of the year under my belt and onto the next tournaments we had planned out.
Aruba with Trinidad and Tobago for CAREBACO team and individual championships
in August. Brazil Grand Prix in Iguassu Falls beginning of September. Mexico
International series in Cancun, and Columbia International series in Nevia both
in September. I would definitely be earning my elite status this year. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdcY1-9VtiPAnN3sqAaCNsUW3i7_HF5OVo34vXxp4mMszkgJcR-ePBMoZD5gUxwLgLKIHu5W-y8atD1Ucn_kqI-vfmHSJBGEfMX6SvAHbGd2ttHi7eC8Gbk_nQCQywmJrLbpQv2wVXCI/s1600/IMG-20160709-WA0027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdcY1-9VtiPAnN3sqAaCNsUW3i7_HF5OVo34vXxp4mMszkgJcR-ePBMoZD5gUxwLgLKIHu5W-y8atD1Ucn_kqI-vfmHSJBGEfMX6SvAHbGd2ttHi7eC8Gbk_nQCQywmJrLbpQv2wVXCI/s320/IMG-20160709-WA0027.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some fun out on the water</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUVq5DBuoUor2sRd7dVW91BE9pXHqFX0uUvkJYtdJGcwrnxAxTooWags6E5jvvhBAmME-aK099sIAKUxMgOauai8ZEKbZkWPPPc4wBettRwzO3umwn4CdbcLS-M1RMObZaWkrqV1bS8Uk/s1600/DSC_5281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUVq5DBuoUor2sRd7dVW91BE9pXHqFX0uUvkJYtdJGcwrnxAxTooWags6E5jvvhBAmME-aK099sIAKUxMgOauai8ZEKbZkWPPPc4wBettRwzO3umwn4CdbcLS-M1RMObZaWkrqV1bS8Uk/s320/DSC_5281.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can't go to Venice Beach and not see Muscle Beach </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com7Los Angeles, CA, USA34.0522342 -118.243684933.2099567 -119.5345784 34.8945117 -116.95279140000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-25507162360546465472017-04-23T12:53:00.000-07:002017-04-23T12:53:22.252-07:002016 Canada Open
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_BSutrCVtzT5mKQKESvnCsZgC0Vx2OhWoeNPfkq1t5iuLrdW47EiZ3GW8XB4BWnGFQhpkbiaySVxNlEi6HhEBETj990nDiwCX9miROAcIUmXblM6qfIbFREQ_XwwQ0GQYPqhXKtoiTI/s1600/canada%252520open%252520image.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_BSutrCVtzT5mKQKESvnCsZgC0Vx2OhWoeNPfkq1t5iuLrdW47EiZ3GW8XB4BWnGFQhpkbiaySVxNlEi6HhEBETj990nDiwCX9miROAcIUmXblM6qfIbFREQ_XwwQ0GQYPqhXKtoiTI/s1600/canada%252520open%252520image.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nationals had come and gone and I didn’t play another
tournament after that, 2 months later Canada Open rolled around and once again
it was in my hometown of Calgary. This is a tournament that I have played
multiple times since its inaugural showing in Vancouver back in 2010 at the
Richmond Olympic oval. It has a soft spot being in Canada but at the same time
being in Calgary where everyone that I know can come watch. Last year I played
a player from China and unfortunately didn’t have a great match but this year
was up against a Canadian who I knew. I would play against Andy Ko from
Edmonton, Alberta which was set to be a good match. Even though we were from
the same province and had both been playing for a while in the Provincial
circuit we never did play each other in singles until now. I would lie if I
said that I wasn’t nervous for the match, I wanted to win and knew that it
would be a tough one. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMqAK_1nVRF1Mf-dVa6zj3Unr1MqbEdVMmsCsv2X8Vr9aU6gOMou-tLQ-u-UAz6f1KwrHyJa_zWfNGhVQeH4ENNQnM7NR8_nss28z40fqfCkJz9UnrEjFf-IH7fv7blIPcEejR-8Zs9Y/s1600/DSC_5229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMqAK_1nVRF1Mf-dVa6zj3Unr1MqbEdVMmsCsv2X8Vr9aU6gOMou-tLQ-u-UAz6f1KwrHyJa_zWfNGhVQeH4ENNQnM7NR8_nss28z40fqfCkJz9UnrEjFf-IH7fv7blIPcEejR-8Zs9Y/s320/DSC_5229.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practice time at the Venue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Match day rolled around and we once again went up to the
Winsport facility at Canada Olympic Park (COP) where the arena was set up to
host the tournament. I had friends from the USA come to participate this year
as well. Yuko and Tuck, Tuck and I would be playing doubles together and he
would play mixed with Yuko. We were able to get a good amount of practice in at
the venue and as always the place looked great but to play there was sort of a
nightmare due to all the distractions visually. None the less it was game day
and do or die moment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I stepped onto the court to play Andy and right away I was
feeling nerves come over me, I haven’t experienced this feeling before. Not
even when playing in my national championships or the Pan Am Games which was
such a huge tournament. But I knew I had to conquer them else it would work
against me. The match got under way and I had Ardy as well as Bryan sitting
behind my chair, it was reassuring but at the same time nerve racking too. The
match unfolded and it was a battle, point by point went by and we were close
then Andy took the first game. I fought back and won the second, that meant
that it would go to 3. I was feeling confident and playing well and had to lead
when we switched sides and all went to hell. Something happened and for whatever
reason I didn’t have an answer for his shots I stopped controlling and started
reacting which ultimately in the end cost me the match. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was disappointed, I was devastated, I was done I just
didn’t know how to react. Loosing isn’t something that I want to do, it’s
something that nobody wants to do. A loss in 3 games that close is just heart
wrenching, especially in front of all the kids I coach, all my friends, etc it
just broke my heart. I didn’t know how to feel, I felt like a failure like I shouldn’t
even be competing. But that was an emotion that I would have to get over and I
didn’t let it affect me for long. It is still one of those moments I look back
on and have an uneasy feeling about. Andy played great and is a great player,
which I would never deny him that. I usually don’t discuss my emotions and the
emotional side of badminton but this is one that just got to me, coming of a
national championships win to this just hit hard. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTvQe6hcBwhqIAc97Qq-s0-noEMRQ7HlIo4753Aw4su4LV1psSet7Y5C7_FTPAS07TLLHAaRPd-M4-vwixtSxdma6QU6NoV7-ldRGUdg9qcbE41av98TTqCo0PAFSvshltdy3_co7Cx5c/s1600/Facebook-20170423-024238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTvQe6hcBwhqIAc97Qq-s0-noEMRQ7HlIo4753Aw4su4LV1psSet7Y5C7_FTPAS07TLLHAaRPd-M4-vwixtSxdma6QU6NoV7-ldRGUdg9qcbE41av98TTqCo0PAFSvshltdy3_co7Cx5c/s320/Facebook-20170423-024238.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That was that though and it was time to move on to doubles.
Tuck and I had just played the Manhattan Beach international together back in
January and decided to give Canada Open a go. We were up against a Canadian
pair of B.R. Sankeeth and Adam Dong which was an incredibly strong pair to
play. Despite our best efforts we were beat relatively easy. So Canada open was
done for another year, not the best performance or performance that I would
have liked. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The following week would be US Open but before that it was
time to show Tuck and Yuko around Canada as it was their first come coming to
their friendly northern neighbour. On the agenda was showing them around
downtown Calgary followed by a day trip out to Banff and Lake Louise. Which
despite rainy weather ended up being quite a beautiful and fun time. Dean
joined us as well and we headed up to Lake Louise to take a picture with the picturesque
backdrop. Despite the rain and overcast the lake came out brilliantly green and
just perfect. We walked around there for a bit but it started to rain so we
darted into the hotel and hung out for a little whole the downpour passed. As
we were driving back to Banff the weather of course cleared up (Calgary/Banff can
have all 4 seasons in 1 day) and we headed into the city to walk around. We
hung out in Banff for a little while and ate lunch there then it was time to
head back to Calgary. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture Perfect at Lake Louise. Left to Right; Tuck, Dean, Yuko, Me</td></tr>
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The following day we went back to COP and Yuko, Tuck, and
Dean wanted to do the bobsled run. In the summer they put the bobsled on tires
and will launch it from a little under half way up the track so you get a
somewhat experience of what it’s actually like. I have already done it before so
I let them go ahead and do it. After that they wanted to do the luge which is
essentially a soapbox racer with breaks that you ride down a hill steering
around corners and obstacles. Pretty much some of the best fun that you can
have and it is awesome going fast. Yuko did it once and was happy enough so I
took the rest of her 2 runs down the hill with Dean. Dean likes speed and dam
he was ahead of me the whole way aside from one point where I passed him but he
overtook me on a turn with only 1 of the 3 wheels touching the ground. That
night we played some badminton and then before you know it the week was done
and it was time to head to LA.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>Yuko left first in the night of July 1 and then Tuck the
next day. I would leave July 3 in the morning and meet them in LA or well meet
Yuko in LA as I would be staying at her place. Just enough time for some Canada
Day celebrations and when I arrived in LA it would be 4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> of July,
something I have seemed to be celebrating more and more over the years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were gonna leave tuck behind</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luge at Canada Olympic Park</td></tr>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com2Calgary, AB, Canada51.0486151 -114.070845950.7289356 -114.7162929 51.3682946 -113.42539889999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-31144195476038374462016-12-28T02:20:00.000-08:002016-12-28T10:18:03.335-08:002016 Trinidad and Tobago Nationals<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The biggest tournament of the year and it wasn’t an
international one, it was the Trinidad and Tobago national championships. This
would be the 4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> time that I had played them and so far I had
reached the final 2 of the past 3 times as well as won once the previous year
2015. This year would be slightly more pressure since I won the previous year,
not to mention I was in all 3 finals, I would be expected to retain my title
and capture another in another event. The last tournament that I played was
Manhattan Beach International a few months back in February but it was now
April and a while since I had been in that sort of environment. Regardless of
that I had been training hard and preparing for this because I knew the second
half of 2016 would be when I played the majority of my tournaments. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcbTgiU6BuU3o-7xdMjkLDpe0P3t65EiY2O-4pdrFDMQmzKl-KL_ark2K7UIV9HdUqPijQXqYH85JH9xBeVxcQQt9IWBWEw7H-xIPPgcShaaO05Nfn8zu9k4coTDo6Ilwx6a44OfDeZj4/s1600/Facebook-20160501-014345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcbTgiU6BuU3o-7xdMjkLDpe0P3t65EiY2O-4pdrFDMQmzKl-KL_ark2K7UIV9HdUqPijQXqYH85JH9xBeVxcQQt9IWBWEw7H-xIPPgcShaaO05Nfn8zu9k4coTDo6Ilwx6a44OfDeZj4/s320/Facebook-20160501-014345.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The photographer really liked to get pictures of me drinking water</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Flying down to Trinidad is always straight forward and
something that I have been doing for years. I fly united and go through Houston
so it’s a full day affair leaving in the morning and arriving in the evening.
Usually when traveling to an international I arrive 1-2 days before the
tournament but when I play nationals I always try and arrive 4-5 days before so
I can adapt and feel really comfortable on court. Although the tournament is
held at my home club in Trinidad I don’t get to play on the courts other than
the 1 week a year that I play nationals so it is nice to get that extra court
time to readjust to the conditions down there. I am spoiled in Canada since we
play and train in the perfect conditions which in reality you rarely every find
outside at competitions. The previous year in 2015 I wasn’t seeded at all and
that had been an issue to people as I was in the finals in 2014 and not seeded
in 2015. This year I was 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> seed despite winning nationals the year
before. That definitely raised questions to everybody down there, but in
reality it’s whatever to me I don’t really care that much about seeding. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I left Calgary and arrived In Trinidad but that would not be
the only trip I was taking this time. After playing nationals in Trinidad I
would head out to Atlanta for a little relaxation and mini vacation. I would be spending about 12 days in Trinidad
and then another 10 days in Atlanta being gone for almost a month. But back to
Trinidad first and it was nice to have the heat hit me when I arrived. Calgary
had an abnormally warm winter though without a lot of snow falling but nothing
beats a tropical island in the Caribbean. Arriving was nothing new, get to the
airport, grab something to eat, wait for my aunt to pick me up and then home we
went. The first few days was nothing special I pretty much just played
badminton at the CRISA arena in Chaguanas to familiarize myself to the courts
and shuttle speed again. I was playing singles, doubles with Jason Ramjass, and
mixed doubles with Kerian Quan Chee. My old mixed partner had gotten banned for
a year and was unable to play nationals or play period at the time. Practice
was done and the tournament was set to start, just 4 nights this year Wednesday
through to Saturday night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Funny faces are what I do best and frequently on court</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Singles was up first and I played a slightly older
recreational players who played for one of the oil companies, followed by the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup>
round of singles that night where I played fellow club mate Alverio in which we
had a fun match. That was the first night of action and there would be many
more, not to mention newspaper articles as well. The second night consisted of
another round of singles as well as a round of doubles and mixed. I played
Sheraz another club mate in singles and then in doubles we had a fairly
straightforward match and mixed was a lot closer as all of us on court were
pretty similar skill. Day 2 done and was in all 3 semifinals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More water bottle drinking pictures</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So when the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> last night rolled around I have
to play a player named Will Lee who I had never played before but he traveled
with us to CAREBACO last year and we sort of talked then. It was a match that
went to 3 as I was actually nervous and played emotional badminton opposed to
actual badminton. I was able to pull it off in the 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> thanks to
Kerian and Naim for coaching me through it. That means that I was in the men’s
singles final again. Men’s doubles didn’t go our way though and we ended up
losing to Anil and Milind a German who married a Trinidadian girl and lives in
Trinidad. He also won the other semi-final for men’s singles so I would play
him in the finals, also he’s who Kerian and I beat first round in mixed. Mixed
doubles saw us make the final as well when we beat Leanna and Jewel to advance.
I was only in 2 finals this year, which was alright with me as can’t always get
everything that I want. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEM_XbIvjJPlXmNQ8ogO5l8FQZzAxRWAAFDs4r_M3SR-LIu_ZDwrHuEG4tUbh027x1D8BXjhnwrROrk1q-IPX0h2qgWVpdW8Tsjy1eQFpYKKgky_ODzNvBDnCShgKIhs_FRMEymfq4E0o/s1600/Facebook-20160501-014303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEM_XbIvjJPlXmNQ8ogO5l8FQZzAxRWAAFDs4r_M3SR-LIu_ZDwrHuEG4tUbh027x1D8BXjhnwrROrk1q-IPX0h2qgWVpdW8Tsjy1eQFpYKKgky_ODzNvBDnCShgKIhs_FRMEymfq4E0o/s320/Facebook-20160501-014303.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During singles</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Finals night, the night of all nights came around and I
would be playing in the singles and mixed. Singles was up first and it would be
against Milind Ogale a German citizen who is a resident of Trinidad and Tobago
because he married a Trinidad woman. So you can imagine the newspaper headlines
on that one, German Vs Canadian comes to mind. The match was pretty straight
forward and there were no nerves this time to take it all the way and win my
second national title in men’s singles. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Up next were the other matches and then
the final match of the night, mixed doubles. Rahul had already won the men’s
doubles final and now was going for title #2. Rahul and Stephanie had played
together for years and this was the first time me and Kerian have played
together despite being from the same club. The match went to 3 and
unfortunately I would only be getting one national title this time in the
singles. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So a 1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> place in singles, 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> place in mixed
doubles, and 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> place in men’s doubles would be the medal haul for
the 2016 nationals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1st place mens singles, retained my title and 2 time national champion</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2nd place in mixed for the 2nd year in a row</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3rd place mens doubles</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The previous year I flew out the morning right after I won
nationals but this time I stayed an extra day. That extra day I celebrated in
style a little winning another title we went out for dinner and then afterwards
went to a club and lived it up, downside I flew out that next morning so the
night was a little short lived. It would not be back home this time though, I
would be making a stop over to Atlanta and spend just over
a week there. A nice and well deserved vacation after winning nationals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com3Trinidad and Tobago10.691803 -61.2225030000000178.6950395 -63.804290000000016 12.6885665 -58.640716000000019tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-57108600698276574642016-12-23T02:31:00.000-08:002016-12-23T02:31:27.779-08:002016 Beijing, China – Part 2 <span style="font-family: "calibri";">Day 4 – Making dumplings and badminton in China <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYLv0Qp6gt3126IBmzPvpTOnybm0c0NDwnkEt24r_ysC91wCfY2GoGkO4bAbWluMcdJvoR29IKK-qSCwGWDQ3ymaiGOYTY0stGHhdv8YjNjIcQRleTO0SlMAEPHGmkSBeH2_varaGxkhM/s1600/IMG_3607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYLv0Qp6gt3126IBmzPvpTOnybm0c0NDwnkEt24r_ysC91wCfY2GoGkO4bAbWluMcdJvoR29IKK-qSCwGWDQ3ymaiGOYTY0stGHhdv8YjNjIcQRleTO0SlMAEPHGmkSBeH2_varaGxkhM/s320/IMG_3607.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CCTV building, I love architecture so seeing this was great</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Morning on the other side of the world and I was ready for
the day to start. It was the fourth day of the trip and today I would be
playing some badminton. I hadn’t played since my last match at Manhattan Beach
International just a few short days prior but that was fine, I was itching to
get back on court. Before that though Belinda and I went to the grocery store
to get some fruits for her parents as a gift when I went to their house later
for lunch before badminton. Chinese supermarkets are always my favorite as they
have everything that I would and could ever want. After picking up a variety of
fruits (Strawberries, blueberries, peaches, etc) we proceeded to go to her
condo/house. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">When we got there her parents had already started to make
lunch, dumplings. Of course I wasn’t going to stand by and not get in on this.
So on that day I helped and learned to make dumplings from scratch. It was
quite the process but they had already finished making the stuffing and the
dough. All that was left was the cut the dough into pieces that would be used
for each dumpling and then fill it. So I picked up the role of dumpling filler
and it was good. In the end couldn’t easily tell which ones were mine compared
to the pros (her parents). They tasted great and after we had eaten it was now
time to go to play badminton. This would be a different place than her parents
usually play at because it was during the week and they mostly play on the
weekends. But that was alright and they found a place, a pretty significant
place actually. The stadium that we ended up playing at was the stadium that
they built and used for the 1990 Asia Games and I would later find that out
when Ardy was telling me a story about being in Beijing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1990 Asia games stadium where I played badminton </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The stadium now has long since been repurposed into a
multisport facility with lots of different uses but primarily it had tennis
courts and lots…lots of badminton courts. There was also an indoor rock wall
which was cool to see families coming out to use that and not your everyday
common sight in China compared to North America. The courts were alright and it
wasn’t like I was playing a tournament or anything, just trying to make sure I
impressed her parent’s haha so they would do. We played a few games of 3 vs 1
and then Belinda and I played some doubles games against them. After a while
her parents left to get some stuff done but said they would be back later if we
needed them. When they left I ended up doing some drills, I didn’t get stared
at as much as I thought I would while playing badminton there. Some guys rented
the court behind us and when they saw me doing drills they ended up stopping to
watch for a while. We finished our session and the lights above the court went
dark, time was up. Belinda’s parents came back because it was pouring outside
so they didn’t want us to walk in the rain and ended up dropping us back to the
hotel. That night we had dinner plans with some of Belinda’s school friends
from when she lived in China. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The subway stations in china sometimes have awesome designs</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Night time and the lights came on, but there was rain on this
night not to light but not too hard either. Thankfully we were just walking
across to the Golden Resources Mall to meet them there. With so many
restaurants it makes sense as the place to go for variety and what did we end
up having but Chinese hot pot. Her friends were incredibly entertaining and
actually spoke a decent amount of English, a well-rounded group and funny to be
around. We may have also bonded over the common ground of making fun of Belinda
but that’s normal when there’s somebody new in the group haha. The dinner went
well and we sat in the restaurant for a while, afterwards the night was still
young and it was a dilemma to figure out the next place to hit up for some fun.
A bar and club were out of the question, nobody was feeling in the mood to
drink or party that hard. But then somebody said it and we went to karaoke, now
anybody who knows me knows that I don’t actually sing…like at all. I would
swear that I am tone deaf and just have no singing capabilities at all. But I
still went along to have fun and just spectate what was happening there. They
sung some Chinese songs, mostly love songs but then it happened and the cheesy
English songs came on. But by that time my eyes were closing on me and sleep
had taken me for the night, I ended up falling asleep in the room and not to
long after we went back to the hotel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Day 5 – Interrogation at dinner <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">After a good night’s rest and feeling very refreshed there
was another task to complete today. Find a gift for Belinda’s grandmother, not
just any gift though a gift that she would like and approve of. So we set out
and went to mall after mall, it was settled upon that we would get a necklace
for her. The nice thing about china you can find anything so we got the chain
and pendant separate to find the perfect combination for her. This however was
not as easy as it sounded, we needed to find the right combination and that was
hard enough already without spending an arm and a leg. But we did it,
ultimately it took a while but we found the perfect pieces and together it was
the one so we picked it up and then picked up some lunch to refuel our famished
bodies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Things took a golden twist afterwards when we headed to see
the Olympic stadiums from the 2008 Olympic Games that took place in Beijing.
The weather however could have cooperated better with us on that day. It was
very cold and got to be pretty windy which didn’t help at all when combined
with the fact the area was essentially a large flat area with just a few large
buildings greatly spread out. I got up close and personal to the birds nest and
at first it didn’t look huge but I soon realized that I was staring at it from
a weird side angle of the curve of it causing it to look incredibly small, when
I saw it from the side then its true massive nature hit me and the gravity of
the Olympics happened right here was a cool feeling. I had just gone to Pan Am
Games the year before which are a way smaller version of the Olympics but the
same concept so to see the scale of this area just blew me away. The water cube
was across from the Birds Nest and although it wasn’t night I could remember
how cool it looked all lit up. Snapped some pictures and then we were done and
happy to be getting out of the cold. Now the task of getting to Belinda’s
grandmothers place happened but eventually we got there runny noses and all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2008 Beijing Olympic Stadium, aka the Birds Nest</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Her grandmother has such an amazing view of the Olympic
Village and as soon as it turned dark she got excited to show me, it truly was
a beautiful sight to see the water cube lit up and the national stadium lit
again. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After some tea and quick talking
we ended up getting dressed up again to brave the weather and headed to dinner.
I would be meeting her family or well those that came back from their recent
trip to Hinain province for Chinese New Year a few days prior. I did not know
what I was walking into that is for sure. We arrived at the restaurant and
found ourselves ushered into a back room which had a gigantic table with lots
of chairs set up in it. There was already about 5 or 6 people in the room and
then add them to the group of 7 or 8 of us that just walked in and a few more
people who came a few minutes later there was a lot of people. We all sat and
got acquainted with one another, mostly it was people asking questions about me
and Mengran translating it for them to understand. A few of her aunts and her
mom understood English so they could verify that what she was translating was
in fact what I was saying. All during this amazing food dishes were coming out
and we were eating, as well as drinking (some super strong famous alcohol that
her uncle brought, how I did not get wasted I don’t know) and discussing
anything and everything you could think of about me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Q&A of who is Nick came to an end finally and then
we moved in a different direction, towards a slide show presentation about the
family’s New Year’s trip and celebration. That was a pleasant slideshow and a
familiar place that I have gone before so was cool to see other people enjoying
it and to share that connection with them. This whole time we were eating
dinner and some amazing Chinese dishes not to mention having some rice wine
that was brought for the occasion. Just like that 3 hours had passed and the
night was over as people had to head home for the night. Overall it was a
fantastic dinner and great time even if I did get interrogated by quite a few
people. It was time to call it a night and then get ready for the final day in
Beijing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Dlz5H-hwABETPeu7qM9auDEASrywZLN22Bi5oEK4kqGiCN-3UE0Od56smUt3Zh0tq0mCuz2QBdqnKIHKhSXPw8zuLfAJ-Yim2StpI1OGOKj9xo9pQ1bpf-vTyBRRCUpxB6CCD6NZouA/s1600/Facebook-20161223-051049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Dlz5H-hwABETPeu7qM9auDEASrywZLN22Bi5oEK4kqGiCN-3UE0Od56smUt3Zh0tq0mCuz2QBdqnKIHKhSXPw8zuLfAJ-Yim2StpI1OGOKj9xo9pQ1bpf-vTyBRRCUpxB6CCD6NZouA/s320/Facebook-20161223-051049.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small portion of all the people that were at dinner</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Day 6 – Time to Say Goodbye <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was time to leave Beijing, seems like it was just
yesterday that I arrived but time had definitely flown by. Both Belinda and I
were flying out on the same day but to 2 different places for different
reasons. I was heading back to Calgary, to training and coaching as well as
life as I knew it. Belinda on the other hand was heading to Atlanta as she was
now on her last rotation for the GE program that she was in. So she would spend
6 months working in Atlanta. It was February 14<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>, valentine’s day,
and we were flying to different cities from the same airport and just so
happens that our planes were next to each other at their respective gates. We
boarded our flights and headed out for new journeys that lay in front of
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The first tournament of the year had been completed as well
first trip to Asia for the year was completed. I wouldn’t have another
tournament for a while, the next one would actually be Trinidad and Tobago
national championships in April. I would be defending my national title there
but first a 12 hour flight back to Calgary and a lot of movies to catch up on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd6ryyUeFlMIX8Q-8FYqTUHgJiAOUabPMZF4Uepjsmn0txN0ydYMNLRaVc_PeSBrAK1VQr79dN6RoplNuc3aVVZ229inR8uNg90xffehAQIKATjCIkmw4tCI_z9G_jWMWXmTtL5WKjgs/s1600/DSC_4991.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnd6ryyUeFlMIX8Q-8FYqTUHgJiAOUabPMZF4Uepjsmn0txN0ydYMNLRaVc_PeSBrAK1VQr79dN6RoplNuc3aVVZ229inR8uNg90xffehAQIKATjCIkmw4tCI_z9G_jWMWXmTtL5WKjgs/s320/DSC_4991.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Being on the Olympic grounds, maybe one day ill be able to be there as an athlete </td></tr>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com0Beijing, China39.904211 116.4073949999999538.353058 113.82560799999995 41.455363999999996 118.98918199999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-46282638988977503482016-12-15T20:20:00.001-08:002016-12-15T20:20:41.479-08:002016 Beijing, China – Part 1
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">*Warning this is my longest blog post to date…its long and
has lots of pictures hence why it’s in 2 parts*<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Manhattan Beach International had just finished and I found
myself at LAX but not on a flight home to Calgary, rather on a flight to San
Francisco where I would catch my connection to Beijing, China. Belinda had
invited me to go to China with her and meet her parents/family and I said that
I would. I would also try and get in some training as well while there, it is
China after all and home to badminton. I was already planning the trip when I
thought I would be in Thailand the week before and it would be easy to fly over
from there but when that got cancelled I still decided to go to China anyways.
I would be there during Chinese New Year which is something that I haven’t
experienced in Asia as of yet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Day 1 – Arrival <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The flight to China is nothing new to me, I have gone there
and to Asia many times before so the 10-12 hour flights isn’t something I
dislike or stay away from. The flight over was standard as usual in terms of my
routine, sleep half of it and watch movies for the rest according to the time in
China. Once I arrived I was greeted by a driver that Belinda’s family had hired
to pick me up and take me to the hotel. The family and she would arrive the
next day as they were in Lingshui, Hinan province for Chinese New Year. I had
just gone to Lingshui January 2015 for the China international challenge. So I
had a day and a half to kill before they arrived back to Beijing and I was in
luck with the location I was at. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Across the street from the hotel was the second largest mall
in the world called the Golden Resources Mall, funny enough the first largest
mall was also located in China just in another city. It was true this thing was
huge and it barely fit into a panorama, nothing compared to any mall in Canada
or anywhere else in the world. So I spent quite a few hours exploring that as
well as getting my food and groceries too. After all that walking it was time
to call it a night and prepare for the following days activities. Located a
little walk from the hotel was a park or rather palace park. It was the
emperor’s summer palace and highly recommended by Belinda to check out so I
planned to spend the following day there. I would be greatly surprised by the
sheer size of the area when I got there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGmkQvql9yciHV95fvpDNCEuGLZmgvsANoep34-PcdtAswRjvirB34pxR-k31chuSwSWCmEpQu5qg4g0vZITUc8ZGXK7DlTenP8K2YsO3uIU_8O8_6xGFgWkgc90UXj2l5NL5a4OF17hM/s1600/PSX_20160210_182633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="82" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGmkQvql9yciHV95fvpDNCEuGLZmgvsANoep34-PcdtAswRjvirB34pxR-k31chuSwSWCmEpQu5qg4g0vZITUc8ZGXK7DlTenP8K2YsO3uIU_8O8_6xGFgWkgc90UXj2l5NL5a4OF17hM/s320/PSX_20160210_182633.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GR Mall... huge thing just barely fits in the whole panorama</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Day 2 – Self tour of the Summer Palace <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Day broke and the weather wasn’t terrible, despite all the
fireworks going off the night before the air was pretty clear and the sky
wasn’t overcast. Being February it was still winter in China and I thankfully
brought my winter jacket which I definitely needed that day as well as one more
layer underneath. So I started the walk down the canal towards the Summer
Palace and it was just a few kilometers away nothing to bad and I love to walk
so it’s always a pleasure for me. Boy was I in for a full day of walking, climbing
up and down stairs and walking through ancient buildings/temples. The river was
still partially frozen but getting closer to the park there were people
swimming in it. I paid my entry which allowed me to see everything in the park
and then walked in, at first I didn’t grasp the size of the area. Walking in
and seeing the emperor’s palace all the way at the other end of the lake I was
just thinking wow the royal family was incredibly lucky to have all this to run
away to. I could just think how lucky the kids of the royal family would be to
have all this space and so many cool things to explore and play around. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPH26OF1a579MNTpojWvUeI-G0swY-y2n5mjjdyOYYsPG_58rnrh3lpRyUESDiMUWnOwukakZUHQtRGNcA1zrFTrLlM-TkFiDRWnMQqfZPcjIBimiuyf80K5NqF0EyXHpW3BnyvyfHnGY/s1600/DSC_4963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPH26OF1a579MNTpojWvUeI-G0swY-y2n5mjjdyOYYsPG_58rnrh3lpRyUESDiMUWnOwukakZUHQtRGNcA1zrFTrLlM-TkFiDRWnMQqfZPcjIBimiuyf80K5NqF0EyXHpW3BnyvyfHnGY/s320/DSC_4963.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The river while walking to the summer palace</td></tr>
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</span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgIYKBmRKgemCjS6xANrMzWj8G0on6X5q5bRHVvG5q5GDXqzop_v33RzWC866lk5pGGKbxfy3S1D8kabVnf5rkNq7oYd4BpWn2nEXi_5uY6Wmn7a0eNo0-XeouUuhGPQ8M3oqXSK9tTY/s1600/IMG_3475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgIYKBmRKgemCjS6xANrMzWj8G0on6X5q5bRHVvG5q5GDXqzop_v33RzWC866lk5pGGKbxfy3S1D8kabVnf5rkNq7oYd4BpWn2nEXi_5uY6Wmn7a0eNo0-XeouUuhGPQ8M3oqXSK9tTY/s320/IMG_3475.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The place had amazing buildings and all the details mind blowing</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had a lot of ground to cover, thankfully I had almost the
whole day as the park or well access to the buildings closed at 5pm and it was
only 11am in the morning. Start walking I did and did I ever walk, I ended up
taking the “shortcut” which cut through the lake and that a lone was filled
with many little buildings and bridges along the way. Some of which were turned
into restaurants for people to eat at. Despite it being Chinese New Year and
lots of people left Beijing to go back to their home provinces the park was
still packed and there was lots of tourists…Chinese tourists not so much
foreign ones (I saw less than 10 foreign tourists the whole 6 hours I spent in
the park). I brought my DSLR with me and started taking pictures of everything,
there was just so many intricate details on everything and such beauty in the
architecture. I always liked Chinese history and Japanese history as they are
so rich in cultural experiences, events that took place and the physical sites
still around, we don’t have the same kind of history or historical sites in
North America. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I decided to save the palace for last or well almost last
instead of just going straight to the main attraction. So I walked around back
where there was a sort of shopping area set up down on the water, it was cool
to walk around the narrow edge and see all that was there. Following that I
went up the back way of the palace and saw some of the beauty in the artistic
detail on the buildings, each roof piece had the same carving in it. All the
artwork on every beam of the ceiling it was amazing and must have taken a long
time to do all of that. I came to the palace from behind and made my way down
the hill seeing all the auxiliary structures and temples/statues. Now time for
the main attraction, walking up there was a lot of stairs that needed to be
climbed but these didn’t feel like normal stairs they were steep. Making the
way to the top was a statue of Guanyin and in all its glory in front of us. Of
course it said no photographs but every single person was taking pictures so I
snapped a few as well. Making my way back down I visited all the various other
rooms seeing how they were set up and the history behind what they were used
for. The view from the top was amazing you could see over the entire lake all
the way to the entrance and that’s when I truly appreciated the size of the
park and the palace itself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLf9FEiH7RhGYj9i_LP5Lzm38719YGkOZ9cIcF7URrkCb-725CcsTbrySk0JNdjrXG_GLmxQpSoNuwoj_7mrTzdpytWUIX5KOpTmcSoyU9Fj7T5lJQQAONe426Yyeh2QZbmg-jfTVUdFw/s1600/IMG_3486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLf9FEiH7RhGYj9i_LP5Lzm38719YGkOZ9cIcF7URrkCb-725CcsTbrySk0JNdjrXG_GLmxQpSoNuwoj_7mrTzdpytWUIX5KOpTmcSoyU9Fj7T5lJQQAONe426Yyeh2QZbmg-jfTVUdFw/s320/IMG_3486.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhi6t_DAZLDx98J8kkJh2L2MMlFOkNcwBpU4y22fPLihaHP9JXDK59ESlSGutaAOiB3tEtsCsT_t5wP3RIm5pptE0Oaz_EotgdIOI6FDjqYEIEcm2xib1i0v8301DlfmzaroAhOsopM5w/s1600/IMG_3554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhi6t_DAZLDx98J8kkJh2L2MMlFOkNcwBpU4y22fPLihaHP9JXDK59ESlSGutaAOiB3tEtsCsT_t5wP3RIm5pptE0Oaz_EotgdIOI6FDjqYEIEcm2xib1i0v8301DlfmzaroAhOsopM5w/s320/IMG_3554.JPG" width="213" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The weather had warmed up a bit and the sun was shining in
an almost cloudless sky. I began walking back towards the entrance on the
opposite side of the lake this time when it happened. I turned to see the
palace looking at me across the lake with some boats in the water. I thought it
would be a cool shot and I snapped a few pictures not thinking too much of it.
Later when I was sorting through all the pictures there it was the picture that
I had taken and I just couldn’t stop staring at it. Instantly it was my
favorite picture of the trip and just the way that I captured the scene blew my
own mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvV03fwokBgnhQ0CcCShoZcz8Sk6tH45Mk0Ld0zE6lzTRSj5Ed4NDEcFnFnM9HbgW4Hdq3p8ehBzTeWuizHVHSiH0QuYf3ZWJfNVDARv1KFYSeKHJvR9OxMG8cG9EFWwE9173la9mNrU/s1600/IMG_3585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvV03fwokBgnhQ0CcCShoZcz8Sk6tH45Mk0Ld0zE6lzTRSj5Ed4NDEcFnFnM9HbgW4Hdq3p8ehBzTeWuizHVHSiH0QuYf3ZWJfNVDARv1KFYSeKHJvR9OxMG8cG9EFWwE9173la9mNrU/s320/IMG_3585.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite picture that I have taken to date</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I still had one more little island to visit before heading
out and it was a peaceful little place, sitting in the lake you could have a
view of everything in the park. I was just thinking about taking a swim in the
water come summer haha it looked like it would be such a nice thing to do. Alas
the time in the park had come to an end, I spent roughly 6 hours in there
walking around and seeing everything that I could. Time flew by and I couldn’t
believe how long I spent let alone how many kilometres I must have walked
within the park that day. Time to walk the canal back to my hotel, it was still
light out but getting slightly colder again so I put some gloves on and started
the trek back to my temporary home…with a stop at the mall for some food first.
Belinda and her family flew back in that night and of course I was able to see
her that night, it was so nice and she also told me about the plan for the
following day what we would go do and see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Day 3 – Tea in Beijing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We awoke that morning and got ready to head out bright and
early, there were more fireworks the previous night as it seems people were
still celebrating. First on the agenda was to go to see the Forbidden City so
we figured its best to go early as there was only a limited number of tickets
available for the day. We jumped on the subway and headed towards the center of
Beijing, switching lines a few times in order to arrive. Once getting there and
stepping outside there was a lot of smog and fog in the air, it was really hazy
and limited visibility. There was also a ton of people with the same idea of
going in to view the city. Again it is one of those things that you can’t fully
comprehend the size until you are standing there and can see the size of things
with your own eyes. There was a lot of walking and once you are past the iconic
front wall of the Forbidden City you get into the bowels of the area,
unfortunately for us the tickets were all sold out for the day so we would be
unable to go inside the city. That was alright at least I got close enough to
it and gives me another reason to come back to China in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We left the Forbidden City and walked out past Tienamin
Square as well as one of the national museum’s which had a line wrapped around
it of people waiting to get in. We kept walking towards a small little area
that was filled with shops and more importantly places to eat food, I had
worked up quite the appetite at this point. So we walked around the area and
saw lots of goodies for dessert afterwards but food first. There were a few
places but the lines were crazy long so we eventually found a quiet little spot
which had amazing food. It was at that moment the reality sunk in that I was in
China after being in North America. But this time it was different, I have
always traveled for tournaments and although I just played a tournament this
was kind of like a vacation and a nice time away from badminton for a few days.
After we had late lunch we walked around some more and got dessert and headed
to see some shopping before meeting up with Belinda’s parents later that night
for dinner and a show at a famous tea house. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9UfqnxdCbAr8gfyzo8oYv7xpwThLDSqgzQpJQa-hXjIiTfn4aKsf0_WWpUFf0GUldzIuYNOchx_jKi3T6fmbv4GDmHnwzvR3TkfI2YkA24U5ZPPZ-SGfapczCLs70ImC5Vi02l14huE/s1600/IMG_3604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9UfqnxdCbAr8gfyzo8oYv7xpwThLDSqgzQpJQa-hXjIiTfn4aKsf0_WWpUFf0GUldzIuYNOchx_jKi3T6fmbv4GDmHnwzvR3TkfI2YkA24U5ZPPZ-SGfapczCLs70ImC5Vi02l14huE/s320/IMG_3604.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tienamin square, famous for many things</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikce8Ez77NWGGANIekYOVLfl-nStL08gf_7b4Z0cs4p1p1Klf2htgEF2U5ocDLlQsXm_rlOpp-nY1BDPmrN42eY-8-TKz43q_ZHaxvcavIy55zsQ3YOazuBh93q-y8bXVtIK3LEVJIevI/s1600/DSC_4971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikce8Ez77NWGGANIekYOVLfl-nStL08gf_7b4Z0cs4p1p1Klf2htgEF2U5ocDLlQsXm_rlOpp-nY1BDPmrN42eY-8-TKz43q_ZHaxvcavIy55zsQ3YOazuBh93q-y8bXVtIK3LEVJIevI/s320/DSC_4971.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_D2JTVa17VSZxf682W-6hF1VI68FpOZnEAG5DEwCac4ydtWBt4nW4kLqedYVnsxb0hvgUJnG1RBjgK1U6t0z6CMedOadBpH9Cwn9goPy_nH_eHgC9SLmTXjKGLcLPPitzQ0jdurLXFc/s1600/DSC_4974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_D2JTVa17VSZxf682W-6hF1VI68FpOZnEAG5DEwCac4ydtWBt4nW4kLqedYVnsxb0hvgUJnG1RBjgK1U6t0z6CMedOadBpH9Cwn9goPy_nH_eHgC9SLmTXjKGLcLPPitzQ0jdurLXFc/s320/DSC_4974.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nom nom nom all the desserts</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The darkness crept over the city and with it came some rain
but the bright lights of Beijing and amount of people out would have you think
otherwise that it wasn’t nighttime. We met Belinda’s parents at a little
restaurant and had some nice traditional Chinese dishes. After dinner we walked
over to a famous tea house where they display a bunch of different performances
from Chinese culture for foreigners. Many famous people have passed through
those doors from former USA presidents to actors/celebrities from all over the
world. The show started and they of course gave us some tea and various snacks
to munch on throughout the show. We sat and watched the variety of performances
and what would be somewhat spectacles. They were very impressive but all did
tell a part of Chinese history which has happened for generations and
generations, some of which still are practiced today. Upon the end of the show
we got some pictures and looked around the little museum like house which was
the theatre. There were lots of historical items present as well as many kinds
of tea for purchase. The rain had more or less passed at this point and we went
for a little drive before Belinda’s parents dropped us off at the hotel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCQ8NGW8oeJCdCfb63IoQYhxsQnh-K_6WQ7ctkR0AUetMUqynTxgftxNE5YW0rWZNcuu14lsE5vP4rFhPlooAOaY08hgnZJLJ5leNCte_GzWptlP-bHy8RmLSmpZFIum46Qh9ZKNXyOw/s1600/DSC_4983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCQ8NGW8oeJCdCfb63IoQYhxsQnh-K_6WQ7ctkR0AUetMUqynTxgftxNE5YW0rWZNcuu14lsE5vP4rFhPlooAOaY08hgnZJLJ5leNCte_GzWptlP-bHy8RmLSmpZFIum46Qh9ZKNXyOw/s320/DSC_4983.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the tea house</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1V2PamW-uL7nCGGgV_V0czsvTmyPB_1swWAYj5M8MnoE8NRg__29WAHsDN1s-MaqVPOC8z35yRPqK2Qvbca4XTN4G1v6zU8lWvzB78ann135ROMC7W6-Qq5aFlvGGEHWUqtCvZOIYyo/s1600/DSC_4986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1V2PamW-uL7nCGGgV_V0czsvTmyPB_1swWAYj5M8MnoE8NRg__29WAHsDN1s-MaqVPOC8z35yRPqK2Qvbca4XTN4G1v6zU8lWvzB78ann135ROMC7W6-Qq5aFlvGGEHWUqtCvZOIYyo/s320/DSC_4986.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Performances at the tea house</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcHaN_YCdlrFWdYxDBNt_ayhNRfcy8iEa7iR20VY_2jKaUrR2NmrQ0NDoAgWIxvHSA1P2PfykwsgTduKBlxqIzjND9TnJNr4R-0-pKEzN605UidPDa0NDMXYJZO_SEAbfOPgHKxydi4R0/s1600/IMG_3622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcHaN_YCdlrFWdYxDBNt_ayhNRfcy8iEa7iR20VY_2jKaUrR2NmrQ0NDoAgWIxvHSA1P2PfykwsgTduKBlxqIzjND9TnJNr4R-0-pKEzN605UidPDa0NDMXYJZO_SEAbfOPgHKxydi4R0/s320/IMG_3622.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Three days had passed just like that, I had done so much
already and see so many things. Not to mention eat a lot of delicious authentic
Chinese food, yum. It was time to call it a night and then the adventure would
continue the next day…or well in the next blog post for you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com2Beijing, China39.904211 116.4073949999999538.353058 113.82560799999995 41.455363999999996 118.98918199999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-13218602235189669292016-09-07T13:46:00.004-07:002016-09-07T13:48:00.870-07:002016 Manhattan Beach International<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7dSfAwNUF008zs0cfQXWUUyToAMwh27_w20fugbvKHPCOt3yBHYUsUg58nFpMHcQ3u2o_5CqvWOAhC11xGS4-fagAeoFwgd-3OAeWG-1kLBJvmzw4ztiTa4Rw66rrG4XWzdXclcoZuT8/s1600/road-to-rio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7dSfAwNUF008zs0cfQXWUUyToAMwh27_w20fugbvKHPCOt3yBHYUsUg58nFpMHcQ3u2o_5CqvWOAhC11xGS4-fagAeoFwgd-3OAeWG-1kLBJvmzw4ztiTa4Rw66rrG4XWzdXclcoZuT8/s320/road-to-rio.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The time had come and it was the first tournament of the
year, the 2016 Manhattan Beach International in Manhattan Beach, LA. I had been
to LA many times before, to many to count on ones hands but never to Manhattan Beach.
My good friend Yuko Kawasaki lives there and invited me to stay with her for
the tournament so I wouldn’t pass up the offer to hang out with a good friend.
I boarded the all familiar flight to LA and before you know it had landed in
LAX the only difference was that I had a late night flight and arrived some 1am
in the morning. After arriving I was picked up and whisked away to Yukos house
to get some sleep for the night. I had never seen her house before and when I
arrived I was amazed at how tightly packed all the houses were packed into
their lots and next to each other. But it was nice to be in their mansion for
the week and hang out with and meet the family. The tournament wasn’t to start
for a few days I went down early to adjust to the place and get a decent hit in
at the venue and of course check out the beach.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6GzpjCUricQYH78I8Q1CTTrH5bJsFmb5PGXGFQ4rAPAfYnWWKFP3FCiQ3qGGr2waijIsMqbZijWItmlxwxDCZSYVayIerRMpg9AqvM-HfZU6W9R1BxgobK8e-QqBH-pjnMWFAfRs-pA/s1600/Facebook-20160907-032640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6GzpjCUricQYH78I8Q1CTTrH5bJsFmb5PGXGFQ4rAPAfYnWWKFP3FCiQ3qGGr2waijIsMqbZijWItmlxwxDCZSYVayIerRMpg9AqvM-HfZU6W9R1BxgobK8e-QqBH-pjnMWFAfRs-pA/s320/Facebook-20160907-032640.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beach at Manhattan Beach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So first things first I went down to the Manhattan Beach
Badminton Club (MBBC) which is where the tournament was going to take place. A
small private club located about a 10-15 minute walk from the beach. The club
is a simplified version of the Glencoe Club in Calgary as it is just badminton
courts and an outdoor pool area as well as a sort of sitting area too. Nice
little club located within Manhattan Beach though and very popular not just for
its badminton but just as a space for people to go and hang out by the pool. The
tournament wasn’t meant to start for a few days so I was able to get in some
hitting with friends who were there as well as some of Yuko’s friends who were
playing the tournament (Dean and Jen) as well as Yuko’s daughter who I was
playing mixed doubles with. I was however unable to practice with my doubles
partner before the tournament happened. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia42CYj-zjZVRbkQMvw_doAtOVYWB936XeKB4AEHkmCoJdiSv3M4BkPERbF7u9zdPRYLR0TDEv7cKj3HrinoGy7BSniZtjFNBnkp8_di6kawRpWREExIPD7nPbLrEFXjA-5ZqDVNmZ4NU/s1600/Facebook-20160907-032623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia42CYj-zjZVRbkQMvw_doAtOVYWB936XeKB4AEHkmCoJdiSv3M4BkPERbF7u9zdPRYLR0TDEv7cKj3HrinoGy7BSniZtjFNBnkp8_di6kawRpWREExIPD7nPbLrEFXjA-5ZqDVNmZ4NU/s320/Facebook-20160907-032623.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manhattan Beach Badminton Club (MBBC)</td></tr>
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</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">One nice thing that you don’t always see at the lower level
of tournaments is that they had a welcome dinner for us. The city of Manhattan
Beach hosted an athlete’s welcome dinner at the local fire station for the
event. The firefighters cooked some pasta dishes for us and salad as well they
honoured some of the top badminton players to come out of Manhattan Beach and
the MBBC be those nationally, internationally, and Olympians. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGiB55-3Trn9_mSuCQizzmrydpT_6wvL_RoZpDn46DMV1zSuTN934BexgLHXC8zOFEtHIjttTxnR9ASwoG8WUTRfetDj1cArgxBg6jogQ9CtonGOIhN9JUpWPrH0JDenRU8CXzp5tkKGE/s1600/Facebook-20160907-032655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGiB55-3Trn9_mSuCQizzmrydpT_6wvL_RoZpDn46DMV1zSuTN934BexgLHXC8zOFEtHIjttTxnR9ASwoG8WUTRfetDj1cArgxBg6jogQ9CtonGOIhN9JUpWPrH0JDenRU8CXzp5tkKGE/s320/Facebook-20160907-032655.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gift bag from the tournament </td></tr>
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</span></o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2CzyqcU9cMqt0UEmvsBwQZEO51MAFQ-6TvXfCQ_Ze8LZ2RX4SuFboNCRd986WB69hjv_DjLE2RtEReEqoJ9S2Aa8s2zWADNz_-sQwfTSACKcj1uNWxdMpOyWZlYBql7iewlsEZHLglE/s1600/Facebook-20160907-032645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2CzyqcU9cMqt0UEmvsBwQZEO51MAFQ-6TvXfCQ_Ze8LZ2RX4SuFboNCRd986WB69hjv_DjLE2RtEReEqoJ9S2Aa8s2zWADNz_-sQwfTSACKcj1uNWxdMpOyWZlYBql7iewlsEZHLglE/s320/Facebook-20160907-032645.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner at the local fire station</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The time passed and eventually the day arrived for the
tournament to start. In singles I would play Job Castillo from Mexico, in
doubles Tuck and I would play Bjorn and Matthew Fogarty both from USA, and in
Mixed Yoshi and I would play Bjorn (USA) and his girlfriend Marina from Mexico.
Side note I was going to play Manhattan Beach international and then after play
Thailand Grand Prix Gold but the flights didn’t work out to leave and get to
Thailand in a good time for my first match so I had to cancel that trip and
withdrew from the tournament before the draw was published even though I was in
the main draw. Match day came and singles was up first, I played Job and this
was the first time we had ever played despite attending so many of the same
tournaments. It was a tough game from the start but I was able to rally with
him and make him move, in the end though he prevailed and beat me so that ended
singles. Doubles came next and it was the first time me and Tuck had played
together period. We had such a close game with Matt and Bjorn losing 19-21,
19-21 to them, the winner of that match automatically went to semifinals and
got a medal. Matt and Bjorn would however make it to the finals and lose in 3 games
to a pair from Indonesia so the fact we almost beat them was very promising for
us and a great result. Mixed was last and likewise it was Yoshi and my first
time playing together so it was a learning experience and a fun time none the
less. We were able to string some rallies together but I would need to improve
my mixed for sure after playing. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The tournament had come to an end, a phrase I say all too
often these days it seems. No medals here but was very close in the doubles to
getting one yet at the same time I was satisfied with the results. It was the
first tournament of the year and definitely not the last to come. But in the
meantime I would be off to China to spend time with Belinda and her family so I
had that to look forward to. Anybody who knows me knows that I have a huge soft
spot for China, I just love it there and now I would get to go back first trip
for the year so of course I was excited. Plus it’s a long flight on a big plane
and just as well anybody who knows me knows that I love flying on big planes
and that I don’t consider anything under 5 hours of flying traveling. I did
however have a few days left to kill in LA so I did spend most of my time at
the tournament and the beach of course as well at one local attraction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Sand Dune Hill is the name of the massive sand dune in
Manhattan Beach that is famous for anybody into fitness and working out. Back
in the day everyone use to run it from the football and basketball teams that
call LA home to the various other athletes and just anybody who wants a killer
workout in general. So me being me the lover of fitness I had to try it and run
up and I was not disappointed at all. Firstly off it is all sand, secondly the
angle of it is rather ridiculous, and thirdly it’s pretty high. Starting out
strong I soon felt the effects of running and having your feet just sink into
the sand, at one point I was almost on my hands and knees to crawl up the hill
but in the end I made it. Dean recorded the whole thing and added a pretty fun
commentary to it as well. I got a picture at the top cause Yuko took the stairs
up to meet me there and then headed back down. After that we went for a nice
and a lot easier walk along the beach. That was my last activity in Manhattan
Beach before flying out to Beijing the following day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjTlMQahot-oKeVHKzZV9OCVGAA_y3EeCXCns_XHyAn1waplqi67Hbf_9Ku1blBpa9bfNddqmuIWcbxrVcdmS_4fg0SUzyAkno4vHghHVhECpPZ6SiiPcwhOgj1bsB8HG60KgMEJRvzY/s1600/Facebook-20160907-032650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjTlMQahot-oKeVHKzZV9OCVGAA_y3EeCXCns_XHyAn1waplqi67Hbf_9Ku1blBpa9bfNddqmuIWcbxrVcdmS_4fg0SUzyAkno4vHghHVhECpPZ6SiiPcwhOgj1bsB8HG60KgMEJRvzY/s320/Facebook-20160907-032650.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sand Dune Hill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DTgETB-YFX8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DTgETB-YFX8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">All in all I am satisfied with the tournament and learned
more about what I needed to do and work on. The next tournament would be
Trinidad and Tobago nationals which I would try to defend my title at. That
would be taking place in April so still a few months to prepare for it but no
travel or tournaments prior unfortunately. Until then another trip to LA was
completed and added to the books for the travel stats of 2016. Not to mention I
had now switched from Air Canadas reward program over to United’s program
because Air Canadas was getting harder and harder to achieve status and the
past few years I would always be one tier lower status each year. United’s
program was so much easier and I always fly United to Trinidad so it is a no
brainer, I also am pretty happy with their service. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6LP7hlok13ve7Fn2hXoWmNcTuOWojZh5laLvazwLPukG3_zmb2JphBogIoJ7V5gKHTbGPCMxJRuhx0vjn9y0ny5yFo3daXitvX2AMrxYSe5UKqj6Bc6tad0aMEmxd83fDlhOA0AQzTY/s1600/Facebook-20160907-032634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6LP7hlok13ve7Fn2hXoWmNcTuOWojZh5laLvazwLPukG3_zmb2JphBogIoJ7V5gKHTbGPCMxJRuhx0vjn9y0ny5yFo3daXitvX2AMrxYSe5UKqj6Bc6tad0aMEmxd83fDlhOA0AQzTY/s320/Facebook-20160907-032634.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Victory on top of sand dune hill after conquering it </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com1Manhattan Beach, CA, USA33.8847361 -118.4109088999999833.8320116 -118.49158989999998 33.937460599999994 -118.33022789999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-80311165963829547392016-06-26T01:27:00.000-07:002016-06-26T01:27:19.520-07:002015 USA Grand Prix<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguf-LOGhiGxz12Ywy3RE0JhxkmDtPT_kjn3dFrsKP66Qv6Cndb6plLcrNl-UwEsG55Hlbtis8XbLuQZ_Qef2opg8sL-HXe0cBZ2lGA0S6n2KueQ9vF3e62CtCq5-lmpU8xT4RmrMu3JUw/s1600/file.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguf-LOGhiGxz12Ywy3RE0JhxkmDtPT_kjn3dFrsKP66Qv6Cndb6plLcrNl-UwEsG55Hlbtis8XbLuQZ_Qef2opg8sL-HXe0cBZ2lGA0S6n2KueQ9vF3e62CtCq5-lmpU8xT4RmrMu3JUw/s1600/file.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The final
tournament of the year had arrived, this whole time since May 1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
had been Olympic qualification and I was making my attempt for the 2016 Olympic
qualification representing Trinidad and Tobago. The downside is that I had some
very tough tournaments which didn’t allow me to progress far in the draw and
acquire points, but also had a few good ones to.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The last one
of 2016 and my 10<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> international for the year, 11<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> if
you include Trinidad nationals, had come around. I had been traveling every
month of the year at this point and while this is the most that I have played
in 1 year it doesn’t come close to some of the other players on tour who played
anywhere from 15 to 30 tournaments. Regardless I was pumped and once again
would have a European first round, this time it was my friend Jan Frolic from
Czech Republic, somebody who I have traveled with on tour before and become
friends with. Also I would be playing doubles with Kevin Barkman of Canada who
shared with us the week prior in Orlando and was pretty cool to room with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3rOER5iUepViXV7Zn4x1ZwXqBYNIh2xQz_y56xI-P-MWPeo8aRmAffQOl0hw1reLELZd7NxCId1sl0Gi3kRyPbBQZCP0fcRzyBvhwhqu6TIVtNABMQH2ypgfUBEq0uZgfeHDBjPkx2PQ/s1600/DSC_4851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3rOER5iUepViXV7Zn4x1ZwXqBYNIh2xQz_y56xI-P-MWPeo8aRmAffQOl0hw1reLELZd7NxCId1sl0Gi3kRyPbBQZCP0fcRzyBvhwhqu6TIVtNABMQH2ypgfUBEq0uZgfeHDBjPkx2PQ/s320/DSC_4851.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun and the Crystal Cathedral/Palace</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Arriving
into LAX wasn’t anything new as I have done it all too many times over the
years, we were greeted by the tournament representative and then that’s when
everything went to hell. It took 2 hours for the transportation to be arranged
to take me and one of the umpires (Ashley who’s also from Calgary) to the hotel
and then the drive itself took almost an hour and a half. So already we were
off to a great start and I wasn’t able to get any practice in that day at the
venue, the good thing was there was still the following day and I was in the
main draw for singles. It was just doubles that Kevin and I had to play in the
qualification against an Australian pair. After some practice I was feeling
good and OCBC is a place that I have played at lots over the years (at least 5+
internationals there). The day went smoothly and the weather was nice and
sunny/hot a pleasant change from the snow and cold in Calgary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisaC9YLbNSHyqUKkBk-kavuVw_kKlTB7hmmkzqdiJr12YMuxWAVw_KcczNhPFAMjw6VjBVc5Lt1gAKVl0_VAGzfq9qUcnfXX9rCy9aGGndogVxVMukaNVrDx1jc5BQMJIR4cfYlSFptzk/s1600/DSC_4848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisaC9YLbNSHyqUKkBk-kavuVw_kKlTB7hmmkzqdiJr12YMuxWAVw_KcczNhPFAMjw6VjBVc5Lt1gAKVl0_VAGzfq9qUcnfXX9rCy9aGGndogVxVMukaNVrDx1jc5BQMJIR4cfYlSFptzk/s320/DSC_4848.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
Tournament day rolled around and we had doubles qualification in the morning,
Kevin also had to qualify for the men’s singles so we would be there for a
little bit. We played our doubles match and it was a lot tougher than we were
expecting it to be, for our first time playing together though it wasn’t too
bad. We unfortunately lost that one but didn’t get slaughtered so that was a
good thing so it was now onto singles. Kevin won his qualification match so
that meant that he would play that same night in the main draw with me, both of
our matches would be amongst the last of the night and we were both playing
Europeans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Game time
came and we went to the venue to watch some matched before our turn to take to
the courts. Jan wasn’t feeling the best that day but I wasn’t able to exploit
it, I was too rushed in my play and didn’t stay patient. I forced too many
shots leading to many unforced errors something that I would have to learn the
hard way wasn’t the right way to play. In the end I got beat…bad but it was my
own doing I was trying to play a style that would not work against the Czech
giant and I wasn’t able to change it or was to stubborn to change it mid match.
Just like that in one day the tournament had come to an end. After such success
from the Suriname international to some rather disappointing first round losses
at these tournaments it wasn’t the way in envisioned the year finishing off. But
that was that and the tournament had come to an end for me, the last tournament
of 2015 my jam packed year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kVnc3nyW61M/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kVnc3nyW61M?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</span><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</o:p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Overall I
was decently happy through the year with my performance and couldn’t be happier
about all the traveling that I was able to do. I had just 2 more days in LA as
I didn’t want to spend too much time and money there and stay long. I have been
to LA so many times before and this tournament is more technically in Orange
County not LA itself so there is only so much to see without going up to the
city. So the plan was to watch a few matches the following day and train a
little with Kevin, we also ended up watching the last part of the hunger games
at the movie cinema…it was a horrible ending to the series. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHfvq91x01xPsqn7jZTZtZzPoJoRz1798nlx_aJHs3D-RwkTfK8yNpAQZ8o1_J8RO4UIj1DgL1A4PPemcWDet6ylY_hDMEhbZm_1xG3tGvtDPgsSXxVAJUC8dFPt6X1BiYhpl22EcyF8/s1600/DSC_4852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHfvq91x01xPsqn7jZTZtZzPoJoRz1798nlx_aJHs3D-RwkTfK8yNpAQZ8o1_J8RO4UIj1DgL1A4PPemcWDet6ylY_hDMEhbZm_1xG3tGvtDPgsSXxVAJUC8dFPt6X1BiYhpl22EcyF8/s320/DSC_4852.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking around Orange County at night</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Just like
that the trip was done and it was finally time to board the last plane for the
last flight of 2015, such a huge year it was for me from national titles to Pan
American Games and the most tournaments I’ve played in a year yet. Time to
enjoy Christmas and take a slight break for the holidays then get back on court
to prepare for 2016 and see what the year would bring. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKuENuJwGPjkkfchtmbTkcWLSFDp15ky6b-HsdHrX1kYMYJE5b3Ccdj6MqAWo12Dd-VbIkxgL_Yf0B9tfAegq0yJUlUqwKfRl-mFm_3uXcXRmMzjWHD9r5ntwvLK3ZGf1iHWCWc-x6kEE/s1600/DSC_4856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKuENuJwGPjkkfchtmbTkcWLSFDp15ky6b-HsdHrX1kYMYJE5b3Ccdj6MqAWo12Dd-VbIkxgL_Yf0B9tfAegq0yJUlUqwKfRl-mFm_3uXcXRmMzjWHD9r5ntwvLK3ZGf1iHWCWc-x6kEE/s320/DSC_4856.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last lounge visit for 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com0Orange County, CA, USA33.7174708 -117.8311428000000132.8717023 -119.1220363 34.5632393 -116.54024930000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-44099931188450610572016-05-16T01:30:00.000-07:002016-05-16T01:30:05.730-07:002015 USA International Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieVARTyzEXb60FqbL8D7Ei7JuL9e3Q6GvMmHtmpsa68rR1nRGuX0sajYbb-XhRsz9C3jII5G000YasrLorqbU6NtyvZ-56dxszHs-RJ8NsSDTbyjuV8353Vj7R3y14HeKBH4g4TrxByDA/s1600/usa2015_webbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieVARTyzEXb60FqbL8D7Ei7JuL9e3Q6GvMmHtmpsa68rR1nRGuX0sajYbb-XhRsz9C3jII5G000YasrLorqbU6NtyvZ-56dxszHs-RJ8NsSDTbyjuV8353Vj7R3y14HeKBH4g4TrxByDA/s320/usa2015_webbanner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The year was
coming to an end as it was December already. Christmas decorations were up in
the malls and snow was on the ground, or at least there should have been more
snow. Calgary was having an abnormally warm and snowless winter which isn’t out
of the ordinary. But it was time for me to fly off again and for the first time
this year to go to two tournaments back to back. Every trip I had taken so far
had been to just one tournament, nothing back to back. These two would be a lot
closer to home though, both taking place to our neighbour to the south in the
USA. First up would be the 2015 USA international Challenge in Orlando,
Florida. Difference this time being that I would be traveling with some friends
from canada, even one guy who trains at the Glencoe club with me and a friend
from Vancouver as well as another I would have just met. Sean, Kevin, Antonio,
and I would all be sharing a hotel room for the week that we were in Orlando
and it would be quite the experience. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqLTyQOC_2qDUxTySpuv_jOdNZw9VFYzi6H9427yP9aD3Hl1H_LjJUimH08-EjseMUu0IOZU5juA3vGYDgAqgvrbv_axCLKHrfWtZ_vdpW_zNA9NQJ98RxpQTFZo26GVbdfJygiUzUPM/s1600/DSC_4659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqLTyQOC_2qDUxTySpuv_jOdNZw9VFYzi6H9427yP9aD3Hl1H_LjJUimH08-EjseMUu0IOZU5juA3vGYDgAqgvrbv_axCLKHrfWtZ_vdpW_zNA9NQJ98RxpQTFZo26GVbdfJygiUzUPM/s320/DSC_4659.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Atrium in our hotel, it lit up at night </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The
tournament would start mid-week so we headed down on a Sunday this way there
would be time to practice and get accustomed to the courts. I would only be
playing singles for the tournament though but after such a great performance in
Suriname I was hoping to do well here too. I would be playing against another
European player, Ville Lang from Finland the Finish Viking as he would come to
be known as. The venue wasn’t bad as it was at clear 1 Orlando, the same clear
franchise owned by my boss where I work in Calgary. So the set up was pretty
familiar and the real adjustment just had to come with regards to the shuttles
and their speed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh75LCftqDBktdipeE8gwrv-1QiX-bsZNUpesTqBJipQO-k9k3LV2szyWDh3SACPaTGy9bXI3R_4iD54D7njgnkwtxspyGhbcqJkXbOcvEmnIB2dtCYmXk1E-qYJqWjIdoc_hs7RgaUikI/s1600/DSC_4675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh75LCftqDBktdipeE8gwrv-1QiX-bsZNUpesTqBJipQO-k9k3LV2szyWDh3SACPaTGy9bXI3R_4iD54D7njgnkwtxspyGhbcqJkXbOcvEmnIB2dtCYmXk1E-qYJqWjIdoc_hs7RgaUikI/s320/DSC_4675.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clear 1 Orlando, the tournament venue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Practice
went smooth as there was lots of players that I knew and was able to get a few
sessions in before the tournament. Something that doesn’t always happen because
I usually travel alone but this time it was nice to go with friends. The plan
was that once we were knocked out of the tournament we would go to universal
studios one day and then Disneyland the next day but the tournament was to come
first. So game day came and we all went down to the venue to play our matches.
Sean was up first and played a Chinese Taipei player, I was next up and then
Antonio and Kevin played their respected players. My match started out rough
against Ville but come the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> game I was adapting a lot faster than
I had in the past and was taking the fight to him. I felt better, although he
was really solid when I was patient I was able to score a lot more points but
then the impatient moments would kick in and that’s when errors occurred. I
ended up losing the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> game 18-21 it was incredibly close and I
could have forced a 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> if I was a little more patient. But it was a
learning experience and I was happy with the result, the Finish Viking had
taught me a lot of valuable lessons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BAfQ64t-Ipc/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BAfQ64t-Ipc?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This meant
that the tournament was officially over for me as well as for Sean. So we would
start to plan out the rest of the trip. The following day we ended up staying
around the area as the weather wasn’t too great and we wanted to see if there
was a few more players who wanted to go to universal studios so we could rent a
car and keep down the cost. Turns out the 2 of my European friends that I had
travelled with before, Jan Frolic of Czech Republic and Matej Hlinican of
Slovakia, were also out of the tournament and looking to head down to universal
studios. So the plan was set in motion and we bought our tickets online to head
to the park the next day, it would be an all-day affair. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOzbCtc1vc4xCCK1ym66dWMenrcnY2KcT2I_-WeBtyIkdRzPEME5TNTU3xqqL6y_wdN726g93ZGE1G3D2EPnJLcdM7tjTFcwhKsyTjX7ZIok3SoU-x_iqlDpfCNHnuoU35eSwn8s-VLY/s1600/DSC_4682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsOzbCtc1vc4xCCK1ym66dWMenrcnY2KcT2I_-WeBtyIkdRzPEME5TNTU3xqqL6y_wdN726g93ZGE1G3D2EPnJLcdM7tjTFcwhKsyTjX7ZIok3SoU-x_iqlDpfCNHnuoU35eSwn8s-VLY/s320/DSC_4682.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gang left to right: Jan Frolic, Matej Hlinican, Me, Sean McGowan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The morning
came and the weather wasn’t super amazing but was still Florida warm, with
overcast skies looming and forecasted for the remainder of the day. Our bags
packed and electronics charged we rented a car and started out on our grand
adventure. It took around an hour to drive there and that was without traffic
which was pretty long in itself but we finally saw the exits that marked
Disneyland and Universal Studios, we had made it at long last and pretty early
in the day only 10am at that point. Parking, we made our way to the gate…well
to all the stuff before the actual gates to enter the park. There were tons of
shops, food places, and just random things which was expected but we passed by
it all in anticipation of getting into the park and onto some rides not before
taking a group picture of course. Starting off in the park we hit up a warm up
ride right away to get ready then went for a big one “Doctor Doom’s Fear Fall”
which is a drop tower type ride. It wasn’t too bad but was relatively short
with just a few shots up and drops. Still enough to get the blood pumping and
adrenalin up though, we would continue our way through the area and onto the
next part toon world. There wasn’t too many rides there and the ones that there
was were water rides and seeing as we would get wet we would save those for
later in the day. Passing by Jurassic Park his meant that we would now
adventure to the best part of the park and most anticipates area, Harry Potter
world which spanned between the2 sides of the universal park. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglq5i8ByY9KK2JSx8GybFz4kVFLsze67apGtCROzgsrjBzbo0AlVW8LoE5n9soNzDh7L342UKjA_kbuKqCmZ1PlhW0KdD7Pa7tI4WeBMxGYA6pWQnsC5K7fjXrKfAV_ZGfQ8rkkUruuPY/s1600/DSC_4691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglq5i8ByY9KK2JSx8GybFz4kVFLsze67apGtCROzgsrjBzbo0AlVW8LoE5n9soNzDh7L342UKjA_kbuKqCmZ1PlhW0KdD7Pa7tI4WeBMxGYA6pWQnsC5K7fjXrKfAV_ZGfQ8rkkUruuPY/s320/DSC_4691.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XObraeJX_R1G3Cf5X8tv4ccigdwlwqwkJ-_0_Xh_uGeVE2z8pLNfIgMPVQoJWmc7HXXCEl2nI5DKF7cdZz9tUyJFPZpUOTT7gSxvliAw4bUm3llC4nNmItrelyzhttkhyphenhyphenyuVsKao-BM/s1600/DSC_4698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XObraeJX_R1G3Cf5X8tv4ccigdwlwqwkJ-_0_Xh_uGeVE2z8pLNfIgMPVQoJWmc7HXXCEl2nI5DKF7cdZz9tUyJFPZpUOTT7gSxvliAw4bUm3llC4nNmItrelyzhttkhyphenhyphenyuVsKao-BM/s320/DSC_4698.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Got absolutely soaked on this ride </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Harry Potter
area was amazing and there were some fantastic rides. The main attraction
however had broken down in the giant castle but they offered a walking tour
through the waiting line and let me say that line can get ridiculously long…
you could wait an entire day in line just to ride that ride. Spoiler they got
it working later so we were able to come back and ride it. I have to say that
is hands down my favorite ride at universal studios. But after that we went to
get some butter beer which was delicious, it went down smoothly and had a
creamy caramel flavor to it but was very refreshing. Following through that the
rest of the guys went on one of the Harry Potter rollercoasters but I’m not a
big fan of rollercoasters so I didn’t go. That was the extent of the Harry
Potter part of the world on this side of the park. So we quickly went through
the rest of the island and saw the Atlanta’s part and doctor Suse world then
proceeded to catch the Hogwarts express over to the other side universals park.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizuw5f-vban0GIeSbYe1zTCHkEzUTpQfTD0qDNHk_dIPnxnUjOSQGqUTvvGXXaqe9MW6u6mWCf26L8NHFbrYgVyqWVTMNMXFLvzp_z7W5TY0CiYlmJJhXTjm1XmEzfsgTSK-iZDQohqJM/s1600/DSC_4710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizuw5f-vban0GIeSbYe1zTCHkEzUTpQfTD0qDNHk_dIPnxnUjOSQGqUTvvGXXaqe9MW6u6mWCf26L8NHFbrYgVyqWVTMNMXFLvzp_z7W5TY0CiYlmJJhXTjm1XmEzfsgTSK-iZDQohqJM/s320/DSC_4710.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hogwarts Castle was awesome</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQhhktUtk2zRqRPtRlSrknTpX56mb7VITYNOPm5AEqFxrYIlyJHomQtFfucYx7Q5tmkb_0U6EqnlVVdLO0lmu6hamgX3LIUB7HvyGuJU-Wqmw3am9medEbpVMc2fD4vMqX8zInTxk3boE/s1600/DSC_4739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQhhktUtk2zRqRPtRlSrknTpX56mb7VITYNOPm5AEqFxrYIlyJHomQtFfucYx7Q5tmkb_0U6EqnlVVdLO0lmu6hamgX3LIUB7HvyGuJU-Wqmw3am9medEbpVMc2fD4vMqX8zInTxk3boE/s320/DSC_4739.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Got my butter beer in hand</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Arriving at
the station we proceeded to go through platform 9 ¾ into London and towards daigon
alley which is where we stopped for lunch. The rest of the Harry Potter world
had just one ride which we did and was more of an interactive experience but
still good none the less. The rest of that side of the park had the themes such
as Simpsons land, the MIB ride, Transformers, Terminator, Minions, ET, etc so
we hit up some of those rides along with the mummy indoor rollercoaster which
was a great experience and I don’t mind those types of indoor rollercoasters.
The rest of the guys went on the final ride twice which was the rock and roll
coaster, it did have quite the amazing and impressive drop on it but I passed. The
night had come and the theme park was closing soon, we had spent the entire day
there and had been able to see everything as well as ride a lot of rides. We
did end up going on the water rides before leaving that side of the park, they
were not bad at all just got you really wet so good thing I brought an extra
change of clothes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5XL5UmoWOcj9Iuc9EJiz_BjTykr7C2Rl2-ZDsCE-P5jYz1SUmRsaMnLQCoHeKXS4cvGOTEFjShLEPYR7pQpBZP2NTo2sJqB0dfTkG-_xuXl72twqz0VkfA3JDc6uG_u1fNS96UdjSG34/s1600/DSC_4794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5XL5UmoWOcj9Iuc9EJiz_BjTykr7C2Rl2-ZDsCE-P5jYz1SUmRsaMnLQCoHeKXS4cvGOTEFjShLEPYR7pQpBZP2NTo2sJqB0dfTkG-_xuXl72twqz0VkfA3JDc6uG_u1fNS96UdjSG34/s320/DSC_4794.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The day was
done and we went to the outlet mall across the highway quickly before heading
back to the hotel for the night as well as to grab food. It was a long day and
we were all tired so getting into bed that night was a big relief for sure and
before you know it the sun had risen and another day started. Originally the
plan was that on the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> day we would go do Disneyworld but looking
at the cost and just how much I spent the day before at Universal studios I
decided it wouldn’t be a finically smart plan. I would be flying out the next
day back to Calgary for a day and then off to LA for the USA Grand Prix. But
first I had to see my cousin who lives in Orlando. He is my actual blood
related first cousin who I hadn’t seen since 2009 when he came down to Miami to
see me play when I competed in the Miami international there. But this time I
was in his city so it all worked out perfectly to meet up. Sean came and we
went to downtown Disney to hang out and walk around, so even though I didn’t
make it to Disneyworld I was able to make it kind of close at least. My favorite
part was by far the Lego store because well I LOVE Lego and am such a kid at
heart when it comes to those things. If I could have (and if the exchange rate
was better) I would have bought so many Lego sets to take back home with me but
alas the opportunity needed to be passed up this time. After some quick
shopping it was time to head out grab a quick bite and then call it a night as
I had a flight early in the morning the following day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></o:p><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhWLPyikc3Dwc5iZCCct00pO5ijHn73B3k0a0faQV7Hm1omCKKEbXo4cG59ow8YVDKTIdUZKGxGFPSpSJj9BbUQ3zPuXWVFX_NeLuyQjMMwMHKYyzmHsQYiF9xcCI9dr3-N_KFgGHMLc/s1600/DSC_4836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhWLPyikc3Dwc5iZCCct00pO5ijHn73B3k0a0faQV7Hm1omCKKEbXo4cG59ow8YVDKTIdUZKGxGFPSpSJj9BbUQ3zPuXWVFX_NeLuyQjMMwMHKYyzmHsQYiF9xcCI9dr3-N_KFgGHMLc/s320/DSC_4836.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who doesn't want to chill with a LEGO hulk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The flight
back to Calgary wasn’t a bad one, had a stop in Chicago which I haven’t passed
through before but thankfully no weather delays made everything smooth. Upon
arrival in Calgary though was the best surprise awaiting me for my one night
back home before flying out to LA for my final international of 2016, the USA
Grand Prix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com0Orlando, FL, USA28.5383355 -81.3792364999999928.0917165 -82.0246835 28.984954499999997 -80.733789499999986tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-82204568762360465642016-02-16T21:48:00.000-08:002016-02-16T21:48:43.570-08:002015 Suriname International<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A month had passed since my last international (Chinese
Taipei Grand Prix) and now it was time to travel to another. This time I would
be flying back to South America to the country where I played my first
international tournament representing Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname. Getting to
Suriname is no easy task and there aren’t many ways to do it. One way that I
saw from Calgary was to fly to Amsterdam and then back down to Suriname
(because Suriname is a Dutch colony) the other was to go to Trinidad and then
fly from there. I would choose the latter because Trinidad was able to secure a
flight for me from Toronto to Suriname and return, which meant I just needed to
book a flight from Calgary to Toronto. Now if you live in Canada you can
understand how much it can be to fly to Toronto, if you don’t here’s an
example; it is often cheaper to fly to Asia from Calgary than it is to fly to
Toronto from Calgary. I’ll let that sink in for a moment for you, but anyways I
was able to book a flight the downside is I would have a 10 hour layover in
Toronto starting at 11pm at night. After that it was straight to Trinidad
followed by another 6 hour layover and then finally arriving into Suriname at
1am in the morning. Follow that with an hour drive into the city from the airport
and finally getting into the hotel room and bed at roughly 2:30am. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzUiBOxYtkRM7i0z1-sylMYO2oczgw4GMZra-YMeli7jxqqWqwDbitiwlHcp8NIoTVMmt5XtlFtqoqYljcgxU5RocJN8gCBygIuU7fSmQjVaDDm8arpQ16YXkrYiNRZKvNN0ITy9SGOQ/s1600/DSC_4607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzUiBOxYtkRM7i0z1-sylMYO2oczgw4GMZra-YMeli7jxqqWqwDbitiwlHcp8NIoTVMmt5XtlFtqoqYljcgxU5RocJN8gCBygIuU7fSmQjVaDDm8arpQ16YXkrYiNRZKvNN0ITy9SGOQ/s320/DSC_4607.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our hotel... the one on the right not the nice one on the left </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKat-VmbEr9iRnkult7e_0dnil4jBwW2JEkIOq9SHu8-nsqAc6JcLZIj6Tdn1jNn15nesRbZW41910xJ1RcBU__8vXThaam7cl4Ie0ApruZlbUpja3aCxLO0us56zMtiFufShcEKtdzYw/s1600/DSC_4605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKat-VmbEr9iRnkult7e_0dnil4jBwW2JEkIOq9SHu8-nsqAc6JcLZIj6Tdn1jNn15nesRbZW41910xJ1RcBU__8vXThaam7cl4Ie0ApruZlbUpja3aCxLO0us56zMtiFufShcEKtdzYw/s320/DSC_4605.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At night behind our hotel is a biker bar and they would rev all night</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKMShyphenhyphencyRG_SV3bXm3pwH2g-u3ldmAOmMDdkvBA1qLHOWATJaGJ-RZm61CSJbhvnoQR66zZzY1LKEv0Mwwh2bbZovOZUvYvaVjfsTjHNTRCxhBO4APFLrnC521fg8oBm4yWQmYbGET5Y/s1600/DSC_4608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKMShyphenhyphencyRG_SV3bXm3pwH2g-u3ldmAOmMDdkvBA1qLHOWATJaGJ-RZm61CSJbhvnoQR66zZzY1LKEv0Mwwh2bbZovOZUvYvaVjfsTjHNTRCxhBO4APFLrnC521fg8oBm4yWQmYbGET5Y/s320/DSC_4608.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All lit up at night... still a dive but the casino was good</td></tr>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></o:p> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now that the hard part was over it was time to go get in
some practice at the tournament hall. South America is usually known for its
crappy venues and horrible conditions for badminton. This time I was slightly
surprised with the venue and it was slightly better than what I expected. The
courts themselves were actual court matts which doesn’t always occur at these
tournaments. The ceiling was high and didn’t have to bad of lighting once you
got used to it. There was a few drafts but the thing was they were relatively
consistent in the direction they were blowing the only issue was the strength
of it would change with the force of the wind blowing. You see the building
they used one entire side of the building didn’t have a wall on it and they did
all they could to cover it up (they actually did an amazing job) with tarps and
such so that the wind wouldn’t come through. Shuttles flew decently and I
actually felt good playing at the venue. I would be playing all 3 events so
that would give me lots of time to adapt, of course singles is the event that I
care about the most and focus on the most. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOiByH1H2dsYuwJ6sC_s95LSwvLMNqjSiUe7mLI08T-6fmju-rZAaR5AYybHYuKjPg9vm0pHx5NW-Pkd6Tm9-V6Ke7xf4EB_HVN82bdgmqq3VZyGXoRqBqz_uBtQ8V9cy9DZGAIdbychY/s1600/DSC_4595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOiByH1H2dsYuwJ6sC_s95LSwvLMNqjSiUe7mLI08T-6fmju-rZAaR5AYybHYuKjPg9vm0pHx5NW-Pkd6Tm9-V6Ke7xf4EB_HVN82bdgmqq3VZyGXoRqBqz_uBtQ8V9cy9DZGAIdbychY/s320/DSC_4595.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tournament Venue</td></tr>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So we got to practice in the tournament hall and then had
the managers meeting. The first events would commence the following day with
qualification for men’s singles in the morning and then singles and doubles in
the evening. I didn’t have to qualify thankfully but would play somebody who
won their qualification match first round in the main draw. This ended up being
a fairly straight forward match and allowed me to adapt and feel better on the
court. The doubles later that night was also straight forward and overall the
first day of competition was a success. The following day would prove to be a
little more tiresome with all 3 matches, singles, doubles, and mixed. I had
singles in the morning against a Venezuelan player and that went the full 9
yards. The score was incredibly close with me coming out in the end 22-20,
20-22, 21-18. It definitely tested my mental and put my skills to the test but
this meant that I was now in the quarterfinals for singles. I would play an
Italian player the following morning for a spot in the semifinals, so singles
was a success. Doubles went as planned and we won that match as well fairly
easy which put us into the semifinals and would play an Italian pair the
following day at night. Mixed came along and that was another long one, took 3
games but in the end we didn’t come out on top there and that was the first loss
of the tournament for me. A long day spent at the tournament hall and some much
needed food later it was time to sleep after a successful day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Semifinals day rolled around, well quarterfinals in the
morning for singles was up first. Because it was the morning the tournament
hall was empty and there really were not many people around watching at all.
This would be the first time I would play a player from Europe, in all the
years of traveling and all the tournaments I have played it was either Asian players
or players from our region (Pan Am: North, Central, South Americas, and the
Caribbean) but this would not be the last time I’d play a European player for
the year. The first game was death I was not ready at all for what came my way
but come the second I put up an amazing fight and felt great if only I made a
few less unforced errors I would have been able to force a 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> and
deciding set. Although I was knocked out to the Italian I was happy with my
performance and with how far I had made it in singles, it had been a while
since I advanced far in the singles draw and won some matches. Doubles was up
next that night and we played the Italian pair who surprise surprise consisted
of the same player who beat me in singles. Unfortunately that didn’t go our way
either but overall was a great experience and an unexpected result in an event
that I don’t train for a usually just play for fun. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So that was that the run came to an end and I was knocked
out of the tournament, I was really happy though and it had definitely been
worth it to go down to Suriname to compete. Some much needed world ranking and
Olympic qualification points came out of it. Up until this point I really
hadn’t ventured around the city at all since I was so busy competing and didn’t
get time to go out in the day to see Paramaribo. This would change and the day
before we left I would take the time to go out and explore. Walking around our
hotel there was actually a lot to see, the presidents house, a plantation park,
of course the river that runs through the city, and some various other sights
that caught my eye. A quick lunch with my friends Jan (Czech Republic), Matej
(Slovakia), Melinda (Australia), and one of their friends was a great way to
finish off the exploration and prepare to go watch finals. There wasn’t much to
see around the city, well within walking distance from the hotel anyways but
what I saw would definitely suffice. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgys7ftELepi0gYLsbT49jifVSkjG2d3ojDypjMYpZE9AFSPeDErSDypqC91hqdjKsugKEcEmefugtlatmOInb1mdR89WL2hqDuZc_hyphenhyphenJE6su6IJMDkEmbpU7kKtLkglf9HWCzIFcNL8ak/s1600/DSC_4613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgys7ftELepi0gYLsbT49jifVSkjG2d3ojDypjMYpZE9AFSPeDErSDypqC91hqdjKsugKEcEmefugtlatmOInb1mdR89WL2hqDuZc_hyphenhyphenJE6su6IJMDkEmbpU7kKtLkglf9HWCzIFcNL8ak/s320/DSC_4613.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuDgwY9miryIYUnlOBv72IWkPK4W1E30hqGR_ihaJ8Nr5xB7kmrsR3ubK6MCsAV8GYZ-n_F3aWMFTS3Cg2eVGsObCM2BYOxTZDZNK20rS5W9gv8czZ_RnAONUPixpsWXzWE1xCWlwT1A/s1600/DSC_4618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuDgwY9miryIYUnlOBv72IWkPK4W1E30hqGR_ihaJ8Nr5xB7kmrsR3ubK6MCsAV8GYZ-n_F3aWMFTS3Cg2eVGsObCM2BYOxTZDZNK20rS5W9gv8czZ_RnAONUPixpsWXzWE1xCWlwT1A/s320/DSC_4618.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaOk3_YdtmjdKEe58rK2psXgMwmkl0nlRqy32wdUjaqVhESC7jvC0wp2gNa-Ahw19TYbqO2Kk3kjoIBGn1oJR774dWDOxZc82Js9tkx4f5h5PcqnD_X-qXWXij0XMUN15q4BaZt9dCvE/s1600/DSC_4620.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiaOk3_YdtmjdKEe58rK2psXgMwmkl0nlRqy32wdUjaqVhESC7jvC0wp2gNa-Ahw19TYbqO2Kk3kjoIBGn1oJR774dWDOxZc82Js9tkx4f5h5PcqnD_X-qXWXij0XMUN15q4BaZt9dCvE/s320/DSC_4620.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Finals took place but that’s where things got interesting.
The finals were set for Saturday night the only downside was that people had
booked their flights out hoping the finals would be in the morning as with most
tournaments. As well it being Suriname that didn’t leave many options to leave
the country especially with many players flying to Africa, South America, or
Europe for other tournaments starting just a day or 2 later. That left just 2
finals to be played, mixed doubles and men’s singles. Both matches were an
unfortunate one sided affair but they still had to do the medal presentation.
That is where I would get onto the podium for my men’s doubles medal which
turned out to be a trophy. My second international medal/trophy of the year,
felt great to win that and made the whole trip even more worthwhile. But that
also meant that the tournament was done as was my time in Suriname, the long
trip back to Canada would begin soon. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunzz-o6gDey4CT222KC-CkfqlWrMOKEGj3Ppc8Hs4E5veYasJJcriieBCGZnCAk3ofBj8WMGUr96kB_P7t06_J28xjyXNNTwIEYWT2u_mPC4oSH0ytfQgEtCfWFOuDKzrAdFIjBhOxzk/s1600/DSC_4637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunzz-o6gDey4CT222KC-CkfqlWrMOKEGj3Ppc8Hs4E5veYasJJcriieBCGZnCAk3ofBj8WMGUr96kB_P7t06_J28xjyXNNTwIEYWT2u_mPC4oSH0ytfQgEtCfWFOuDKzrAdFIjBhOxzk/s320/DSC_4637.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNt9Y_Zv93eDOYFxaB4EKqD13pIzPqa9pNnrA2n65Vh26TbePBkt78LFR3uDd3fWaWaAEm3nBJ0dz_uV2ZTrClyusBlHWnvYQsmqgeMFDnXhzaK-4yNFIvjXpa1ellZXvXm6yngy6H1E/s1600/DSC_4639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNt9Y_Zv93eDOYFxaB4EKqD13pIzPqa9pNnrA2n65Vh26TbePBkt78LFR3uDd3fWaWaAEm3nBJ0dz_uV2ZTrClyusBlHWnvYQsmqgeMFDnXhzaK-4yNFIvjXpa1ellZXvXm6yngy6H1E/s320/DSC_4639.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My trophy from doubles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QgXzt24F8NqB-xJ5Zqb1_Eyb8bezAkEC-KrILd950sIN0EuqDD5TQRe1XfifMorpeLqPRkAlz9mm3oYGFR6XHOKW_BYjamqD4qstPZUNDp4Fhh4L3eO6zhBljBSUpfxhC-D27WcdxCA/s1600/DSC_4641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QgXzt24F8NqB-xJ5Zqb1_Eyb8bezAkEC-KrILd950sIN0EuqDD5TQRe1XfifMorpeLqPRkAlz9mm3oYGFR6XHOKW_BYjamqD4qstPZUNDp4Fhh4L3eO6zhBljBSUpfxhC-D27WcdxCA/s320/DSC_4641.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking out to the plane to leave Suriname</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As with my flight to Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago had
secured a round trip flight from Toronto to Suriname in Caribbean Airlines for
me for no charge. This also meant that I would be flying back to Trinidad for
yet another layover (7 Hours to be exact) and then a slight layover in Toronto
finally arriving into Calgary Monday morning just after midnight. Some friends
and my aunt visited me at the airport which was nice, I didn’t decide to go
home for the few hours it would have just been too much of a hassle so I
decided to stay at the airport. Finally I was getting closer to home just 2
more flights and a couple more hours. Overall though the trip was definitely
worth it after getting to quarterfinals in singles and a semifinals result in
doubles which was completely unexpected. Yet another trip had come to an end
and another tournament under my belt. Although I didn’t go to a new country it
was fun to revisit one that I hadn’t seen in 8 years and the site of the first
international tournament that I ever played. So to get such a great result like
that proved a lot to me that I have come quite some way in my career and
journey of being a professional athlete. Next up would be 2 tournaments a lot
closer to home, the 2 international tournaments in the USA on opposite coasts
Florida and California. <br />
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCqgoSYbe99kMFjiboEWfImgVTakhsK9Fe06Hnci_mo8BkGYEQc6VG6pU7xQgXzJ_1MsHP_dI01j2YTK-Yyov6JH2k_H49cS0WGxdznBMOpur619SoXuyUaIzhorlMj9v2_Xvks0dfls/s1600/DSC_4616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCqgoSYbe99kMFjiboEWfImgVTakhsK9Fe06Hnci_mo8BkGYEQc6VG6pU7xQgXzJ_1MsHP_dI01j2YTK-Yyov6JH2k_H49cS0WGxdznBMOpur619SoXuyUaIzhorlMj9v2_Xvks0dfls/s320/DSC_4616.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love Suriname, I had a great tournament and fantastic weather</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
</span><br />Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com2Paramaribo, Suriname5.8520355 -55.20382785.7256675 -55.3651893 5.9784035000000006 -55.0424663tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-49507554338684178352015-12-29T19:11:00.001-08:002015-12-29T19:13:42.306-08:002015 Chinese Taipei Grand Prix and Taiwan<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf69ZJeq8Y-vFZzRHsNeffyf-xVg1moUOTAefE_DmogGtBX6KpMmtP_tWDlfK4-JWsLILIX8iQ9WxXwoNb7gMD4NEkphOVzm7jeu9fNzf5MkwTtFNl54IkNhyGGBvOc3co6oPrwvMmPhY/s1600/DSC_4469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf69ZJeq8Y-vFZzRHsNeffyf-xVg1moUOTAefE_DmogGtBX6KpMmtP_tWDlfK4-JWsLILIX8iQ9WxXwoNb7gMD4NEkphOVzm7jeu9fNzf5MkwTtFNl54IkNhyGGBvOc3co6oPrwvMmPhY/s320/DSC_4469.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mascot for the tournament </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The time had come after a month of no traveling for September
I was flying off again. This time back to Asia, 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> time for the
year for a tournament. I would be going to the 2015 Chinese Taipei Grand Prix
tournament taking place in Taipei, Taiwan. I always love going to Asia, I
really enjoy the region and the culture not to mention the food is amazing. My
association entered me, main and qualifying reports came out and I was in the
maindraw so that meant I booked my flight and would be in the country for 4
days. Leaving Saturday to get there and arriving back into Calgary the Friday morning,
I had to coach Friday night. Then the draw came out…another lucky draw but not
really as I had to play Darren Liew of Malaysia. Those who don’t know who he is
well he was number 10 in the world at one point and also the Thomas cup silver
medallist who lost the 5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> and deciding match to Japan for the cold
medal. At this point he hadn't played much and fell quite a bit in the rankings
but still the opportunity to play a top player none the less. Well let's get
this adventure off to a start. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The flights to Asia are always fun and while they are long
(10+ hours at the least, depending where you leave from and fly to) they feel
like nothing now because of how many times I have flown there. So I went from
Calgary to San Francisco then SF to Tokyo and finally Tokyo to Taipei, Taiwan.
The interesting part happened in San Francisco when we landed as we were
taxiing down the runway I saw air force one parked on the tarmac. Little did I
know this would effect me later on in the journey when flying out. As my
layover in SF came to an end I boarded the 747 (I love big planes) and we
started to push back from the gate then there was an announcement…that the
flight would be delayed. The reason being because air force one was about to
take off the entire airport was at a standstill, no planes could move or take
off/land. So we had to wait, I don't know if the president was actually on air
force one at that time since I know there are two of them. Regardless the
standstill came to and end and the mayhem of airline traffic started but we
were finally off. A quick stop in Tokyo and then it was off to Taiwan. Arriving
at Taipei we were put into a holding pattern for a bit due to the excess of
airline traffic arriving at the airport. Landing I was greeted by the welcome
committee and we just had to pick up a few other players before boarding the
van to the hotel. Arriving around 10pm at night I was unable to get a workout
in as the gym closed so I made my way to my room and passed out on the gigantic
bed, it made for some much needed rest.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVLhN8lCny-9nco6VTBhubuGcPQv_L3oqnX9btU6RDf65AohUVdzxnvC-cxXgDcNVvJM0K7bBmuc4npQCGme557-4K20MbXobRII4N5rVgYV8pataZ3KxkPsfTjqFy5X15psPRxRXmzc/s1600/DSC_4457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVLhN8lCny-9nco6VTBhubuGcPQv_L3oqnX9btU6RDf65AohUVdzxnvC-cxXgDcNVvJM0K7bBmuc4npQCGme557-4K20MbXobRII4N5rVgYV8pataZ3KxkPsfTjqFy5X15psPRxRXmzc/s320/DSC_4457.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My room was rather awesome</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Morning broke and all that was planned was to have the team
managers meeting and welcome dinner. As well I had a practice slot in the morning
that I could attend. Made my way to the venue and of course it was just me so
as always finding some players to hit with proved challenging. I was able to hit
with the Chinese Taipei players but practice times were limited to half an hour
only. Heading back go the hotel and after the managers meeting I met up with a
friend who had just gotten in, Timothy Chui of Canada and we<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>arranged to have a hit Monday afternoon as it
was just qualifications that day. Sunday night after the managers meeting there
was a welcome dinner for all the players and of course I went to that. Welcome
dinners for tournaments are done the best in Asia and Macau 2013 was one of the
best to date that I have gone to. The tournament organizers approached me and
wanted to make sure I was going as I was going to be presented with an award. The
dinner was very well done and consisted of a 6 course meal. There was
entertainment from the “sexy dancers”, a magician, some speeches, and then the
award presentation where a bunch of us were presented with a trophy for
attending the tournament. I left the dinner early around 8pm just 2 hours after
it started but it didn't finish until around 10pm. Most players left as we all
had to play maindraw matches the following day.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0uRfIc_qItLqHHE1yfw3fYcKWivwA5qd4Rek71N9TEneibnsbkhpG64ziz2Cxd3Ax-FsIs2b1gU3a3EhekF6hKBObNiqZitS5xHNikFjKmEDGAMtTqWjnbbbEFxTSEP6vjMv-a7itvv4/s1600/DSC_4463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0uRfIc_qItLqHHE1yfw3fYcKWivwA5qd4Rek71N9TEneibnsbkhpG64ziz2Cxd3Ax-FsIs2b1gU3a3EhekF6hKBObNiqZitS5xHNikFjKmEDGAMtTqWjnbbbEFxTSEP6vjMv-a7itvv4/s320/DSC_4463.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tournament Venue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5RhM6Cq8Bqx44AkaoMbIYOV_p3gsCtvHfSIAi1_SQaGlO4uqgGCZRkKyPf-g4An900qo-RuKpiE7zytgmZUsl1elXYAgosal5fd_HdH0kUMIIQszd9MPSb3WMboK280M3G7CQgH540E/s1600/DSC_4466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5RhM6Cq8Bqx44AkaoMbIYOV_p3gsCtvHfSIAi1_SQaGlO4uqgGCZRkKyPf-g4An900qo-RuKpiE7zytgmZUsl1elXYAgosal5fd_HdH0kUMIIQszd9MPSb3WMboK280M3G7CQgH540E/s320/DSC_4466.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome dinner for the players and the dancers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhXyMgjem2EOurXdC7-2CxvBSJfUS2-rrN93QEHD76MDSg426hjrYIV8whpu-6yGV__p8wFrMCmDvIEpq4Obf9xIitWqJXvMnz6iukR_4wYfXqgwphkFQgB-vek93e1PQUHCClsP2icA/s1600/DSC_4467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhXyMgjem2EOurXdC7-2CxvBSJfUS2-rrN93QEHD76MDSg426hjrYIV8whpu-6yGV__p8wFrMCmDvIEpq4Obf9xIitWqJXvMnz6iukR_4wYfXqgwphkFQgB-vek93e1PQUHCClsP2icA/s320/DSC_4467.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The award/trophy I was given for participating</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Match day rolled around and I was scheduled to play in the
afternoon. I got up ate a solid breakfast and relaxed a bit before getting
ready and walking over to the venue. Upon arrival there was some good matches
and I started to browse around and watch. Coming closer I warmed up and wanted
to record my match but I didn't know what court I'd be on or know anybody who
would be able to set up my camera for me. So I set it up to get all the courts
in one shot. Darren Liew <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and I walked
onto the court and I was pumped for the match. I never get scared or worried
when playing these high ranked or famous players. Quite the opposite actually
it's really cool and an awesome opportunity to see how I stack up to them. The
match started and I knew it was an uphill battle, we had some good rallies but
in the end he was the superior player and took the match quite comfortably
despite injuring his ankle in the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> game. I remember in the
beginning of the 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> game he kept me at the back of the court
essentially playing isolation against me. I walked off the court disappointed
in my performance that I couldn't get more posts but satisfied with some
rallies and pegging him with the shuttle a few times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Just like that my tournament was over, another first round
loss. I had a day and a half left in Taiwan at that point the rest of the day
from my match and then the full next day. This meant time to explore. I met up
with a few friends over the course of my next day and a half. First stop was a
night walk with my friend and we visited some interesting stuff including a
popular shopping area which had a Times Square feel to it. The president’s
place and a monument to the first president of the country were up next as well
as some of the national music and preforming centers. It was night for all of
this so it made the views all the more spectacular and memorable. After that I
headed back to the hotel and got a workout in but making sure to go to bed
early as I would have a huge day tomorrow with a lot of sightseeing to do. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-X-Eo9LsnCaPEBjB-BFDE68FOVhkQ_AoxppYRdt1vSnmvuPizTdd_3WwHiZB0p5aDjUvqhGJ1dQVWK8niXcGyRl20JjQs7E579ny_QmIPyq51I_dZK3vjZeslYL7CAZQBidzWwroOJ6U/s1600/IMG_3336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-X-Eo9LsnCaPEBjB-BFDE68FOVhkQ_AoxppYRdt1vSnmvuPizTdd_3WwHiZB0p5aDjUvqhGJ1dQVWK8niXcGyRl20JjQs7E579ny_QmIPyq51I_dZK3vjZeslYL7CAZQBidzWwroOJ6U/s320/IMG_3336.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is it just me or does the presidents place look like a cake...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2vzwaywpUj1Oi46eNUGiRJDYagQwCh46MICpHmE9SGS5LUSBRl5GbqbKVPo7MWi3iOjxXg_1DhttDl_VwD2CzoJYhEdN6GtGHEJ9VuqrKyK4IrxYbGHX6lsI__OdYlGLYTrPcjK9AQQ/s1600/DSC_4488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2vzwaywpUj1Oi46eNUGiRJDYagQwCh46MICpHmE9SGS5LUSBRl5GbqbKVPo7MWi3iOjxXg_1DhttDl_VwD2CzoJYhEdN6GtGHEJ9VuqrKyK4IrxYbGHX6lsI__OdYlGLYTrPcjK9AQQ/s320/DSC_4488.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoM8drM6nlV4Nz1DzPIeUGl5w-Dz_hqDvum3mcGPxsqPERsRJoa43-ZpR3qFygi7EQSKU-F5ZWv-8gL3evdMrDLxS76DofrUdv7k1EBobVggrrrYKLqdqdXJOq36phHFQ0D8Uz9cGYULo/s1600/DSC_4493.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoM8drM6nlV4Nz1DzPIeUGl5w-Dz_hqDvum3mcGPxsqPERsRJoa43-ZpR3qFygi7EQSKU-F5ZWv-8gL3evdMrDLxS76DofrUdv7k1EBobVggrrrYKLqdqdXJOq36phHFQ0D8Uz9cGYULo/s320/DSC_4493.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mini times square</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUC-6SmVy4hBhcX08gFpen9dPcNu8UqqmG-c1GNksYNjk33F1EFepVYgL6edB91NIcW8KFfYQh2h5DUCHQO3rqzuZMiclI2VFH_C2oC4reT_PVWfOI8okQ8FKUqBfnrupAND1fk-b0SiY/s1600/IMG_3319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUC-6SmVy4hBhcX08gFpen9dPcNu8UqqmG-c1GNksYNjk33F1EFepVYgL6edB91NIcW8KFfYQh2h5DUCHQO3rqzuZMiclI2VFH_C2oC4reT_PVWfOI8okQ8FKUqBfnrupAND1fk-b0SiY/s320/IMG_3319.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOU1rdvs5wfVnFpg8IOgzyA39gamUyic1BBIJYxyiL1eJxk5btRuyVedyVvz67F9K7p5tMq7qexaoBDttnJnnjpX7FykO39Nln_-uDuMhE_-7d6H0fFMzHBrk0cPp4cktxV5gx4cjtRk/s1600/IMG_3325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOU1rdvs5wfVnFpg8IOgzyA39gamUyic1BBIJYxyiL1eJxk5btRuyVedyVvz67F9K7p5tMq7qexaoBDttnJnnjpX7FykO39Nln_-uDuMhE_-7d6H0fFMzHBrk0cPp4cktxV5gx4cjtRk/s320/IMG_3325.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The sun was out and I was up bright an early at 7am, very
rarely do I get up that early while traveling even for the free breakfast at
the hotel. But this time I had a good reason I was leaving the hotel soon with
my friend to see Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world (4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
tallest at my time of viewing it). So we got on the train from the hotel and
took the trek down to the tower, the ride was simple and the train system there
is reliable and quick. Walking out of the station I was greeted by the colossus
that was Taipei 101, its design stood out against the bare skyline. Nothing
else even begun to come close to being noticeable against this towering giant.
We made our way into the mall that is attached to the tower and then onto the
lobby. The elevator at Taipei 101 is world famous and holds a Guinness world
record in 2004 for the fastest passenger elevator in the world at 60.6 Km/h and
takes you from the 5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> floor to the observatory on the 89<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
floor in 37 seconds. Arriving at the observation floor you could see everything
for miles in each direction, the view was stunning. The sheer height of the
building was amazing. Up there they had lots of stuff talking about the
construction of the building and what went into the design. There was also the
option to go to the roof and get a better look at the antenna on top of the
building but you couldn’t see too much scenery wise. Then there was the chance
to view the damper, a 660 ton pendulum which helps the building to survive
against intense winds and earthquakes so it doesn’t sway. That concluded the
time in Taipei 101 a quick walk through the gift shop to get to the elevator to
go back downstairs and it was off to get some food, half the day was done already.
</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35cjbx_UGFxhG-1LbjfYQLCr-6k34KvoSt74QujQd9igGox24jTI-C-DWNyAao6pSrrXEFId8JxQhuwY_na9t3tO2ir8_ra2WWROtYAqmc1QrezBUxnYxuoOg07iutXsKrF_CYfiO05s/s1600/IMG_3342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35cjbx_UGFxhG-1LbjfYQLCr-6k34KvoSt74QujQd9igGox24jTI-C-DWNyAao6pSrrXEFId8JxQhuwY_na9t3tO2ir8_ra2WWROtYAqmc1QrezBUxnYxuoOg07iutXsKrF_CYfiO05s/s320/IMG_3342.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First thing I saw when I got out of the underground station</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYyhepc-9WM-caQCc4cNE3CsbjTkJgBTDwQNV-mjVQdydfqghlfydvgu-2P-Ru0MKEQkY-S_rIC-srU_K8c1tJTrSR8QBQ6ixR5OrTwZ_UWapmjgA5zeZLN7lCEoWorZbGpbbQIVD8WM/s1600/IMG_3367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYyhepc-9WM-caQCc4cNE3CsbjTkJgBTDwQNV-mjVQdydfqghlfydvgu-2P-Ru0MKEQkY-S_rIC-srU_K8c1tJTrSR8QBQ6ixR5OrTwZ_UWapmjgA5zeZLN7lCEoWorZbGpbbQIVD8WM/s320/IMG_3367.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With one of the mascots and there 660 ton damper</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSoaASvfCPfoCtqnBTe-d3_x5AGN0HacQwFeGX9T5fSWrRLWR8sJV2c04vrLsnuid5F9TjYVDsbYFpkVBzk8v4cORk0VSuhI05V-idKIXPTBqlUQCBQ8uXFSFg8Mquazg1SRFnvotl5M/s1600/IMG_3370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSoaASvfCPfoCtqnBTe-d3_x5AGN0HacQwFeGX9T5fSWrRLWR8sJV2c04vrLsnuid5F9TjYVDsbYFpkVBzk8v4cORk0VSuhI05V-idKIXPTBqlUQCBQ8uXFSFg8Mquazg1SRFnvotl5M/s320/IMG_3370.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Its made out of coral </td></tr>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Next stop on the list was a museum all about Taiwan’s
history, it was located up in the mountains and was quite the nice scenic route
to get to. Bu before that we walked around Taipei 101 area and saw some of the pubic art that was there. Lots of cool statues and interesting instalments to take pictures with. There were tons of exhibits and artifacts to see in the museum but
we didn’t have time to see them all. It would have taken an entire day on its
own to cover all the floors and walk through every hall that was there. After spending
a few hours there and learning about the history of Taiwan it was time to go
back to the hotel and get some food. I had some time to kill so did a workout
and started to pack. I was going to meet up with my last friend in the night to
go out and party a little bit to enjoy my last night in Taiwan. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVvAfgnt31tdrY_B5OxH96Hac162xOqoR10eP8ZyZcelsHLG036IhjTfymjDCKZRCKtz-DFJ0AV8LQHPB8m8YpOZf1EWIjMf1v5XJ__GaDRyoToXyatZhdqsd1HPbLo9-05MEDPgS6r4/s1600/DSC_4511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVvAfgnt31tdrY_B5OxH96Hac162xOqoR10eP8ZyZcelsHLG036IhjTfymjDCKZRCKtz-DFJ0AV8LQHPB8m8YpOZf1EWIjMf1v5XJ__GaDRyoToXyatZhdqsd1HPbLo9-05MEDPgS6r4/s320/DSC_4511.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The museum is huge despite looking rather small </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The night had come and my bags were packed, minus last
minute things that would be packed in the morning. I would need to leave the
hotel around 8am to go to the airport and catch my flight back to Calgary. But
first we went to get some noodle soup followed by a walk to another shopping
center for some browsing and where there were some bars. We met up with some
more people and spent a few hours there hanging out, playing games (darts and
pool) before finally calling it a night. We were close enough to Taipei 101
that I was able to see it lit up at night, it is a different color each night
of the week. After the adventure which was wandering around Taipei and playing
a tournament I was now time to head back home. Just 2 flights to take and I
would be back in Calgary Friday afternoon. The flight back was relatively
smooth and once I was back I needed to rush off to coaching that night. Finally
after coaching I was able to go home and sleep but would need to wake up early Saturday
morning to coach again and followed by Sunday morning too. So fighting jet lag
would have to wait a little bit. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6KvquMbVHInDyr46wL7NJnU9RCoNprHgbhWuCwTQIqxrkgbFhAlP5MpKTxqJoVuIi1eNMyc1eOsn7NXGXMAwTqq1es-PyJORCXP5JTFLwWNcoDGv6lzsdeo5ObKSMplS6h8IUDjQC8lY/s1600/IMG_3395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6KvquMbVHInDyr46wL7NJnU9RCoNprHgbhWuCwTQIqxrkgbFhAlP5MpKTxqJoVuIi1eNMyc1eOsn7NXGXMAwTqq1es-PyJORCXP5JTFLwWNcoDGv6lzsdeo5ObKSMplS6h8IUDjQC8lY/s320/IMG_3395.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taipei 101 all lit up at night</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Overall the trip was great and I was happy I went despite
having such a tough first round. The year would be drawing to a close and I
would try and play a few more tournaments to get some world ranking points but
as well Olympic qualifying points too. Suriname, Orlando, and LA were 3 more
tournaments I had planned for and would take me through November and December. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com0Taipei, Taiwan25.0329694 121.5654177000000124.5725269 120.91997070000001 25.493411899999998 122.21086470000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-30237067915673406652015-12-21T13:32:00.002-08:002015-12-21T13:34:57.858-08:002015 CAREBACO Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ipe4Q1lX94wlSKN_M8Crq_qkF6URcXVLehlwEaumkF8879Zsnj1JlpgwqEjoBzJYWkqoYcluhCNSaprvPhFngtM2hkt6CKzLE6JZ_DrWkGexIKuETR0CyTYvloU1UEEyWQRXDV0ysCU/s1600/Badminton-Carebaco-International-Badminton-Championships-2015-300x197.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ipe4Q1lX94wlSKN_M8Crq_qkF6URcXVLehlwEaumkF8879Zsnj1JlpgwqEjoBzJYWkqoYcluhCNSaprvPhFngtM2hkt6CKzLE6JZ_DrWkGexIKuETR0CyTYvloU1UEEyWQRXDV0ysCU/s1600/Badminton-Carebaco-International-Badminton-Championships-2015-300x197.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not more than a month had passed since the surrealistic
experience of the Pan Am Games and I was flying out again to another
tournament. This time it was the regional Caribbean championships called
CAREBACO and was being held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Trinidad was
sending a team of us to represent the country and compete in the senior and
junior events. The senior team consisted of Jason Ramjass (my doubles partner
from nationals), Alistar Espinoza, Solangel Guzman, Avril Marcelle, and Leanna
Castanada, and myself. We were the senior team that would represent Trinidad
and Tobago at the championships. Along with us was a large junior contingent
which had entries in all age categories for the individual events as well as a
junior team for the junior team event. There was also a Junior International
that happened right before the Junior CAREBACO so in a way the juniors got 2
tournaments out of it. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First things first was getting to Santo Domingo and I needed
to find a decently cheap flight there and that proved to make things very
interesting on the route that I would take. Logic does not always dictate that
flight routes make sense and believe me when I say that mine wasn’t the most
logical both going and returning. Let’s start with the journey there which had
me go for the milk run. From Calgary to LA, LA to New York, and finally New
York to Santo Domingo. This proved to take a full 24 hours of traveling
including an overnight flight from LA to New York and arriving into Santo
Domingo around 1am in the morning. The rest of the Trinidad team arrived just
an hour before me so they waited at the airport to collect me and head to the
resort. The host hotel was at an all-inclusive resort by the beach so there was
no complaints there as it was pretty much food and drinks included and a beach
with picturesque clear water. The accommodation though wasn’t as ideal, there
was 3 of us sharing the room during the team tournament phase (Jason, Alistair,
and me) but then during the individual tournament Jason and I were to have a
room to ourselves but we got stuck with one of the juniors in the room with us.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Aside from all that the resort wasn’t anything special, it
wasn’t a 5 star resort right on the beach there was a little walk to the hotels
private beach. The food was sub-par at best and most of the time it appeared to
be under cooked but it was free so I guess I’m not allowed to complain. There
was also drinks involved but they were watered down for sure which is expected
from an all-inclusive resort. Didn’t matter because we wouldn’t be spending
much time there other than sleeping anyways as the tournament hall was at least
an hour drive away with no traffic. That journey easily jumped to 2 hours when
there was traffic. It also meant that all the players had to go down at the
same time and stay there the whole day as there were not multiple shuttles do
and from the hotel. Over cramming the bus going followed by being sweaty,
tired, and hungry on the ride back was not a fun combination or fun way to
spend a week. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The original tournament venue was to be close to the hotel
but some last minute complications happened which required it to be changed to
the further one. This new venue was just like most other tournament halls I
have experienced in my travels to South America and the Caribbean…crap. There
were multiple openings in the wall which allowed a lot of wind to come in.
funny story and spoiler alert, here was a hurricane coming towards the island
which would hit later in the week when we were there. So the tournament started
with the team championships, there was 4 teams present. Trinidad and Tobago,
Barbados, Jamaica, and of course Dominican Republic. It was a format of a men’s
singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and a mixed doubles.
The order of play could vary and usually always started with a men’s doubles.
We played Barbados first and the following day we played Dominican Republic and
the next day Jamaica. At the end of the team championships when all was said
and done we came in 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> place so a bronze medal for the Trinidad and
Tobago senior badminton team. After that started the CAREBACO International
which was a BWF event and counted towards world ranking as well as Olympic
qualifications. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Individual events started and I was the 4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> seed
for men’s singles. That was the first time in a really long time that I have
been seeded for an international tournament. I played a local player first
round and then after played Gareth henry from Jamaica. However the day that I
played Gareth there was a hurricane that blew through and they only played a
few matches that morning because the winds and rain were coming in,
unfortunately I was one who played and that was a hard time with the shuttle
blowing every which way. Unfortunately I lost 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> round singles and
then 1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> round men’s doubles and 2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> round mixed doubles.
My tournament was over but first we had to make it through the hurricane. That
hit us but not as hard as it could have been, there was some minor damage and
to my knowledge no causalities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The tournament was done for me on Friday and I was leaving
Santo Domingo Sunday morning at 4am with a ridiculous flight path to New York,
then to LA and finally to Calgary. That meant that I would actually have
Saturday to relax/enjoy the place. But first it meant going out on Friday night
to the resorts club on the beach, that was a lot of fun and with free drinks it
turned into quite the night of partying island style. Waking up the next
morning I didn’t have a hangover or anything though so I was grateful for that.
Thankfully the hurricane didn’t mess up the beach and Jason and I were able to
enjoy the water, it was incredibly salty but warm none the less. At this point
it had been a long time since I made it to the beach let alone went into the water.
So to relax in the ocean was such a peaceful and calming thing to do. At this
point half the day was done and that meant I needed to pack and get ready for
my early departure. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Once night hit we ventured into the streets and wandered
around because one of our friends wanted a real drink and no more of the
watered down alcohol at the resort. Our walking took us straight to the red
light district of Santo Domingo and we ended up getting bombarded by
prostitutes and their pimps. It was quite the interesting experience to see how
many foreigners were actually there enjoying themselves and taking in the
sights. After finally getting our friend his drink we left and headed back to
the club on the beach for a little and I said my goodbyes to everyone from the
Trinidad and Tobago delegation that was there. The driver who was talking me to
the airport was also at the club so I didn’t have to worry about missing my
ride, 1am rolled around and we made our way to the airport. Early morning
flights/red eye flights are the bane of my existence and when I retire from
competing and am traveling I will avoid them at all costs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The trip back to Calgary would take me all day and I would
arrive at 9pm that night as I had a few layovers in New York and LA. The flight
to NYC from Santo Domingo started off smooth but then only 45 minutes there was
a medical emergency and we were not sure if we would have to turn around or
divert to another country/airport. In the end we continued forward and made it
on schedule to NYC. The rest of the flights I ended up sleeping and watching
movies on my tablet but was grateful when I finally arrived home and could
sleep in my own bed, and not have to share a bed. That would be the end of the
trip not the worst but not the best. I ended up coming home with one medal at
least and that’s something big a medal from an international tournament. I
would get a bit of world ranking points for Olympic qualifications and got to
go to the beach and into the ocean. I wasn’t planning any tournament’s for
September but that meant that I had to figure out what to play next as
tournaments/points from the previous year would start to fall off. </span></div>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com0Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic18.4860575 -69.931211718.365579 -70.0925732 18.606536000000002 -69.769850200000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-31692596986568137552015-12-13T19:25:00.000-08:002015-12-21T01:03:52.771-08:002015 Pan Am Games<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">July 2015 came and Pan Am Games were upon us, the largest
sporting event held in Canada even bigger than any of the 3 Olympic Games
Canada has hosted. Trinidad and Tobago was sending a decent size team but we
would all be arriving at different times, mainly based around when our events
took place. The rule was 5 days before and then 2 days after said event. This
meant that I would be in Toronto for the opening ceremonies but would not be
present for the closing ones. I would be gone July 6th - 17th
getting to walk in the opening ceremony on the 10th and then having
my competition start on the 11th. The Pan Am Games are huge, they
are essentially a mini Olympics for our region (North America, Central America,
South America, and the Caribbean). They happen every 4 years and like the
Olympics are a very prestigious event to attend, not to mention for most sports
can be a direct Olympic qualifying event or provide points towards Olympic
qualification, the latter is for badminton. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKkgxjpuiAcWXeQ0EdxZmjAxdHtJC73OS58SeWcYMPiATLzKaHdVKCfgXhjHu0DGTcbrLC_BhCx_msZXi3HrwrPYui0lRGDwGVNPgCh7tUzaf5m70pk38YIcWFi6OAcj-zKNAEj56u394/s1600/DSC_4210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKkgxjpuiAcWXeQ0EdxZmjAxdHtJC73OS58SeWcYMPiATLzKaHdVKCfgXhjHu0DGTcbrLC_BhCx_msZXi3HrwrPYui0lRGDwGVNPgCh7tUzaf5m70pk38YIcWFi6OAcj-zKNAEj56u394/s320/DSC_4210.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Countries showing some national pride at the dorms</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;">July 6th rolled around and it was time for me to
fly out, Trinidad booked my flight and I was off to Toronto thankfully just a 4
hour flight away. I arrived at Toronto Pearson’s Airport and was greeted with
signs advertising the Pan Am Games and when I walked out was greeted by the
assistant chef de masons and the camera of the official Trinidad Olympic
Committee photographer. I got a snapshot and then made my way to the athlete
transport to take me down to the village. At this point I had no accreditation
and no Trinidad clothing. Adidas is the national sponsor for big games like
this which meant that I was going to get a bag full of Adidas gear for the
games. I jumped on the bus and behold who else is there but the Guatemalan
badminton team and 2 of the Argentina badminton coaches. Upon arrival to the village they had to print
out my credentials and then I was off to find the building that Trinidad was
calling home. I met the chief du mason, Dion, and then afterwards was shown to
my room. The only thing is that for games like this we get gear from the
national sponsors which in our case is Adidas, only problem they had my bag in
a car that wasn’t at the village. So I had no actual team gear and didn’t
really bring much of my own stuff since I don’t have Adidas gear already and
knew I wouldn’t be able to wear Yonex gear in the village. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me arriving in Toronto</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRiLEK7t7H5vE8UDw678XLY-d7oje1qQ_c-4izOcSZ-FPgdDf7kaKvD9h30dm5IjVCedfDPCs1r_KlA-84UI9ka14w2b0bL95xjnagcN3gMtnJZ5_IkF1jT6gLpIvc0q8MliKN5bDPTEs/s1600/DSC_4180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRiLEK7t7H5vE8UDw678XLY-d7oje1qQ_c-4izOcSZ-FPgdDf7kaKvD9h30dm5IjVCedfDPCs1r_KlA-84UI9ka14w2b0bL95xjnagcN3gMtnJZ5_IkF1jT6gLpIvc0q8MliKN5bDPTEs/s320/DSC_4180.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dorm room for the games</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpid0RoDF_14aHZFV6awxs8px02sgxwLfCYEN-PTnsHfKxeQEFbbheAQjcljfIDXtOcdWBxQ0FY7DPnJLehFffRtvnECIZiNwaOlO1TaUSe9EZjpjMyjydAznWkEvMqWR2z1rYMhrCqo/s1600/DSC_4179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpid0RoDF_14aHZFV6awxs8px02sgxwLfCYEN-PTnsHfKxeQEFbbheAQjcljfIDXtOcdWBxQ0FY7DPnJLehFffRtvnECIZiNwaOlO1TaUSe9EZjpjMyjydAznWkEvMqWR2z1rYMhrCqo/s320/DSC_4179.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Player credentials, I wouldn't be able to walk around the village without this </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Finally later that day I got my Adidas bag and opened it up
to reveal all the goodies that were inside. I got a bunch of shirts, tracksuit,
shoes, bags, and lots of other stuff. Toronto also put together a welcome bag
for us it was a nice little duffle bag that contained some souvenirs from our
time at the games. Upon getting all this I felt an awesome sense of what I was
attending and the games hadn’t even started yet at that point. I still had a
few days until the opening ceremonies where I would get to walk into Rogers
Stadium with all the other Trinidad and Tobago athletes as well as all the
other athletes from the rest of the Pan American countries participating. The
parade of athletes was something that I was really looking forward to and
Trinidad had given me a nice red blazer to wear, albeit one size to large but
still an honour none the less. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTMaikZaFeeKF15HHnSWIXIg5AA7sDewwzInuyk4E5HjhcdV8IXtS_AMpAPZS4O3wyY2wod0_tUAIe-ubPsMF_VkOO8YjsbL8FHa6vpUNnVV5l3R8edyiQrUHOda1mE2IG6khxnO8yfw/s1600/DSC_4190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTMaikZaFeeKF15HHnSWIXIg5AA7sDewwzInuyk4E5HjhcdV8IXtS_AMpAPZS4O3wyY2wod0_tUAIe-ubPsMF_VkOO8YjsbL8FHa6vpUNnVV5l3R8edyiQrUHOda1mE2IG6khxnO8yfw/s320/DSC_4190.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adidas gear from Trinidad and Tobago</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKspKccgaUzV6IWfHblJznBLcZCB9OtDBzrBnLAjmn13uosCd6c5iG48UYhJeaIQUzRAU3Kp_gPPb5qIPkhD1uEiqEYXdKUQk3Enx6ffcUze4WYf-YFC5zNi4UZ7hEAfy-bLVDvA6a1yk/s1600/DSC_4191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKspKccgaUzV6IWfHblJznBLcZCB9OtDBzrBnLAjmn13uosCd6c5iG48UYhJeaIQUzRAU3Kp_gPPb5qIPkhD1uEiqEYXdKUQk3Enx6ffcUze4WYf-YFC5zNi4UZ7hEAfy-bLVDvA6a1yk/s320/DSC_4191.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gifts from Toronto</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The next few days would serve as practice before the games
kicked off on July 10th with the opening ceremonies and then I was
set to compete on the following day the 11th in the afternoon.
Before that there was a few things that needed to be done such as the flag
raising ceremony but since not many trinidad athletes had arrived yet there was
only 4 of us present and unfortunately it was pouring rain while all that was
happening. Still great to be present to put forth a great face for the country
as well I was able to meet our wonderful volunteers who would be helping us
through the games. </span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMsVAd2bXicZTMC1bl8qeExD-ndHVxa42gYTw-uAFa0MWaMo2Q_SHJLVS7l0R-jhR9T6ass1DjUiLiem4hafGiRO6WU_QB-qo3ELELlwRpzvNsNZzUomk3MHgUlfvtQKyP2jGTh2Jzxc/s1600/DSC_4194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMsVAd2bXicZTMC1bl8qeExD-ndHVxa42gYTw-uAFa0MWaMo2Q_SHJLVS7l0R-jhR9T6ass1DjUiLiem4hafGiRO6WU_QB-qo3ELELlwRpzvNsNZzUomk3MHgUlfvtQKyP2jGTh2Jzxc/s320/DSC_4194.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxZC-eaPv84mTJW6OF0zwd5nuqoA6lTngoDR7BWFV0-OBnaIKjXhstJMwtCKLqF6ZBaq18LgKkjW7_tf0Z5Nos3LTn4SktzBzFBgchrPpdl_LHOZ9DD2x0Hb1EyVMlmb4AFQ2aDN1GsTs/s1600/DSC_4196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxZC-eaPv84mTJW6OF0zwd5nuqoA6lTngoDR7BWFV0-OBnaIKjXhstJMwtCKLqF6ZBaq18LgKkjW7_tf0Z5Nos3LTn4SktzBzFBgchrPpdl_LHOZ9DD2x0Hb1EyVMlmb4AFQ2aDN1GsTs/s320/DSC_4196.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzI0EikSjPxAZBYnq0qdSHulT7uznfNcb49SBgUaXLNti-7QmaJcmTFUWAF_mypUO2ykRLa_qZezVxNyytjiN1bTwjdFW3gbc_gCaDvMeXwQwCgm84n4GRq7sO0Fux5YpPrjlNcxzk8PQ/s1600/Facebook-20151213-092555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzI0EikSjPxAZBYnq0qdSHulT7uznfNcb49SBgUaXLNti-7QmaJcmTFUWAF_mypUO2ykRLa_qZezVxNyytjiN1bTwjdFW3gbc_gCaDvMeXwQwCgm84n4GRq7sO0Fux5YpPrjlNcxzk8PQ/s320/Facebook-20151213-092555.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During the flag raising ceremony</td></tr>
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</h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So another day passed and we came closer to the start of the
games. We were staying in the athlete’s village which was located in downtown
Toronto near the waterfront. Badminton took place out in Markham at the Markham
Pan Am Center. On a normal day it was only about a 40 minute drive, thankfully
we had bus transportation daily and a special lane for the games vehicles so we
could mostly avoid traffic but it still took a while going and coming, we also
got lost one night while going back the driver took a wrong turn and we were
driving the opposite direction out to Brampton. The village itself was quite
the amazing experience, you had the athlete’s living quarters, dining hall,
gym, entertainment, as well as many other services.<o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix1jGdLBD01ZlKATt4sQwo720hdMnzXNu-Egh8362peHFsrbOkQz2QOGt0pFpUn0EJRhU7AHP3aAn63Lfz7WSePapczq3xV75ETF85wlv-XJprpHkBqyzTOpvXhEB-VOIoZIov_YgJvYs/s1600/DSC_4182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix1jGdLBD01ZlKATt4sQwo720hdMnzXNu-Egh8362peHFsrbOkQz2QOGt0pFpUn0EJRhU7AHP3aAn63Lfz7WSePapczq3xV75ETF85wlv-XJprpHkBqyzTOpvXhEB-VOIoZIov_YgJvYs/s320/DSC_4182.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the athletes village from my dorm balcony</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The dining hall was where I spent the majority of my free
time, it was open 24 hours a day and there was always lots of food and tons of
athlete’s present eating. The selection was pretty good but when you are eating
7 meals a day there’s only so much variety that you can have and only so many
chicken breasts you can enjoy (I use to eat at least 6-10 chicken breasts a
day). The good thing was that after my competition was over I could eat whatever
I wanted and the nice thing was the gym was also open 24 hours a day. It was
the best combination due to the fact I could work out and then eat, rest, go
workout again and then eat, having everything within walking distance. I am
guilty of doing some late night (1am or later) workouts. There was also a games
room that was in the village but it closed early and was always packed, it had
a few pool tables, arcade machines, and various other games for the athletes to
play. There were many other cool amenities for the athletes that were provided.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnj6h0y06X5SEW7tuTf9BmbIQXjgERhAAc6tnJCEvVHUd8LLOKPvP0p0QPkkb2XWSyMH-vhCt7Ux2-7YfaDvj2GRUhmcmzUIOJ_Ybnfna3rxAB6ajZtCI5RwcYzM4aEmOmggZeaMi96jw/s1600/DSC_4275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnj6h0y06X5SEW7tuTf9BmbIQXjgERhAAc6tnJCEvVHUd8LLOKPvP0p0QPkkb2XWSyMH-vhCt7Ux2-7YfaDvj2GRUhmcmzUIOJ_Ybnfna3rxAB6ajZtCI5RwcYzM4aEmOmggZeaMi96jw/s320/DSC_4275.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dining hall where I spent a lot of my time</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNXiOmYjxwkFSB5_DUvVZtKj2HLuri7vkvySRxTNnJRx4X2-OT516nONK5zQyIBJjOFeUqujGnl9XTNoAeo7UwlZYwwJJjSND2WQWBeKYFpcFS50YwB4RsHCScZg-z-kL46IuP8H7zjs/s1600/DSC_4209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzNXiOmYjxwkFSB5_DUvVZtKj2HLuri7vkvySRxTNnJRx4X2-OT516nONK5zQyIBJjOFeUqujGnl9XTNoAeo7UwlZYwwJJjSND2WQWBeKYFpcFS50YwB4RsHCScZg-z-kL46IuP8H7zjs/s320/DSC_4209.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuF3KAvXWTVSz3BbjU8XZUNgZO3u8VLeVbytIKpbA9iGEq3QslhwKfq7RjQPa4QyebyCvGZF85nDNYQ9TY6mNbqUXBsjK35d0jxtfAK69czsrTMUBfRSvj4YmsFF6BEyXbgIyk1Klu6I/s1600/DSC_4233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuF3KAvXWTVSz3BbjU8XZUNgZO3u8VLeVbytIKpbA9iGEq3QslhwKfq7RjQPa4QyebyCvGZF85nDNYQ9TY6mNbqUXBsjK35d0jxtfAK69czsrTMUBfRSvj4YmsFF6BEyXbgIyk1Klu6I/s320/DSC_4233.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCnY5W_q6ntmHHpHEdgh_xNoPB7ErQdAyjUHRYSdsrLKfQif6JoiCAi6AB0p5Dlil-EAgBsD0PSQqS8_6EON2A_1sH00iPblXEdbjdhxJ6nUD8JwVbbyqpXAAzU0QdRP-GtIoxKaqWtQs/s1600/DSC_4272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCnY5W_q6ntmHHpHEdgh_xNoPB7ErQdAyjUHRYSdsrLKfQif6JoiCAi6AB0p5Dlil-EAgBsD0PSQqS8_6EON2A_1sH00iPblXEdbjdhxJ6nUD8JwVbbyqpXAAzU0QdRP-GtIoxKaqWtQs/s320/DSC_4272.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gym that was open 24 hours where I spent the rest of my time</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkWycoSBsxIacJTC_wrP9prDC0RulDrNfHBtwW15Uv0u-Mc7x9oGLQhbA1a2cpj353x15SY8HHP4HhfJvCxUiFuFCa1kefaKMJ4LWonSweC9RWLhUs9LjQyIqK2Aq2D5DrP3vWwMS_jeU/s1600/DSC_4273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkWycoSBsxIacJTC_wrP9prDC0RulDrNfHBtwW15Uv0u-Mc7x9oGLQhbA1a2cpj353x15SY8HHP4HhfJvCxUiFuFCa1kefaKMJ4LWonSweC9RWLhUs9LjQyIqK2Aq2D5DrP3vWwMS_jeU/s320/DSC_4273.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The games room, it was always packed with athletes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Then the day came, the biggest day of my life to date…the
opening ceremonies of the 2015 Pan Am Games. July 10th marked the
night the games would officially open for competition and we would have the
opening ceremony at the Rogers Center with the parade of athletes and a show
put on by cirque du soile. It was a long affair and started with us having to
get ready early in the afternoon to line up and wait for the busses that would
take us down, we took some team pictures and then after a lot of waiting loaded
onto the busses. I brought my gopro with be to capture the actual event of
walking into the venue. It was quite the feeling going to the Rogers center
because the streets were blocked off for just the busses caring the athletes
and there were tons of people lining the streets to catch a glimpse of us as we
passed on the busses and even when we exited them. Things really started to
sink in at that moment for me of how significant and huge a moment this was. I
have never attended something of this scale and I felt honoured and amazed to
represent my country at such a high level. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfH7gMD4KslRgkP9RmREr9wVapPKgyOGNowHra77xXjd1_Vt-qJ119KwtLfwBVGrW2WNy7JDnDq68PQ5awxYF4zx1WSYtR5DUQ9QwWsYR2CtAb0977rUh1wUCRRQmc2TvJxHcTLyntzc/s1600/DSC_4222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfH7gMD4KslRgkP9RmREr9wVapPKgyOGNowHra77xXjd1_Vt-qJ119KwtLfwBVGrW2WNy7JDnDq68PQ5awxYF4zx1WSYtR5DUQ9QwWsYR2CtAb0977rUh1wUCRRQmc2TvJxHcTLyntzc/s320/DSC_4222.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The outfit we wore for the opening cermonies</td></tr>
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</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We went up to the country holding area and from this point
on there was a lot of waiting to happen. Since we are Trinidad and Tobago,
alphabetically we are near the end of the parade. Finally they started to call
the countries and lines began to form, we moved and behind us was Uruguay and
Venezuela followed lastly by the host nation Canada. When we were walking there
wasn’t too many of us but we did our chant, Uruguay and Venezuela kind of beat
us out there with how loud they were. Because badminton started the following
morning I would not get to stay for the whole opening ceremony and would have
to leave early. This meant that I would be at the back of the line
unfortunately and not right up front to be seen on TV. Once we were in the
tunnels you could hear the chanting from the other teams then we slowly made
our way through it all and finally it was our turn. You could hear the crowd,
just see slightly into the stadium through the opening. Trinidad and Tobago was
heard over the loud speaker and we were off walking in following the flag
bearer. Go pro recording I was not ready for what would happen next. Although I
was there and physically walked around the half circle of the stadium it was
such a surreal experience. All the people there cheering for us, for all the
athletes it was amazing to be in that atmosphere and if I didn’t record it all
would never have fully comprehended what happened. By the time I walked out the
other side to go catch the bus back to the village I couldn’t believe that it
actually happened. Later on I had to re watch the video and it gave me the same
feeling of excitement and surrealistic experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmDFv3bhBTuN1y5oG0-5bn5MHNagAMYriOe3GfLLWDoxjmLEcOIBqqZzctUVuwU8nGRSDzjXzVgNlZ4zSiGsUarPKQo58SVaFEfTHFYa25KOsR-QsQIwTS4FI7dZvuhVmnvZBV79GI1U/s1600/G0010237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmDFv3bhBTuN1y5oG0-5bn5MHNagAMYriOe3GfLLWDoxjmLEcOIBqqZzctUVuwU8nGRSDzjXzVgNlZ4zSiGsUarPKQo58SVaFEfTHFYa25KOsR-QsQIwTS4FI7dZvuhVmnvZBV79GI1U/s320/G0010237.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the tunnels waiting to walk out into the stadium</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1yOMwuNQS19f2OjtTHbaGf8qVNO63-qCEp71lbotkZ1kjRUpDRSZFqVzBml4gQuafmfOaXqhZU9AZk6nyXlZQT9_Yr66xCTEqRTqoKgkalG1UHeJlOsfRygZVdBlNFsX92-D4CkC97c/s1600/GOPR0269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1yOMwuNQS19f2OjtTHbaGf8qVNO63-qCEp71lbotkZ1kjRUpDRSZFqVzBml4gQuafmfOaXqhZU9AZk6nyXlZQT9_Yr66xCTEqRTqoKgkalG1UHeJlOsfRygZVdBlNFsX92-D4CkC97c/s320/GOPR0269.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking around the stadium</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h2>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LIm79MGMCG0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LIm79MGMCG0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Because I played early the next day it meant that I wasn’t
able to stay and watch the whole opening ceremonies but I was able to see the
fireworks coming off of the CN Tower from the athlete’s village. Not to mention
I was able to re watch it all on TV with the ability to take bathroom breaks or
do other things as opposed to just sitting in those hard chairs for the entire
performance. That night I was still excited from the opening ceremonies but
needed to get focused for my match the following morning. I would be the first
Trinidad athlete to compete for the games. Because of this it meant that a lot
of the executives and representatives for Trinidad would come watch me play.
The chief du mason was there, the physiotherapy and team doctor were there, the
RP for team Trinidad was there and tweeting about the entire event. This didn’t
make me feel added pressure or anything though, which was a good thing. I was
going up against the sixth seed from the USA Sattawat Pomagranitte. I had
played him once before in 2013 second round at the Sao Paulo Brazil
International Cup. This time it was an uphill battle from the start but I had
the crowd support they knew I was the underdog and were cheering for me as I
tried to slay the goliath which stood before me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span> </h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The match wasn’t as bad as the scores make it out to be,
there were quality rallies and some good points by both of us. In the end I
lost but learned a lot and gained some new fans. I was the first Trinidad and
Tobago athlete to compete and unfortunately the first one to be eliminated from
the games. Because there was nobody else sent that meant that I didn’t play
mixed doubles or any other event. My Pan Am Games had come to an end. I stayed
and watched the rest of my friends compete in their matches and then headed
back to the village. It was a bittersweet moment knowing that I trained so hard
for 4 years and it was all over in half an hour. At the same time it motivated
me even harder to improve for the next Pan Am Games in 2019. I was to stay in
the village until a few days after the last day of my event so that was a nice
thing as it gave me time to explore and see Toronto as well as take in the
games. <o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVDdHo5Sr0J7NiwZCsw0bmws6cqfAMBXVMJ2w9io8rGiOOITR84bU0m2_EDw0_CbXgFSZjTVydI47EB65uqp7Q6n2xJbyGEAWbxKVUUmlvgQhdVsflIoZ9fMW62YKB9qnKI1T2dFv90A/s1600/20150711_A19I1528_AllanV.Crane-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVDdHo5Sr0J7NiwZCsw0bmws6cqfAMBXVMJ2w9io8rGiOOITR84bU0m2_EDw0_CbXgFSZjTVydI47EB65uqp7Q6n2xJbyGEAWbxKVUUmlvgQhdVsflIoZ9fMW62YKB9qnKI1T2dFv90A/s320/20150711_A19I1528_AllanV.Crane-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWzV8WixEW8NcaCBg7NCxz0WgpPxLNUBKrz6pok3shmtAWdEl5-DtX0mOWbR6mEXDSDVUAHug34HVBiG_4bk9f5U-xE2ch88tyj796wmUEYpsuf4zfcPmbDl7PTlQvD0MZu0d25UnnYA/s1600/20150711_B54U7863_AllanV.Crane-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWzV8WixEW8NcaCBg7NCxz0WgpPxLNUBKrz6pok3shmtAWdEl5-DtX0mOWbR6mEXDSDVUAHug34HVBiG_4bk9f5U-xE2ch88tyj796wmUEYpsuf4zfcPmbDl7PTlQvD0MZu0d25UnnYA/s320/20150711_B54U7863_AllanV.Crane-21.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The agony of defeat but the joy of being at the games</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h2>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Each county was given volunteers to help the team run
errands and take care of business, Trinidad was no different as was assigned a
crew to help them out. There was one girl named Aziza she was such an amazing person and actually took
her own time to take me around and show me the sights and sounds of Toronto
when she wasn’t busy with her actual work or working as a volunteer at the
games. I got to see a lot of cool places and check out some unique sights in
the city, for that I am forever grateful. Not only did I get to see those
places but I also made a new friend. When I wasn’t exploring the city or
watching matches, when I wasn’t eating in the dining hall or working out at the
gym, when not enjoying all the amenities set out for the athletes I would
simply be relaxing in my room. At this point Pan Am Games was tournament number
6 for the year and well into the 2016 Olympic qualification period that started
May 1, 2015. </span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52y4WOaxA-e6CRnG5xnzNUctDpHzpZ1OOs9yHm8ycf7tuY9KND1GCG0hrYkMax8SPJTae-RPE8arSj8AxoBtwIV5tdI5NQQf49JVHHKfCz59vtv2iVz8v32CxT2cJQMmNMT42Qbfra1U/s1600/DSC_4258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52y4WOaxA-e6CRnG5xnzNUctDpHzpZ1OOs9yHm8ycf7tuY9KND1GCG0hrYkMax8SPJTae-RPE8arSj8AxoBtwIV5tdI5NQQf49JVHHKfCz59vtv2iVz8v32CxT2cJQMmNMT42Qbfra1U/s320/DSC_4258.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">I would head back home after Pan Am Games and in
about a months’ time fly out again to fly Trinidad’s flag this time at CAREBACO
in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. CAREBACO is the regional championships
for the Caribbean region. It is hosted yearly and consists of a team event and
an individual international event. That meant that I would have some time to
train but first would have to leave the athletes village. The day came when my
flight back home was scheduled, I packed up all my stuff and swag from the
games into 2 suitcases and boarded the bus at the entrance to head to Toronto’s
international airport. Thankfully I was just flying back to Calgary so nothing
terribly long. With boarding pass in hand and athlete’s accreditation badge
still hanging around my neck I boarded my flight back home. I got lots of
questions as to my event and how the games went, lots of looks from people as
well as lots of requests from people for pictures. My first, and hopefully not
my last, Pan Am Games had come to an end and it was time to head back to
reality and prepare for the rest of the year. Halfway done already and 5 months
into the Olympic Qualification process there as still a lot of work to be done.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXtpixj1COtJnd-6YQbvdePfsVjjbR-8Us8obPxoKtmCoFAOCdYwhLOatFfELNzcZj1_jOHX0JpWzkDaT12HslP051c4R43LdwwClbdNXAcoyYU1oQoFmNxskAqovGnHpvE0arI_drxc/s1600/DSC_4259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXtpixj1COtJnd-6YQbvdePfsVjjbR-8Us8obPxoKtmCoFAOCdYwhLOatFfELNzcZj1_jOHX0JpWzkDaT12HslP051c4R43LdwwClbdNXAcoyYU1oQoFmNxskAqovGnHpvE0arI_drxc/s320/DSC_4259.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<img height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuF3KAvXWTVSz3BbjU8XZUNgZO3u8VLeVbytIKpbA9iGEq3QslhwKfq7RjQPa4QyebyCvGZF85nDNYQ9TY6mNbqUXBsjK35d0jxtfAK69czsrTMUBfRSvj4YmsFF6BEyXbgIyk1Klu6I/s320/DSC_4233.JPG" style="left: 559.33px; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 4864.32px;" width="72" />Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com10Toronto, ON, Canada43.653226 -79.38318429999998243.285985499999995 -80.028631299999986 44.0204665 -78.737737299999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-54098369919526763542015-09-03T15:33:00.000-07:002015-09-03T15:33:44.861-07:002015 Canada Open Grand Prix<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYs9wAeEQZ2X_YXXFCaZGJkOO1OM9AbvbdSs_IB0-cPjB_cArFVEiGtwss6GOiIY1ON8GX-VOW3tCAZm5zKJWYoPkF8lmeOAHxBveWMmAptL7GEh9HR_EDwRm1kkQ-I0NO2xSRoC0CRA/s1600/1431815670.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsYs9wAeEQZ2X_YXXFCaZGJkOO1OM9AbvbdSs_IB0-cPjB_cArFVEiGtwss6GOiIY1ON8GX-VOW3tCAZm5zKJWYoPkF8lmeOAHxBveWMmAptL7GEh9HR_EDwRm1kkQ-I0NO2xSRoC0CRA/s640/1431815670.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
So because I choose to go to Mauritius I decided to skip the
US Open this year which is a tournament I have attended for the past 5 consecutive
years. This meant that after coming back from Mauritius I had just a week to
prepare for the 2015 Canada Open which would be in my home city of Calgary,
Alberta. That was a nice change meaning that I wouldn’t have to fly anywhere,
or stay in a hotel, I would be at home. The venue for the tournament would be
up at Canada Olympic Park in the Markin MacPhail center where the hockey arenas
are located. Over the past few years the tournament was held in Vancouver
notably at the Richmond Olympic Oval (home of the 2010 winter Olympics) and
then moved over to the UBC Thunderbird arena for one year before getting moved
to Calgary. This time Jeff Bell, Badminton Alberta’s director and my boss would
be in charge of setting up and he did a fantastic job on the arena turning it
into a world class venue for badminton. Another major perk was that Lee Chong
Wei would be coming to participate due to his ban for 8 months and being in
need of points.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkojoxCox2OJQk9Og030lw5Aad6tj2-zv4tp5aZ0528hnNcBoDZqHGqwx0XfOe08PW9IKiC_HXzVtA0kShrxUAI-VjLvoBo-oin9r3SI5_DBWJrq62fQU6KJ1doJu-g6EL_0EPPdit6g/s1600/DSC_4141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkojoxCox2OJQk9Og030lw5Aad6tj2-zv4tp5aZ0528hnNcBoDZqHGqwx0XfOe08PW9IKiC_HXzVtA0kShrxUAI-VjLvoBo-oin9r3SI5_DBWJrq62fQU6KJ1doJu-g6EL_0EPPdit6g/s320/DSC_4141.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canada Olympic Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvM1j7EIpdXFLkfLvEsi9PE_HKTJA_Qre69arG9qCJtMFiyCE8FwepxOJDa22IhxamdW1A0WXeHKQeqHQ0OfdM_ri2H416MXmYmnOoC7KfYb1u0A-foHpkph6-Zz-O1ULcjDDKMqk0jw/s1600/DSC_4134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvM1j7EIpdXFLkfLvEsi9PE_HKTJA_Qre69arG9qCJtMFiyCE8FwepxOJDa22IhxamdW1A0WXeHKQeqHQ0OfdM_ri2H416MXmYmnOoC7KfYb1u0A-foHpkph6-Zz-O1ULcjDDKMqk0jw/s320/DSC_4134.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tournament Venue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The draws were released and I had a tough one right off the
bat. The previous edition of the tournament in 2014 I made it to the 2<sup>nd</sup>
round and lost to a player from Korea. This year I would play a player from
China named Huang Yuxiang first round. I wasn’t afraid and was excited to go
out there and give it my all, especially with having everybody there to watch
me. This meant getting some practice time at the facility first though. So I
was able to get some court time with a Lithuanian player and a Jamaican player
who would both end up becoming great friends. So we got to practice 2 days in a
row at the facility which helped and I felt really solid playing there. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8_k0JbgTr2mmORncVG0GdbZ0R-Dy3Ud_FyVwHpSjndheZrD9RZfcYG1jQyRgLiyTeLxxo8SBL64ewQxYyvvumtMz0oDUUGc5n7ZR2j9ibfvyHg5SNlqRtorXjNL_K9ovHG71oPLZpklc/s1600/A55R3388-1-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8_k0JbgTr2mmORncVG0GdbZ0R-Dy3Ud_FyVwHpSjndheZrD9RZfcYG1jQyRgLiyTeLxxo8SBL64ewQxYyvvumtMz0oDUUGc5n7ZR2j9ibfvyHg5SNlqRtorXjNL_K9ovHG71oPLZpklc/s320/A55R3388-1-16.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practicing with Lithuania and Jamaica</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB26Q-_XLTZuJYR0bvFNqK8PTp1RJDfxe_oYRKCkRBNOop1CkIZfmTzkOQcsO1bHF1cku4Yu8WDEBDF_FtlXXecfS4ea54RxlHwHWFX-uaL-BZYXI7AdydCF4mHMWPwlJccILGNp3_-gw/s1600/DSC_4137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB26Q-_XLTZuJYR0bvFNqK8PTp1RJDfxe_oYRKCkRBNOop1CkIZfmTzkOQcsO1bHF1cku4Yu8WDEBDF_FtlXXecfS4ea54RxlHwHWFX-uaL-BZYXI7AdydCF4mHMWPwlJccILGNp3_-gw/s320/DSC_4137.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Japan and Chinese Taipei practicing </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The facility was is located on the opposite side of the city
from where I am but my dad decided to come watch me play which was really nice.
My mom had the opportunity back in March to watch me win my first national
title at the Trinidad and Tobago National Championships so maybe having my dad
come watch me for the first time would be good luck. The tournament got
underway and my match was one of the first one up unfortunately. The reason to
that was because it meant not a lot of people would be off work in time to come
watch but there was a decent amount of people in the arena. My match was called
and as a first I had Kamasha Robertson umpire my match, she is a player/umpire
from Trinidad and Tobago so that was different having her umpire my game at
Canada Open. The match started and I had my coach Ardy Wiranata sitting behind
my court, my dad in the stands as well as kids that I coach and their parents
all watching me. That match was one of the toughest I have ever played. The
caliber of this Chinese player was miles above me, I wasn’t able to move him as
easily and winning at the net proved to be a lot tougher than I previously
anticipated it to be. In the end the score was low a mean 3-21, 7-21 but the
quality of the game was different. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir16vw6LbcllA3ep5wZwubd7UJH8jsEZ_iNPnRXXfwPWABWraPi7MiW5xrpG6PnQhYNrxpIqx-qjUgbQoXN-N2m1ZAGFpKymvGc3dQFjwDbQolEZWD7og_MhJ4KHWljfJThmMKGX7kd8A/s1600/A55R4028-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir16vw6LbcllA3ep5wZwubd7UJH8jsEZ_iNPnRXXfwPWABWraPi7MiW5xrpG6PnQhYNrxpIqx-qjUgbQoXN-N2m1ZAGFpKymvGc3dQFjwDbQolEZWD7og_MhJ4KHWljfJThmMKGX7kd8A/s320/A55R4028-1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-K_SOcVchE20yICBSatvQvHfKPdhF8phglMQzD0VXCHwnshLxhWkybGIih-qRzwQDewVY4bw4yguc_aAOtyxKKoGSafTfx4UDofDGmI5zIle164skXXb6JgGjAGaq_h1lwkKJaJf6CjM/s1600/A55R4031-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-K_SOcVchE20yICBSatvQvHfKPdhF8phglMQzD0VXCHwnshLxhWkybGIih-qRzwQDewVY4bw4yguc_aAOtyxKKoGSafTfx4UDofDGmI5zIle164skXXb6JgGjAGaq_h1lwkKJaJf6CjM/s320/A55R4031-1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Ardy talked with me quickly and then I saw my dad before he
left, I was going to stay and watch some more matches because a lot of my
friends still had to play and so did Lee Chong Wei. There were some good
matches on for the rest of the night and a few upsets happened through the
tournament. Canada Open was the last tournament I would play before heading off
to Pan Am Games beginning of July. That being said I was incredibly busy
coaching and would not have much time to watch the rest of the tournament. I
went to see the semifinals on the Saturday evening after coaching which turned
out to be pretty good but ultimately that was the Canada open for me. A quick
match against China and early exit in front of a home crowd, no second round
like at the 2014 edition of Canada Open where I beat a Canadian player and then
lost to a Korean. </div>
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So that was a very quick entry not much else to say, I
didn’t have to travel to an international for once in my life, I got to stay at
home in my own bed, eat my own food and be in my own city. It was quite the
different experience but I did enjoy it. Well it was back to the grind come the
Monday morning, only a week until I would leave again and I had to coach an
all-day badminton camp as well which would cut into training times. Next stop
though, Pan Am Games…the biggest tournament I would play to date. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhr4aIPpkZI-DQU87ix49_rNYiGQZ044gncSCdsOCOp32b50S9pPb6xXNOdqVlh2FkUR93may97K4G4RIZH6QkQGs2tO5dllQXUewuMNnRnqTjtvBPUiH0gox1ORCr43ZHRSclu20nFC4/s1600/A55R3918-1-22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhr4aIPpkZI-DQU87ix49_rNYiGQZ044gncSCdsOCOp32b50S9pPb6xXNOdqVlh2FkUR93may97K4G4RIZH6QkQGs2tO5dllQXUewuMNnRnqTjtvBPUiH0gox1ORCr43ZHRSclu20nFC4/s320/A55R3918-1-22.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always focused on the task at hand...and damn those quads</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com0Calgary, AB, Canada51.0486151 -114.070845950.7272076 -114.7190394 51.3700226 -113.42265239999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-77716063072852788932015-09-01T16:41:00.000-07:002015-09-01T16:41:01.063-07:002015 Mauritius International<div class="MsoNormal">
Off to Africa I was going, well an island off the coast of
the African continent but it still counts and falls under being in Africa. The
2015 Mauritius International was taking place June 11-14<sup>th</sup> (those
dates would slightly change later). This would count as an Olympic qualifying
event, any international tournament between May 1, 2015 and May 1, 2016 would
count towards the 2016 Olympic qualifications. This was my second tournament I’d
be playing of Olympic qualifications and I had to play 2<sup>nd</sup> seed
Kevin Cordon of Guatemala first round. Not the best draw for flying all the way
across the world for a tournament but anything is possible. So the flight to
Mauritius wasn’t anything that I haven’t done before, 12 hours from Paris was
about the same as going to Hong Kong from Vancouver or Korea from LA. The
flight was smooth and landing in Mauritius was a nice sight, seeing the
tropical island appear out of the otherwise desolate ocean. Upon arrival went
through customs and then began the journey of being picked up and heading to
the hotel.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_-L-miCK3l6i8Dd5KnatCtouKcONg2Oso-sQzy2WTtVt0Pge88y3mzqolytoX69oUJ0nZSVIdnrh7PzbwInSBLRDsM0reglR43HH9kgXKySooS2FEnwDDqOU2ts9_LuNqAGTNLFjLOg/s1600/DSC_4078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_-L-miCK3l6i8Dd5KnatCtouKcONg2Oso-sQzy2WTtVt0Pge88y3mzqolytoX69oUJ0nZSVIdnrh7PzbwInSBLRDsM0reglR43HH9kgXKySooS2FEnwDDqOU2ts9_LuNqAGTNLFjLOg/s320/DSC_4078.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quite the sight to see</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There turned out to be a small complication when we arrived
in the city of the tournament, only 40 minutes away from the airport on the
other side of the island. The tournament hotel that the tournament organizers
had booked players in was full. I arrived with a few other people for the
tournament, a girl from Finland, and 3 Turkish players plus their coach. None
of us had a room in the hotel we were promised so the association gave us the
run around and brought us to another hotel which would house players at the
same tournament rate and provide the same services (meals included). This place
wasn’t any resort looking area and was smack dab in the middle of a residential
(neighbourhood) surrounded by houses for blocks around. There was nothing
available for the tournament at that time, no practice times or bus schedule to
the hall so the day I arrived was a write off and I was more than happy to
relax and fight off any jet lag. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzZ2mEoi8kKbmvsteGKCFB7DdzKY9LupyVuy9P-QwCxMJXgtjjmPin7E2PUcPImZxW43BIqHedKDRmk0O9eR5s3qYGh7qYXtNOACupfgkZEk-dM5zpjbdOnFab4f-ySC3sfXLaczzOkY/s1600/DSC_4122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzZ2mEoi8kKbmvsteGKCFB7DdzKY9LupyVuy9P-QwCxMJXgtjjmPin7E2PUcPImZxW43BIqHedKDRmk0O9eR5s3qYGh7qYXtNOACupfgkZEk-dM5zpjbdOnFab4f-ySC3sfXLaczzOkY/s320/DSC_4122.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My wonderful hotel</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8GyV4KGDbiKtFmq0CtcY6OEMtN28P7LWUycbx82DwxYW_PUO1c6K7CH9kOhTkN6_LrcyvEzYxDPgq0cNtqMOacV9GmXqcJmSwu7bO95w9JK1W-hSGvJ7HQLzNhMwLirjlO4jlbCftHAY/s1600/DSC_4098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8GyV4KGDbiKtFmq0CtcY6OEMtN28P7LWUycbx82DwxYW_PUO1c6K7CH9kOhTkN6_LrcyvEzYxDPgq0cNtqMOacV9GmXqcJmSwu7bO95w9JK1W-hSGvJ7HQLzNhMwLirjlO4jlbCftHAY/s320/DSC_4098.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And its slightly sketchy looking pool</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The next day rolled around and we were told that there were
practice times available for early that afternoon. At that time some other
players had come into the hotel, a guy from Hungary and a team from South
Africa. Not to mention at the same time as our badminton tournament there was a
football tournament so there was a lot of teams staying at almost every hotel
in the city at that time. So I went to the hall and was able to have a hit with
the Hungarian player for about an hour on the courts. The hall in Mauritius was
nice as it was the national badminton center. 14 courts but only about half of
them had mats on them the others were simply a sort of rubber hard floor that
while provided grip was very hard on the knees. After the session I was able to
have another quick hit with a player from India and then called it a day
heading back to the hotel. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uID9a2bdCPQ2x0PZbJAST-wM5BHi27pJGqi5MVTuaVXfBwn2gDSxo8U62vKiowqvhY5xnEQHAONMQi8t9oCna5fGzdJ_oDj1Bqj7yXyMdiRw66iA4ksDfN8R8WJQBZN0v9JIN0uZQfo/s1600/DSC_4092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uID9a2bdCPQ2x0PZbJAST-wM5BHi27pJGqi5MVTuaVXfBwn2gDSxo8U62vKiowqvhY5xnEQHAONMQi8t9oCna5fGzdJ_oDj1Bqj7yXyMdiRw66iA4ksDfN8R8WJQBZN0v9JIN0uZQfo/s320/DSC_4092.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tournament Hall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The nice part about the hotel was the meals were included in
the price so upon arrival we got lunch and then had a few hours to kill before
the managers meeting that very evening. The team managers meeting is something
that I attend every tournament I go to usually because I am the only Trinidad
athlete present so I have to go. This one was no different only that it was
single handed the longest managers meeting I have ever been to…and I didn’t
even stay for the whole thing. This is where an interesting predicament arose.
The tournament was originally June 11-14 with qualification events being on the
10<sup>th</sup>. The 14<sup>th</sup> was Sunday and there was a government election
taking place that same day. By law on the day of elections it is illegal to
have a public gathering of people so that meant that it would be against the
law to have the finals for the tournament on that day. The tournament
organizers had only found that out about 2 weeks before the tournament, long
after everyone had booked their flights and everything to come so they couldn’t
cancel the tournament. This meant that the tournament would now happen over
June 11-13<sup>th</sup>… only 3 days. There was 1 round of singles the first
day, 2 rounds the following day and then on the Saturday semi-finals in the
morning and finals in the evening. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7IpYVHaLXTYYIBlxX8N34Zkw3mtafhApuXnXe8PWQViNtp9hc9qU_gunYScPGqGgIOsEwqzcM5iwfw8DKOQKS4r6wZtMe4BWgS0XwH0ojsiy80v4vdjNc-Gqt1WTGWFHQLpFDBvUykAc/s1600/DSC_4093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7IpYVHaLXTYYIBlxX8N34Zkw3mtafhApuXnXe8PWQViNtp9hc9qU_gunYScPGqGgIOsEwqzcM5iwfw8DKOQKS4r6wZtMe4BWgS0XwH0ojsiy80v4vdjNc-Gqt1WTGWFHQLpFDBvUykAc/s320/DSC_4093.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTwAqi_J-ESA9A_FXHSB09Xu5vBb8FaTwHS_u6hDtPuX0Dym_BCZdvNPJhKJJIFmT1paLCsTJaSnWU5pfugk2xHXVZezEA6FtvaHCe13ZAwboaJFWKsEbzeMO_I77ByVH5pwKBTEoQQ0/s1600/DSC_4095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTwAqi_J-ESA9A_FXHSB09Xu5vBb8FaTwHS_u6hDtPuX0Dym_BCZdvNPJhKJJIFmT1paLCsTJaSnWU5pfugk2xHXVZezEA6FtvaHCe13ZAwboaJFWKsEbzeMO_I77ByVH5pwKBTEoQQ0/s320/DSC_4095.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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So the tournament started that night with qualification
events, 3 rounds of it. The following day around noon I played my match against
2<sup>nd</sup> seed Kevin Cordon of Guatemala. I set up my gopro to record it
but the modes got switched and it just ended up taking a picture every 10
seconds for the entire duration of the match. So that was my unfortunate mishap
and I was kind of disappointed at that fact. The match on the other hand went
well, a lot better than expected. I was able to win points, the major reason
that I lost points were primarily unforced errors. Don’t get me wrong Kevin is
a beast on court and he is able to change the pace as well as has a cannon of a
smash. All in all it was a long way to fly to play another Pan Am player but I
and Kevin finally had our match 2 years later than it was scheduled. In 2013 I
was to play Kevin 2<sup>nd</sup> round at the 2013 Tahiti International Challenge
but that is when he blew out his knee the week before in Peru and I played
another played 2<sup>nd</sup> round making it to quarterfinals of an
International Challenge. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXH3ymgKRoavEweC7SMmQ62wwtjhv7jHVIgqdOybY1RgG8V3Yxb3BDbgaYVrqfF0efJ_YufEOaO7HJnubftj0IGBaK5jzViV5bNRKKeZHiX4p9b_4y8hnyn0fjlEIay6L2xqDbsF0-pY/s1600/G0020087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXH3ymgKRoavEweC7SMmQ62wwtjhv7jHVIgqdOybY1RgG8V3Yxb3BDbgaYVrqfF0efJ_YufEOaO7HJnubftj0IGBaK5jzViV5bNRKKeZHiX4p9b_4y8hnyn0fjlEIay6L2xqDbsF0-pY/s320/G0020087.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvwkIvRA48hFLSQJ4-3hSq-zdHnBa2iZGpxxUakZOh2QkIFOBiZ4XW4gvzHsg7HMKNARJi3tRYt-pkFXsgI4OdstyxDQ16q1isiIjddWgWQKNUZ2zH_cLJn7mepCST1fOgUdIBaP0vn4/s1600/G0020089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvwkIvRA48hFLSQJ4-3hSq-zdHnBa2iZGpxxUakZOh2QkIFOBiZ4XW4gvzHsg7HMKNARJi3tRYt-pkFXsgI4OdstyxDQ16q1isiIjddWgWQKNUZ2zH_cLJn7mepCST1fOgUdIBaP0vn4/s320/G0020089.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I was out of the tournament just like that, meaning I had
another 4 days left in the country to enjoy and relax as well as celebrate my
birthday. Friday rolled around and what did I do but sleep in till 4pm, my body
was destroyed by jet lag and I didn’t want to do anything that day at all other
than sleep. Essentially Friday was a write off. Saturday rolled around and I
slept in again but this time I got up and went into the town to explore and see
what was what. I was planning to take a boat trip to a remote island and enjoy
the beach, etc on Sunday since it was my birthday but then after looking
through everything I realized that it wouldn’t be as much fun to go alone.
Instead when Sunday rolled around I got up nice and early and went to a place
called Flic-en-Flac beach which is a famous destination in Mauritius and a very
beautiful beach. I spent a solid 5 hours at the beach doing a multitude of
things from swimming, reading, running, and sun tanning (yes even I can tan and
look better with a tan). Spending my birthday on the beach of a tropical island
in the middle of the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa turned out to be
pretty sweet after all. The day came to an end, the hotel provided all the
meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) so they knew it was my birthday and cooked
me a special birthday meal even with a dessert surprise. The next day I would
catch my flight back home in the night, the long journey to France and then to
Calgary. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEwH5HtlQ3DvKT-tYPbFexrhUfKsE0D73OUBbzYhrNLhAa_1Z8KmK5KiHjktcofpGX9CCDiRsn_HfJp2QJJYtBcD-2TTLI1mUIpEgR6b1mg6RozYarGtknxf6EfUT8iLybCsKi2_Ie3E/s1600/DSC_4108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEwH5HtlQ3DvKT-tYPbFexrhUfKsE0D73OUBbzYhrNLhAa_1Z8KmK5KiHjktcofpGX9CCDiRsn_HfJp2QJJYtBcD-2TTLI1mUIpEgR6b1mg6RozYarGtknxf6EfUT8iLybCsKi2_Ie3E/s320/DSC_4108.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wonderful beach where I spent my day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLipsbmBdYglokbfapVbg3XFgkq22hSpoGT316OGwediQ2ZA6esfZoqRFJen0Irz8SnDgPtS1C8f8PxZ0-OPvDkqtYb9WD7NqK8j0brPR7wGeRFrRGTWt4_es2d7LFIJe3n8n0TtvRmo/s1600/GOPR0219_1434370021698_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLipsbmBdYglokbfapVbg3XFgkq22hSpoGT316OGwediQ2ZA6esfZoqRFJen0Irz8SnDgPtS1C8f8PxZ0-OPvDkqtYb9WD7NqK8j0brPR7wGeRFrRGTWt4_es2d7LFIJe3n8n0TtvRmo/s320/GOPR0219_1434370021698_high.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone needs a shirtless beach picture</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I woke up the following morning and finished packing, ate
some food and then went to check out the big shopping mall that was across the
highway from the hotel. There wasn’t really much present in terms of shops just
random places and no souvenir shops, which was quite a surprise because even in
town itself I had a hard time trying to find souvenirs. After that had my last
dinner at the hotel and it was a kind of bittersweet ending to the tournament.
The van came and picked me up, there was other player from an African Country
who was also leaving that night. We drove to the airport and then the long trip
home would begin with a 12 hour flight from Mauritius to Paris, a layover and
then another long haul flight home to Calgary. Overall I felt good playing in
Mauritius, the big moment was when I was sitting in the airport in Paris and
got the final confirmation that I was attending the 2015 Pan Am games to
represent Trinidad and Tobago in badminton. That made the trip all the more
sweet but meant I would only have 3 weeks to finish my preparations for that.
Knocking 2 continents off the list, getting to see 3 countries and some amazing
sights/architecture as well as got a tournament in I’d say that the trip was
well worth it and quite a success. But first up would be the 2015 Canada Open
which would be in my home city of Calgary, Alberta just a week after my arrival
back from Mauritius. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg79DU455yC7hiigHFb3VC-WHzItNHEIwoZKb3QtvtHZ_xxPv08yVWjnQ-lBBoL3kPlCc8QwD0KuN0vZSwiSj5KI53NhfMg2G1STBklKVH4YAbVivpgEgd1uxBi04Uiu0WO6Z1fiRlHqws/s1600/DSC_4124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg79DU455yC7hiigHFb3VC-WHzItNHEIwoZKb3QtvtHZ_xxPv08yVWjnQ-lBBoL3kPlCc8QwD0KuN0vZSwiSj5KI53NhfMg2G1STBklKVH4YAbVivpgEgd1uxBi04Uiu0WO6Z1fiRlHqws/s320/DSC_4124.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My plane back to Paris, France</td></tr>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com0Mauritius-20.348404 57.552151999999978-35.92591 36.809964499999978 -4.770897999999999 78.294339499999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-270922595128644602015-07-05T13:12:00.000-07:002015-07-05T13:12:21.260-07:00Life of an Average Athlete: In my Shoes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><u>Life of an Average
Athlete: In my Shoes <o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04knjr1ySspCmPm7z8XscbcCBMK71vWzkezMweK6-ulW79rvsiUt-wpLbCPnaLcOvuEc2_6WZ4Eh-dchUEQpDFfq1DAdxSvRTwb3NDGdGXYjkIDe8zTzODKkyaV3ngl7glvIjXWJEIqs/s1600/DSC_0191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04knjr1ySspCmPm7z8XscbcCBMK71vWzkezMweK6-ulW79rvsiUt-wpLbCPnaLcOvuEc2_6WZ4Eh-dchUEQpDFfq1DAdxSvRTwb3NDGdGXYjkIDe8zTzODKkyaV3ngl7glvIjXWJEIqs/s320/DSC_0191.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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By no means am I the best in the world, nor am I the worst.
I fall somewhere into the middle, don’t get me wrong I am not putting myself down
by saying that at all. I’m simply just stating what it is and where I stand.
Regardless of my skill level every day I strive to be the best that I can be on
court and make it to the top. To improve my skills and not let anything stand
in my way, the determination of wanting to succeed drives me forward. Being an
athlete is one of the unique experiences in life, the ability to perform in a
sport and be able travel the world while at it. This is something that I have
been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do and would not trade it for
anything. </div>
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<b><u>The Beginning<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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I was granted a late start at badminton, starting training
at 18 years old with the Alberta Elite program that ran 2 times a week. Through
my friends and also under the guidance of my coaches I fell in love with the sport
and at that point decided that I wanted to see how far I could get. I knew that
I had started very late and that it might be impossible to even compete at a
high level but that didn’t discourage me. I actually never even thought about
competing at the international level at all until much later on. At first it
was all just about enjoying the game and playing the local junior tournaments.
That soon turned into playing the senior tournaments and nationals. Not too
long after that all I did was eat, sleep, and breathe badminton. It was my life
and that would not change for the foreseeable future no matter what came my
way. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEJJdXJPTgSuZRZiHpbHrzqNogUVaRi105KX2voaaxLW2XX-bdz9JFyk6EFN4TBC_b9h5y5g6GqJvd9YWpZjKP9iDBVSMeOhfurgy0_boLcqpXH6wa3WGf53bP_udvqKPcqjQVhXgaKQ/s1600/10999577_10153389038563334_8169394968173063287_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEJJdXJPTgSuZRZiHpbHrzqNogUVaRi105KX2voaaxLW2XX-bdz9JFyk6EFN4TBC_b9h5y5g6GqJvd9YWpZjKP9iDBVSMeOhfurgy0_boLcqpXH6wa3WGf53bP_udvqKPcqjQVhXgaKQ/s320/10999577_10153389038563334_8169394968173063287_o.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 Canada Open, Men's Singles against China. (Photo courtesy of Joseph Yeung)</td></tr>
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My mom was the one who first planted the idea in my head, it
started with her asking if Trinidad had a badminton team. That was all it took
and before long I was in contact with the former national coach and then with
the current coach and other players. Just like that I found myself on a flight
down to my other home to play some badminton against the countries players. I
arrived and met one of the most influential people in my career, Anil Seepaul.
Anil was a 5 time national singles champion as well as having many other
doubles and mixed titles to his name. His club was called CRISTARS and little
did I know that it would so become my club to. I spent almost 6 months in
Trinidad at that time, taking a semester off of school. I got my passport which
would allow me to compete internationally representing Trinidad on the world
stage, then it happened. I played my first international tournament of my life.
October 2008 Anil and I flew off to Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rico
International. That was the start of my career as a professional athlete. I had
the pleasure of playing Anil in the finals and winning my first national
singles title in the 2015 Trinidad nationals. I still have and will always have
a great amount of respect for him as well as am extremely thankful for all he
has done. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjQjq2R00OYcbXZAHjF8TPzf3fTTuiI6xD4YxmemjL7HFq5gPrb8pmxNJLJ6aWz8Dk7gMs8UJbMJaav5CrjmQtlT4jFazzn0TYP2XmYey0mzoWUZPVylwcuVat6Ls_ZhAUYQcqGl4Q-0/s1600/DSC_3759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjQjq2R00OYcbXZAHjF8TPzf3fTTuiI6xD4YxmemjL7HFq5gPrb8pmxNJLJ6aWz8Dk7gMs8UJbMJaav5CrjmQtlT4jFazzn0TYP2XmYey0mzoWUZPVylwcuVat6Ls_ZhAUYQcqGl4Q-0/s320/DSC_3759.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winning my 1st men's singles national title, and 2nd place in both doubles and mixed</td></tr>
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Over the years my passion and dedication for the sport grew,
going to training camps in China multiple times and competing more and more
around the world. Soon enough I discovered the big games, the type of
tournaments/events that happen once every 4 years. Most notable on that list is
the Olympics but also there are The Commonwealth Games, Pan Am Games, and CAC
(Central America and Caribbean games) all of which are once every 4 years
multisport mini Olympic style events. For any athlete the opportunity to
represent ones country at one of those events is a defining moment in their
life. At that moment I knew what I wanted to do and what my goals were, maybe
not so much the Olympics but something much more easily attainable, to
represent Trinidad and Tobago at one of those 4 year major events. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3b523lHDv7hVdDCKSysY7vlocldt_XubIw3KdzgwCtQG0-YnlGDkw5xySDh4BYuUuhWCOX-h0bj7eRNkCG-tBrpNUcNprmZC5BrezLlCpyH290AXjaQbguOczdlRn8a-TUz0yx6wGtbg/s1600/Photo+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3b523lHDv7hVdDCKSysY7vlocldt_XubIw3KdzgwCtQG0-YnlGDkw5xySDh4BYuUuhWCOX-h0bj7eRNkCG-tBrpNUcNprmZC5BrezLlCpyH290AXjaQbguOczdlRn8a-TUz0yx6wGtbg/s320/Photo+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><u>Daily life<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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Now one knows that as an athlete you need to practice constantly
to get to the high level as well as maintain ones skill. It started off with me
just training 2 days a week on court for 2 hours each time but that quickly
grew into what it is today at 6-7 days a week anywhere from 2-5 hours a day on
court (the odd time more than that). On top of that there is fitness and weight
training that also takes place so tack on another 1-2 hours a day. Upon that
realization one quickly comes to the understanding that the majority of the day
is dedicated to training and does not leave much time for other pleasures in
life. Couple that with the 6 years of university I did to hammer out 3 degrees
and the nightly coaching that I also do, my days pretty much are done before
they start. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXvD3CCAkt2tfPeU_hezxsycgKsWe7ucwRr_KqnTSw732C4YhTKGHT-_vS8uo86zAifvnqhIldcQcgsLU_jXtJoDlpVKJk64gPastZHL4NZPqGhhB3GMxY3WAUtachse38Ze3TLOV8-0/s1600/IMG_20150417_231905.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXvD3CCAkt2tfPeU_hezxsycgKsWe7ucwRr_KqnTSw732C4YhTKGHT-_vS8uo86zAifvnqhIldcQcgsLU_jXtJoDlpVKJk64gPastZHL4NZPqGhhB3GMxY3WAUtachse38Ze3TLOV8-0/s320/IMG_20150417_231905.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who doesn't like doing multi shuttle</td></tr>
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The love and passion was there and still is that I will
gladly spend my days doing what I need to do in order to try my best to improve
my game. That being said there is a lot of sacrifice to be made, this all
coming from somebody who isn’t even top 200 in the world yet. I will always
make time for those who are important for me and I hate to go months without
seeing my closest friends. Usually that’s what ends up happening however, with
all the traveling and jam packed schedules it makes planning and seeing people
hard. It’s a double edge sword because
sometimes when I do finally have free time I simply don’t want to go out and do
things or see people, I just want to enjoy those few hours to myself and do
nothing. So I do apologize to all my friends that I see once in a while, but at
the same time I thank them so much for all the support and motivation they
constantly provide me to keep pushing forward. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlfc02CCqCWPof1PrYCSVH2Nkv50Lhz6sVdeZ_w2Yvxepe-ONai0TqGO-LKnYnk2OQhhrSjrLUmMJyWSofmDoqax8qW6rNYZsj00zlmB0dcF2OpHMpEL1pZR6ZAia-ImGPB7EpqZWrZ4/s1600/DSC_3381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlfc02CCqCWPof1PrYCSVH2Nkv50Lhz6sVdeZ_w2Yvxepe-ONai0TqGO-LKnYnk2OQhhrSjrLUmMJyWSofmDoqax8qW6rNYZsj00zlmB0dcF2OpHMpEL1pZR6ZAia-ImGPB7EpqZWrZ4/s320/DSC_3381.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moving back to Calgary from Vancouver, saying goodbye to my training partners and great coach Darryl (Left)</td></tr>
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There are many days that I wake up and just don’t want to go
train, I don’t want to step on court and hit a shuttle, don’t want to do
footwork or weights. But in the end my passion for it gets me up and down to
the courts. No matter how sore my body is, no matter how much my legs don’t
want to move. Regardless if its -30 outside, pouring rain, or a perfectly sunny
day best spent outside I will be at training doing what I do. “Where there’s a
will there’s a way” those are the words/saying I live by. This is also why I have
it tattooed on my body because it is my motto, my burning desire that keeps me
going every day. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM0tRPYiT5DONjFT1xAe5Oz98VSGmZRg8qhU30v74aDQgNw2xd62DogjsxVusJ0vSUToPT5Rz4TSozsLZvONOO5JNej30PizLYQf2TD0afMPdfDHA1oJ1G9c3DA07t5bD3KrJpzXNmSXk/s1600/DSC_0158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM0tRPYiT5DONjFT1xAe5Oz98VSGmZRg8qhU30v74aDQgNw2xd62DogjsxVusJ0vSUToPT5Rz4TSozsLZvONOO5JNej30PizLYQf2TD0afMPdfDHA1oJ1G9c3DA07t5bD3KrJpzXNmSXk/s320/DSC_0158.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2>
<span style="font-weight: normal; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">有志者事竟成, "Where there's a will, there's a way" direct translation is a person with determination will succeed </span></span></h2>
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<b><u>Am I really
Traveling?<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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Sometimes I get to experience some amazing moments and see
beautiful things around the world, spending a few days in a country and
actually seeing sights as well as experiencing the culture. Other times all I
see is the airport, tournament venue, and the hotel. From spending a full week
in places such as Vietnam, Japan, New Zealand, French Polynesia (Tahiti) and
others to the complete flip side. In some instances I’ve spent less than 72
hours in a country from the time I landed to time I took off. On average I
spend 4-5 days in a place I go, however most of those days are usually taken up
by practice and the tournament.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjax7ja8etkQ_j0HAKa_sQcPmGk0Xs7La_u-9yzOzCeEUJgssx-g7Cmo6Dk3SB6IWtlyypMcMR5IowDtGR0tfYOiupDohyphenhyphentlvNcnoM54ZC4d_RiEnAhGfIvxCTEc98jV64M0I_WpaOyIFo/s1600/IMG_1894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjax7ja8etkQ_j0HAKa_sQcPmGk0Xs7La_u-9yzOzCeEUJgssx-g7Cmo6Dk3SB6IWtlyypMcMR5IowDtGR0tfYOiupDohyphenhyphentlvNcnoM54ZC4d_RiEnAhGfIvxCTEc98jV64M0I_WpaOyIFo/s320/IMG_1894.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Tahiti, French Polynesia for a tournament<br /><br /></td></tr>
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The last time that I actually traveled on a plane without my
badminton racquets for a vacation was pre 2008. Since 2008 (7 years to date of
writing) I haven’t actually taken a vacation or traveled for “pleasure”, every
time I travel it is for badminton and I carry my racquets with me. At this
present moment in life it is a foreign feeling to travel for a vacation, I have
a hard time justifying it when I could be spending that money and attending a
tournament. That being said I have been to places like Peru 4 times and yet to
see Machu Pichuu, one day I’m sure I will make that trip as well as many others
to see things I want to. A lot of the time I travel alone which while can be
nice it is well rather lonely, not always having people there to share in the
experiences and witness some amazing sights can be a downer (I have had the
opportunity to travel with some amazing people too though). Don’t get me wrong
I love traveling and am happy to experience all that I have and see all I have
seen. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkz_2stN15qonfYRrg9AY8n5zE7wtDD0KrjPqkAxW5CBcyu0pODQJ2SkoBhsGl0TZTvhhfAAubZ1cbzcn7v9mp2lyJp24PAapzG9b01datHoIzII8Fazu_EcT2eQmPXIZZzr0Ctxh7TA/s1600/165468_495904063792109_308387550_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkz_2stN15qonfYRrg9AY8n5zE7wtDD0KrjPqkAxW5CBcyu0pODQJ2SkoBhsGl0TZTvhhfAAubZ1cbzcn7v9mp2lyJp24PAapzG9b01datHoIzII8Fazu_EcT2eQmPXIZZzr0Ctxh7TA/s320/165468_495904063792109_308387550_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">India, Trinidad and Tobago, France</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpF_7S6vZL2XULYK6JqDxHsTeDv9m07YbXsUERf-872LxkPhwUCGqGNuaFr9CJeAl-DZYLaNGNa9cmx95VsQ2KFcCSMn0lXJQAD4lsxvlISa0KkoFMz-FLzxAWZVVKWg8ujXkygYvsSyE/s1600/10494304_750734561645904_2766569595288489875_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpF_7S6vZL2XULYK6JqDxHsTeDv9m07YbXsUERf-872LxkPhwUCGqGNuaFr9CJeAl-DZYLaNGNa9cmx95VsQ2KFcCSMn0lXJQAD4lsxvlISa0KkoFMz-FLzxAWZVVKWg8ujXkygYvsSyE/s320/10494304_750734561645904_2766569595288489875_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trinidad and Tobago team in Venezuela</td></tr>
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I swear that I sometimes spend more time outside of Calgary
traveling than I do in the city some years. But the sad truth is that the 12+
hour flights now feel like nothing and all the shorter ones are just as easy as
getting up and heading to training at this point. The long haul flights give me
time to myself and to relax for a change while jetting across the globe. Its
funny cause to me anything under 5 hours of flying doesn’t feel like traveling
anymore as I’m so use to going transatlantic or transpacific at this point. While
the excitement might not be as profound and hit me hard anymore I still do get
excited to fly and travel the world. I love jumping on a large plane and
setting off on a new adventure. Flying and being on a giant plane will always
have me excited at heart, I love flying on the A380’s now and who can resist
business/executive class upgrades. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhxzQgx9K8HnofPkeIvxOEdUpzkyL2obBPOwLEelJ-zUBTzrQ6LUujtkBcBJ4sUjV-oxaarJKbPidm53SbWMzWtPPmOLc7UqW8Htf8HIq9nAwwr93djtVnlnRc877ufCKSBXTtiNPslI/s1600/IMG_3156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhxzQgx9K8HnofPkeIvxOEdUpzkyL2obBPOwLEelJ-zUBTzrQ6LUujtkBcBJ4sUjV-oxaarJKbPidm53SbWMzWtPPmOLc7UqW8Htf8HIq9nAwwr93djtVnlnRc877ufCKSBXTtiNPslI/s320/IMG_3156.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just some of the airline tickets for my travel in 2014 alone</td></tr>
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<b><u>The Battles in my
Head<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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It goes without being said that my head can be a
battleground at times constant conflicting points of view and opinions flying
around. “Should I stop badminton?”, “You haven’t won an international match in
a while”, “How could you blow that, it was your match to win”, “I want to train
hard for this”, “I love badminton and this feeling of progressing”, “I’m happy
with how I played”, etc. The stuff that goes through my mind can make a complete
180 degree turn depending on what’s happening. So many things influence it and
make me think about the path I am on as I grow older. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFA76LCG6ntQt1a7F22fCJHRQjYGIryQ8rKBdv2Hv_VwOBsfVYc-1RoRldsj75hZCPIQxTzXpv_lzrILbihnxLIWf3MLm3ktjwjUPvJV7DwC7Q-ZaAHvJEf3N6VQQKsgHMqrOwshTOzNc/s1600/11119634_10153388947413334_1072199764075480396_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFA76LCG6ntQt1a7F22fCJHRQjYGIryQ8rKBdv2Hv_VwOBsfVYc-1RoRldsj75hZCPIQxTzXpv_lzrILbihnxLIWf3MLm3ktjwjUPvJV7DwC7Q-ZaAHvJEf3N6VQQKsgHMqrOwshTOzNc/s320/11119634_10153388947413334_1072199764075480396_o.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting into the zone during warm up before a match. <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">(Photo courtesy of Joseph Yeung)</span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I fully understand that this can’t go on forever and there
will be a time to stop and get on with life, join the real world as I so often
joke about it with everybody. I will try and prolong it as long as I can, only
having won a handful of international matches around the world one would think
it is crazy that I still continue to play. I enjoy it too much to just stop
though and even if I was at the very bottom of the world rankings I would still
enjoy it all the same. The war with continue on for a few more years at least,
there’s much more that I have to learn as well as want to learn. </div>
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<b><u>The Hard Truth<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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I have been given so many opportunities through badminton,
first and foremost I have traveled the world. How many people can say they have
seen at least 50 countries before they were 25 years old? And I still have a
few more years before I’m 30 to increase that number and to keep going to try
and see as much of the world as I can in my lifetime. That aside I know I am
not the top in the world and chances are I never will be, that is not me giving
up from trying (I will always train to be the best) that is just a realistic
look at things. The facts are there and I can see the facts, if I stated
earlier maybe things would have been different or maybe they wouldn’t, maybe I
would be worse or would have given it up already. I fall somewhere in the
middle of it all, I love the sport too much to quit despite my win/loss ratio. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCW_RTAbC_DQIHRCWT93e88_pwxfUAn65j3U0kIv0e7UeUrMAJ6ub7atLRNHEWguWC26WpNyzttBSPk5PzUcgyK7LE7etRWUGXHlxf84dq_T58CFuLyqVbqCQLVtQNGaXo17AxglOGo0g/s1600/WP_000315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCW_RTAbC_DQIHRCWT93e88_pwxfUAn65j3U0kIv0e7UeUrMAJ6ub7atLRNHEWguWC26WpNyzttBSPk5PzUcgyK7LE7etRWUGXHlxf84dq_T58CFuLyqVbqCQLVtQNGaXo17AxglOGo0g/s320/WP_000315.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The collection of accreditation badges grows every year</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In reality I will continue with it and eventually will fade
out of competing professionally, there are still a few more goals I have to
accomplish first. Attending one of those every 4 years games (maybe not the
Olympics but hey I will try to say at least I tried to qualify). Playing in a
super series event, even if just in the qualification draw although I’d like to
make it into the maindraw. To qualify for a world championship would be an
amazing opportunity but we will see what happens with that. For now I have my
list and will work towards it over the few years I have left. I have been able
to check off a few, a national title, win an international match, reach top 250
in the world, now I just need to keep setting the bar higher and setting new
goals to go for.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ8PVuoSZZpv6it2HureDE9F9FguScpUfpH-_rH6zBnEmgNRZSXJQKeuciRPfDpMUBAma5H35fLxr2zXX0-pVvmcPmfGs0M7BjSFLqv6Hn6eAFoWnxHmQhRx_a6d41kuWFqXrUoRyVmJA/s1600/10661960_10152733030919870_5589432825035059981_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ8PVuoSZZpv6it2HureDE9F9FguScpUfpH-_rH6zBnEmgNRZSXJQKeuciRPfDpMUBAma5H35fLxr2zXX0-pVvmcPmfGs0M7BjSFLqv6Hn6eAFoWnxHmQhRx_a6d41kuWFqXrUoRyVmJA/s320/10661960_10152733030919870_5589432825035059981_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pan Am Championships, the yearly badminton championships</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My body and mind are good for now but I know they will only
hold out for so much longer. In that time I will experience as much of this
part of my life as I can. It’s not every day you get to say you are a
professional athlete who travels the world for a living. I thank all my coaches
that I have had as well as all my sparing partners locally and around the world
for their contributions to my game and career. Also everybody (friends, family,
fans, etc) who support me through the highs and lows of my career, thank you
for sticking around when I’m happy from a win or depressed from a loss. That’s my
life, in my shoes and through my eyes at least, so I thank you for reading and
getting this small glimpse into my life and thoughts as an athlete. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-71148194393914263272015-06-21T21:49:00.000-07:002015-06-21T21:49:06.856-07:00Paris 2015 <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6T8gWbHa33CyM0FFf2jF-NWt9RRk0PECtZNivm3zh66Q6-0ql29PLIm3uWjpkSfQVrCz2yX0KhYOVbhV9t_5QcGjWC_96pedhiu6L4tZl7LBM2PctPMXU2fqfxME4Gw23wjk9qJJjczI/s1600/DSC_4020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6T8gWbHa33CyM0FFf2jF-NWt9RRk0PECtZNivm3zh66Q6-0ql29PLIm3uWjpkSfQVrCz2yX0KhYOVbhV9t_5QcGjWC_96pedhiu6L4tZl7LBM2PctPMXU2fqfxME4Gw23wjk9qJJjczI/s320/DSC_4020.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had to get a shot with the Eiffel Tower</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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This is a different sort of entry because it is not about a
tournament but not about a vacation. It is about a layover on the way to a
tournament, a lucky event to say the least. So I was traveling to Mauritius (a
country next to Madagascar off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean) for a
Tournament and was just so lucky to have an 11 hour layover in Paris, France. As
soon as I saw that when booking my eyes lit up, I have never set foot on the
European continent before and this was my chance. I would get to see Paris of
all places the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and so many other notable and famous
monuments. So the time came and I left Calgary heading to Amsterdam first then
towards Paris where I would have my time to see the amazing city. I landed in
Paris, France around 12:20pm on Tuesday June 9, 2015 and that’s when the
adventure and race against time started.</div>
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Before landing I had done my research the days prior to
flying out as I knew that there was a lot that could go wrong. I could be
delayed, transportation times, as well as when I had to be back at the airport
to catch my connecting flight to Mauritius. So I planned everything out and
ended up taking the bus into the city which would drop me off right in front of
the Arc du Triomphe. It only took about 45-50 minutes as there was a bit of
midday traffic and one other stop first but that was fine, well within my
budgeted time limit. The first thing I saw was the Arc du Triomphe, this has
some significance as I am a huge history buff and enjoyed learning all about
world war I and II back in high school. So to see the Arc was amazing, just to
be in Paris alone didn’t even sink in at all yet. After bumming around there
checking out the area and taking pictures of course I made my way to the next
landmark. This one was a lot more famous and world renowned when you think of
France. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRLcCAo5NOqSLIhisTd6g_8zZN6zNLegfpjselOQZGNCWw5aVzrfE7B0ExVBG9j-JDU7iECysOw-wnhwUMzsl1YRCj3Gm8qee5Q2u_ZVQQeGo8fjUuEZTXsf7IbBOVLkyWqKv910oOXk/s1600/DSC_4006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRLcCAo5NOqSLIhisTd6g_8zZN6zNLegfpjselOQZGNCWw5aVzrfE7B0ExVBG9j-JDU7iECysOw-wnhwUMzsl1YRCj3Gm8qee5Q2u_ZVQQeGo8fjUuEZTXsf7IbBOVLkyWqKv910oOXk/s320/DSC_4006.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The Eiffel Tower in the flesh…alright in the metal. It was a
truly amazing sight to see this tower not because of its height or anything,
it’s actually rather small, but because of the fame of it. The tower did not
disappoint at all and captivated my gaze the whole time the entire atmosphere
of the area. It was so surreal of an experience to be standing in front of the
Eiffel Tower, when 12 hours prior I was in Calgary in North America. I took it
in but the gravity of where I was never set in even through the whole time and
all the sights I saw. I walked right up to the tower and got a close up look. I
was doing great for time. So that was 2 big sights down but still a handful
more to go. Now came the trek, I had done some walking already but there was
more to head over to Notre Dame but see everything else along the way. I walked
along the river, La Seine, towards the famous cathedral. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFbDQTKigmWEbIG2Z_1eQ_jZloxhFUUWq96paefjXB7Ni6gKXskJPv5w48Wp4pHMxgcI4VzeH6r8Slq5pw4JoRqOtLxD1BGuiGZce2IRa7x-r3ECz8zHmPCFIPIHXH5DmkRH8jsMZ0D4/s1600/DSC_4028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFbDQTKigmWEbIG2Z_1eQ_jZloxhFUUWq96paefjXB7Ni6gKXskJPv5w48Wp4pHMxgcI4VzeH6r8Slq5pw4JoRqOtLxD1BGuiGZce2IRa7x-r3ECz8zHmPCFIPIHXH5DmkRH8jsMZ0D4/s320/DSC_4028.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up close and personal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxE6r_SMB-CfqkYLrQPbBfKxX7-QR4Vn6TlPIvhbsHi2qdvr68J6JZnfq6h1ZKhNKlV3CIHxA1tUSIQZeh5ZiuW3XdwqahkXO6x5elbdR6DD_hxjgb6dVwfTM-NxKhmX654Vhw1dqD3Y/s1600/DSC_4011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxE6r_SMB-CfqkYLrQPbBfKxX7-QR4Vn6TlPIvhbsHi2qdvr68J6JZnfq6h1ZKhNKlV3CIHxA1tUSIQZeh5ZiuW3XdwqahkXO6x5elbdR6DD_hxjgb6dVwfTM-NxKhmX654Vhw1dqD3Y/s320/DSC_4011.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURQXo1-4EZvr5zLSPbR5uNBaCaZ4-kuLE2szoqmspzWUNd3hKE4l19AXMMa-f0N2GSep3lOuRmsuliYp-6jeZeR25ggo-vyFaTplqNRABoYa1EVH9w48PZKjCvODxwEuPoV2NZ2Fxepg/s1600/DSC_4022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURQXo1-4EZvr5zLSPbR5uNBaCaZ4-kuLE2szoqmspzWUNd3hKE4l19AXMMa-f0N2GSep3lOuRmsuliYp-6jeZeR25ggo-vyFaTplqNRABoYa1EVH9w48PZKjCvODxwEuPoV2NZ2Fxepg/s320/DSC_4022.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The river took me past some museums as well as Plaza de la
Concorde which connected to the Champs-Elysees and back to the Arc du Triomphe.
There was quire the fancy fountain and Egyptian looking structure in the plaza.
This was also where the entrance to the Louvre<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> Tuileries
started. Walking in it was a huge giant space, an almost garden like area
leading up to a palace or in this case museum. I walked across this vast area
taking in the statues as well as nature and the sun. Thankfully it was a sunny
and warm day as all my plans could have easily been foiled if there was rain.
After quite the walk I came up to the Louvre and its famous glass pyramid. The
scale of the building caught me off guard and I was enveloped within its walls.
I stood and took it in before walking on the outside and back alongside the
river. I continued to knock sights off the list and was winding down to the
last one. I was doing great for time and not worried as from Notre Dame I could
take the train straight to terminal 2 at Charles de la gull airport where I
needed to catch my flight. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuLtm9J5NNhWHDNtDbhzAJZamkbJ1xC2wJoD9n3VuTohDlxdGZzn1pV_rLjplix9903MGkFBlGfAXFvONJugPQstAyKg_BOXWoyg73N-cCbMn0y_sfKU_bDLYUbT7k5G8YPfffvat4d4/s1600/DSC_4057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuLtm9J5NNhWHDNtDbhzAJZamkbJ1xC2wJoD9n3VuTohDlxdGZzn1pV_rLjplix9903MGkFBlGfAXFvONJugPQstAyKg_BOXWoyg73N-cCbMn0y_sfKU_bDLYUbT7k5G8YPfffvat4d4/s320/DSC_4057.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1SOB51r85abENef2UvdeeRRPDpkHUSxVL5p4eLBa00CDgYyMFwP74MUkn5zdZ330ZdyLBArGCgFhLaiKrnwqnrU8TGsfIF_O4rk42KSyWmSyFiIAqs33CBu9T_d1b7bVyqqNtH_1kpEs/s1600/DSC_4052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1SOB51r85abENef2UvdeeRRPDpkHUSxVL5p4eLBa00CDgYyMFwP74MUkn5zdZ330ZdyLBArGCgFhLaiKrnwqnrU8TGsfIF_O4rk42KSyWmSyFiIAqs33CBu9T_d1b7bVyqqNtH_1kpEs/s320/DSC_4052.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIk0Zkii4XED9KHJGzv2hpRbGp6FgUXOJmo79pMICjgTb0mD7PvSsz7g8xSykTcofONs99nhqW65OB4ICnUp-2Up91sy-Y2FmIyDOkmNJRVcVXpnC26ZTg1XAbshUHILgXjnrKCx2Ny20/s1600/DSC_4056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIk0Zkii4XED9KHJGzv2hpRbGp6FgUXOJmo79pMICjgTb0mD7PvSsz7g8xSykTcofONs99nhqW65OB4ICnUp-2Up91sy-Y2FmIyDOkmNJRVcVXpnC26ZTg1XAbshUHILgXjnrKCx2Ny20/s320/DSC_4056.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scale of this place blew my mind</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4QKkjZweG3oO0-osqvq0aduahaEnNmgNevkuQ6RTFSYjhRgxDRoGLkDAIyamLK8wnFAt76_z4A68KD0-Zc4rj7DVwURmR0tyuz_-N8g4Vr-MT0ch_SVbOiNYSi7x4_YUxs7IECqbb4vg/s1600/DSC_4058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4QKkjZweG3oO0-osqvq0aduahaEnNmgNevkuQ6RTFSYjhRgxDRoGLkDAIyamLK8wnFAt76_z4A68KD0-Zc4rj7DVwURmR0tyuz_-N8g4Vr-MT0ch_SVbOiNYSi7x4_YUxs7IECqbb4vg/s320/DSC_4058.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still blowing my mind</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPvs3UC3nJ5m99wUMtgseDPdY_eyAI-a28zxrCWv62U8NvbN6aN1M6KH4y8mwxNhp6STBApv23Ui3fLmhUX5G8SEt2-YIe2-FtLtWIF0pSg6uQ0O1TvvaMU4L7pAitHRBFjXruvVDT5tE/s1600/DSC_4059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPvs3UC3nJ5m99wUMtgseDPdY_eyAI-a28zxrCWv62U8NvbN6aN1M6KH4y8mwxNhp6STBApv23Ui3fLmhUX5G8SEt2-YIe2-FtLtWIF0pSg6uQ0O1TvvaMU4L7pAitHRBFjXruvVDT5tE/s320/DSC_4059.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Notre Dame Cathedral popped up as I walked to the back of
the little island it resides on, I have to say I was a little disappointed from
the outside appearance. I don’t really know what I was expecting but I felt a
bit of a lackluster experience. Maybe because I had already seen the Eiffel
Tower and pretty much everything else is downhill from there. That marked the
end of the sightseeing, I had been walking around for a few hours but only
walked about 10km in total. I spent time in places to fully take in the
atmosphere and gravity of where I was. Not to mention the hour I spent at the
Eiffel Tower sitting and watching it as well as having a snack. That meant that
all I had left to do was take the train back to the airport and catch my flight
to Mauritius for the tournament. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgro4F9f1PaQvwLRdOIzjdCzI7tMKeCp4_qcuZGWXGcMGSIRZ9s3ILWAjMYD_b04jsei1V9j0lHrsIs3G-rxw-_Q-lAvWVw2Uxc18w9B3xaMKxcwpuzoPGzE77EwNBftOmGJGlPE-zn35k/s1600/DSC_4073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgro4F9f1PaQvwLRdOIzjdCzI7tMKeCp4_qcuZGWXGcMGSIRZ9s3ILWAjMYD_b04jsei1V9j0lHrsIs3G-rxw-_Q-lAvWVw2Uxc18w9B3xaMKxcwpuzoPGzE77EwNBftOmGJGlPE-zn35k/s320/DSC_4073.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Didn't see Quasimodo though =(</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Overall the time spent in Paris was amazing, it was surreal
and through the whole time I was there it didn’t hit me where I was. I
unfortunately didn’t get to go into any of the monuments, museums, or sights
that I went to. The lines were simply too long and would have eaten up all my
time. I also just had my cell phone to take pictures with as I opted out of
carrying my DSLR with me this trip. One day I know I will return to Paris and
France for a lot longer time not just an 11 hour layover. That is when I will
do Paris properly and take proper pictures, go into the museums and see them as
well as up the Eiffel tower, onto the Arc du Triomphe, and into Notre Dame not
to mention visit countless other sites. As I arrived back at the airport and
sat at the gate I had a sense of accomplishment, seeing so much in such a short
amount of time. I also got to cross Europe off the list of continents that I
have been to. That would just leave Africa and Antarctica, one of which I would
be visiting after a quick 12 hour flight, but that’s another entry. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQvENGrG02fP5VTk9ZoSPvVZkntd9BUKxBR08slJ4vZnHyGMi8SsdKZtRF_FAtdrkL4-i-rnQxfDNgfgkuRaXyjTYdSCpbfqcRBOXuesAMFDsk7twCkLTjCOO69zk-NlDiAB6nt2vFv-4/s1600/DSC_4040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQvENGrG02fP5VTk9ZoSPvVZkntd9BUKxBR08slJ4vZnHyGMi8SsdKZtRF_FAtdrkL4-i-rnQxfDNgfgkuRaXyjTYdSCpbfqcRBOXuesAMFDsk7twCkLTjCOO69zk-NlDiAB6nt2vFv-4/s320/DSC_4040.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpl4flW-cwmS3scpD30ZyteeKkKWIzW4Z7ytaeh-Pin80LvHdlDOT2AmWeOpOdIIwXNGr5DMSdB2C6aWgtTS1gdo0JERwzkVqfpTnd_fmsuGOxCW2UafcXE6YygiK8k7CQqKC8PLlXk0/s1600/DSC_4064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpl4flW-cwmS3scpD30ZyteeKkKWIzW4Z7ytaeh-Pin80LvHdlDOT2AmWeOpOdIIwXNGr5DMSdB2C6aWgtTS1gdo0JERwzkVqfpTnd_fmsuGOxCW2UafcXE6YygiK8k7CQqKC8PLlXk0/s320/DSC_4064.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-R1GzGSwcyAI_Qr4O0sGRIWzO4hMROr5FbkGjk_DvdxJxqJSl-l0gn4j0xdeEiRaIAgcZI2ew_ptcvMoCZgnQGfrfMDbnk1t13xlLtF7r3PKrOdi380WhFihyphenhyphen8iq5LnoCSxeeWH3FXrI/s1600/DSC_4068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-R1GzGSwcyAI_Qr4O0sGRIWzO4hMROr5FbkGjk_DvdxJxqJSl-l0gn4j0xdeEiRaIAgcZI2ew_ptcvMoCZgnQGfrfMDbnk1t13xlLtF7r3PKrOdi380WhFihyphenhyphen8iq5LnoCSxeeWH3FXrI/s320/DSC_4068.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI08nz0eIhzBeYTcjvCzY0Enxb_DYO4bQoSLQaXBcldH9xxzc0NU35mfBuE3a_mcChGnLZyvjVH5VDaDHafQ-eZJE8CfFeThvIq9RBfzBeCnjx-ziEpqgPNyhnLeayein9thOmRU0ybNs/s1600/DSC_4075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI08nz0eIhzBeYTcjvCzY0Enxb_DYO4bQoSLQaXBcldH9xxzc0NU35mfBuE3a_mcChGnLZyvjVH5VDaDHafQ-eZJE8CfFeThvIq9RBfzBeCnjx-ziEpqgPNyhnLeayein9thOmRU0ybNs/s320/DSC_4075.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love flying on big planes, especially business/executive class</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com0Paris, France48.856614 2.352221900000017748.688561 2.0281254000000177 49.024667 2.6763184000000177tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-12632446279648721072015-05-31T22:28:00.000-07:002015-05-31T23:18:38.206-07:002015 Trinidad and Tobago International <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKITM3sD6rAqSK32kXmvCyCh0akGt-UkhkviAYLo1fS3Ze1hG7yn8H3kuaE090YTFpqafR6gukiN4F3_iA5kDnA4mRppjOMNdyCb2kZPK9BamGhqDXtXS4z3Ljy0yAAjqfSbO477sRsg/s1600/DSC_3933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKITM3sD6rAqSK32kXmvCyCh0akGt-UkhkviAYLo1fS3Ze1hG7yn8H3kuaE090YTFpqafR6gukiN4F3_iA5kDnA4mRppjOMNdyCb2kZPK9BamGhqDXtXS4z3Ljy0yAAjqfSbO477sRsg/s320/DSC_3933.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the participating country flags at the venue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So it has been a while since I have played an international
tournament, January 2015 to be exact when I went to China for the China
International Challenge. In March I played Trinidad National Championships and
won those. The thing is that next year (2016) are the Olympics in Rio which
means that there will be Olympic qualifications. For badminton it is a yearlong
process running from May 1, 2015 to May 1, 2016. This meant that the 2015
Trinidad and Tobago international would be my first event of the Olympic
qualification process.</div>
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I have played tournaments before during Olympic
qualification in 2011-2012 for London but at that time I was not looking to
qualify. This time is different and I am trying to qualify for the Rio 2016
Olympic Games, as impossible of a task as that may be. This meant that starting
now every tournament would count towards my world ranking for Olympic
qualification. Trinidad started off looking hard with the M&Q report coming
out and me being in qualification due to a large amount of high ranked players
playing. Luckily for me by the time the draws came out some people had
withdrawn and I was in the main draw against Turkey. Fortunately for me all the
Turkish players withdrew and that meant that I would play a promoted player
from qualifications. For doubles me and Jason would play a pair from Chile and
then in mixed me and Solangel would play the 3/4 seeds from Chile. </div>
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I arrived in Trinidad may 17<sup>th</sup> at night due to it
taking an entire day to get down there and didn’t get to practice that night.
On the Tuesday however I was able to hit at the main venue in the night and oh
boy was it a surprise. Of course like all other South American tournaments the
venue was a piece of work, drafts galore and they kept changing. Now we all
know the deal with me, it takes me longer than I like to adapt to those
external conditions. Fast/slow shuttles that’s no problem cause it’s just the
speed but once you throw in the drafts that cause the shuttle to wobble in
mid-air or drift a few feet here, slow down there, etc then I have a real love
hate relationship. I am not using that as an excuse, because we all have to
play in the same conditions and are essentially all in the same boat. Some
people are just more use to it and others adapt quicker and change their game
faster to suit the conditions. Me on the other hand I was unable to do that on
the faithful day of my singles match. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjexanqs1-HEO3iL1EHQJG8Dszzh9QFDlGEPOt5ENGiYd6yYyRcQwTtuwAhaQCbsEYRfjzBUVbXHHdyB-OYWpY3LgYBCL06QL32xwE23E6aqS7uVL7UnICCQoOrSn_8FjdhYoyKZx-MUc8/s1600/GOPR0013_1432327983386_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjexanqs1-HEO3iL1EHQJG8Dszzh9QFDlGEPOt5ENGiYd6yYyRcQwTtuwAhaQCbsEYRfjzBUVbXHHdyB-OYWpY3LgYBCL06QL32xwE23E6aqS7uVL7UnICCQoOrSn_8FjdhYoyKZx-MUc8/s320/GOPR0013_1432327983386_high.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tournament venue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDF8pGR07kNxryjzl3cX56GyOg9UfR90-E9maH7xAz7kG32gThuFRAsjP-1Pyz0KGMVkdhrpDdYHkYdgkNug_EPqvvt8rzA9ZYlDkUuTolXHqj7qjdW-oQtDDZhGTS513HD664v-zwsSw/s1600/DSC_3940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDF8pGR07kNxryjzl3cX56GyOg9UfR90-E9maH7xAz7kG32gThuFRAsjP-1Pyz0KGMVkdhrpDdYHkYdgkNug_EPqvvt8rzA9ZYlDkUuTolXHqj7qjdW-oQtDDZhGTS513HD664v-zwsSw/s320/DSC_3940.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opening ceremonies some steel pan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Thursday rolled around and I stepped on court to play
against my opponent from Suriname. I had a nice draw and it could honestly go
either way. I was greeted with wind just blowing at me on court, I could feel
it and it had some force. I quickly got 20-16 up and that’s when everything
fell apart I don’t know how or what happened but I couldn’t win that one point
and I fumbled the first set losing 21-23. That was a real mental bust but one
that I wouldn’t let affect me going into the second. We switched sides and I
was with the draft meaning that I couldn’t lift or push as everything would go
out, so that meant I needed to control the net, something that my opponent had
been doing since the start. It was a hard battle and I was unfortunate to lose
18-21 in the 2<sup>nd</sup>. I was devastated and destroyed, after my match I
spent a good 10 minutes outside alone reliving the events, trying to understand
what I had done wrong and to comprehend it. It happens and on that day I was
outplayed. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl8sL12pMvke_KM2p1vPAWyTfriLS1vJEdEQlxY70CC5_GAaC9JpfJLS1kYsO4Syf40rwSGOMNm76mneu4-tvAhrhCR_PJYDwyXSLcbBjy6ouae4BwuWxQFjRcgcESpHUzkXbmEHtQ4_A/s1600/9D5A8555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl8sL12pMvke_KM2p1vPAWyTfriLS1vJEdEQlxY70CC5_GAaC9JpfJLS1kYsO4Syf40rwSGOMNm76mneu4-tvAhrhCR_PJYDwyXSLcbBjy6ouae4BwuWxQFjRcgcESpHUzkXbmEHtQ4_A/s320/9D5A8555.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizgqb2l1ADjsNLMObYbVCVWCpeqTk9AcmjOuoN_Rb-MCBPDaWK515uImUQIasqbp4ukJyHm0h6uddoHX0cDdtZYwZ0mBj-GyY3Q0T2R58t01d9IEeooonF9Iu5yep7njFeJU49H0A2Pgo/s1600/9D5A8561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizgqb2l1ADjsNLMObYbVCVWCpeqTk9AcmjOuoN_Rb-MCBPDaWK515uImUQIasqbp4ukJyHm0h6uddoHX0cDdtZYwZ0mBj-GyY3Q0T2R58t01d9IEeooonF9Iu5yep7njFeJU49H0A2Pgo/s320/9D5A8561.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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That was not the end to the story though, I had mixed that
same night which was going to be a good match. We could have a chance me and
Solangel against the Chile pair. We ended up playing doubles against them and
that really didn’t work at all in our favor but we didn’t switch it. We lost
the match 16-21, 16-21. What a solid start I was off to in Olympic
qualifications. Thursday ended and I headed home to recoup and refocus for
doubles with Jason the next day that would be the last event I was still in and
once again playing against Chile. That started off not bad and we were neck in
neck but a few mistakes and we lost the first game, no big deal we would however
switch to the harder side going with the draft. I honestly didn’t hit a single
solid smash that entire tournament, anytime I played and the shuttle was lifted
it would catch the draft and wobble. I have yet to play in a situation like
that and didn’t know how to account for the wobble when hitting. We lost the
match 18-21, 18-21 which wasn’t too bad but it was so close. The tournament
stung something fierce, coming off of nationals a month before being the
national champion in singles and loosing first round. Making the finals in
doubles and mixed then also loosing first round. I couldn’t help but feel like
I let down the entire country, on home soil none the less. The feeling ate me
alive and for the first time in my career for a brief moment what others
thought of me snuck in, I quickly squashed those uncertain and negative
thoughts though. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzyWT69ljSdnOPg5PquqoAiljixXXUo1u6EozVNTz6xgxl67alaB_SaXUOFMNfmqZEKUwdNSMUMvp9EjbQWNZIXNWk2JKnMUVFMWv5bwgg4JiTB3OzFjsRc39jlI9xXm_dFgdjfMInMZk/s1600/9D5A9548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzyWT69ljSdnOPg5PquqoAiljixXXUo1u6EozVNTz6xgxl67alaB_SaXUOFMNfmqZEKUwdNSMUMvp9EjbQWNZIXNWk2JKnMUVFMWv5bwgg4JiTB3OzFjsRc39jlI9xXm_dFgdjfMInMZk/s320/9D5A9548.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So just like that the tournament was over for me and so was
my first even of Olympic qualification, anybody on the outside looking in would
think that trying for the Olympics after that performance would be a death
sentence and futile attempt. This is me we are talking about though and you all
know that I don’t give up that easily, while I may not be at the high level
that isn’t going to stop me from chasing my dreams. It was Friday morning when
I got knocked out so I would have till Wednesday morning before I flew back
home. I would get a little bit of a vacation and some time with friends,
something that I haven’t had or done in a while. </div>
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Saturday rolled around and Tishelle picked me up to cheer me
up and take me out, something that was greatly needed. We went for a little
drive up a Trinidad mountain (kind of a hill compared to what we are used to in
Canada) but it had a great view of the city. After spending some time up there
we went down to a place called Macqueripe beach, it was a private beach in a
secluded cove which was pretty picturesque to be honest. We spent some time
there and then headed onto the next location, the boardwalk. It is located in Chaguaramas
and is essentially exactly what it sounds like….a boardwalk around the
beach/ocean. A peaceful way to spend the evening so we got some food and hung
out there, watching the sunset before heading home. That was a great day and
something that was dearly needed but that wouldn’t be the end. That night we
made spur of the moment plans to head to the beach Sunday with some of the
other players. So Sunday we headed to Maracas beach (one of my favorite beach’s
in Trinidad). We spent the day there, some of the foreign players joined us
they were from Mauritius, Slovakia, and Czech Republic as well as the local Trinidad
players. It was a fantastic day, I took a run on the beach and then we spent a
few hours in the ocean. I got to play around with my new toy the GoPro and got
some fun video in the ocean. Afterwards we went to watch the finals of the
tournament which were spectacular. My friend from Canada who trains at the same
club as me, Martin Giuffre of Glencoe Club, won the men’s singles event. The
other events were great and match of the night goes to men’s doubles of Mexico
vs Mexico. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGr1fc4fpEOn9A6Inohn4g6f-XUOtOT3QbV7eejIeP7IFQAS45wa0-9lbhZSEly3uCfN2uL8X-de3ixxPVl43qCYH7NpKYgWlh0ZIAVU8pXG3cT85iSTnwLp0atEDRC9t481Fw0b_XPvQ/s1600/DSC_3948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGr1fc4fpEOn9A6Inohn4g6f-XUOtOT3QbV7eejIeP7IFQAS45wa0-9lbhZSEly3uCfN2uL8X-de3ixxPVl43qCYH7NpKYgWlh0ZIAVU8pXG3cT85iSTnwLp0atEDRC9t481Fw0b_XPvQ/s320/DSC_3948.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqxRPYMb4knhzJ7QGVk8-B2MUkHshV8DXBzFHPJBCHNi7TFCsMxssgG4FsQ88-aeN_lNaqAwIm4qcwztFnGqjp7ZLeuI61giITaoU6HPI0ukRjE_SmJ6CGLEgeLyE0W76VRi-fjr5yU4/s1600/DSC_3951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqxRPYMb4knhzJ7QGVk8-B2MUkHshV8DXBzFHPJBCHNi7TFCsMxssgG4FsQ88-aeN_lNaqAwIm4qcwztFnGqjp7ZLeuI61giITaoU6HPI0ukRjE_SmJ6CGLEgeLyE0W76VRi-fjr5yU4/s320/DSC_3951.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Macqueripe beach</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyBitFYa3loG432VBpc2COKtzFXGoN2QodpXcxHDGlRIiDoiXMUh7Lb883FCE9L85sasoiP-t7xJ7nRQJR_ZAIjitFqx-ZNkXQnl5GH1MBz7GKJWKp_W4O6F_c44pT2upBqfSIKfCzFu0/s1600/DSC_3954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyBitFYa3loG432VBpc2COKtzFXGoN2QodpXcxHDGlRIiDoiXMUh7Lb883FCE9L85sasoiP-t7xJ7nRQJR_ZAIjitFqx-ZNkXQnl5GH1MBz7GKJWKp_W4O6F_c44pT2upBqfSIKfCzFu0/s320/DSC_3954.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Macqueripe beach</span></td></tr>
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Sunday finished and that meant Monday rolled around, Monday
we were scheduled to go down the islands. It was going to be quite a few of us
but some things fell through and in the end it was just 7 people that went.
Some of the Trinidad players, 2 Barbados players, and the one guy from Czech
Republic. We took a boat out into the bay and onto Gasparee Island where we
would spend the day. The island wasn’t huge or anything drop dead gorgeous as I
was expecting it to be. I thought that we were going to a private beach
somewhere remote on one of the many small islands off the coast but I was
wrong. Overall the day wasn’t too bad and I did opt out of going for a swim in
favor of cozening up in the hammock and catching up on some reading. To me that
was time well spent, it was peaceful with a marvelous view and most
importantly was relaxing. The trip came to an end and with it meant that
Tuesday would be my last full day in Trinidad. Time had flown by and I actually
hadn’t done much physical activity let alone any badminton since getting
knocked out, something that is unfamiliar to me as I am always active. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkMMKHS_e62Kg0dtEjD7qxe4trJNZv9v0FF3vF38nI7QjpMklhet9M59JCqkyGgHeDceFBoTpZyUig_cO1Z1G9c7Ms7uxJNz0A7UZZW_BL5v6p-YRJY4C-enXdQMwJJgDw89IXbuR7JM/s1600/GOPR0027_1432571729092_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkMMKHS_e62Kg0dtEjD7qxe4trJNZv9v0FF3vF38nI7QjpMklhet9M59JCqkyGgHeDceFBoTpZyUig_cO1Z1G9c7Ms7uxJNz0A7UZZW_BL5v6p-YRJY4C-enXdQMwJJgDw89IXbuR7JM/s320/GOPR0027_1432571729092_high.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crew going down the island</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_ZC2gCCo5cQug-k5SFLTbuWQVY63e1x3L0chnuksxPHiUaEpUPT66WQMpTM3MRyr1gdtZepRtlfaMdvk_vX3lNsSDp_GNSGB5jNvQ3i8yArttS9tLRwOuDUW5atUNUoXKiHYSiy7-Ag/s1600/GOPR0029_1432574908799_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_ZC2gCCo5cQug-k5SFLTbuWQVY63e1x3L0chnuksxPHiUaEpUPT66WQMpTM3MRyr1gdtZepRtlfaMdvk_vX3lNsSDp_GNSGB5jNvQ3i8yArttS9tLRwOuDUW5atUNUoXKiHYSiy7-Ag/s320/GOPR0029_1432574908799_high.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole crew on the boat</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijw9V4gxH0AvEEaGBLinn14Dm-QIAhwP7SMichVLdewvYMDBQpVkye7x5qz9Hoh2VJnXowYGjqPaOQqpnscTpoeXiwVnBvpDiizalTuJ6iCx5kqO4C5A6qTVHHwH5vvexuXGDPEb_djto/s1600/GOPR0038_1432582837921_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijw9V4gxH0AvEEaGBLinn14Dm-QIAhwP7SMichVLdewvYMDBQpVkye7x5qz9Hoh2VJnXowYGjqPaOQqpnscTpoeXiwVnBvpDiizalTuJ6iCx5kqO4C5A6qTVHHwH5vvexuXGDPEb_djto/s320/GOPR0038_1432582837921_high.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Relaxing in the hammock reading a book</td></tr>
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Tuesday morning saw me get to train at our club in Chaguanas
but it was horrible the sun was out meaning there was so much light coming
through the open windows. We only had 1 set of badminton posts as they didn’t
bring back the posts they took for the tournament. So we got creative and use
the netball posts to create a court which surprisingly worked. That’s not the
end of it though oh no, there were no good shuttles so we only had a handful to
use for drills. Under the circumstances it was quite the gong show for a lack
of better description. Not only that we were told we had just from 6am-8am
because netball had the facility after us but come 8:30am we were still going.
They came in and told us to clean up but netball never came, we could have
continued to train but oh well. After the morning Tishelle collected me and
brought me home so I could shower and eat something. We were able to spend the
rest of the day together until the night. I was able to actually go see a movie
in the theaters, we saw The Avengers: Age of Ultron. After that I headed home
and packed everything up, getting ready to leave Trinidad on a 7:20am flight
the following morning. My 9 days in Trinidad had flown by and I was heartbroken
from the tournament but glad that I got a little vacation for once. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5zS5JnAjpXa591IPfUIU3AtOmLAM6vz3po6X3miaNU4ZeM31tkftbzOpxFMkMSKhk9DK1jpO9wxfLMSqWlwUkMtmlAqNTNw-EIzaCR9frnQVF8R7Lzck292v79MdZKgbi400yU0yqaI/s1600/DSC_3982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5zS5JnAjpXa591IPfUIU3AtOmLAM6vz3po6X3miaNU4ZeM31tkftbzOpxFMkMSKhk9DK1jpO9wxfLMSqWlwUkMtmlAqNTNw-EIzaCR9frnQVF8R7Lzck292v79MdZKgbi400yU0yqaI/s320/DSC_3982.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Tishelle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Heading back to Calgary I would get 12 days before I fly out
again to my second tournament of Olympic Qualifications the Mauritius
International. The draws came out the day before I left Trinidad and boy was
there a shocker, I was fortunate enough to get the last spot in the main draw
that also resulted in me playing Kevin Cordon of Guatemala first round. So I
have all but 12 days before taking the 2 days to fly over to the African
continent for the tournament. The flip side is I will get time in Paris, France
meaning I’ll cross Europe of the list as well as Africa off the continental
list. So I will have set foot on all the continents minus Antarctica (for the
time being at least). Let’s see how the second tournament of Olympic
qualification goes, the consolation is that I will be spending my birthday away
from Canada again this year. This time in Mauritius, can’t really complain
being able to spend ones birthday in tropical paradise. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
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Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com21Trinidad and Tobago10.691803 -61.2225030000000178.6842905 -63.815276500000017 12.6993155 -58.629729500000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-67939787704900780552015-03-26T21:13:00.000-07:002015-03-26T21:13:40.138-07:002015 Trinidad and Tobago Nationals <div class="MsoNormal">
March 5<sup>th</sup> to 16<sup>th</sup> this year I headed
down to Trinidad and Tobago for the national championships looking to make
another final if not win the tournament this time. My greatest competition
Kerwin Pantin had surprisingly decided not to play this year which means there
would be a new national champion. The tournament started off with me scrambling
to change my flights after the original dates got changed on me to the
following week. This was quite the inconvenience at the time that I didn't like
to have to pay for the change fee of the flight but it was something I needed
to do. My goal this year is the 2015 Pan Am Games in July and that meant that I
would have to win nationals to hopefully secure my spot. As I had already
earned Trinidad 1 male and 1 female spot through my world ranking from
traveling to tournaments, a mare 500 points away from getting them 2 and 2
spots I would need to win to increase my chances of being selected.</div>
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Heading down to Trinidad a week early so I could adapt to
the conditions meant taking a full day to arrive. Departing at 6:30am Thursday
morning I arrived in Trinidad 8:30pm that same night only to get picked up by
my friends and head to training for 10pm-midnight that very night. Yes that’s
what I do fly all day and then go train for 2 hours right after landing. That
night was interesting to say the least but well needed, the following 4 days
was more of the same just training and trying to get use to the conditions
through playing in 3 different facilities none of which were badminton
friendly. Friday we played at another place where I have gone with my friend
Roger Moore many times, lots of the older crowd plays there for fun no real
drills. I just needed to hit and get accustomed to how the shuttle fly’s in
Trinidad so I tagged along. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6aWlTWzgA1VnM2sF3BmIoTz5exQZbyTKVT75irhibwoEV_UAZYuA-BFqTGSWNf9XTo_7Wzd659hEJmQj5yuDFPnZvDh9caX4hets8WFKdOUQW1IMSB5IR-iW1oyz_XJwcrbmzzBM0xw/s1600/DSC_3709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6aWlTWzgA1VnM2sF3BmIoTz5exQZbyTKVT75irhibwoEV_UAZYuA-BFqTGSWNf9XTo_7Wzd659hEJmQj5yuDFPnZvDh9caX4hets8WFKdOUQW1IMSB5IR-iW1oyz_XJwcrbmzzBM0xw/s1600/DSC_3709.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Landing in Trinidad at night</td></tr>
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Saturday and Sunday saw us literally go to the other side of
the country to train. We headed down to a place called Point Fortin which was
about 2 hours away from where I lived near Port of Spain. The drive down there
was a long one and the highways are nothing compared to what we have in Canada
so that only made things more interesting come the twists and turns,
deteriorated roads and lack of roads all together in some places. The facility
there was sub par to say the least, open ait with one side that was open to the
sun and had shades that needed to be closed. Those same shades were impossible
to close and even when closed still didn't help as much, slippery floors and
crazy drafts didn’t help but hey it was an opportunity to hit some shuttles so
I wouldn't pass it up. The time up there both Saturday and Sunday was well
spent though and invaluable. On Sunday after the training we headed to the
beach to hang out as a team and bond. That is always the part that I enjoy the
most, bonding with my teammates and friends while in Trinidad. This beach I had
never been to before since I rarely ever go down to Point Fortin, the last time
I went was when I was a little kid. So the weekend was done just like that 4
days had passed and nationals was drawing closer. There was no draw out but the
papers were already getting some newspaper articles written to stir some hype. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZei_EW0YIDstVzGRZdZoFtmEuVx49_Nrg64hS1FKJG7ZIP9JePBTdj4dvfypYoE_pxZWbMb-aLKXyFXVxwXekMg6HJxE4AIlPDOM8xz5NBbt8dftOiW1HtPUj-9qUCWOuP6nPOWLYlLg/s1600/DSC_3710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZei_EW0YIDstVzGRZdZoFtmEuVx49_Nrg64hS1FKJG7ZIP9JePBTdj4dvfypYoE_pxZWbMb-aLKXyFXVxwXekMg6HJxE4AIlPDOM8xz5NBbt8dftOiW1HtPUj-9qUCWOuP6nPOWLYlLg/s1600/DSC_3710.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Point Fortin Regional Facility...yeah great place...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaCPcq_pLPaQz3DoEnbVfcB_jf45-sIhj_HEnb2mpui4ZjlU8o__2ruEbxoWLGOkadvuzTg24fi3X3SfHb8vGLWsX0tRrJLqOwYVPtCRkdXqzui8STYw8vbxJaUPAgZfFKw1aNaOG0VU/s1600/DSC_3711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaCPcq_pLPaQz3DoEnbVfcB_jf45-sIhj_HEnb2mpui4ZjlU8o__2ruEbxoWLGOkadvuzTg24fi3X3SfHb8vGLWsX0tRrJLqOwYVPtCRkdXqzui8STYw8vbxJaUPAgZfFKw1aNaOG0VU/s1600/DSC_3711.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least I made it out to the beach though</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Monday rolled around and we got to train at our normal venue
which was where the national championships would be taking place. Tuesday was a
rest day and then Wednesday the day before nationals was the last training
session 10pm to midnight again, we hit a few shuttles and did some drills but
also discussed the draw. The draw was quite interesting yet so familiar from
the previous year. Although I was the runner up in men’s singles the previous
year I was unseeded this time. But a very familiar name was number 1 seed
again, Alistar Espinoza was the top seed and he was on my side of the draw I
would meet up for a quarterfinal match against him this year. Naim Mahommed was
also on my half, I played him in quarterfinals last year but we would meet up
for a semi-final match provided we both won our matches. Then Anil my
semi-final match from last year was on the opposite side of the draw from me so
the only chance for a rematch would be in the finals. Doubles me and Jason had
a nice draw and would face the same pair we lost to the previous year in
semifinals. I was also playing mixed with Nekeshia Blake, and we were on the
side with the number 1 seeds which would lead to a possible semi-final match up
against Kamasha and Naim.</div>
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<a href="http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Bonkowsky-back-in-TT-for-Nationals-296014681.html" target="_blank">http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Bonkowsky-back-in-TT-for-Nationals-296014681.html</a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8Vl809KycSmQ2EzNU93cfpCJ_MWuXIEGZTrjVrgiJkEsrIz-_BZGhWoHNHyOyeLu_mkFPRMx26BlwM-d4KLKMPlj0wG4hZkYO1U7SGghZbWAAFkEhaY8MC4DNZMxaqHnjiw-B-VlCvU/s1600/DSC_3726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8Vl809KycSmQ2EzNU93cfpCJ_MWuXIEGZTrjVrgiJkEsrIz-_BZGhWoHNHyOyeLu_mkFPRMx26BlwM-d4KLKMPlj0wG4hZkYO1U7SGghZbWAAFkEhaY8MC4DNZMxaqHnjiw-B-VlCvU/s1600/DSC_3726.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drink hamper that I won in the raffle at the tournament</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Thursday night rolled around and matches started I made it
through my 2 singles matches without too much stress and we won our mixed with
a walkover so that was not bad for opening night. Friday was up next,
quarterfinals matches meaning my match against Alistar. He took the first game
22-20 but then I bounced back and beat him 21-14, 21-12 a lot easier than last
year and felt solid on the court. Booked my spot in 1 semi-final, just 2 more
matches to go. Doubles came as a surprise as we were somehow taken to 3 but won
our match, guess that’s what happens when you don’t play with your partner or
practice together for a year, another semi-final spot booked. Time to go for
the hat trick with mixed and this would be the first time me and Nekeshia were
ever playing together period. We started off figuring out how each other plays
in the first and lost that one, came back to take the 2<sup>nd</sup> game
easily and then the 3<sup>rd</sup> hit. That was a tight match, we won 23-21 in
something that could have gone either way. I had secured my spot in 3
semifinals for Saturday night. </div>
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<a href="http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Canadian-beats-Espinoza-again-296341011.html" target="_blank">http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Canadian-beats-Espinoza-again-296341011.html</a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqg1jFstPOO-h8zURFsGFGxixK6U23zhmIoMDCVoJLAAp6WH0caJjh9duIPH2OX7ItVPoakf7_4vlSYQln7kYmsiyJNE7D60QRjMY9nvtULAvEqWPG5jtWBkkjfaze3KEzyGuFpuXNBY/s1600/DSC_3733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqg1jFstPOO-h8zURFsGFGxixK6U23zhmIoMDCVoJLAAp6WH0caJjh9duIPH2OX7ItVPoakf7_4vlSYQln7kYmsiyJNE7D60QRjMY9nvtULAvEqWPG5jtWBkkjfaze3KEzyGuFpuXNBY/s1600/DSC_3733.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My support, Tishelle and Shannon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Saturday came around, 3<sup>rd</sup> day of competition but
things were a little different tonight as there was now a TV crew and they were
going to be filming the matches with commentary. This was nothing new to me as
I was used to being put to play on the TV courts at big international
tournaments around the world. First up men’s singles and of course all 3 of my
matches were scheduled to be played on the TV court. I was up against Naim
Mahommed, we had a 3 gamer in the quarterfinals last year but this time I beat
him in 2 straight so that was a good start to the night making it into the
singles final and a rematch against Anil Seepaul. After women’s singles next up
mixed doubles against Rahul Rampersad and Justin Sui the number 1 seeds who
also beat us last year in 3. Oh how times changed, me and Jason beat them in 2
straight be it close 18 and 18 we secured our spot in the doubles final. After
a little break to have the women’s doubles and masters doubles play was the
last match of the night mixed doubles where me and Nekeisha Blake would take on
Naim and Kamasha for spot in the finals. At this point both me and Nekeshia
were in 2 finals each and winning this would make it 3 apiece. That is exactly
what we did in 2 sets we upset the 1<sup>st</sup> seeds and secured our spot in
3 finals each. That was a satisfying feeling. </div>
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<a href="http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Blake-Bonkowsky-advance-to-three-finals-296393981.html" target="_blank">http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Blake-Bonkowsky-advance-to-three-finals-296393981.html</a></div>
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I went home that night feeling as happy as could be, I would
play Anil Seepaul in the men’s singles final for the title. Jason and I would
play Alistar Espinosza and Will Lee in the doubles final and then Nekeshia and
I would play Alistar and Jada in the mixed doubles final. The thing is I also
booked my flight to leave Trinidad Monday morning at 7:30am so win or lose that
night I would go out afterwards to celebrate with my team and then pretty much
pack and go straight to the airport. I got to the venue and everything was set
up, the camera crew was there ready to record the matches. The order of play
for the night would be; men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s
doubles, master’s doubles, and lastly mixed doubles. As I was in 3 finals that
should theoretically give me enough rest time in-between matches.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LNjUeL1tpAU/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LNjUeL1tpAU?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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First up men’s singles, Anil has been a great friend and a
huge influence in my representing Trinidad internationally since 2008. To play
him in the finals of nations was an amazing opportunity, I had previously
played him in semifinals the year before. Despite being 40 Anil still has 5 national
singles titles to his name as well as various other mixed and doubles titles.
The final got under way and I felt in control for the majority of the match, a
few times I would slip up and lose a few points but for the most part I felt
great and in the end I achieved what I set out to…I got my first nationals
singles title and was crowned the national champion of Trinidad and Tobago. Next
up was doubles, Jason and 1 would have quite the match up against Alistar and
Will, and unfortunately we were unable to pull it off and went down fighting at
least. I was denied the doubles title but that wouldn't be the end of the night
for me last up was mixed. Me and Nekeshia have never played mixed together
before this tournament so to make it to finals together was a fantastic
surprise and possible the start of something more for us. That was all the
matches all that was left was the awards ceremony. After collecting all my
medals and prize money, taking some pictures with fans and friends, conversing
with media and getting my congratulations from family I went out with my
friends for dinner. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNA_M_M9JZbWHcEoiDZJ__40i87RrXQSL1MNTYUn082lzYi_ICaKuCCripe68QThx3c1dVoeiQGFvGYlRbrNrAfdCFJXlCRJpclSA8m_k1DOqkb-Hy3WxfvDybQgONGrHQW3eWYNi2s0/s1600/DSC_3759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNA_M_M9JZbWHcEoiDZJ__40i87RrXQSL1MNTYUn082lzYi_ICaKuCCripe68QThx3c1dVoeiQGFvGYlRbrNrAfdCFJXlCRJpclSA8m_k1DOqkb-Hy3WxfvDybQgONGrHQW3eWYNi2s0/s1600/DSC_3759.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1st place singles, 2nd place men's doubles and 2nd place mixed doubles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnvl2JW1I0m3qq0m37TOiiCFmSa8cvlD0gnXTjQ1jOAcZwzctCtG9DkLhyJNM_E7M1YpQ8_F751G7wLK35CRESqL6JCeTWFbAE0heZj4AW5626Q6gHX1lpzBZkYjsgPuWAWlLnQDxuDU/s1600/DSC_3768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnvl2JW1I0m3qq0m37TOiiCFmSa8cvlD0gnXTjQ1jOAcZwzctCtG9DkLhyJNM_E7M1YpQ8_F751G7wLK35CRESqL6JCeTWFbAE0heZj4AW5626Q6gHX1lpzBZkYjsgPuWAWlLnQDxuDU/s1600/DSC_3768.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture with my bestie Shannon </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYSgx7oeYbIL9YC7cQW2nWQ5pvrrF8cTIJy7YmIlpg52ULuAsZHBVwWJL0hyphenhyphenuvSbIY62ThIWVxiQwyx0t-L-oLAFPdCq6uEycCzb9T1DXLSQ6ZoYooWAX2Kvx3xyvxe9QLvpMz5EB5DI/s1600/11060166_10205988763707663_4553514916468076438_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYSgx7oeYbIL9YC7cQW2nWQ5pvrrF8cTIJy7YmIlpg52ULuAsZHBVwWJL0hyphenhyphenuvSbIY62ThIWVxiQwyx0t-L-oLAFPdCq6uEycCzb9T1DXLSQ6ZoYooWAX2Kvx3xyvxe9QLvpMz5EB5DI/s1600/11060166_10205988763707663_4553514916468076438_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mens singles top 4 all from the same club, Left to Right: 1st Me, 3/4 Sheraz, 2nd Anil, 3/4 Naim</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4w5ITSzuXd4Vek0yEq_EkaLmZyzMFVC8Tv2GiDbzUgni0E1H3PA77YgRAzF0kJX4J806QUEGzON5Euc-VcRLkxgBozr8JXw0rjJOxazUp8YJu5jprNgHzCHQbUh6Xe9k2r7fD5QjAOc/s1600/11066024_10205988723906668_5071463651738465372_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ4w5ITSzuXd4Vek0yEq_EkaLmZyzMFVC8Tv2GiDbzUgni0E1H3PA77YgRAzF0kJX4J806QUEGzON5Euc-VcRLkxgBozr8JXw0rjJOxazUp8YJu5jprNgHzCHQbUh6Xe9k2r7fD5QjAOc/s1600/11066024_10205988723906668_5071463651738465372_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CRISTAR Badminton Club. my club and my great friends</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Dinner after winning a national title…you know what that
means…yes that’s right I had a hamburger not just any hamburger but the king of
all king burgers. I would have taken a picture but after 3 finals I was
starving and just inhaled that sucker. After chatting with my club
mates/friends about a fantastic nationals and enjoying the celebrations it had
yet to sink in or hit me that I was the national champion. To me it was just
like any other win, I was happy and proud of it but that’s all. To this day I
get a little giddy about it but nothing over the top celebratory, guess that’s
my way of celebrating it I didn't even scream when I won the match point but
inside I was thrilled. This took us till past 1am in the morning and that meant
I would have to go home and pack because I had a 7:30am flight to catch,
despite all that I got about maybe 20-30 minutes of sleep that night and then
made my way to the airport. 5 hour flight to Houston, 5 hour layover in
Houston, 4 hour flight to Calgary and 10:30pm Monday night I was home and very
tired. I slept the entire day the next day to make up for it and just like that
I was back to the grind training and coaching. I got a lot of congratulations
from friends, and some friends even took me out to celebrate over dinner. </div>
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<a href="http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Canadian-is-king-in-Nationals-296510331.html" target="_blank">http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Canadian-is-king-in-Nationals-296510331.html</a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyh2NgNLTrtndkaO1KX7FCubS5A2y4e8sWsAhJ-eDORHX6cn9kVZfTon4LTPbGwo2ExhePAJW6i9VKLSFcorMvUX12NxTGboxT-tqoIHJYqCYYgH1dft5k-Mbd3o7Gic36GpzPzxnRX-M/s1600/10470590_10155262549215562_8701412198893818215_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyh2NgNLTrtndkaO1KX7FCubS5A2y4e8sWsAhJ-eDORHX6cn9kVZfTon4LTPbGwo2ExhePAJW6i9VKLSFcorMvUX12NxTGboxT-tqoIHJYqCYYgH1dft5k-Mbd3o7Gic36GpzPzxnRX-M/s1600/10470590_10155262549215562_8701412198893818215_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Group picture, chowing down</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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This was just the beginning as Rio 2016 Olympic
Qualifications start May 2015 and run until May 2016 that gives me a 1 year
period to play as many tournaments as I can and try to qualify for a spot at
the Olympics. That means planning out my year and training as hard as I can
trying to change and work on aspects of my game that I need to in training. My
next tournament will probably be in May the Trinidad and Tobago International,
first one of the Olympic qualification period. Until then it’s just train train
train and see where I can go. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com60Trinidad and Tobago10.691803 -61.2225030000000178.6842905 -63.815276500000017 12.6993155 -58.629729500000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3617369016037610474.post-76844804243933976222015-03-17T15:19:00.000-07:002015-03-17T15:19:45.176-07:002015 China International Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3z_1eqNFBRViRdpkkh7RR6JKA6wIGgmh_llzI9W2ut56Oxjq55yl8inrpQ8DCt4gQCXp6wMrN1I4gr2W6EeZIlMKHVK_ZcZ_KRXbQRAhDqeM80ddhgmYtgsIesIGJ74_IPYtCI28KVK4/s1600/DSC_3652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3z_1eqNFBRViRdpkkh7RR6JKA6wIGgmh_llzI9W2ut56Oxjq55yl8inrpQ8DCt4gQCXp6wMrN1I4gr2W6EeZIlMKHVK_ZcZ_KRXbQRAhDqeM80ddhgmYtgsIesIGJ74_IPYtCI28KVK4/s1600/DSC_3652.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Christmas and New Years had passed, 2015 was upon us and my
first tournament of the year would take me back to China The country where I
have gone many times to train as well have spent a considerable amount of time away
from home there. The 2015 China International challenge would be in Lingshui
which was in Hinan province, a tropical island in southern China. The
tournament was the end of January so this wouldn't give me much time to get
everything in order (Visa, tournament arrangements, etc.) but I did get it all
done. This being an International Challenge there was big points in even just 1<sup>st</sup>
round because it was a 32 size draw and not a 64 size. This being a 32 size and
my world ranking being rather low at the time close to the 300’s I was unsure
If I would make it into the main draw if a lot of people had entered the
tournament. To my luck and surprise there was only 32 entries into the singles
draw and every player had made it into the main rounds. I saw some familiar
names in the draw, two players from Australia who I had just seen in Korea
about 2 months earlier. There was also a very familiar Netherlands player who I
had met many times before and talked to a lot in Tahiti amongst a few others. I
drew a player from Japan so that would make things interesting but I was up for
the challenge.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54FbXu-CBzlGV1CGg0nJ5A2fohoeGQrt2uxF3Q4srE4OeopPg9k6gd3lSsgM_CR3PFOaTCIsspVXSsKBluhrCIqoB084C71ALxA9jIKezDjWTF6in9zHhyphenhyphenzCor6vNBSv-fBgQy9yCSp8/s1600/IMG_3783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54FbXu-CBzlGV1CGg0nJ5A2fohoeGQrt2uxF3Q4srE4OeopPg9k6gd3lSsgM_CR3PFOaTCIsspVXSsKBluhrCIqoB084C71ALxA9jIKezDjWTF6in9zHhyphenhyphenzCor6vNBSv-fBgQy9yCSp8/s1600/IMG_3783.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1B8J0yjvI0IzJtD9MddEZZzEfyncBH1RXMu949BGDJXoVn6GfRa0TeiiTqcdoDgbAPb797ziz_s5bsOjz-Vr-Le3R1BySqMM5bSak8QICb1Q4qvyjDMvpvixyrPVXusUBt_KOaFvLZCQ/s1600/DSC_3654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1B8J0yjvI0IzJtD9MddEZZzEfyncBH1RXMu949BGDJXoVn6GfRa0TeiiTqcdoDgbAPb797ziz_s5bsOjz-Vr-Le3R1BySqMM5bSak8QICb1Q4qvyjDMvpvixyrPVXusUBt_KOaFvLZCQ/s1600/DSC_3654.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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The time came for me to make the trip out to China, one
would think it is awesome to travel and compete but let me break it down for
you. It would take me almost 24 hours to get there and the same to get back,
going I lose an entire day leaving Canada Saturday afternoon and arriving
around 11pm Sunday night. Then leaving China early Friday afternoon of that
same week and arriving back in Canada a few hours after I had originally left
China. That would give me 4 in the country itself, the tournament would start
on Wednesday with first rounds meaning Monday and Tuesday would be devoted to
recovering from the trip and practice, Wednesday would be playing my match. So
that left Wednesday after my match and Thursday to do whatever I wanted to if I
didn't win my match and advance to play Wednesday. But I had to travel there
first, after coaching for 4 and a half hours early Saturday morning I made my
way to the airport to head to Vancouver and catch my connecting flight to
Beijing which was a whopping 12 hours on its own. From Beijing I would have a
quick layover and have to catch my flight from there to Senya a capital city in
Hinan and from there drive over an hour to the city of Lingshui. Finally
arriving at my destination at around 1:30am Monday morning I was rather tired
and happy to get into a real bed as opposed to trying to sleep in an airplane
seat. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaha4yL8NQiNkeX_89OnecfrGX8Tl_X4D1GVlSnVuLUnXVMdrS9Ds01FcyWCaZOqjL7w5eTnKk53_njeUuMdRAHRsZrzhZ7FJTNrw__-YiiTFmZVs1fGKqQX5u_zRO6-v8ipxxPYNIm0/s1600/DSC_3644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaha4yL8NQiNkeX_89OnecfrGX8Tl_X4D1GVlSnVuLUnXVMdrS9Ds01FcyWCaZOqjL7w5eTnKk53_njeUuMdRAHRsZrzhZ7FJTNrw__-YiiTFmZVs1fGKqQX5u_zRO6-v8ipxxPYNIm0/s1600/DSC_3644.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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After sleeping through half the day to fight off jet lag I
made it out to practice at 2 different places. The first was the practice venue
at a high school which was a huge campus and then the 2<sup>nd</sup> place was
at the main hall which was one of the larger stadiums that I have played in. It
was nice but the downside was the lights on both side were directly angled so
that it was in your eyes if you looked up. Other than that the venue was set up
very professionally and a pleasure to play in. Being the only player from
Trinidad and not traveling with a coach gets hard at times, it’s usually just
me and that doesn't give me a partner to practice with. Another player that I
knew in the draw pulled out as well as some other players had yet to arrive
when I was there to possibly have a hit with. So I was assigned a volunteer
when I checked into the hotel and he was amazing organizing for some of the
local players to come out a spar with me. That was great to have so I got lots
of practice in the first day before the tournament something that I don’t
always have the opportunity to do. There were lots of volunteers in the venue
and they had never seen a foreigner before or somebody like me so they would
line up after I finished practicing to get pictures with me. Heading back to the hotel I went out for a
night walk and saw the area as it was hustling and bustling which was nice I
like how busy it gets at night. Finding food I retired back to the hotel and
hunkered down for the night getting ready for what would come the next day. </div>
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Tuesday rolled around and because there were no qualification
matches that meant that we could us the main venue for practice. Once again I
didn't have anybody to practice with but was fortunate enough once again to
meet some players from Malaysia and got to practice with them for a good hour
and a half, playing mostly games with them which was a huge benefit. That was a
lot later in the day so when I finished it was night almost which left me
little time to really do anything else in the city or see anything. I went to
the grocery store and bought some groceries which would last me the week as
well as dinner at one of the local shops and my favorite bubble tea with
pearls, I could buy 2-3 of those a day easily. Game day was right around the
corner, quite literally, my match was the following morning and I was going to
make sure that I got enough rest for that so an early night was in order.
Wednesday rolled around, the weather was nice and good breakfast I had. Making
my way over the venue early (it was within walking distance) was a little
nerve-wracking as I knew that I was up for a hard game against the Japanese
player and I would be on the TV court yet again. </div>
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The match started and I was feeling decent I was moving good
and was able to push the Japanese player around the court. Simple mistakes were
what cost me the most points in the match but overall I felt the best at the
net and was able to win my points there. But in the end I was unable to push
the match to 3 or keep it a close 2 but I was happy with the results in ways. </div>
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<br /><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KShmL4QBbH4/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KShmL4QBbH4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Just like that the match was done and my tournament had come
to an end, yet another first round exit at an international but the amount of
points I got was worth it. So it was still early in the morning, noon had just
passed which meant I still had half the day left to go out and see whatever I
could around the city/hotel. Stretching and watching a few matches in the venue
I headed back to the hotel and grabbed lunch while my volunteer asked me what
sights I would like to see outside of the city and started to arrange for it.
After checking out things in the immediate area I came back to the hotel with
food ate in the room and met up with the volunteer to discuss my plans. The two
possible places that I could go was a place called Monkey Island or to one of
the beautiful beaches, the downside though each location was about 1-2 hours
away and just getting there would be a pain in the ass. Because of this I
decided not to go and would just spend my last full day bumming around Lingshui
before heading back home. The rest would do me good as it was something that I
wouldn't get back home for a while. Looking around the city I was able to see
some of the statues and public art that was around my hotel as well as take a
dip in the amazing pool that the hotel had. Thursday had come to an end and I
don’t know where the day went at all. I picked up some last minute snacks at
the grocery store that I wanted to bring back to Canada with me and then
started packing for the long…and I mean long journey back to Canada. </div>
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Leaving the hotel in Lingshui early Friday morning we drove
straight for the almost 2 hours to get to Sanya and the international airport
there where I would catch my flight back to Beijing. The fight back to Beijing
was rather full and upon arrival the plane did not park at the terminal to exit
directly into the airport we parked on the tarmac and had to exit there taking
a shuttle to the airport. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy because it was
“cold” in Beijing and all I was wearing was a t-shirt but it was only +5 which
to me in Canada is warm so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. After waiting what seemed like an eternity
for my bag I rushed to check in for my flight back home through Vancouver which
I made and just got to the gate as they started to board the flight. As much as
I love china I didn't want to have to spend another night and miss my flight
because I was to work the following day (Saturday) at 8:30am. The flight home
was just as long as going but I slept and was able to watch a good amount of
movies that was where everything went smooth and then in Vancouver waiting to
go back to Calgary a wrench got thrown into the system. They boarded us on the
flight to Calgary but there was a mechanical issue so with us still on the
plane they tried to fix the problem, I had long since passed out at this point
in my seat. An hour later I woke up and realized we were still on the ground,
hadn't even left that’s when they deplaned us and arranged for another flight
that would depart an hour later. I was dead tired at this point and when we
boarded the new flight I passed out as I sat down and woke up as we landed in
Calgary so that was a good was to pass the time. </div>
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That was the trip to China in a nutshell. It was weird for
me because every previous time I would go to china to train and would be there
3-4 months if not longer so to only got for 4 days and a bit was foreign to me.
I did not know how to feel about it, I was happy to be back in China after so
long but was sad to only be in the country so short. The tournament was the tournament
I can’t comment much on that, I needed the points and getting 920 from an
international challenge in main draw isn't bad at all. Coming off the win in
Puerto Rico a month earlier was giving me some confidence but I still wasn't
able to get a win in Asia. I have had wins in every other region that I have
played in but have yet to get one in the Asia continent. Next up after this
would be Trinidad nationals which I got 2<sup>nd</sup> place at the previous
year so this year I would be going for the title. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
Nicholas Bonkowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08595788157056980361noreply@blogger.com0Lingshui, Hainan, China18.506048 110.0375040000000118.021811 109.38931050000001 18.990285 110.68569750000002