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.
Hotel room doesn't look to bad
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.
Until you realize exactly how small it is foe what it costs
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.
Some of the food from the buffet, there was so much
So many desserts they were amazing
Live orchestra and singers
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.
We got a nice invasion to dinner and my player tag and program
Tournament venue, very cool set up
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.
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.
Harbour front on a slightly gloomy day
I do love me some panoramas
Bruce Lee statue
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.
Outside the Tournament venue
Outside the tournament venue
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.
Gotta love lounge food
Security and all coming to our rescue while stranded on the runway in Beijing
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.
So I had returned from Brazil and the next
tournament was already selected, Macau Open GPG would be the next and likely
last trip for the year. Sujay wanted to play doubles together so we were going
to do that, last minute he wasn't sure if he would be able to attend though.
Through all the chaos and uncertainty he ended up being able to go but in the
intermediate stage I had invited somebody else to accompany me in order to keep
the hotel cost down. So this meant that we would be sharing a room and Sujay
would be on his own. The day came and it was going to be a long journey but one
that I have flown at least 12+ times already. Flying Calgary to Hong Kong and
then would have to catch the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau. All in all it was
only about 18 hours of traveling which wasn't too bad. This time I would have
some wonderful travel company so that was something new minus traveling with
Jason in the summer.
The flight to Hong Kong was rather smooth
until we approached Hong Kong and were put into a holding pattern due to
weather. Eventually we landed and couldn't cut it any closer with just making
in time to get our luggage onto the ferry. Once the time came we boarded the
high speed ferry which zipped over the darkened bay on route to Macau. Like a
scene out of a movie the Las Vegas of Asia grew from a single point of light
into a multidimensional city with flashing lights and bright buildings. The
waterfront view was amazing and at the same time a welcoming sight that we were
finally at our destination. The tournament representative picked us up and
drove us to the tournament venue for some odd reason but it was nice to check
out the stadium where I would be competing. It was well put together but
preparations were not finished at that point. After a short discussion they
took us to our hotel, the hotel was quite grand. Nothing compared to the giant
casino hotels mind you but still impressive in its own regards. Sujay got in
the following morning and we arranged to go have a practice session on the main
courts of the hall.
Under the bridge to the Macau ferry terminal
View from the hotel room
After a solid practice session things were
looking good, had another day to kill before I would have to play my match
against my Malaysian opponent in the main draw. But first before that would
happen there was a big event to attend to. The opening ceremony and dinner for
the 2013 Macau Open Grand Prig Gold. It was being held at the MGM Grand casino
in one of the ball rooms, all the players were in attendance along with some
special guests. We boarded the bus and drove off to the MGM where we were
greeted with a gigantic ballroom with tables upon tables upon tables. The
dinner itself was a 10 course affair. The food just kept on coming as delicious
as each dish was evoking unique tastes and building upon the last. The
highlight of the night for me at least was the fact that Lee Chong Wei and
Taufik Hidayat were in attendance, while they were not playing in the
tournament they were there for publicity reasons. I was fortunate enough to get
a picture with each of them and exchange a few words when they each asked where
Trinidad and Tobago was and other things. It was a legitimate fan girl moment
if anything describes it, of course I didn't show it on the outside but on the
inside I was happy and was a dream to meet them. Dinner came to an end and we
retreated back to our hotels in order to prepare for the start of the
tournament the following day.
First round matches came along and I was up
against Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin of Malaysia, it was going to be a tough
one. I went in there and did my thing playing to my abilities but in the end he
was simply a caliber above me and nothing really threatened him. It was a big
sign that I needed to change a lot in order to threaten and compete with the
big boys. In the past two tournaments (Sao Paolo International and this Macau
GPG) I was knocked out by players who were in the top 50 in the world. The
thing is that when playing them I couldn't put as much pressure on them as they
could on me and when I was able to put pressure on them I couldn't compound it
and finish the points. The experience overall was a good one to see what I was
lacking. Me and Sujay also played doubles together and had to qualify for the
tournament as we didn't have a world ranking. We played against a pair from
Hong Kong and for our first time playing together things turned out pretty well
actually. Although we lost the match it was a fun time and we may play together
in the future who knows.
After the tournament was done there was
some time to sight see around Macau. The day after me and Sujay were knocked
out of singles we went to one of the stadiums that was built for the Asian
games when it was held in Macau. It was massive just beyond the size of
anything in Calgary or to stadiums in North America with the exception of some
of the Olympic stadiums. That was a good session and got to see the Malaysian
team along with Lee Chong Wei practice.
After that it was time to go sight see,
first up on the list were the ruins of St. Paul’s cathedral which proved rather
elusive for us to find. After thinking that we were on the right path and
following signs we ended up at a fort overlooking the city. The view was
amazing and the fact that it was already night meant that the city was already
lit up and the hustle of thousands of people was in full swing. So after taking
some pictures from up there we ended up spotting the ruins in the distance all
lit up and not too far from where we were. The hard part was finding a route to
get there through the winding and narrow streets. We went one way but it ended
up leading us right in a circle so we tried the “back way” which with all the
luck led us right to the ruins. From the ruins it led us back to Seanado square
which is a giant shopping and open area in the heart of Macau. This being
November meant that yes there were already Christmas decorations set up and the
place was feeling and looking like Christmas.
The following day we had to leave Macau
back to Hong Kong to spend the night there and then catch our flight back to
Calgary the following day. So morning came we did our final preparations and
ate the last meal in Macau not to mention all had a farewell drink in the hotel
lounge before leaving to the ferry terminal. Boarded the ferry and set off on
the voyage back but there was some rough waters and a little bit of delays. We
arrived and headed off to the airport hotel just for convenience sake so that
we wouldn't have to travel early the next day to catch our flight. Once checked
in and all fueled up the trek down to the harbor to see the lights started. It
didn't take long and was a nice bus ride there. Thankfully it wasn't too cold
outside but still warranted needing a light jacket, compared to Canada where
there was snow on the ground. The harbor lights were great as always and drew
in a huge crowd not to one’s surprise. After spending some time there and
taking in the sights we walked around a bit and enjoyed the sights then
proceeded to catch our bus back to the hotel for the night. Once back the rest
of the night consisted of me finishing off school assignments as it would be my
final semester and I had already taken time off the month before to go to
Brazil for a tournament.
The day of departure came quick and once
again we were in the airport catching our flight. After checking in the usual
activities occurred and headed off to the lounge to relax and eat. Jivanya
hadn't spent much time in the lounges at airports that are available for the
elite travelers so this was a fun experience for her and she took full
advantage of it enjoying all the amenities available. We stayed in the lounge
the whole time and then only headed out to the gate a little before boarding
checking through a few shops before that. The flight heading back to Canada was
rather full and while heading to Hong Kong we had a row of 3 seats all to
ourselves this time somebody else was also in the row with us. After boarding
the flight I pretty much passed out only waking up to eat for the first half of
the flight, while watching movies for the second half.
Overall it was a learning experience,
playing players in the top 50 makes me realize how big of a gap there is. Even
playing players in the top 100 or 200 the difference in their skill and
strategic play is very noticeable. Macau would be my last international for the
year but I didn't know it at the time. I was going to try and fit one more into
the schedule and that would have been the Puerto Rico international but stupid
me I didn't sign up and it ended up being a great tournament to attend points
wise. With that being said this was my last semester of university I had
finished all my core courses and was just taking options to finish off my
degree. Heading back to Canada the end of November from Asia meant that finals
were coming up soon and I would need to study for those as well as finish
projects that I had missed and assignments that were due. I would be looking
forward to graduating and finally being done with school to pursue work and
badminton as full time now.
