2016 THAIHOT China Open Super Series Premier Fuzhou, China

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.

BWF tournaments

Olympics – top of the top, highest level tournament and requires players to qualify over a 1 year period

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)

Team tournaments – Surdiman cup, Thomas cup, Uber cup

Super Series Premier – top 40 in the world regularly attend, top 10 always present (32 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)

Super Series – top 50 in the world regularly attend, top 10 always present (32 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)

Grand Prix Gold – usually players ranked top 100 in the world will play (64 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)

Grand Prix – usually players ranked top 150 players in the world will play (64 in main draw, 16 in qualifications)

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)

International Series – low level tournament (32 or 64 in men’s singles and 32 in all other draws, 32 to 64 in qualifications) 

Future Series – lowest level tournament and does not have any prize money, minimal world ranking points as well

 

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.

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.

Lounge in Beijing, I am no stranger there



Lounge food in Asia is easily the best period

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.

Breakfast at the tournament hotel, yes all that is just for me

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.

The main stadium

Practice hall

 

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.

 

 



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).  

Thanks to Yuko I got to know Viktor and hold his bronze medal from the 2016 Olympics

Also got fortunate enough to get a picture with Chen Long, Olympic gold medalist

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.

 

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.

It was very relaxing

Somebody say fire

During

The aftermath

 

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.

The stadium from the outside

Giant Soccer stadium

 

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.

2016 Beijing, China – Part 1

*Warning this is my longest blog post to date…its long and has lots of pictures hence why it’s in 2 parts*

 

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.

 

Day 1 – Arrival

 

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.

 

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.

 

GR Mall... huge thing just barely fits in the whole panorama

Day 2 – Self tour of the Summer Palace

 

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.

 

The river while walking to the summer palace

 

The place had amazing buildings and all the details mind blowing

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

My favorite picture that I have taken to date

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.

 

Day 3 – Tea in Beijing

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

Tienamin square, famous for many things

 

 

Nom nom nom all the desserts

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.

 

Inside the tea house

 

Performances at the tea house

 

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.

2015 China International Challenge

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^st 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.

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.

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^nd 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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^nd place at the previous year so this year I would be going for the title.