2016 Trinidad and Tobago Nationals

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^th 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.

 

The photographer really liked to get pictures of me drinking water

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^rd 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.

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.

Funny faces are what I do best and frequently on court

Singles was up first and I played a slightly older recreational players who played for one of the oil companies, followed by the 2^nd 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.

 

More water bottle drinking pictures

So when the 2^nd 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^rd 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.

During singles

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.

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.

So a 1^st place in singles, 2^nd place in mixed doubles, and 3^rd place in men’s doubles would be the medal haul for the 2016 nationals.

 

1st place mens singles, retained my title and 2 time national champion

 

2nd place in mixed for the 2nd year in a row

3rd place mens doubles

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.

2015 Trinidad and Tobago Nationals

March 5^th to 16^th 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.

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.

Landing in Trinidad at night

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.

Point Fortin Regional Facility...yeah great place...

At least I made it out to the beach though

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.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Bonkowsky-back-in-TT-for-Nationals-296014681.html

Drink hamper that I won in the raffle at the tournament

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^nd game easily and then the 3^rd 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.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Canadian-beats-Espinoza-again-296341011.html

My support, Tishelle and Shannon

Saturday came around, 3^rd 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^st seeds and secured our spot in 3 finals each. That was a satisfying feeling.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Blake-Bonkowsky-advance-to-three-finals-296393981.html

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.

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. 

1st place singles, 2nd place men's doubles and 2nd place mixed doubles

Picture with my bestie Shannon 

Mens singles top 4 all from the same club, Left to Right: 1st Me, 3/4 Sheraz, 2nd Anil, 3/4 Naim

CRISTAR Badminton Club. my club and my great friends

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.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Canadian-is-king-in-Nationals-296510331.html

Group picture, chowing down

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. 

2014 Trinidad and Tobago National Championships

All the winners, runners up, and semifinalists at nationals

So the time came for the Trinidad and Tobago national championships to take place, April 22-27^th 2014. Of course I flew down to Trinidad to play in them. I had been in Richmond, Vancouver for almost 2 months at that point training hard so I was prepared to make a statement at nationals. This time I arrived in the country early so that I would have time to train and get use to the conditions as they are very very different that playing anywhere in Canada both shuttle speed and just facility wise too. The practice that we god before nationals was good and got to hit in the actual tournament venue a few times which was nice as it made me get more accustomed with things.

CRISTAR - Nationals venue and my clubs home

I have lots of supporters back home from fellow club mates, training partners, friends, relatives, and fans that were all excited to see me play in nationals. The previous year due to some unfortunate luck in the making of the draw I was put up against the winner of the tournament first round. This time he (Kerwin Pantin) was seeded 2^nd in the tournament and I was on the top half with the 1^st seed, he would be my 2^nd round match. So with all the practice done the time came around for matches to start on Tuesday April 22^nd in the night. They played 2 rounds that night and I was lucky enough to get the 1^st round to warm up it was a fairly easy game but I took the time to get accustomed with things. The 1^st seed didn’t have a first round as he had a bye, so I would be his first round match. So the time came that I would play Allister the first seed and everybody was paying attention to that match it seemed. It was a 3 game match and he played very well but in the end I came out on top and acquired a lot of new supporters because of it.

Giving a TV interview before the awards ceremony

I don’t live in Trinidad, I was born and raised Canadian but my mom was born and grew up in Trinidad and Tobago before moving to Canada. So through her I got my Trinidadian citizenship which allows me to compete for them internationally. Because of this I am not in the country much and just come home for nationals or the odd vacation. This means that the badminton players down there that are not from my club never really get to see me and my abilities until the championships roll around each year. This lead to quite the interesting newspaper headlines for me during the tournament, with each round that I progressed the titles got more and more interesting. I made it all the way to the singles final with some interesting matches on the way there. I went 3 games with the rest of my opponents as well not being able to adjust as quickly to the conditions. Overall things were good though and the players were quite fun to play against. In the semi-final match I played against my fellow club mate who was 2 points away from match point but I came back and won 5 points in a row to close out the game and take the match securing my spot in the finals.

Links to some of the online articles about me (they were also published in the local papers):

"Canadian shocks top seed"

|"Canadian reaches national semis"

"Canadian escapes again to reach national final"

I got a day to rest in-between the semifinals and the finals which would take place the Sunday night. I rested up as playing on the courts down there had taken a toll on my body and various parts of me were starting to hurt and be beyond sore. The day of rest did some good though I was able to go out to the zoo with one of my best friends and we had a great day together. That was something that I really needed to keep me grounded and not stressed/anxious. So finals came around and it was in classic finals style. One court, line judges, the full package. The news was there and some VIP’s were also in attendance from sponsors to past players, etc all there to watch the finals. This was not the first tournament final I have been in but this wasn’t just another provincial tournament in Alberta this was my countries nationals. Something that I wanted to win badly but also left me feeling nervous. I was up against the 2^nd seed Kerwin Pantin who had 6 national titles in singles behind him already. Last year the scores were decently close and this year things started off with a bang 1^st game I lost 19-21 and then it all went downhill from there. My body didn’t like me anymore didn’t want to cooperate with me at all, my mental fall apart and with it so did my game plan. fast forward I actually ended up messing up my inner hip and required about 3 weeks of recovery and rehab to fix it upon returning home. The 2^nd set wasn’t a pretty sight and it was pretty much just self-destruction that occurred and got the better of me. Kerwin played fantastic and did what he does, that’s the reason he is the national champion. So once again I had lost to him and would be the runner up at the 2014 Trinidad and Tobago National Championships.

Receiving my prize money and medal 

Mens singles (left to right): Semifinalists, Runner up (Me), Winner

My medal and winnings

That would mark the end of the nationals, I did play doubles and mixed but those unfortunately didn’t turn out as well. I made quarterfinals for both of those events eventually losing to the 1^st seeds. The experience was a great one and I am happy that I flew down to Trinidad and played in the championships. I had a great performance and would hope that it would have been enough to warrant my selection onto the commonwealth games team. The event would be happening the end of August in Glasgow, Scotland and was one of the things that I had been training hard for the past 4 years. Commonwealth is a mini Olympics for the Commonwealth countries and therefore something amazing to be able to attend. Flash forward a few months Trinidad unfortunately much to our demise did not send a badminton team to the Commonwealth games. I was heartbroken and most of the other players from Trinidad were also feeling the pain of not getting to go either.

Farewell and victory dinner with my club mates

That was the end of my trip to Trinidad though, short and sweet I really didn’t get to do much else other than see the zoo and hang out a lot with Shannon. Because I made it so far in the tournament I was unable to make a trip to the beach which I am so sad about. The last time I was on the beach and swam in the ocean was May 2013 in Tahiti, French Polynesia while I was there for a tournament. I packed things up and got ready to head back home, but first I would be making a quick stop (3 days) in Calgary before going back to Vancouver and back to training to prepare for upcoming international tournaments; Argentina International and Venezuela International. 

Zoo with Shannon

Shannon, me, and the giraffes