No Comments »February 12, 2010 Badminton Canada Junior Elite Series
The draws for the 2010 Black Knight Alberta Junior Elite are now available on Tournament Software. Sorry, no predictions from me this time, I really have no idea who’s who in juniors anymore.
2010 Black Knight Alberta Junior Elite Draws
No Comments »February 9, 2010 Badminton Canada Elite Series, video
Here is the finals match of the 2010 Canadian Nationals. We missed about half of the first rally, sorry 
Jon Vandervet and Milaine Cloutier vs Alvin Lau and Fiona McKee
No Comments »January 31, 2010 Badminton Canada Elite Series
Another year has gone by, and yet another nationals. This year was ripe with opportunity for young talent, and they seized the day. A number of our top players stopped playing this season and that left the door open for others to come in. The most noticeable of which being the mens singles. The host organizers put on a great event, the players put on a great show, and last but certainly not least, the locals played host to a great night out on banquet night.
Mixed Doubles
Twelve years ago Jon Vandervet won the national under 16 mixed doubles title, and today proved to be doubley fruitful for Vandervet. Partnered with Milaine Cloutier, Vandervet faced off against his doubles partner Alvin Lau and Fiona McKee to win his first ever senior national title. After being crushed in the first game the Albertans came back to win 9-21, 21-14, 21-17. Unfortunately for myself, Vandervet would prove to be the only player capable of validating my predictions for the week.
Women’s Singles
Heading into this event I felt strongly the in order for Anna Rice to win this title she needed to be in good form physically. Rice’s game is a physical one and I believed that with her recent move back to Canada, and her lack of match play on the international tour, her performance would be less than she is capable of. I was however proven wrong when arrived at the tournament playing with her usual speed, and even perhaps her quieter travel schedule had helped her to be ready for this event. Rice won in two straight games 21-14, 21-15 to seal her place as Canada’s top women’s singles player.
Men’s Singles
This was without a doubt the wildcard event for the day. Both Alex Pang and Martin Giuffre were surprise finalists, however it was doubtful that Giuffre could pull his magic another round. Pang and Giuffre both appeared nervous on court, and their play reflected that. There were few long rallies, and to be frank it was one of the least exciting finals for the day, especially since both players are from the same club, and as a result the crowd was completely removed from the event and effectively there was no cheering. Pang was the most solid of the two and pulled out the win as he should over his younger counterpart 21-15, 21-18.
Women’s Doubles
While it was not a total blowout, this was the event with the most clear cut winner. Melody Liang and Lydia Jiang were clearly the top pair in the women’s doubles, and it showed today. They won out over Michelle Li and Alex Bruce 21-14, 21-15, and throughout the tournament they truly displayed that the were the top pair in Canada by crushing several of their opponents.
Men’s Doubles
The last match of the tournament, and the real glory prize for Jon Vandervet. While the mixed may have been satisfying there was no doubt after watching his demeanor that this was the one that Vandervet really wanted to win. After splitting the first two games, Lau and Vandervet made some crucial errors towards the end of the third game and found themselves down 20-18. However, the pair managed to hold on and Toby Ng and Adrian Liu let it slip, allowing Lau and Vandervet to run away with the third game and the championship 17-21, 21-13, 22-20.
This year’s nationals was very much a fresh tournament, with a number of new champions staking their claim. We may have lost a number of our top players this year to retirement, but the future looks bright with a good batch of young talents already doing well. This new crop of players have the potential to do some very great things in this sport, provided they have the belief and the passion to really go for it.
2010 Yonex Canadian National Championships Draws
No Comments »January 30, 2010 Badminton Canada Elite Series
Sorry for the delayed report, and somewhat incomplete. Our late night festivities distracted me.
Mixed Doubles
The matches started off with mixed doubles and a win for Alvin Lau and Fiona McKee over giant killers Francois Bourret and Florence Lavoie. The Quebec natives may have done well to upset the top seeds earlier this week, but they couldn’t keep it up as they lost 21-14, 21-19.
The next mixed match was much more closely contested with Derrick Ng and Melody Liang facing off against Jon Vandervet and Milaine Cloutier. Vandervet and Cloutier snuck out the first game 22-20, but then lost the second 18-21 to set up a final deciding game. The pairs were running even all the way until the end where Cloutier and Vandervet pulled ahead to win 21-17 and book Vandervet his first ever senior national final. It was on these very courts 12 years ago that Vandervet won his only ever national title in the under 16 mixed doubles, perhaps history will repeat itself tomorrow when he faces off against his doubles partner for the second time this month.
Women’s Singles
Top seed Michelle Li started off against her former club mate Jocelyn Ko with a very close first game win 22-20. In spite of a strong effort from Ko, Li was too quick and too tricky today winning the second game 21-10 to book her second consecutive national final. Her opponent in that final will be Anna Rice, who defeated her last year in a somewhat dominant performance. Rice defeated Valerie St Jacques in the semi-final 21-19, 21-11, and appears to be in good form heading into the finals for a title defense.
Men’s Singles
This is perhaps where we see the biggest upsets of the tournament. Both the first and second seeds were knocked out. It started first with Alex Pang defeating the top seed and heavy favourite David Snider in two straight games 21-19, 21-17. Pang struggled against Snider earlier this month in Toronto, but appears to be in top form this week. Here is what Alex had to say to me after the match.
I just watched my match in Toronto against David and I realized I play the wrong way against David. I played a much more aggressive style today than I ever have against David in practice or at Toronto. I really tried to dictate the pace this time, and he seemed to be uncomfortable with that.
The next match was an even bigger surprise with second seeded Stephan Wojcikiewicz falling to Martin Giuffre in two straight games 21-17, 21-18. Wojcikiewicz commented after the match that he was feeling fine while leading 17-11 in the first, but somehow allowed the first game to slip away from him, and from that point he was feeling the pressure. This will be Martin’s first ever senior Canadian elite series final. All in all a good day for the Glencoe Club with both their top prospects into the final.
For the rest of the results check out the official draws page below:
2010 Yonex Canadian National Championships Draw
No Comments »January 29, 2010 Badminton Canada Elite Series
Quarter finals has come to a close and as promised we were provided with much more excitement than the last rounds. Seeds fell, and the matches were definitely a much higher quality this morning.
Mixed Doubles
The first event of the day also provided what could be the biggest upset so far in the tournament. Top seeds Toby Ng and Grace Gao struggled to find their form against a strong performance from Francois Bourret and Florence Lavoie. Bourret and Lavoie won the match 21-18, 21-15 and will now face Alvin Lau and Fiona McKee who easily won their match against Darren Hong and Stephanie Ko 21-11, 21-8.
Next it was Jon Vandervet and Milaine Cloutier (my pick for the mixed title) facing off against Kevin Li and Alex Bruce. Vandervet and Cloutier showed that experience was the victor over vitality today as they cruised to a 21-15, 21-11 win. Tonight they will face Derrick Ng and Melody Liang who knocked out Timothy Ma and Lydia Jiang.
Mens Singles
Top seed David Snider struggled in the beginning against Philippe Gaumond, but managed to close out the first game 21-18. The second game however Snider turned up the pace and Gaumond failed to keep up with Snider taking it in a much more comfortable 21-8 scoreline. Alex Pang was in dominant form against Maxime Belanger and crushed him 21-4, 21-9. Pang will now face Snider in the semi-finals which could prove to be a very exciting match.
On the bottom of the draw we had what was likely the best mens singles match, and potentially the best quarter final match, between Joseph Rogers and Martin Giuffre. Giuffre was MIA at first and as a frantic group of Albertans scoured the Winnipeg Winter Club looking for the younger Calgarian. However Giuffre did find his way to the court on time nd drew first blood by winning the first game 21-14. A boisterous Rogers fought back however and squeaked out the next game 23-21 to force a third game, collecting a yellow card en route for good measure. The players drew even at 17 all in the third game before Giuffre pulled away with a 21-17 win to seal his place in the semi-finals where he will meet Stephan Wojcikiewicz who defeated Matt Younger in his quarter-final match.
Womens Singles
It was a close call for top seed Michelle Li against Florence Lavoie. The Torontonian was pushed the full distance, and was trailing 16-19 in the third game when she pulled a reversal on Lavoie to win the match 21-19 with 5 consecutive points. She will now face Jocelyn Ko who defeated an impressive Christin Tsai who is apparently still in the under 16 age category.
The bottom half of the draw was less closely contested with Valerie St Jacques defeating Alex Bruce 21-17, 21-8, and then Anna Rice defeating Phyllis Chan 21-7, 21-9. Rice looked particularly speedy on the court which bodes well for her chances in a potential finals match up against Michelle Li.
Mens Doubles
There were no upsets in the quarters for the mens doubles, and no three game matches either. As the matches progressed it started to become more and more apparent that we could be in for a treat if Jon Vandervet and Alvin Lau end up facing off against Toby Ng and Adrian Liu in the finals. They will however have to defeat Philippe Charron/Pieric Langlais Gagné and Maxime Belanger/Francois Bourret respectively.
Womens Doubles
The last event for the quarter-finals was the womens doubles. Only one seeded pair fell, but it would be hard to call it a big surprise as defending singles champion Anna Rice paired with defending doubles champion Grace Gao to defeat Florence Lavoie and Stephanie Ko 22-20, 21-9. They will face the top seeded pair, and last year’s runner ups Michelle Li and Alex Bruce who fought a three game match against Jocelyn Ko and Phyllis Chan and won 19-21, 21-16, 21-10. On the bottom half Lydia Jiang and Melody Liang defeated Fiona McKee and Kathleen Lougheed to set up their semi-final match against Milaine Cloutier and Valerie St Jacques.
We will have a report from the semi-finals later today.
2010 Yonex Canadian National Championships Draws
No Comments »January 29, 2010 Badminton Canada Elite Series
Alright everyone, day one is done at the nationals, and I have the results right here for you. I apologize for not getting this out to you soon, however I was distracted out at dinner with the father/son party combo of Don and Steve Smith, or should I say Don and his younger clone
Mens Singles
Few upsets or surprises in the men’s singles to report. The only seeds failing to make it to the quarter-finals stage are the youngster Nyl Yakura and Quebec native Manuel Thomas. Yakura lost to Maxime Belanger in the round of sixteen 21-10, 21-19. The young Ontarian appeared a bit nervous on court, and seemed to defeat himself. Belanger on the other hand was relatively solid. Manuel Thomas was knocked out by Winnipeg local Ryan Giesbrecht in three games 23-21, 16-21, 21-12 only for Giesbrecht to fall the next round to another local Matt Younger 21-12, 21-12.
Yakura Leaps to the Shuttle
The remainder of the seeds were relatively unchallenged today with the exception of Philippe Gaumond who dropped a game to Derrick Ng. Joseph Rogers, the 3/4 seed seemed to be sporting the “outdoorsman” look today in an effort to intimidate his opponents. The tactic seemed to be successful as both his matches went fairly smoothly including a 21-8, 21-10 win over Mark Docksteader (aka Doctor Dock).
Joseph Rogers in Top Form
Second seeded Stephan Wojcikiewicz was taken by surprise in the first game of his match against Nova Scotia’s Ajit Sidhu, barely pulling away at the end 21-17 after a close battle up to 17 all. The second game however was all Stephan’s as he got comfortable and Sidhu started to unravel. Final score 21-17, 21-10.
Women’s Singles
The women’s singles had no seeds falling with the exception of Charmaine Reid who withdrew due to an injury. Once again the remaining seeds were relatively unchallenged except for Phyllis Chan who had to fight for her win over Daphnée Laliberté after losing the first game 16-21. The rest of the match was smooth for Chan who closed out the match with a final score of 16-21, 21-10, 21-11. Tomorrow Chan will play second seeded Anna Rice. Not a whole lot to report in the women’s singles today, although tomorrow will likely be more exciting with the quarters and semis.
Mens Doubles
Not to be biased, but this is where the real action was today. The match of the day, without a doubt, was the mens doubles match between Sam Parrish and Matt Younger against Andy Lam and a spectacularly brilliant Emmet Gibney. However, in spite of that brilliance the home crowd favourites Parrish and Younger won the match in a nail biting 21-18, 22-24, 21-19 marathon match. All eyes will be on the consolation draw tomorrow as Lam and Gibney take to the court again.
Wiranata as a Doubles Player?
Elsewhere in the doubles draw things went as planned except the upset of 3/4 seeds Tommy McKee and Kevin Li to Philippe Charron and Pieric Langlais Gagné 26-24, 21-14. Another thriller for the day was when Mark Docksteader partnered up with former world number one Ardy Wiranata against Francois Champagne and Manuel Thomas. The Quebec based pair took the edge in the end 25-23, 21-19 and will now face Charron and Gagné.
Womens Doubles
There were a lot of lopsided matches in the womens doubles today. In fact I believe there were more single digits scores in this event than any other for the day. With the exception of Jocelyn Ko and Phyllis Chan’s win over Stephanie Pakenham and Caroline Vézina, no matches went three games. Ko and Chan won the match 21-12, 21-23, 21-16 and now face top seeded Alex Bruce and Michelle Li who had a bye and did not play today.
Mixed Doubles
Finally the last event for the day. No seeds fell for the day, and no seeds were pushed to three games. Tomorrow will likely bring more drama and excitement, and hopefully we’ll start seeing some seeds falling 
Forgive the brief post, but it’s 2am and time for bed.
2010 Yonex Canadian National Championships Draws
No Comments »January 23, 2010 Badminton Canada Junior Elite Series
For those juniors and parents of juniors who want to follow the latest results from the Canadian junior circuit here are the draws from the Black Knight Quebec Junior Elite Series.
Black Knight Quebec Junior Elite Series 2010 Draws
Lots of tough players in the draw too. Here are the seeds:
No Comments »January 20, 2010 Badminton Canada Elite Series
Badminton Canada
(Update: The draws for this event are now live – 2010 Yonex Canadian National Championships Draws)
The players list for the 2010 Yonex Canadian National Championships is now available. The event is being held at the Winnipeg Winter Club and should be an interesting year with lots of opportunity for new blood to make their mark. Andrew Dabeka, Bobby Milroy and Will Milroy have all retired from competitive play which leaves a huge void in the mens singles, doubles and mixed doubles events. Dabeka is arguably the best singles player we’ve ever had, and certainly the most dominant domestically in the last couple of decades. Bobby Milroy has achieved a world rank of 18th (I think?) and has battled with the likes of Chen Hong and other top international players. Finally Will Milroy is the most dominant doubles specialist we’ve had in this recent generation.
So with these players out of the picture who do we have to watch out for? Well here are my picks for the 2010 Yonex Canadian National Championships:
Men’s Singles
Stephan Wojcikiewicz
Tough one to predict without knowing the draw yet, but assuming it will be David Snider and Stephan Wojcikiewicz in the #1 and #2 seeds I will also predict that that will be the final. The big question is, who will win? Well that’s a tough one, especially as Stephan was my roommate for 4 months! David has the edge head to head. In fact I’m not sure that Stephan has ever won in a tournament against David. However, with Kyle Foley injuring himself earlier this year, and with a relative lack in high level sparring I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Stephan will win the men’s singles. Stephan has been getting some excellent sparring and tournament play in Europe, and regardless of how hard you train if you can’t get high level matches you’re limiting yourself.
Women’s Singles
Michelle Li
This is actually a very interesting one. I’m not a big fan of the women’s events (ps if you are a girl, and would like to contribute coverage/opinions on Canadian women’s badminton send me a message or leave a comment on this post), but this is a cool one because we have one of our all time best ever players, Anna Rice, and potentially our best up and coming player in a long time, Michelle Li, duking it out. Michelle won their last encounter I believe, and she beat Nicole Grether in Toronto which should provide that added confidence boost. Anna has since moved back from Denmark, and I wonder if her training quality is matching what she previously had (especially sparring). Also she plays a fairly physical game, so if she isn’t in top form physically she will struggle with Michelle. Another tough one to predict as I’ve known Anna forever, but I’m going to go out on a limb to say that this will be Michelle’s year and the torch is going to be passed to Michelle.
Jon Vandervet
Men’s Doubles
This has been one of the weaker events over the last few years in my opinion. It’s been pretty lopsided generally, with only one or two teams having a shot at the title. Now that Will Milroy is gone, and Toby Ng’s regular partner is unable to compete in our nationals, it’s pretty wide open. That being said I think it’s fair to say that the team to beat will be Jon Vandervet and Alvin Lau. I would even go so far as to say that this is their nationals to lose.
Women’s Doubles
This is really a shot in the dark for me because I really don’t know who’s good and who’s not. I will however predict that the winners will be Milaine Cloutier and Valerie St Jacques.
Mixed Doubles
I only see three teams that could be threats to the title here. Once again with Will Milroy gone all sorts of opportunity is available. First there is Toby Ng and Grace Gao, they were last year’s finalists. Second there is Alvin Lau and Fiona McKee, with Fiona being champion last year partnered with Will. Finally we have Jon Vandervet and Milaine Cloutier, they won the Toronto Open just a couple weeks ago defeating Alvin and Fiona in the process. Toby and Grace have an edge here as they are traveling the most, getting the biggest matches against the toughest opponents. That however rarely means that much on domestic soil, but nonetheless they are probably the favourite. However, I have a special gut feeling on this one so I’m going against the odds and picking Jon Vandervet and Milaine Cloutier to win this title.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in Winnipeg next week, best of luck!
No Comments »January 10, 2010 Badminton Canada Elite Series
The first senior elite series of 2010 has just come to a conclusion, and the top dog of the tournament has to be Jon Vandervet from Alberta. Vandervet partnered with Alvin Lau to win the mens doubles, and then also with Milaine Cloutier to win the mixed doubles. With Will Milroy out of the picture there appears to be all sorts of opportunity available to Vandervet now.
Another big winner for the weekend was Ontario’s Michelle Li. The youngster has been progressing well over the last couple of years with wins over Anna Rice in recent months and then this weekend defeating German visitor Nicole Grether in the women’s singles final 10-21, 21-14, 21-10. Grether was able to find something of a silver lining for the weekend when her and partner Charmaine Reid took the women’s doubles event.
Finally in the marquee event it was all David Snider. With little challenge from any of the other competitors Snider made his way to the men’s singles title without dropping a game, and only really being pushed by Martin Giuffre in the semi-finals where he won 21-19, 21-19.
The next event will also be the last for this season when we head to Winnipeg for the national championships. I will be entered in the event, and do your best to cheer against me because the earlier I lose, the more video footage I should be able to capture for you fans.
No Comments »January 7, 2010 Badminton Canada Elite Series
A new year has begun, and like every January the Ontario Senior Elite Series is here to get things started. This is typically one of the strongest series tournaments of the year and the story is the same this year. The smart money is on David Snider who skipped the Atlantic Series, however Alex Pang and Joseph Rogers are potential threats to the title as well. Other notables include Philippe Gaumond and Martin Giuffre.
In the women’s singles it will be especially tough with Germany’s Nicole Grether in the top spot. It’s unlikely she will lose, but if anyone is capable it will likely be Michelle Li. Also in competition are Charmaine Reid, Jocelyn Ko, Valerie St Jacques and Phyllis Chan.
For all the draws and to follow ongoing results visit the link below:
Yonex Ontario Senior Elite Series 2010 Draws
