Well my tournaments this year have finally come to an end. My quarter finals in Moncton, Canada was another good result for my Olympic qualification however I wanted to end the year with a bang. My match with Carl Baxter (England) was a very good one. I have been able to play up to my level these last few tournaments and it’s a good moral booster for the new year. The first set against Baxter was definitly my best one, I was able to control the shuttle and him very well. I had good variation of playing to the backline as well as to the net. It was very important to always bring him in to the net…..and then push him away from the net. Sounds simple but it takes patience, timing and control. I took the first set 21-17. In the second set I was missing one important ingredient in order to repeat the success I had in the first……control. There was a draft going from my side of the court to the other, which made it difficult to lift. This meant that pushing Carl to the back line was very difficult and I made too many errors as well as him playing some great rallies. I lost the second set 21-9. In the 3rd set I knew what I had to do. Play the same way as the first set until 11 points and then when we switch sides, hold the net as much as possible and work hard to keep the shuttle down. I played well enough to get myself into striking position…..10-11….however my errors started to creep up again and I kept giving him too much of a lead….12-15…..13-16…..15-18 and finally 15-21.
We played a great match….the crowd was great and I can’t say thank you enough for showing me so much support. I wish I could have gone all the way for them, next year……next year.

Also I have to say thank you and congratulations to a fantastic tournament organization and another wonderful experience in Moncton. They always treat me well and make me want to come back, I hope the other international players felt the same.
My last comment will have to be about the massive poster that they put up for me in the tournament hall….AWESOME hehe…..nothing like walking into a place and having your face on the wall
Above is a picture of me and my girlfriend beside my poster

After almost 8 months of competing I am back in my home country and very close to being in my home city This week I am in Moncton, Canada, for the Canadian International Challenge. It will be my 3rd year in a row in Moncton and its always a pleasure attending this well organized tournament. I feel that this tournament really does all it can to promote the competition and athletes through various media outlets. They also do a very good job attending the players needs such as having a physio on site, proper warm up courts, athletes lounge etc….Knowing that tournaments are trying to promote the athletes as well as take care of them always makes me want to come back.

I have already played two matches so far in this tournament and will be playing my quarter finals tonight against an old friend from home Carl Baxter who now plays for England. This quarter finals is one more result for my Olympic qualifying but I am looking for more points from this tournament….why not try and go all the way!
The qualification race is very close and from now on every point counts. It will be VERY exciting to see who will have qualified come May 3rd 2012.

I will give more reports when the tournament is over. To follow the results you can click on the link below
DRAW

Well here in sunny Miami the expected showdown between our local hero (Stephan the Man and the Villain, Niluka from Sri Lanka (displayed above as Batman and Joker ) played an epic semi finals. The scores were not epic but the confrontation was. I have lost to this guy for the 4th time in a row this year but was hoping to put a dent in his winning streak against me. I had good starts in both sets being roughly 11-11 and 13-13 but can never be the one who pulls away. He does a very good job of being steady and then increasing the speed to throw me off guard…..and it works. So as the picture above shows, the hero is down…….but not dead.

This tournament has helped a bit for my Olympic qualifying and have to just keep being steady and produce steady results. I have done a very good job so far and with a bit more determination I will reach my goal. THE OLYMPICS!!

Heading back to Copenhagen tomorow and I can’t wait to get back to training and to a warm, loving apartment.

Here I am in sunny Miami and competing in my last tournament of this 5 week tour. Even though it is my fourth tournament in a row and roughly my sixteenth tournament of this olympic qualifying year…..I am pumped. I want this one like it was my last day on earth. But I in order to win this bad boy I am going to have defeat my arch rival and the “villain” in this comic book tale…Niluka from Sri Lanka. This nemesis of mine has beaten me 3 times this year but just like that famous song by Chumbawamba “I get knocked down, but I get up again…you’re never going to keep me down”.
Today was my first round against one of the top U.S.A guys, Howard Shu. He has a dangerous style and can do some damage if you are not careful. However, I was careful, and defeated him in two straight sets. I was not my usual offensive self, but rather passive and let him come at me. By playing this way I saved some energy and I felt sure to win.
Tomorrow morning I will be playing against a Brazilian player I have never played before. I look forward to new adversaries and to another sunny day in the south. Will keep you updated!

To follow the draw please click on the link below
DRAW

I give myself a good chuckle sometimes when I re-read my previous articles. I am sure I said something like “I will be updating my webpage everyday at the Pan Am Games”. Well as I am sure some of you noticed I can sometimes be influenced by my moods, which should not affect my promises….yet here we are

The Pan American Games was a big multi sport event with big Olympic points up for grabs and also a chance to defend my title from last year’s Pan American Championships. I of course set my goals high and was expecting to make at least a finals. However my expectations fell short when I came up against an unseeded but dangerous adversary from Cuba. I had beaten him before but over the years his level has improved, but I was still a big favourite. The first set went my way as easy as apple pie. I had very good control and was reading him like a book. However the second set he started to adapt to my game and was putting alot more pressure on me by taking more control of the net and forcing me to lift. This, with the addition of my nerves kicking in put me into a close second set. I had a match point, 20-19, but could not keep it and lost 20-22.
In the third set I started strong and was dominating the net and taking back control of the net. I had a 12-7 lead but then, once again, my nerves kicked in and allowed him to sneak back in and take the lead. Once that happened I self destructed and let him slip away from me and take the match 18-21.
This was one of the biggest dissapointments in my life and I could not help but beat myself in my mind. But with a very strong support circle they were able to keep me somewhat balanced.

Moving on to Sonto Domingo which was the week after the Pan American Games. I had zero expectations and was still trying to scrape myself off from the floor. Every round for me was what it was….just a match. I snuck through my first round beating a player from the Dominican Republic. I won my second round by beating a Greek player. Then in the quater finals I faced off against a dangerous jamaican player…still no expectations…Won in two convincing sets. In the semi finals I had to meet one of my Olympic qualifying rivals Rodrigo Pacheco from Peru. No expecations…I won 21-17 21-14. This was already fantastic for me, making my first Open International tournament finals. But I was not done yet. I had to play a Cuban/U.S.A player who was taking out every other seed in the tournament. I still had no expectations.
With the blistering heat and my heart just racing because I was getting closer and closer to my first ever International win, I let a 20-16 lead in the second set get to 20-19! But I closed it out and WON my FIRST EVER International tournament!!!! Incerdible!!

That is why I posted the Yin and the Yang symbol. A feel it is a true representation of what can happen. On one hand you can be at your lowest and the next day you can be at your best. All you can do is play it out and appreciate the times when you are up and hang on when you are down.

A big thank you to all the important people in my life. You kept me believing even when, at the time, I had little to believe in. Thank you

I have finally arrived in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the 2011 Pan American Games. I must say it is always very special to participate in any kind of Games. The feeling in the air is electric and you are surrounded by so many professional athletes from every kind of sport. Everybody is focused on being in prime condition for their competition but at the same time everybody is energized and happy for being at the Games. We are 9 people in our appartment, 4 badminton players, 2 archers and 3 field hockey players. Its very cool to just hear about the different athletes challenges and experiences. Knowing that you are not alone in many of the sacrifices that we make to achieve our highest goals is reassuring and inspiring.

Today was a pretty hectic day because it was none stop from the moment we got up. We had practice in the morning which was a nightmare to get to since there was a hurricane that hit this part of Mexico the day before. Then when we got back it was straight to the fitting room so that we could receive our team Canada clothing…..which looks pretty cool by the way. We then go to participate in a little team Canada pep rally and then the raising of the Canadian flag. That was the highlight of my day….seeing our flag go up and hearing our national anthem was a real inspiration to me and I do hope I can make Canada proud.

Tomorrow will be another practice day and then its show time on Saturday
I will try and do as many updates as possible while I am here. In the meantime enjoy all the other great sports that the games has to offer.