Stephan The Man

Day 2 Mels Atwater Canadian International 2009

Let the good times roll:) Today was another successful day in my quarter finals against Kyle Foley of Canada. I was able to play a steady and relatively consistant game. With good depth and sharp attacks I was able to win my match in two straight sets 21-16 21-16. This puts me into the semi finals against Englands number 3 guy and old club mate at the R.A centre in Ottawa, Carl Baxter. Baxter and I grew up together at the R.A Centre for many years, he then moved to England after High School and has played for them ever since. This will be a very fun match since we have not played each other for many years.

In other news there were a couple other great matches to mention. David Snider of Canada upset the number 1 French player Brice Leverdez 21-11 13-21 23-21. This was a mouth watering match with both players going down and then up in the third set. Then there was Rajiv Ouseph (England) who beat Andrew Dabeka (Canada). Ouseph won in two very long sets 23-21 21-15. Both players were playing very equal to each other but the English player was able to win the important points in both sets in order to take the match.
My match with Baxter will be at 5.40pm,Montreal time. I hope to bring back more good news!
To follow my results please click on the link below
DRAW

Day 1 Mels Atwater Canadian International 2009

Today was what I would call a successful day. I played my first round match against a young Jamaican, Gareth Henry. I won in two straight sets 21-14 21-9, however I had to really make him work in order to earn my points. In the second set I was able to pull away with some cheap points in order to take the match. In my second round I played against Timothy Chiu of Canada. I also won this game in 2 sets 21-14 21-5. The first set he was doing a good job going point for point with me but eventualy I was able to pull away with the game and obviously the match. This means that I will now be playing Kyle Foley (Canada) in the quarter finals tomorrow at 5pm. The first seed Tsuen Seng Lee (Malaysia) pulled from the tournament for reasons unknown to me.
In other matches all seeds pulled through pretty much unscathed. The best match I thought was between Canada’s young up and coming Joseph Rogers against Kevin Cordon of Guatemala. Cordon won in three sets 21-11 17-21 21-12. Both players have big smashes so this made for entertaining and booming rallies.

I am going to get some rest tonight and have an early hit tomorrow morning to get re-adjusted to the new porta courts that the tournament will be setting up.
To follow the draw please click on the link below.
DRAW

Song of the Week A-ha- The Living Daylights

This weeks song of the week is The Living Daylights by A-ha. If anybody out there was thinking “gee what is Stephan’s favorite James Bond movie?”. Well wonder no longer because this is it! Yes The Living Daylights with Timothy Dalton came out at just the right age for me to never forget it:) This Norwegian band does the theme song for this 007 classic.
Hope you like it!

2009 Mels Atwater Canadian International Draw

The draw is finaly out for this year’s Canadian International. There will be some very exciting matches in the later stage of this tournament and I will try and make some predictions on the way:) The first seed in the tournament is Tsuen Seng Lee [1] from Malaysia and the second seed is Rajiv Ouseph [2] from England.
My first round will be against Gareth Henry of Jamaica. To my recolection I have never played him before, it is always interesting to play against new people. I am on the top half of the draw which means that if I make it through to the quarter finals I will be playing against the number one seed. I was very much hoping that I would get him early on. So lets hope that I am able to win my first two matches!!!
My first match is on Wed at 9.00am eastern time. I will be updating as much as possible.
To view the draw please click on the link below
DRAW

Flight of the Conchords – Business Time

This weeks song of the week is Business Time by Flight of the Conchords…This song is 100% my brothers fault. He played this song and video for me and I have not been able to get it out of my head all week. I also have to admit it is hilarious!
Hope you all think its as funny as I do:)

Off to Canada!!

Hello hello,
So today is my last day in Copenhagen to prepare for my flight back home to Ottawa,Canada. I always love going home and visiting my family and friends. I miss being in my city very much and one day hope to go back..because one thing is for sure, home will aways be home:) However I going back to Canada for a purpose..I will be playing in the Canadian International being held in Montreal. This means I get to spend 5 or 6 days in Ottawa and then drive to Montreal for the competition.

I look forward to being in O town and I also look forward to performing well in Montreal. I will be updating my training and competion while in Canada.
See you there!!

Rio – Shine On

This weeks song of the week is Shine On by Rio. It has been an awsome weekend here in Copenhagen! The sun was out and it was very enjoyable to go out for a run, walk or hanging out at a caffe. When the sun is out in this city it is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen. I feel that this song is a good prep for hopefully a great upcoming summer:)
Shine On!

Happy Easter!!!!

Well its Easter weekend and most people are enjoying the holiday. However in badminton there are no holidays…at least not for me:) So I have been training quite hard this week and through the weekend. Unfortunatly I pulled a muscle during my match last week in Finland and have been forced to do much lower intensity stuff. But no matter what the circumstance you can always improve on something! So I have been working on my backhand net technique along with trying to improve my attacks from the backline. My off court stuff has been mainly squats and long slow bike sessions. I plan on doing some more weights and a bike ride today and tomorrow will be a very intense interval training on the treadmill. If there is one thing I can recomend in anyones training is variety. The more variety you can do the better it is for your improvement and for your mental health:)
My goal is to prepare for the Canadian International coming up in a few weeks. There will be some tough guys to beat there, such as, Lee Tsuen Seng (Malaysia), Rajiv Ouseph (England),Carl Baxter (England),Brice Leverdez (France),Kevin Cordon (Guatemala) and of course some home grown boys like Andrew Dabeka, David Snider, Joseph Rogers and myself of course:)
Hope you all rest well, party well and eat as much chocolat eggs as your hearts desire!

Daft Punk – One More Time

This weeks song of the week is One More Time by Daft Punk. I heard this song while driving back from our team match against Odense. Even after a defeat this song can get you going. I believe this is a feel good song and you can’t help sing along or dance when you hear it…and if there is one thing that I want when people visit Stephan The Man, is to feel good.
So enjoy!

Video Report of Finnish International 2009

Hello everybody..i have decided to make a video report of my match in Finland against Christian Lind Thomsen (Denmark). I think it will be a different way and perhaps easier way of showing and describing my matches. I hope it will add a nice change to my blogs..enjoy:)