Stephan The Man

Badminton Life Training Diary – July 30, 2009

Badminton Life Training Diary – July 28, 2009

BWF World Championships 2009, Withdrawal

I have officialy withdrawn my name from the BWF World Championships 2009 to be held in Hyderabad,India. Unfortunately the injury at the U.S Open 2009 that caused me to stop my semi final match will not be completely healed on time for the World Championships. The physiotherapists and doctors that I have seen have seen it is much too dangerous to compete while the knee is still vulnerable and weak. Estimates are about another 4-6 weeks before I can go full out again.
It is a shame since I was very much looking forward to playing my first World Championships since 2001 and also looking forward to playing Sho Sasaki (Japan) in the first round. I wish everyone the best of luck over there and as usual I will be watching and reporting
In order to view the draw please click on the link below
DRAW

Song of The Week Milow – Ayo Technology

This weeks song of the week is Ayo Technology by Milow. I feel this song makes you feel very serene and at peace….don’t ask me why it just does. Was at my friends place for dinner and heard this song while playing some games and knew right away that this will be the Song of the Week:)
Enjoy!!

Memories of Indonesia Open 2009

I was able to take a little bit of footage at the Indonesian Open Super Series 2009 and wanted to share it with everyone. I mentioned before that the atmosphere in the hall is crazy and how everybody goes nuts for badminton…especialy indonesian badminton players:) I filmed the last little bit of the match between Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Indonesia) and Chan Yan Kit (Hong Kong) in the quarter finals. You will notice how everyone LOVES it when Sony scores a point and how they are “Boo-ing” Chan everytime he hits the shuttle and “Ya-ing” everytime Sony hits the shuttle.
I also filmed one of the fans who got REALLY into it and got all dressed up for the occasion. He was creating the Wave for all the fans in the stadium and was doing a very good job. I thought I would also film him in action since he was quite entertaining.
There are also a few pictures of him along with a friend of his who is also looking good for the tournament:)

indofans1

Song Of The Week Ain’t no Sunshine When She’s Gone

This week’s song of the week is Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone. I have to post what I am feeling and of course when I am not able to play badminton its like my girlfriend has left me. This song is a pretty good reflection of my mood….however I don’t get the feeling that the girl is coming back in this song, whereas I KNOW I will be back on court in no time:)

U.S Open 2009 What Happened!!??

First of all I have to appologize for taking so long to update my site to explain what happened on the night of my semi finals at the U.S Open 2009. A few of my friends have already a little upset with me for keeping them in the dark for so long.
As some of you might have noticed I was having quite the battle with Hsuan Yi HSUEH (Chinese Taipei). At 13-13 in the third set Hsueh hit a smash to my forhand side, however I was waiting for the smash on my backhand side. I order to get the shot I quickly turned my body but forgot to move my feet, by doing this I twisted my knee. That twist was the exact same motion I did in 2004 when I blew my ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament). I immediatly stoped the match knowing it was too dangerous to continue. I then went to see a physical therapist in Las Vegas (Advanced Manual Therapy Institute) and was very lucky to fall upon Jody L. Stafford who took a look at my knee. The conclusion was that there is some trauma in the knee but it will just need some time and rehabilitation to heal. I hope that is the case I can get back to playing.

As of now my World Championships in August is very uncertain but I will be posting updates to let everyone know how my progress is going.

Stephan Into the Semi’s U.S Open 2009

Another good day for me here in Orange County, California. I was priviledged enough to play our current national champion and Olympian and good friend Andrew Dabeka (Canada). The first game started very well for me where I was able to win the net and get behind many of Andrew’s short lifts. This allowed me to play alot of variation from the back which open the court for my smashes. With this tactic i was able to win the first set 21-7. The second set was a different story….Andrew was doing a very good job of trying to take the net as well as always being aggressive on my short serve. This paid off for him since he led all the way up to 17-13. From that point on I was the one taking the inatiative and slowly coming back. At 20-20 we both were playing a bit of nervous badminton….I put one in the net….on set point he served it in the net..on match point I blocked one in the net etc…..until finaly I was able to win the match 24-22.
I am very excited about my win and I am really looking forward to playing tomorrow opponent in the Semi Finals Hsuan Yi HSUEH from Chinese Taipei. I have never seen him play before but from what I have heard he has a big smash! So I have two options: either I take a deep base and get all his smashes back or I just don’t lift the shutttle:) We will see what happens.

In other news Carl Baxter of England beat Martin Bille Larsen (Denmark) in three exciting sets. In the third game it was down to the wire, they were going blow for blow until Baxter pulled away and took it 21-16 int the third. He is to meet Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia) who defeated David Snider (Canada). David had a very good second set with the number one seed losing 21-18 but having a very close call against him on match point.
My match will be playing around 6:40pm California time.
To follow the match please click on the link below.
U.S Open DRAW

Through to the Quarters U.S Open 2009

Another good day for me in my Round of 16 against Agus Wijaya (Denmark). In the first game I took a quick lead but let him come back a bit at the end of the set. In the second game he took the quick lead, roughly 8-3 but then I was able to go up 11-9. From there I always kept a 2-3 point lead until I took the match.
Tomorrow I will be playing my good buddy Andrew Dabeka (Canada) in the quarter finals. Andrew beat Joseph Rogers (Canada) in two straight sets 21-16 21-19.
David Snider (Canada) made quick work of Hock Lai LEE (Malaysia) in two sets 21-15 21-12. I believe if Snider plays as well tomorrow as he did today it will be a fantastic Quarter finals against Taufik Hidayat (Indondesia).
I look forward to my match tomorrow and to see how the other Quarter finals pan out.
To follow the matches please click on the link below.

U.S Open DRAW

Song of the week Gowan – A Criminal Mind

This week’s song of the week is A Criminal Mind by Gowan. This song is a bit retro but it is still quite cool. This live version I find especialy cool since he is looking kinda crazy However I do think the song drags a bit at the end but I really do enjoy the first 4-6 minutes….I hope you do to!