Stephan The Man

German Open 2010, Close But No Cigar

On Wednesday I had the chance to play a very good player from Hong Kong, Wing Ki Wong. It was the first round of the German Open 2010. As I was warming up I was having flashbacks of last year’s match against Hans Kristian Vittinghus (Denmark) where he just whooped me on court 1. I remember the court because on that day I could not see the shuttle to save my life. I was praying that I would play on any court but that one. As luck or fate should have it, I was called on court one to face Wing Ki Wong and my fear of that court.
Uncertain of many things I just decided to relax and play and see how things go in the beginning. It was a good choice since I took an early lead of 8-2 and 11-7. I was winning many points by really punching him to the back line and then stinging him with some slices and steep smashes. The shuttles were very slow so the big smash was not very useful. However he started to crawl back by doing the same to me and being very steady. We were having very long and painful rallies since none of us wanted to make a mistake. I ended up being in the lead 19-18 when he then played 2 good rallies by taking the initiative and then closed the set by countering my attack.
In the second set it was a little bit of the reverse. He took an early lead and was up all through the first half. The rallies were very similar, lots of punching the shuttle to the back line and trying to put enough pressure around the court to find an oppening. The player who pressured most usualy won the rally. However from being down 11-14, I came back to 14-14. He then went up 17-14 and I came back to 17-17. At 18-18 he once again played two very good rallies and then countered my attacks on his match point. It was a shame since we were even all the way through and then I missed out on those last few rallies.
He then went on to beat the number one Chinese Taipei who is 17th in the world and Przemyslaw Wacha (Poland). So I think I played very well against a world class player.
My next tournament will be in Romania where I hope to produce a very good result!
In order to see the results for the German Open 2010 please click on the link below
DRAW

German Open 2010, Up For The Challenge

Today I flew into Mulheim,Germany, for the German Open 2010. The draw came out a little while ago and I have been matched up against….no not a qualifier (that is only when I play EBU’s)…but against Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong. I have never heard of him or seen him play before, however I did do a little background check and could see that he has beaten some good players. So I plan to avenge my not so impressive performance of last year by rising up to the challenge of this new Hong Kong kid.
I am not too sure what time I play yet since the schedule (from what I can see) is not out yet. But if you follow the link below you will be able to view the draw and maybe even follow my match on livescore:)
DRAW

Austrian International 2010, First Round

Yesterday I played my first round at the Austrian International 2010 against Simon Manoury of France. I had played once about 5 years ago in Latvia where he beat me in two straight sets. I was hoping to have a better memory of our match up this time. In the first set we started out pretty even and I took an 11-9 lead. The second half of the set continued to be good for me with some clever net play and some crafty defence. However once at 17-13 for me something changed and I seemed not to be able to recover. From having a 17-13 lead I suddenly lost 8 out of the next 9 rallies. which meant that I lost the first set 21-19.
In the second set we continued to be quite even, both of us gunning for the net since it was very difficult to control the fast shuttles. Keeping the net was the best way to force a mistake out of your opponent. We were even all the way to 19-19 where I played a bad serve to give him match point and then he played a very good rally to counter my offence and win the match.
Not so happy about that result and do not like losing again when I have taken a good lead. However hopefully this is just a one month phase and I will be back to my winning ways next month….which is in Germany.
See you there!

Austrian International 2010, DRAW

This year’s Austrian International 2010 draw has been released. As usual these EBU tournaments are tough as nails. You have guys like Andre Kurniawan Tedjono (Indonesia), Anand Pawar (India), Brice Leverdez (France) and Christian Lind Thomson (Denmark) competing.
It might come as a massive shock to all of you that my first round will be against…….wait for it…….a qualifier! Yes it is now the 5th EBU tournament in a row that I get a qualifier. However I have also won 3 out of 4 of my first round matches against a qualifier (my only defeat happening while injured). So my odds are pretty good, but every match I has been won in 3 sets. Which means nothing is a guarantee.

Without further ado, i will post the link for the draw:
DRAW

2010 National Championships, Heartbreaker

Yesterday I played my quarter and semi final of the 2010 National Championships in Winnipeg,Canada. My first match of the day was against a young local player Matt Younger. He played quite well and gave everything he had but I ended up winning in two straight sets 21-13 21-14.
The main event was in the semi finals where I matched up against another young player Martin Giuffre. I started off the match very well by going up at the 11 point break and then taking a 17-11 lead. After that my nightmare began. I lost 10 straight points and droped the first set 21-17. Don’t really know what happened, stoped being pro active on court and just let him control the game. The second set was a very tense game for me. I was up for most of the first half and took a small lead at the break. But that was all she wrote for me. I then lost my lead in the second half of the set and could not get it back. I ended up losing it 21-18.
This was a real shame for me since the national championships has always been a tournament that slips through my fingers. Since 2004 (the year I won) I have had a psychological block with this event. This week I performed way below my ability and unfortunatly it was not the first time. Every year I have to come back and try to conquer this major road block so as to prove to myself that I can overcome these big personal hurdles.

2010 Canadian National Championships, First two Rounds

Today I played my first two rounds at the 2010 Canadian National Championships in Winnipeg,Manitoba. My first round was against a local player Nick Rush. This match was relatively quick but also proved to be a bit tricky since I had to often did a lot of awkward shots coming from my opponent. The match ended in two straight sets 21-8 21-14.
My second round was also a tricky one. I played a young player Ajit Sidhu from Nova Scotia but is training in Vancouver, British Colombia at Bobby Milroy’s academy. The first set I went up 9-2 in no time, but then he started to play a bit better and I was in a bit of a coma. He came back to 14-14 and then we went back and forth for a few points. I did not attack much up until this point so I started taking the net a bit more. This allowed me to get more attacking chances and I ended up winning 21-17. In the second set I was much more focused and was controling the net and moving from offence to defense at will. This resulted it a much more convincing second set for me, winning 21-10.

Tomorrow in my quarter finals I will be facing Matt Younger of Manitoba. He will be the crowd favourite but I hope to be the favourite to win. My match is at 9.40am local time and will be held at the Winnipeg Winter Club. To view the draw please click on the link below.

DRAW

Canadian National Championships 2010, Draw

Today I will be leaving for Winnipeg,Canada, for our 2010 National Championships. I will be arriving later tonight in Winnipeg in order to be able to get over the time difference between Copenhagen,Denmark and Winnipeg,Canada. The competition starts on Thursday the 28th until Saturday the 30th. I am the second seed and will be meeting Nick Rush from Manitoba in the first round of play. There are other strong players in the draw such as David Snider of Manitoba, Joseph Rogers of Ontario and Alexander Pang of Alberta.
I have been preparing myself quite well and feel that I am ready to take on my potential foes:)
To see the draw please click on the link below.
DRAW

Prep Work In Greve,Denmark

Yesterday I decided to play in a Danish Domestic Grand Prix tournament. It was the first time since I have been in Denmark that I have played a Danish tournament. The purpose of me playing was to get some good tournament matches in before I fly off to Winnipeg,Canada for our National Championships.
In my first round I drew up against Theis Christiansen. I had played him twice last in my team matches and he had beaten me twice. However this time was a bit different. I had a strong start against him which was important since the last two times he always took a good lead. I was able to neutralize him time and time again which allowed me to win many cheap points. I took the first set with relative ease 21-14. In the second set I had a tougher time. He starting playing a bit steadier and was putting more pressure and took a 15-9 lead. I was able to turn the tide with changing up my serve, a few clever shots and some mistakes on his part. I evened the tide at around 18-18 and was able to finish the match with a forehand smash down the line and win 21-19.

In my second my I had to play Jens-Kristian Leth. He used to play full time and won many EBU tournaments a few years back and is quite a worthy opponent. He is VERY tall and can hit some very steep and nasty shots. The first game started a bit slow for me with him putting alot of prussure from the net to the back line. However I was able to adjust fairly quickly and put my base a little deeper in order to cut off his quick pushes. This allowed me to counter him more often and get the attack. It was no easy task but I was able to win the first set 21-18. In the second set it was more of the same, with the exception that there was a bit more net play from my part which again allowed me to keep the attack. The twist to this story was that at 20-15 for me, during the rally I went to hit a shot and slightly went over my ankle. I had a tough choice to make, stop the game or finish the match. I had my nationals to think about…..so I finished the match:) I ended up winning 21-17.
I pulled out of my quarter finals since I did not want to risk any further injury to my ankle since it would defeat the purpose of playing the tournament.

My next challenge will be next weekend with Lyngby against Taastrup Badminton Klub. Looking forward to it….as usual:)

2009 Atlantic Senior Elite Series, Champion!

Yesterday in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, I played in the finals of the 2009 Atlantic Senior Elite Series against Alexander Pang of Alberta. In the local press and talk of Moncton there was alot of hype about this finals and me winning it. I felt that there was alot of pressure for me to win it and was very much in the mood to be champion. The first set against Pang started off very well for me and was able to take an early lead of 11-4. The rest of the set was relatively smooth for me and was able to keep the lead and won 21-14. The second set however was a different story. Alexander was very smart in changing his tactics by keeping the net and getting the attack. He took an 11-5 lead and was looking like he was going to take the second set. At the 11 point break I also made an adjustment of my own which payed off…big time.. I stoped playing soft at the net, instead I was pushing the shuttle into the court which made it very difficult for him to play tight. This got me more lifts in the end and allowed me to attack him more often. I was able to comeback and take a 20-18 lead. Pang was able to save one match point before giving me a 21-19 victory. I absolutely elated and proud that I could come home to give my mother a gold medal for christmas:) I would like to thank the organization and the incredible family that took me in and treated me like family. I had an amazing time and look forward to returning next year.

2009 Atlantic Senior Elite Series, Through to The Semi’s

Day 1 of the 2009 Atlantic Senior Elite Series was under way. I had 3 rounds to play today in this Canadian Demestic Grand Prix. My first round was against a player from Nova Scotia, Andrew Harding. This match went pretty smoothly for me. He came out strong in the first few points of the match but then had to eventualy give in to the high speed that he is not used to. I won in two straight sets 21-10 21-10.
Second round I played a player from Quebec, Maxime Tessier. This match also went well for me and had control from the very begining and won in two straight 21-10 21-10.
In my quarter-finals I played another player from Quebec,Pieric Langlais Gagne. This match was a little tougher since the rallies were a bit more complex. But in the end there were too many mistakes from my opponent and I took the match 21-10 21-13.
My semi-finals tomorrow will be against Philippe Gaumond of Quebec.

The organization here has been very strong and I have been doing several interviews, radio,television and newspaper. The picture above is me and Alexander Pang doing a photo op with the Mayor of Moncton. Now I know we have reached the big times