The elegant Charmaine Reid of Canada provides a glimpse of what goes on within the professional badminton player's world. "Eating with Yao Ming, 5 hours a day on court, pasta and salads, 50 countries, chasing the shuttle, playing with Paul Newman..." watch it all here
Nice find oldhand. Good for Charmaine to chase her dream. As a Canadian, we know how little support financially the Canadian Badminton Association provides so it's up to the athletes, for the most part, to support themselves. Unfortunately, it's a chicken and egg situation for badminton in Canada. Do we have to see the international success first before more funding is provided or do we fund to achieve international success. I sure hope it's the latter.
I was.. ..one of the very few fortunate ones to help out Ms. Reid during the 2005 World Championships in Anaheim. At that time, she was helping out as the ESPN's post match interviewer during the QF til the Finals Round. Friendly lady.
apparently our national IT manager is good friends with Charmaine Reid but I had never actually seen her prior to this video. She looks quite friendly! Paul newman eh...I wouldn't mind playing with paul newman
Commentator Reid Following this shoot, Charmaine Reid was also on the English commentary team for the live TV broadcasts of the Singapore Open 2008 SF and Finals. In fact, but for her, we would have been treated to a continuous flow of inanities from that guy As it was, His Esteemed Nonsense couldn't monopolize the microphone. Thank God for Charmaine Reid!
wow thanks for that find oldhand that was pretty cool, thanks. madbad i too hope that its the latter that you stated as well. but only time will tell.
that guy was pretty annoying when doing commentary.. i hope that during the OG08, it wont be the guy doing the commentary
^^Imagine IF..^^ ...Hasbullah Awang could commentate in English...hmmm... i don't know if the audience will be laughing or crying... Btw, i think a full-time badminton color analysis for Ms. Reid wouldn't be a bad gig at all...
In the face of crushing news on the international badminton circuit this year, Calgary's Charmaine Reid continues to bounce back. Reid and her German playing partner Nicole Grether won the women's doubles championship at the Bahrain Badminton International Challenge on Dec. 5, are now ranked among the world's top 20 teams and have received an invitation to the Super Series Final, the biggest badminton tournament of the season, from Dec. 18 to 22 in Malaysia. Reid had formed a partnership with Grether, one of Germany's best doubles experts, after she was passed over for the Canadian team at the Beijing Olympic Games and subsequently saw her athletic funding yanked, since she hadn't made the top 16 at a world championships or Olympics in eight years. "It's going great. It's a different challenge now. It's neat to push each other," Reid, 35, originally from Fort Erie, Ont., told the Niagara Falls, Ont., Review earlier this week. Reid and Grether have enjoyed recent success, winning a tournament in Indonesia, advancing to the quarter-finals of the Dutch and Macau Grand Prix tourneys and birdie-bashing their way to a semifinal at the U.S. Open. At Bahrain, they defeated India's Sampada Sahasradbuddhe and Aparna Balan 21-16, 21-12 in the final. "We're showing we can play well at the top level internationally, but it doesn't matter. Canada just has this one standard," Reid told the Review regarding the loss of her Athletics Canada and Badminton Canada carding. "But I don't let it bother me anymore. We just have to do it on our own. We're still paying more than we're making, so we're continually looking for sponsors." The Super Series Final is a half-million-dollar affair held for the world's best badminton players. Reid and Grether had been ranked 10th, but earned an invite to the eight-team extravaganza because of an injury withdrawal. "It will be super hard. Everybody is pretty much ranked in the Top 10 in the world. It's the biggest tournament ever in badminton," Reid told the Review. © Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Reid still chasing badminton dreams Posted By BERNIE PUCHALSKI, QMI AGENCY Posted 21 hours ago In 1995, Fort Erie native Charmaine Reid headed to a national centre in Calgary to pursue her badminton dreams. Fifteen years later, she's still at it, despite the odds, and having the cards always stacked against her and partner Nicole Grether. The 2004 Canadian Olympian and Grether, a 2004 German Olympian who was once ranked fifth in the world in doubles, managed to climb to 14th in the world in doubles in 2009 with a budget that could charitably be described as shoestring. Neither athlete receives any funding from their respective governments and rely on help from benefactors, money raised from appearances and the kindness of family and acquaintances, who give the pair air miles so they can attend tournaments in Europe, North America and Asia. When they arrive at tournaments, they face teams that can have upwards of five coaches and the athletes are paid full-time by their governments to play badminton. Grether and Reid are the only women on the top badminton circuit who save costs by billeting in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. "How do you prepare when you don't know if you're going and so much is going on?" asked Grether, who found instant success with Reid after the two teamed up in 2008. "It's not easy to concentrate on playing and I know sometimes we could have played better. "We could have better results if we didn't have those problems." Their financial struggles makes one wonder why they continue to persevere. "You have to ask yourself that sometimes," the 36-year-old Reid said. "For me, I'm playing the best of my career. To say stop when you know it took me this long to get here is tough." But, unfortunately for the former Pan-American champion, she has become used to toeing the poverty line. "Most Olympic athletes are not going to be rich and only a few win a medal in Canada," she said. "You do it because you're dedicated to it and you're passionate about it and you're driven. "And I still love it." And she still works hard at it. When based in Calgary, the duo trains upwards of five hours every day. "We work just as hard as tennis players, maybe harder," said Reid, who moved to Calgary when she was 18 and played in her first world championships in 1995. "And harder than soccer players. That's for sure," Grether added. All their hard work has paid off. The team's 2009 accomplishments included bronze medals at the U.S. Open Grand Prix, Austrian International and Boston Open; gold at the Alberta Open; and making it to the round of 16 at the China Masters Super Series and the Indonesia Open Super Series. The duo played the Japanese team that was fourth at the Olympics and gave them all they could handle. "We were right there. It was 120-to 130-shot rallies and more than two minutes for a rally," Reid said. The two found instant court chemistry when they hooked up. "It was right from the beginning. We were good and we thought why not continue?" Grether said. The two are a mixture of styles. Grether has more polished shots while Reid is all grit and determination. "A lot of people don't like playing against us because we're not easy to play against," Reid said. They're difficult to play against for two main reasons. "We both fight hard and we're good runners from singles. We don't give up," Grether said. In Ontario to play a few tournaments in January, Grether and Reid are in the process of planning their competitive year. Their ultimate goal is to represent Canada at the world championships in August in Paris, France. Down the road, there's thoughts of the 2012 Olympics after Grether, 35, becomes a Canadian citizen. "For me, it's a great opportunity to play with Nicole," Reid said. "She's the best in Canada, so it made my game go up a ton. "Being in my 30s doesn't matter because I know I'm better now."
^^Still going strong..^^ If not mistaken, she and Nicole and Anna are like the most senior ladies players still playing in the circuit. Didn't know Nicole plans on becoming a Canadian citizen.. Will Charmaine continue to fill in the color analyst duty, every once in a while, with Oldhand's fave play-by-play announcer??.. Hope to see you both, once again, in this yr's U.S. Open..
i think nicole is a glove fit partner for charmaine. I don't think charmaine would travel oversea and compete just for WS event. With Nicole, both can now do what they like (badminton) longer.
I knew her voice immediately - she's commentated with Gill for us a few times. Loved her voice (so Canadian), and the fact that she kept us from... his melifluous stream-of-consciousness utterings.