Canadian National Team Players' Websites/Blogs

[towbsss]

Hi,

I would like to introduce some of the blogs/websites/YouTube Channels/Facebook Pages of some of the Canadian players making the 2012 Olympic run. A lot of us are not supported by anything, including the past 2011 Sudirman Cup in China. All the players who went were actually self-funded, so it's really not an easy task when trying to qualify for the Olympics out of your own pocket. Nonetheless, we're crazy enough to try anyway and we are trying to blog our adventures traveling around the world I hope you will follow our Olympic run on our respective sites! I apologize for not putting this up earlier, but I tried to link my BadmintonCentral.com blog to my actual blog, but moderators shut it down for 'advertising'. In any case, let's introduce some of us:

Derrick Ng - MD w/ Adrian Liu; XD w/ Phyllis Chan
Adrian Liu - MD w/ Derrick Ng; XD w/ Joycelyn Ko
Joycelyn Ko - WS; WD w/ Grace Gao; XD w/ Adrian Liu
Toby Ng - XD w/ Grace Gao

Derrick Ng's Blog: http://www.derrickng.ca/

Derrick Ng's Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Derric...26275800766758

Adrian Liu's Website: http://www.adrianliu.ca

Adrian Liu's Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adrian...09201099148186

Liu/Ng's Joint Website: http://goingforglory.com/

Joycelyn Ko's Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/joycelynko

Toby Ng's Blog: http://towbsss.blogspot.com/

Toby Ng's Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toby-NG/138513296204873


Thanks for checking out our websites and we hope you will continue to follow us on our Olympic journey

Toby

[Fidget]

Thank you for this.
It's nice to see Canadian Pros leaving a bigger footprint on Badminton Central.

[towbsss]

No problem! I feel we could use as much exposure as possible, as we are considerably a less experienced generation after the retirement of the better know players of Canada (Mike Beres, Will Milroy, Bob Milroy, Anna Rice, Andrew Dabeka, etc.). A good portion of us are traveling to the Maldives International Challenge, then followed by an attempt at Singapore and Indonesia Opens. Maybe I will be able to put up a couple of exclusive shots for the thread

Also, I don't know how many people know, but Yonex Canada has very recently sponsored the Badminton Canada National Team, so the new National Team will all be using Yonex now. Hopefully it can be the start to something better for Canadian players

[towbsss]

Derrick Ng's latest blog entry:

http://derrickng.ca/i-need-your-help/

[CanucksDynasty]

Nice. Hope you guys do Canada proud.

What badminton rackets do you guys use since you're now sponsered by Yonex?
Pros/Cons of the rackets?

Thanks,
CD.

[kwun]

Derrick Ng's latest blog entry:

http://derrickng.ca/i-need-your-help/

Derrick's blog totally shows the struggle that a badminton national player must face to achieve their dream.

[towbsss]

The invitations were sent out, but I don't know exactly who has accepted, however I do know some of the existing players at the moment:

Adrian Liu = Arc Saber 10, may switch to Voltric 80 possibly
Joycelyn Ko = Nanospeed 9900
Grace Gao = Nanospeed 9900; likes it because it is light which helps a lot for her front court
Derrick Ng = Arc Saber 10; likes it because it is weighted well so that his shoulder and elbow doesn't hurt. Sometimes if a racquet is too light, extra strength is probably dissipated in the joints which may leads to injury. With more weight, you can get more power as you can include the weight of the racquet with the force. It just happens to be balanced for Derrick. The drawback with a heavier racquet is that the swing is a little slower.
Michelle Li = Armortec 900 Technique; likes it because she has been using it for quite some time now, but she is looking to switch to the Voltric 80
Alex Bruce = Nanospeed 8000; likes it because it is very light but will be upgrading to the 9900 because the 8000 is probably being discontinued.
Toby Ng = Arc Saber 10 & Arc Saber Z-Slash; for me, the Arc 10 is very solid all round racquet, but I feel I can hit a little better with the Z-Slash. I usually use the Arc 10, but if my feeling is off, sometimes I like to switch racquets for a chance to see if my feeling is better with a different racquet. Physically, it's a very minor difference, but mentally, I like to think it makes a difference, even though it's probably very minor as well :P

[TheComedian]

Good luck in your Olympic run why isn't the national team Sponsored by Black knight? isn't that brand from inside the country?

[towbsss]

Thank you :-) As far as I know, Yonex is paying decent money to Badminton Canada for the National Team sponsorship. Black Knight still operates with National level players and a lot of Juniors. They have sponsored some coaches including Anna Rice, our former top Canadian WS. They also do a lot of stuff for Squash. I think 10 out of the 13 National Team athletes were already using Yonex, with 2 Black Knight, and 1 Babolat, so I think it's easier with Yonex. A lot of us do prefer Yonex product over Black Knight as well... I personally don't know how successful it would be if it was a Black Knight sponsorship instead.

[TheComedian]

I understand. Why doesn't the government fund the our national team? that makes me upset. I watch you and your partner on TV in China in the Sudirman cup. You are both great players. It's sad to see that you will not be training full time anymore. Your world ranking is high. I would donate money but all my money is going to my own Badminton training here in China. I have no money as well. Badminton is an expensive sport. I hope to join you guys someday Badminton in Canada is growing. Maybe the government will fund the team within the next 3 - 5 years. i hope so I heard along time ago that some players in Canada were sponsored by FZ FORZA. I am sponsored here in China by FZ FORZA. I love the equipment.

[towbsss]

Haha, you have me mistaken for my brother, Derrick Ng. Our government has an interesting funding system, but money is given to sports with greater potential of getting an Olympic medal. For Canada, that means a lot of funding for winter sports, not so much for summer sports, and hence, very little for badminton. The funding system is also per player, so for badminton, we get 5-6 players every year that will get funding. If Badminton Canada decides on only 5, then there is more money for the 5 players, but if they decide 6, which they usually do, then funding is split into 3 regular 'cards' and 3 developmental 'cards', in which a 'card' is a certain amount of financial support given to a single athlete. Since there are 8 positions to fill if there was one player in each event (MS, WS, MD(2), WD(2), XD(2)), it is likely that at least two players will not get funding even if we count the top players in each event. It makes it terribly difficult to get funding because you can be the best in your event, but still not get any money. This also leads to some internal rivalries because the funding is so limited. Instead of team building, it becomes team competition to get those funding spots. It's looking a little ominous in terms of the government support, but hopefully Badminton Canada can find sponsors or some other funding resources so that they don't need to totally rely on government support.

Hopefully this gives a rough idea about the funding system for badminton in Canada...

[TheComedian]

Well Canada doesn't have a very good record in the Olympics. Somebody needs to make a break through for Canada. Somebody needs to make it to a Quarter or a Semi - Final. In China government funding works differently, which I feel is a reason why there badminton is so good there. City and provincial level players in China all get government funding. They get payed to train 6 - 7 hours a day. they eat for free, they live for free, they get paid to be on the court. the government pays the coaches and the players. There equipment is free as well. they usually end up getting sponsored by "victor" or "Li-ning."

If you can, maybe you can talk to the Indonesian Badminton Association. Maybe they can offer Canada some kind of sponsorship or funding options. I don't know, I'm just spewing out idea's :P or Taufik himself, if you can. He has done a lot for badminton in other countries. raising money and stuff. Maybe he will understand your situation and see your love for the sport. I don't know. it couldn't hurt to try. your in Indonesia now aren't you? have a try

[towbsss]

Though we may be less experienced as we had quite the gap in the past generation, a lot of us could possibly still be around for 2016. Perhaps things can improve with another 4 years of experience Only time will tell.

[towbsss]

New Canadian athlete Facebook Page: Phyllis Chan

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Phylli...73682539361233

[towbsss]

New update on my blog: The 2011 Maldives International Challenge (June 8-10, 2011)

Includes a write up, pictures, and some matches featuring from Canada: Adrian Liu, Derrick Ng, Joycelyn Ko, Grace Gao, Alex Bruce, Michelle Li, and Toby Ng.

http://towbsss.blogspot.com/2011/06/...challenge.html

[cobalt]

Thank you for your posts! That was a very absorbing account of your Maldives trip, towbsss! I enjoyed reading every bit of it. And kinda sympathise with you guys and what you have to go through when connecting flights don't work out... killer!
Congratulations on your victory!
It appears though that you didn't get an opportunity to get in some snorkelling!

[towbsss]

Thanks for reading I'm just trying to get myself out there in World badminton along with my teammates as I know they work hard for it too. There's really little promotion for any of us so I try to do what I can. But everyone is putting in a little work as well, so we are trying to give back to those who support us. Look out for my blogs for Singapore and Indonesia Opens coming up soon!

By the way, I'm not a very good swimmer, so keeping my head underwater is generally not recommended haha