Ah yes, You play for Trinidad. Watched you play at the Macau Open in November. You played with some Malaysian guy. Anyway, you train with Alex Pang, there is a player who (in my opinion) is throwing is talent away. In 2010 he takes Taufik to 3 games, then last year he loses the National Championships to a retired Bobby Milroy. That's what I'm saying, Canada's top ranked players, are all under 150 in the world. only participating in events in Canada and the US. If they competed in Asia or Europe their rankings wouldn't be nearly as high. But it can be changed. It needs to be changed if Canada ever expects to develop a world champion. training with Alex Pang for 3 days is not enough. My regular sparring partners here in China can beat Alex Pang very easily. I remember your performance at the Macau open, and, I have to say, I'm not trying to insult you or anything, but you lost 6 and 7 to an unseeded Malaysian in 15min. I want to develop players, I know how to develop players, seen I've been a part of developing players. And after watching your match, I know how to develop you (PM me if your interested) But what I mentioned before is what Canada needs, and I'm sure I could find some players or children to develop once I've retired. I love to coach as much as I like to train.
Excellent point? That is the most ridiculous assumption around ... EVERY country in Europe works with a national ranking system; that it supposedly means the world to every Canadian player and is their single focus says nothing about the system itself. To most (senior) players in the national team setup it doesn't mean much, only the national championships and international ranking and of course tournament results nationally and internationally. The ranking helps in tournament seeding ... Badminton Canada has no money, no league structure like in Europe; no tournament circuit(?) ...
Of course it can and has led to some awkward seeding situations and ensuing discussion in the past were clearly lesser players were seeded higher because their national ranking was higher compared to players playing international tournaments or play in foreign leagues. But there are more players than just those in the national team, these are not just numbers you can just disregard either. I'm sure Japan would have a national ranking system and almost opposite organized structure compared to Thailand, so to use the Thailand situation as the example of why a ranking system sucks ... And it is possible to get to world class results with little means and a huge amount of dedication with a small group but not consistently. A local example that is always used is the men's volleyball team that won Olympic gold in Atlanta '96 but that is a teamsport that only had to peak at a few moments and nowadays is nowhere near world class. An unsustainable model of utter, obsesive dedication by a like minded group, almost comparable to "the miracle on ice".
Does a national ranking system work? Just because it is in place in Europe doesn't mean that it works well. To be honest, I never been one for national rankings. I can see where it would help in getting sponsorship but there can be disadvantages. Seedings? I don't think it is really that hard to give more higher seedings to those with results at international level. But supporters of a national ranking system may argue otherwise. Disclaimer : only referring to national rankings and not international rankings, international competitions and seedings.
I agree if you can get top players together in one location and train together they will all improve. An extreme example would be the Williams sisters - who just trained against each other and was able to develop to very high (highest) levels. But there will always be a ranking system official or unofficial. In the USA football(soccer) matches for kids they don't keep score - but every kid knows who's winning. In Canada - the provincial associations are supposed to develop the players to national level then the national level is supposed to take them to international level. But as I mentioned since most players have school and work - they tend stay where the work and school is. In Asia, these players you're talking about Badminton is their career - so it makes sense to go to the various centers as it's going to affect their careers. I guess it is the difference between professional and amateur systems.
Yes I did lose to him pretty fast and with low scores, I am not the same level as players top 50 in the world and higher. The Malaysian guy who beat me also beat his next round guy the exact same scores. You did have a good match against the 3rd seed so congrats to you there. I fortunately did have success at tournaments in Tahiti and Brazil making quarters finals and loosing to a top 50 and same in Brazil loosing to a top 50. Anyways besides the point right now. Canadian badminton, although Alex Pang more or less officially retired 2 years ago he still does train here and there the thing is he has such great knowledge and understanding of the game that he trains very smartly and knows exactly what to do. Bobby does still maintain his level as hes not training to compete internationally again but those players simply have such a high understanding of the game and so much experience they can beat lots of players out there still. You should come back and play in the Canadian Nationals some time. As for the rankings yes I agree, but you have to also understand that for you to travel around in Asia its cheap. I went to china 3 times in the past to train and I loved it and it is very cheap to train there even when I was there for tournaments it was super cheap between countries. But for players to fly from here to Asia or Europe that's around $1000 (if your super lucky) to $1800+ and then add on hotel, food, etc that's just not worth it unless you know you will do good in the tournament or just have $1500-2000+ to blow for a week. But it would be great for Canadian badminton if you return and are able to implement a china style training center to accomplish your goals.
Just out of curiosity and trying to judge your wholehearted words: Is this your record on international level? http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/profile/overview.aspx?id=5DAD4C27-BACE-4C92-8BB1-B2A4755426BB
Actually, it's very expensive to train in china. Depending on where your training and who your training with. Sometimes I train with the legendary Tang Xianhu at the Liyongbo badminton am school here in dongguan, but it's 400RMB person session. That's approaching $100 per session. One session is about 3 hours. To train with Hunan provincial team is 10,000RMB per month. But that includes living and food. It's cheaper than the west but it ain't "cheap." Not sure where you were training in china, but it's not cheap. And I actually have to leave dongguan and go back to a small city in hubei to save some money and train myself for a while. Running out of skrilla after that china international. I have given a video of bobby milroy and another of Alex pang to tang xianhu to get his opinion on their level and their playing styles. I won't post what he said here, as I may get in trouble I'll just mention that he said they have VERY ugly and bad techniques and predictable playing styles. One Canadian badminton player I look up to in Andrew Dabeka. I feel he was our best. But all these former Canadian players have experience playing on the international circuit, but not really any knowledge of techniques, strategies, or even basic footwork (other than Andrew). I watched Stephan W. On YouTube the other day, he always would play a shot moving away from center court, never playing the shuttle while moving his momentum forward into the court. This is very slow, and it's very easy to deceive a player who moves like that. Just my thoughts. Most (if not every) Canadian player has gone over seas to learn badminton. Our country cannot develop players at all. On top of that, our retired players coach for themselves. So even they can't develop a player. That Clear 1 badminton center in Richmond BC is the problem in my opinion. All the coaches are there making their wallets fat charging REDICULOUS amounts of money per hour for their coaching and the students learn squat. They have everyone convinced that's where you need to be if you want to learn badminton.
No offense, but do you really think your experience and class as a player is sufficient to "change Badminton in Canada"? As you mentioned Andrew (Dabeka): he played international level for quite a time (more successful), lifed and played in Europe the last years (and been responsible in a national badminton junior squad as a trainer and club team trainer), i.e. he's a hell of a lot more experienced than you are. Wouldn't it be good for badminton Canada to have a person like him being responsible for the future of the sport? (i think he's back in Canada now, at least that's the last thing he said half a year ago or so. but don't know about his future plans...).
But I'm not finished my career yet, not even close. And I would be willing to bet that I have more experience than him in Chinese badminton training techniques. I have been out here for 3 plus years learning and training as the Chinese do. I can speak mandarin. I still have at least 10 more years of training and competing to do. Plus, I'm not a selfish money hungry coach as he is working in that C1 center. I train with Tang Xianhu (you probably don't know who he is lol) one of the greatest players ever. Beat the 4 time all England champion 15-0, 15-6. Most of the Olympic champions were his students. Indonesians and Chinese. He is above Li Mao in class of coach. I know techniques I've never seen a American player use. Including Andrew Dabeka.
All I wanted to say, is that you have pretty big plans for someone who hasn't achieved much (yet). I'm not saying you're a bad player or inexperienced or something. I'm not saying you can't be what you're talking about in some years! I don't even know you, so who am I to judge! But I would suggest to prove your abilities first before talking about big plans...
That's the plan anyway who knows? Things may change in that much time. I may retire, get injured (God forbid) but I know I have a long road ahead of me. Believe I know
It's commendable to have a 5 and 10 year plan for the future. We need your type of passion and vision for badminton in Canada. For most others, it's dream big or go home, but in you case, it's dream big *and* go home.
The score doesn't show it, but the first game was good too. Lots of long rallies. The people in the stands were chearing me on lol. Some fans asked me for a photo afterwards and Xia xuanze came and talked to me about where I learn and who I learn from. This match was the most fun I had in the badminton court. Also, you should have seen Hu Yun's face when he spoke Mandarin to him after the match lol. We had a good time.
I just have the one from the China Masters. But it's just for training and I'm not happy with my performance. I was too slow and lots of repeated rallies.
