TOBY NG

2015 BC Provincials & Peru International Challenge

I apologize for the delay, but I had a lot of work that needed to be done last week. On top of that, my phone fell into the toilet and damaged my touch screen. Fortunately, a bag of rice and sunshine did the job of saving my phone, so I can now retrieve the photos from Peru and do a more formal blog!



Going back to the 3rd week of April, I had to compete in the 2015 BC Provincials. I wasn’t in the best shape as I was recovering from a lingering cough and some hip pain, especially before Peru, but because the tournament was mandatory, I ended up entering both Singles and Mixed Doubles. In hindsight, I should not have played Singles unfortunately. The tournament went fairly well and I managed to win both events, but I need to give a lot of credit to Badminton BC for providing medical staff, including an athletic therapist to help me with my injury. I don’t recall seeing too many people getting treatment, but I do think many people are hiding injuries, or hoping that things will get better on their own. In my personal experiences, usually things don’t get better when you ignore them. They get better when you intervene before it gets… worse.



It was a long trip to Peru, and my hip wasn’t really feeling much better. I flew from Vancouver to Houston, which was unfortunately delayed for 90 minutes, and then from Houston to Lima after a brief layover. I pretty much spent the whole day traveling, which may or may not have been so good for my hip. Although I didn’t feel pain, I’m not sure if having my hip flexors shortened for 12 hours is a good thing.


(Oops... we had a bit of a spillage on the plane. I guess I should have iced my hip. Maybe it was a sign!)


The tournament began for me on Thursday, so I had an additional day off. Matches were not too challenging, which gave me a chance to adjust to the new venue and also for my hip to adjust to playing again. However, the pain was pretty bad on Thursday and Friday, which wasn’t a good sign. With my hip being injured, it really affects my game as I like to play a movement based game to keep me ready for the following shots. When I stop moving, I get lazy and hit really fancy shots, which I don’t like. I’m weird that way.


(I repeat: I'm weird that way. Sometimes... no, often times.)


(Main venue for Peru International. Apparently it is a test venue for the next World Jr. Championships! Traffic will not be very fun though, as it took about 30-45 minutes each way.)


Saturday was a turn for the better, as I started applying some more muscle relaxant cream and used some Advil to help as well. The morning started off quite well, as my Men’s Doubles match against the top seeded Polish team actually went to 3 sets! This was probably one of our best performances, even though we didn’t win in the end. The Mixed also went relatively smoothly, as we’ve had trouble with the Brazilian before. However, things took a turn in the semifinal against France. There were some sketchy line calls and Alex had 2 service faults at critical times in the match, which seemed to be quite random. To top it off, I slipped on the court near the end of the match and hurt my hip again. I’m glad it wasn’t worse, but at least I was able to continue the rest of the match, even though it ended shortly after.


(Oh hi Brittney! I was trying to take a picture of Martin coaching Rachel in the background.)


(Can't leave without a picture from the Larcomar, a shopping mall built on the edge of this cliff which has an amazing view. The camera can't capture the beauty of everything.)


(My partner Philippe Charron is definitely a true foodie. He took us to a Peruvian restaurant and ordered a bunch of food, including ceviche, tacu tacu, risotto, and 'lomo saltado'. And he had a pisco sour!) 


I am currently doing my best to recover for Sudirman Cup, and I’ve had the fortune of seeing our National Team physiotherapist, Marc Rizzardo, for treatment. Marc was the 2012 London Olympics Chief Therapist for Canada, and was also with us at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and the 2014 Pan Am Championships in Toronto! I have one more visit on Tuesday before I leave, so I really hope my hip will be better for Sudirman Cup!



To top things off, I would like to announce that I am a CAN Fund recipient for this year! CAN Fund is a non-profit organization that raises funds and awareness for Canadian athletes! Their funding is enough to cover about 4 international tournaments and with the Olympic Year coming up, including the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games this summer, I am so grateful that they are helping me out on my quest to make the 2016 Rio Olympics! Thank you CAN FUND!



Until next time!

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