Hello Friends!
A couple of weeks has passed since I've last sent an email out to my supporters. Let me fill you in on what's been going on. Since the Bitburger Open, which was my first tournament of this European leg of my tour, I have been to the Netherlands for the Dutch Open, and Odense, Denmark for the Danish Open. Next week will be the French Open in Paris. Then I'll finally get a solid 10 days of training in one place before the next event, which will be the Norway International.
As for my results thus far, they are deceptive. I have now lost first round in three consecutive tournaments. That being said, I have actually played very very well in the last two. I was a little flat at the Bitburger Open, but was feeling great for the Dutch and the Danish.
At the Dutch Open, I lost to Wu Yunyong, a former Chinese national team player who now lives in Germany. If he were to play more international tournaments, I strongly believe he could easily get to a top 15 level. As it is now, he only plays a handfull of events every year, and thus is never seeded. That's why I was lucky enough to get him first round of the Dutch! I played well against him and really made him earn his victory, which is all you can really do if you lose.
Just earlier today, at the Danish Open, I played the World number 3, Chen Jin, also of China. I lost this one in two games 21-13, 21-12. Despite the relatively low scores, it was actually a great match for me. There were the standard rallies when playing against a much better player where I was just 'trying' too hard to win the rally. Basically this means that what I might be able to get away with against a weaker player, I just couldn't get away with against this guy, and the point would be over in a hurry! If I actually took those rallies out of the match, he really had a battle on his hands. We had some monumental rallies, which I won the majority of, and to give myself even more confidence, I usually won the couple of rallies after those long ones, so I was doing something right out there.
I can really feel that my badminton is getting better. I have made the commitment to work at constantly improving myself, hacking away at the parts that don't work and developing the winning elements of my game. It is this constant effort that has really led to this feeling of clarity with respect to my badminton. Unfortunately, I have only had this feeling a couple of times in my career, but I think it is a great time to see my badminton and my life clearly for what it is, given that it is my last season of badminton. It is that clarity and openess that is allowing me to make these changes smoothly and almost effortlessly, despite my 'old age' as a badminton player.
In terms of Olympic qualification, I am still ahead of my main opponent, Bobby Milroy. I'm ranked 30, while he is ranked 38. Points-wise, he is not really that far behind, and so I must take my game to the next level to ensure the best results possible in the next 5 months before the May 1, 2008 cut-off. I just have to keep focusing on my performance, and things will work themselves out in the end!
Well, I have really written a doozy of an email. I won't take up any more of your time! Wishing you all good times in Canada and elsewhere!
ANDREW ROBERT DABEKA (c) 613.222.3302 www.AndrewDabeka.ca
Previous emails:Oct 9, Sept 29, Sept 8, Sept 1, Aug 14, Jult 31 and July 10, 2007
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