2012 has come to an end. Tomorrow we will start with a new year. 2012 was a year with up’s and down’s, but the sting was in the tail.
On Tuesday December 4th the Dutch Olympic Committee gave their decisive answer to the way they would financially support sports the coming years. In spite of the filed ambitious Elite Sports program the Dutch Badminton Association will not be supported anymore. All funds and facilities were withdrawn. Apart from the financial aspect we will also have to leave the Olympic Training Centre at Papendal on August 1st. Reason? The poor administrative and organizational policies of recent years and the alleged lack of players with potential to really perform at the Olympics of 2016 and 2020. I can understand the first reason, but the second one I don’t understand at all. In fact many Dutch players have achieved appealing results in the Badminton Europe circuit in the past year and a half. These are the tournaments which serve as a stepping stone to the BWF circuit, the Grand Prix Gold and Super Series. Many double- and mixed doubles players are working hard to make this step and in 2013 and 2014 they should be able to compete and perform at this high level. I really wonder if the people from the Olympic Committee who are responsible for the funding policy have had a real good look at our sport.
Take for instance the European players who qualified for the mixed doubles at the London Games. Out of the 6 male players there were 5 older than 30 years of age. In badminton experience plays a key role and when you reach your ultimate physical level in your late twenties you may assume that you reach your top performance level around 30.
So, we are heading for an uncertain period. At time of the Rio Olympics I’ll be 29 years of age. I have made good progress the past year, so I don’t intend to give up. I shall go on, no matter how difficult it is going to be for me and my fellow players. Next to my training I will also have to focus on new alliances, promotions and (personal) sponsors. There is a limit to the support parents are able to give and this will probably also apply to a number of my fellow players. Only by thinking and acting differently we still may try to accomplish our dreams. All real help we can get, either material or immaterial, is of course more than welcome.
Fortunately December didn’t bring bad news only. We also got a chance to use our rackets. Right after the day with the bad news the last tournament of this year was scheduled, the Irish Open in Dublin. It gave me a good feeling to conclude my sportive year in style with a mixed doubles title. Samantha and I won our second final in a row and we were very, very happy with it.
So I finish the year 2012 with a very positive feeling. I am more than happy with 7 finals and 3 titles, but a professional sportsman can only perform well if side cases are well organised. Therefor I would like to say thank you to the medical staff at Papendal for their terrific work during the entire year, also club fysio Martin ter Plegt who is always there for me, Mike Proost Master of Science in stringing my rackets and last but not least of course my family. They support me in both good and bad times and I love them very much! THANKS!
I like to look back once more on what happened this past year.
January
After a long period of just training we are ready for two consecutive tournaments: Estonia and Sweden. In Estonia it is the first time that I officially play with Samantha. We play some nice matches which we can use to get accustomed to each other. We reach the finals but this match we don’t stand a chance. In the men’s doubles Dave and I also make it to the finals and we lose, in fact unnecessarily, to two Frenchmen. Two times runner up. I hate it!
No problem to hate yourself for a moment but in top sports this shouldn’t last too long because you have to move on. Like this time as we had to compete in Sweden again. Samantha and I win the first round, but already in the second round we are to meet my idol Nathan Robertson and his partner. Till the break of the third game we are well matched and than we get chances to win but we don’t capitalize them and we lose. Still I am very happy that I got one more opportunity to play him. A couple of months later Nathan decides to retire from international badminton.
In the men’s doubles we perform a lot better. Four wins in a row which means the final, our first Challenge final. We met the Russians Ivanov/Sozonov, two executioners on a mission. In this match we don’t stand a chance and we lose in two games. Damn, 3 lost finals in two weeks.
February
Amsterdam hosts the European Championships for male teams which is the preliminary round of the Thomas Cup. As usual team tournaments are always good fun. Especially the ragging is a tradition and new teammates lose their hair. We also play a couple of matches and get through the groups stage. In the quarter finals we lose narrowly to Germany by 2-3.
I also compete in the German Open Grand Prix Gold but I feel ill and on court every jump is hurting. We lose the men’s doubles and that was it. Only one thing to do: going home as soon as possible, recover and start training again.
March
A tournament in Poland. The mixed doubles is not yet good enough. This time, in the second round, it’s a Ukrainian pair which is too strong for us. The men’s doubles is much better again. We defeat three opponents and then, in the semi finals, we are confronted with…, yes, Ivanov and Sozonov. Although we manage to offer more resistance to these Russian ”soldiers” we lose again in two games.
April
This month two important events are scheduled: The Dutch International at Wateringen and immediately after that the European Championships in Karlskrona, Sweden. To avoid excessive burden at the European Championships we only play doubles at the Dutch International. Dave and I are third seeded and we make it to the finals where we meet the World Junior Champions from Malaysia. After we had won the first game with good and offensive playing the Asians changed their tactics. They created a fantastic defence which we couldn’t break. The second and third game we lost without coming even close to a win. Again a lost final!! I am wondering, how many more to come?…. But also after this disappointment there was not much time to think about it anymore. A couple of hours later we boarded the plane to Sweden.
We had a good draw in the mixed doubles. Via a Swiss and a Czech pair Samantha and I arrived at the round of the last 16 where we met the Russian pair Nikolaenko en Sorokina. Although we played a good match we were just a bit too short to enforce a third game. Still this was an important experience to take with us for the future, because at that time this pair was ranked 15 in the world.
In the men’s doubles we also reached the last 16. Guess who were our opponents! Yes, the Russians Ivanov and Sozonov. Would this be the third hopeless doom? Fortunately not. After we had seen the draw a few weeks before the start of the tournament we decided to watch a number of their matches on video and to thoroughly analyze their playing. Together with our coach Gerben Bruijstens we planned in detail how to play them. This combined with our previous experiences gave us the necessary self confidence. We played very well. We were highly concentrated and focussed which the Russians had not expected. Quite many times they were in despair and cursed each other, but again we just couldn’t get through. We lost in three games, but this time it didn’t feel like a defeat. We had learned a lot and created a firm foundation!
May
Again two tournaments, starting with Spain. And again the men’s doubles only since the ladies very cleverly had reached the final round of the Uber Cup. We were first seeded and had a tough draw which was quite pleasant. In succession we defeated a Danish, a German and a French pair. In our fourth final we stood opposite our Dutch colleagues Jacco Arends and Jelle Maas. It became a good match. We won the first game but in the second we wasted a comfortable lead. After the interval of the third game we took a lead which we didn’t relinquish this time! Fi-nal-ly we made it! Our first Challenge victory (third time is a charm) and second win of a tournament! A great feeling!
10 days later I boarded the plane to Hungary together with the teammates of my club Duinwijck. In Pecs we were going to defend the European Club Championship.
I do like team events very much. Fighting together and looking forward as a team to the victory. We became second in our group and in the quarter finals we met the champion of France. Unfortunately we lost by 3-4 and Duinwijck could hand over the title to the Russian Champion.
June
No tournaments and time to recover and relax a bit. A short holiday at Ibiza was great but even there I wanted to continue training. So it meant getting up early in the morning for running, core stability and shadowing. Well rested but also fit I resumed my workouts at Papendal.
July
A month of very hard training. During the summer period with no tournaments you get a chance to become more fit and stronger. I am no running fan and I have cursed the sessions at the athletics track many times, but it is fun to notice when you are making progress. Of course I got a lot of inspiration from the documentaries of the London Games which were to start at the end of this month.
August
Again a month of hard workouts, resting, eating and training again. In between I try to enjoy the TV reports of the Games as much as possible. I follow the Badminton tournament from the beginning to the end and I get goose bumps when I watch the finals sitting on my settee.
To me the absolute highlight of the games was the golden exercise of compatriot Epke Zonderland on the horizontal bar. We watched this together in the Papendal restaurant after one of the many running sessions we had on the 400 meter track. Such a performance, such an hero!
This month I will also start at my new club, 1. BV Mulheim in Germany. I am very much looking forward to this new experience.
September
After almost 4 months without real matches the first event of the new season is scheduled:
The Yonex Belgian International. I feel more than ready for this tournament. Strong, fit and above all hungry to victories. I have high expectations, but…. it does not work out that way.
I play very badly and I get nothing back from all the hard work I did during the summer. I lose both mixed doubles and men’s doubles in the first round. How come? Was all I did for nothing? Questions, which you can’t get out of your mind. I decide to take a couple of days off but also to continue on the path I choose. Sooner or later it should pay out.
October
This month the most important event of the Netherlands is scheduled. Everybody is eager to perform very well at this tournament. I have a tough draw in both mixed doubles and men’s doubles. Dave and I lose to the former Olympic Champion Markis Kido and his partner Alvent but with Samantha I make it to the quarter finals. First we defeat the same Alvent and his partner and then Dave and Selena. A real boost because in the Estonian final in January we still didn’t stand a chance to them. In the quarter finals we were meeting a relatively easy opponent, a Swiss pair which we had defeated in two games at the European Championships. But this encounter turns into a real disaster. Little energy, many errors, no rhythm, no focus. We are losing in two games. What a disillusion! After we had dealed with this disappointment we both made a good analysis of this failure and, looking back to it now, we made our foundation for better results.
Immediately after the Dutch Open we drove to Odense in Denmark for the Yonex Danish Open, a premier Super Series tournament where you will find all the top players of the world.
I can only play the men’s doubles as my mixed doubles ranking is not good enough yet. In the first round Dave and I defeat a Malaysian pair. We are in the very lower part of the schedule and we hope to meet Fu and Cai, the Olympic Champions. But unfortunately they have injuries and they are withdrawn. Now our opponents are a Korean pair which has just started to play together. In the first game we manage to keep up with them but in the second we are simply over classed. Still this is the kind of experience you need. It is the level we have to strive for. And by the way the Koreans are the winners of this tournament.
After a week at Papendal we play the last tournament of this month, the Bitburger Open which is a Grand Prix Gold event. Especially in the mixed doubles Samantha and I will meet interesting opponents. In the first round we deal with the Danes to whom we lost in Belgium and in the second round with a German pair which had some very good results recently. In the quarter finals we meet the European Champions Mateusiak and Zieba. Generally speaking we are well matched but at decisive moments they are more secure and we lose in two games. But we both are satisfied with the way we have played. Will our hard work be rewarded after all?
November
One tournament only this month: The Norwegian International in Oslo. Second seeded in the men’s doubles and no seeding in the mixed.
In the men’s doubles we play well and we reach the semi finals without having real problems. There we meet our compatriots Jacco and Jelle again and it is a struggle of titans. We lose this match with the smallest possible difference: 21-19; 19-21; 19-21.
In the mixed doubles we have to fight for every single point. In the first round we don’t play well but we still do win. Even in the quarter finals we don’t reach our regular level but personally I make a small success because we defeat a Ukrainian pair I had played before with different partners and I had never ever won from them. A boost again.
In the semi finals we were facing Dave and Selena again and it became a copy of the encounter at the Dutch Open. Only at the very end of the third game we made the decisive winning point and that assured us of a place in the final. Our first Challenge Final together! Great!!!
In that final we meet a real top pair, Fuchs and Michels from Germany. Only a few months ago they reached the quarter finals of the London Olympics. In the first game we couldn’t find the right rhythm and we lost by 16. Also the second game is laborious but we are fighting for every single point and now we get the right rhythm. We survive 4 match points and win the second game. In the third game we are running behind quite regularly but in the end we succeed to create a gap. Now we get match points. The first one we lose but the second is a winner! We did it! We have won! We both are ever so happy! Another reward for our hard work.
And this concludes a review which shows that in the course of 12 months success and failure go hand in hand but on a road which has proven to lead to better performances and higher levels, a road which (unfortunately) the Dutch Olympic Committee refuses to see and to recognise. For me there is only one thing to do: to prove that they are wrong. I wish you all a sporty, prosperous, happy, and above all, healthy 2013.
