We recently added a store to the website where people can order both our Badminton Revolution Cup DVD and our new Badminton Video Magazine-North Carolina Tour DVD. The payments are processed using PayPal so they’re secure and you can pay with credit card OR your PayPal account, whichever you prefer. The Badminton Video Magazine-North Carolina Tour DVD is now available for pre-order, and should start shipping sometime during the first week of January. The prices on our store include shipping (for now, but that may change soon so act quickly) anywhere, and our DVDs are multi-region DVDs so they will work on DVD players anywhere.
The 2007 Canadian National Badminton Championships are in St. Albert this year, only a short drive away from Edmonton, so you can be sure we will be there to cover this event. Check out the Badminton Canada website for details that should be coming soon. To get everyone pumped about the event we have produced this promo video.
After much anticipation theBadminton Video Magazine North Carolina Tour is almost here. The DVD is already listed on Amazon.com and should be ready for purchase with 10-15 days. For those of you who haven’t already seen it, here is another look at the trailer.
English badminton player Toby Honey got in trouble for playing the Sports Experts Canadian Open of Badminton. Apparently Toby was supposed to play in an English Elite tournament back home, but opted to play here in Canada instead. Even though he won, he is being punished. They are withdrawing his funding for one of his upcoming international events, and will risk losing all his funding if he has anymore “errors of judgement”.
I think this is fair for Badminton England to do, they are giving their players a lot of support to keep playing (unlike here in Canada). As a result it should be a fair expectation that the players will play in events that Badminton England wants them to play in. Especially home events where they want to raise the level of play, and expose their upcoming talent to the older generation. What do you think?
The Alberta Open Badminton Championships are over and here are the final results (sorry no scores, the official page has no results as of this posting, but I do know who won):
Men’s Singles was won by Mike Beres. I know I predicted Kyle Foley, but deep down I just wanted him to win. These veteran singles guys just aren’t getting challenged by the new up and comers, and it’s a shame. Hopefully some new blood can make it into the Canadian scene. If I remember correctly, Mike won the final 21-12, 21-19.
Women’s Singles was won by Jody Patrick (I think). I predicted this from the beginning, and it should be no surprise that she won. Not sure what the score was, but I’d be surprised if it was terribly close. It should be stated however that none of the other female contenders were really in attendance, but still this is a sign of how weak the women’s events are in Canadian badminton right now. Jody is a full-time medical student, and still manages to win. Also a good sign of Jody’s talent.
Men’s Doubles was won quite handily by Mike Beres and Will Milroy. They had a decently close match against Vandervet and Kot in the semis, but nothing to worry them. A good performance on their part here this weekend, but more than anything it shows how open the national level doubles is for who can come 2nd.
Women’s Doubles was won by Jody Patrick and Helen Nichol. No surprise here. Don’t even really want to comment on this. Women’s Doubles is pathetically weak in Canada. Not even sure what can be done to fix it. We just need more girls playing I guess.
Mixed Doubles was won by Jody Patrick and Jon Vandervet. Yes that is right, Jody Patrick won a triple crown here this weekend. Good for Jody. Also, Jon Vandervet won his first Alberta Open title. Nice work Jon. I knew that Jon would take this event, right from the start of it.
Alright, so far there have been no surprises. All of the teams I have predicted to win, are still in the running. Now the finals are set and I’ll let you know who I think is going to win.
The men’s singles final is between Mike Beres and Kyle Foley. Mike beat Brody Hilland, while Kyle Foley beat junior star David Snider. Both players won their matches in two straight sets, and so far haven’t really been challenged by any opponents. I think that Kyle Foley will win the singles tomorrow based on the fact that I don’t think Mike has been playing all that much singles lately, but I have no real proof of this to be honest. I say it will be three games, and close, but Kyle will win this one.
The women’s singles will be Jody Patrick. She beat Roxanne Fraser to make the finals, and I don’t think she was really pushed that much. Tomorrow she is playing Isabelle Mercier-Dalphond who beat Daphnee Laliberte. I just don’t think Isabelle can take this one, and I don’t think she believes it either.
The men’s doubles will be Mike Beres and Will Milroy over Justin Mullaly and Brody Hilland. Mike and Will beat Edmonton locals Brandon Kot and Jon Vandervet in two games, while Brody and Justin beat Toby Ng and Adrian Liu. I think Will and Mike will take this one based on their ambition to make Olympics. I would hope that if they are trying to make Olympics, that they can beat these two guys, otherwise, they’re in trouble.
The girls doubles, quite frankly I don’t care who wins. Jody Patrick and Helen Nichol really should win considering they are Olympians, and if they don’t lose they should quit. But I think they may have retired from competitive play already so we’ll see how much of their game they have retained.
In the mixed doubles I am putting my money on Jon Vandervet and Jody Patrick to beat Kyle Foley and Helen Nichol. Maybe some would see this as a risky bet, but Jon is a mixed master, while Kyle is a singles specialist. The difference here is going to be whether Helen’s mixed prowess can compensate for Kyle’s relative inexperience in this event. Looks like Jody Patrick is poised for a triple crown.
The first day of play is finished here in Edmonton, and so far there haven’t really been any big surprises. All of the real contenders are still in the tournament. In the men’s doubles Mike Beres and Will Milroy are still en route to the title, but tomorrow they will have to face Brandon Kot and Jon Vandervet. The odds favour Beres and Milroy considerably, but like I said before, with this new scoring system an upset isn’t impossible. On the other side of the draw it looks like Justin Mullaly and Brody Hilland will more than likely play Toby Ng and Adrian Liu from Vancouver’s ClearOne Badminton Centre. I’d be very surprised if the final isn’t Beres/Milroy against Hilland/Mullaly, but we will have to wait and see.
In the women’s doubles there were pathetically few entries. Only two matches were played today, while both the first and second seeds had byes to the semi-finals. Like I said before, there is no way that Jody Patrick and Helen Nichol are going to lose to anyone.
The mixed doubles does have one thing to comment on that I missed before. I didn’t notice that Mike Beres was playing in the mixed. Even though he is playing with a junior, Kathleen Lougheed, he is still a threat in this event, and Kathleen is a very good young player. However, in an event like mixed, experience is pretty important. I still have my money on Jon Vandervet and Jody Patrick.
We’ll have more updates tomorrow, along with some pictures hopefully. Now that I’m out of the tournament, it’s much more likely that I will have time to get some pictures.
The first few rounds of the singles here are finished at the Alberta Open Badminton Championships, and so far it looks like our predictions are going to hold up. In the men’s singles Mike Beres and Kyle Foley still appear to be on a collision course, but Brody Hilland and David Snider are poised to challenge. Still my prediction is that Mike Beres and Kyle Foley will meet in the final, with Kyle winning close.
In the women’s singles it is going to be Jody Patrick. Even though she is busy with med-school, she is still going to take this title. Isabelle Mercier-Dalphond could cause Jody some trouble, but I doubt she can win. Although she is able to cause quite a ruckus in the Royal Glenora’s cafeteria (just ask the cafe staff).
is almost here. The DVD is already listed on Amazon.com and should be ready for purchase with 10-15 days. For those of you who haven’t already seen it, here is another look at the trailer.