I've mentioned this so many times before but I was never the athletic kid. When choosing basketball teams, I would never be in the running. When intramurals rolls around, nobody ever thinks, "Hmmm, we should get Jon to pay (insert sport here)". I mean, I could run and swim fine but only as a survival skill.
I did pick up badminton way back in my high school days. We played very casually but it was a sport I could play decently. I've mentioned this in a previous post but throughout the years I did get much better. I could never beat varsity players who would play with us but I could hold my own. I could shock them from time to time with well placed shots and I get the occasional compliment so I have no complaints there.
Last July 17 and 18, HRRAC, an association of hotels in Cebu, held a badminton tournament among its members. We registered as we have always joined the badminton mixed double tournament. This happens only once every two years. The first time I joined with Nikki was in 2017 where we were eliminated pretty quickly. I don't recall winning any of our games. In 2019, we joined again and we proceeded to the final round where we placed 5th - better but still not a podium finish.
The next one should've been in 2021 but the pandemic postponed it three whole years. Now in 2024, we joined again. We knew well in advance that we were joining so we practiced a lot. Me and Nikki would go against players we knew we couldn't beat and we always told them to "Give us your best!" They obliged and we were able to come up with a really nice strategy this time around.
Now, of the two of us, I'm the better player but Nikki is a killer doubles partner as well so I knew we had a decent chance to perform well in this year's tournament. I had to skip my normal badminton sessions during that week as I didn't want to risk an injury before the actual tournament date.
July 17 would be the group stage. We would be up against 3 other properties. The rules were that only one team would proceed to the final round per group; format was single round robin. Seeing as that was the rule, it would be very unlikely that we would proceed if we lost even one game. Our first game was relatively easy. They were good but we just knew how to play around with their weaknesses. We really thought our second game would be similar but they gave us a fight. We were leading 17-12 but they were able to make up the difference very quickly. They were able to take the lead numerous times during our match. Good thing we were able to regroup and win the match with a very slim margin. Our last match ended very quickly as our opponents didn't show up. And just like that, we had topped our group and were assured a spot in the final round the next day. Throughout the day, I kept my eyes peeled on the other groups' matches to see who the possible threats would be. I saw three pairs that I thought would be difficult to beat. After all the matches were finished, the organizers announced the five teams that would need to return for the final round the next day. Of the three pairs, only one made it to the finals. Apparently, two of the three were in the same group and so one had to eliminate the other. As to how the last of the three threatening teams were eliminated, I still don't know to this day.
Me and Nikki were excited at reaching the final round would be another round robin among the winners of each group. We all took a number to determine the order of the matches. Our first match on the next day would be the pair I thought would win the whole thing. We decided right then and there that we would try our best to beat them but we wouldn't be too hurt if we lost to them. Both the male and female player played like varsity players. We were very unsure how the other three teams played. So we just rested that day.
Finals day came and it started with all teams doing their regular warm up and practice rounds. From playing in previous tournaments, I knew the mind games can start this early. You can play it one of two ways - psyche out your opponent by playing really well and showing what you're made of or keep your cards close and not show much skill while getting adequate warm up. I decided I wanted to a mix of these two. My sister and mom had reached the finals of the women's doubles and so practicing with them might make the other teams think they were my partner or at the very least hide who my partner was. (The organizers knew but the other competitors might get confused.)
The team we had pegged to be the best pair in the competition since day one decided to show their skills by practicing all their shots in their warm up. I, on the other hand, just wanted to do a warm up and not practice at all. I decided to save the tricks for the actual match. And it wasn't long until we had our first match. Like I mentioned earlier, our first match would be against the varsity player pair. We tried all the tricks that worked the previous day but to no avail. They were really that good. I can say we landed a few good shots in but during the half score mark, we decided that it was best to save our energy for the next matches than to force a win in this one.
Our next match was against a pair who we saw would be pretty easy to beat. I told Nikki that for this match, even if we knew we could beat them handily, I didn't want to pour too much energy into it. My whole mindset for the day was to conserve our energy as much as possible. I think we allowed our opponents points which we could've won just because we didn't want to expend much energy. We ended up beating them handily.
Our next match happened right after the previous one but the umpire allowed us some time to catch our breath. Truth be told, it wasn't something we needed but we grabbed it anyway as this next pair looked tougher than your average bear. During our mini warm up before the match, I wasn't concentrating much on the opponents but Nikki was. She whispered to me that the male player was really good. His forehand was strong and his backhand was strong. Nikki was looking to me for some sort of strategy and I just said that we should use the default strategy - aim for the weaker player and aim for their backhand side.
Our match started and it was neck and neck the whole way. I could tell the male player was varsity level but the female player wasn't. Don't get me wrong, she was good but I think Nikki was a much better player than her. But I noticed that the male player was prone to making several unforced errors especially during long rallies. It then struck me that this could be a varsity player who has been out of practice for some time. He would spend a lot of time in between points trying to catch his breath and so we decided to play the stamina game. I would serve as soon as I could so as not to allow our opponents time to catch their breath. I'd give the ball to where our opponents needed to run back and forth.
We did gain a slight advantage and we got the score to 34-30 (our matches were up to 35). It was the last point for us and it was my serve. I served the ball, and after a short rally, their male player was able to hit a cross court smash which I wasn't able to get - I wasn't even near. I thought we had lost the point but the umpire said the ball was out and it we had just won. Our opponent, however, complained and said it was in. Other people in the court said they saw it went in as well. I personally thought it went in but I didn't have a good view of the line. In my opinion, the umpire, who sat on a high chair and was closest to the ball when it landed, clearly had the best view. Things got heated between our opponent and the umpire. That's when the organizers stepped in and said to just redo the point. The umpire agreed and so did our opponent. It was up to us and while I wanted to seal the win right then and there, we ultimately decided to redo the point. The next point was a short one as well. I gave them a flick serve which they returned to us. I gave them back a lob which their male player jumped to smash. I was getting ready to return his smash when it hit the net instead. Our win was sealed and was now unquestionable. I noticed our opponent was disappointed with the result and I suspect he didn't see us as a threat at all.
After this match, our record was 2 wins to 1 loss and we only had one match to go. If we could win this one, we'd be at 3-1 and that's the type of win record that could only belong to the silver medalist. The next match would be a must win for us. But seeing our next opponents play, we could say that it would be another easy win for us. We had a long break and so we could really just enjoy watching the other matches and that's how we concluded that we just needed not to get injured and we should be fine.
Our last match of the final round rolled around and we had our mini-warm up. True enough, it was going to be an easy match. During the game, I kept giving it to the back of the court where they would commit many unforced errors. I was taking it easy of course but apparently Nikki wanted me to wrap it up quickly as she was getting hungry and wanted to eat. And we did end that game very quickly.
Seeing as our record was 3-1, a second place finish was all but assured. There was only one match left for the mixed doubles category. It was the pair with the 2 varsity level players (let's call them team A) and the pair with the male varsity level player (the one who complained to the umpire in our previous game, let's call them team B). I thought team A could easily beat team B. In fairness, the match was very neck and neck. I then got nervous. If team B somehow pulls off the win, our win records would be a three-way tie with the tie being broken by the points. Going by points alone, we'd be bumped to 3rd.
We then started cheering for team A. Last minute they were able to pull away by a 5 point margin. The male player from team B again questioned a call by the umpire. I was starting to think he does this often. The linesman called the ball out but he insists it was in. Nikki was nearby and could see it was clearly out. That call clearly affected his game and they lost that match. And with that final match, our second place finish was cemented.
Me and Nikki couldn't believe we actually pulled off a second place finish! Neither one of us were particularly athletic back in high school so this was a great achievement for us. We also knew that the other properties had varsity players and younger players. Me and Nikki are already in our mid 30s so this was really one for the books!
The icing on the cake was that Joey and Pia both saw our games. We came home and even they were saying over and over again, "Mommy and Daddy, daug!" I thought I felt proud winning this for myself. it feels so much better winning it for the kiddos. We had a great lunch and just rested that afternoon. We also just hung out with the twins as we celebrated our win together.
Now, Nikki won't agree with me on this but I told myself that I'm satisfied with our second place win this year. Like, I'm fully satisfied. I don't feel the pressure to outdo our performance next time around. If it happens, it happens but I won't be so bummed out if we don't place or win next time.
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