US Junior Badminton

        Cheating in sports is the same as cheating in life- it will get you nowhere quick. For me, learning to be an honest player was as fundamental as learning the rules of badminton. In the Midwest and at my home club in Madison, I never purposely cheated on line calls, scoring, or faults. It was just that simple, I didn’t do it. If the bird landed just barely on the line, that didn’t mean it was out. If I touched the net, I said so. If there was even a smidgen of a doubt, I gave my opponent the point. Being honest, however, didn’t guarantee my opponents would do the same. Umpires, service judges, and linesmen were created for a reason and it’s not just for final matches and world class players. There are opponents I play, to this day, and I always request for an umpire before the match starts, simply to have a fair match. I have learned the hard way (by losing) that requesting line judges should never be something you are afraid to do. I recently lost a tight match, 17-21 in the third game, while in Peru. Two of the last few points landed on my side of the court. The line judges were notorious for making horrible calls. One of the calls was obviously incorrect and the other call was close, but both were given to my opponent. I could have stormed off the court. I could have blamed my loss on bad line calls. I could have done a number of things. Instead, I shook my opponent’s and the umpire’s hands and decided that I should never let a game be decided because of two bad line calls.
        Losing is something I have never enjoyed and unfortunately I have lost more matches then I would have liked. But, that is how it is for all players, we want to win. Statistically speaking, 100% of the time someone is going to lose, and there is always a 50% chance it will be you. Some players advance in their careers by being the best in a certain group, then moving up to a harder group. Then you become the best in that group and move up again.  I didn’t have that experience. I began playing as a D player in tournaments, and after getting a little better I became a C player, then a B player, then an A player, then a national competitor, and then an international competitor. I didn’t move up a level because I had beaten everyone at my skill level, I moved up because I was ready to move up. I was never a junior who took home three gold medals every junior nationals and I have yet to win an adult national title. I have had to learn by losing that winning isn’t everything, it is just an added bonus. One of the best matches I have ever played was at the Boston Open last year. I made the mixed doubles final with Tony Gunawan as my partner. We played against Halim Haryanto and Angie De Pauw. On the court there were three former Indonesian national team members, two world champions, one Olympian, and one Caucasian girl from the Midwest. We lost that game in three close sets, and although it broke my heart to lose, that didn’t mean it wasn’t an amazing match.
        Losing is very similar, but not quite the same as giving up. Giving up is the easy way out of a fight, and a way of not accepting responsibility for how you performed. You can see it all the time if you watch a match closely. When a player begins to drop his head in between points, he is starting to give up. If a player stops short of a bird you know she could have reached, she is starting to give up. I’ve even seen players give up before they stepped on court. One player told me she would rather go home than play her upcoming match. Last week at the Miami International I told myself I wanted to win the gold medal in ladies doubles. In the semi finals match against Canada my partner and I lost the first game 17-21. I was so disappointed that I gave up in the beginning of the second game. We were down by about 10-18 before it hit me that I was giving our opponents the match. I could have easily decided to just let them win, but instead I decided to fight. Melinda and I scored 10 points in a row (remember this is rally point scoring) playing some amazing rallies, evening the score to 19-19. Even though we ended up losing 19-21, I am proud knowing that I did not give up.
        Great badminton players are not just the world champions, Olympians, and national title holders. A great badminton player plays honestly, loses perhaps as many matches as she wins, and always brings her best to the court. Giving 100% does not mean winning 100%, it means trying your best and fighting for every point. A great badminton player is not born, she creates herself.