My passion for badminton

It's been a long time since I last posted anything so I thought my first post would be on some thing that I love to do.

I still remember the first time I started following badminton seriously, 2006 Thomas Cup. I don't know why I started loving it, I just did. After that, my frequency of playing badminton started increasing. It was just so fun to play. It was so fun for me that after PMR that year, I joined a badminton training, once a week. Why did I suddenly started going for training? I don't know for sure myself but I think during that time I just wanted to play more and get better at the same time (and also to beat my brother which I can do so extremely easily now).

I had two and a half of enjoyable years of badminton. Even though the coach changed like one year into my training, it was still the same old badminton for me, just fun and enjoyable. I even wished that I could've started badminton training earlier in my life but sadly it didn't happen.

Then in 2009, something happened. I was going to study overseas, Singapore to be exact. To be honest I didn't want to go, one of the reasons being badminton as I did not know whether I'll be able to play badminton in Singapore. But in the end, I still went. Fortunately, I heard that CJC had a badminton team there, and I was so happy when I heard that. I thought that I can just show up to the trials and get a spot in the team. I got through the first part of the trials, but then during the second part of the trials, I failed.... I just wasn't good enough.

It was so utterly demoralizing to me, I felt lost, I actually wanted to cry that time, why was something I love to play, having so much fun playing, so painful in reality. I just felt like stopping at that time, like I had no meaning in continuing badminton. I could say that this is the start of where my passion for badminton started to fade. I just started doing other stuff to keep badminton off my mind. It was hard but I managed to do it in the end. I still played some badminton in Singapore, but the number of times I actually played there I could count on my fingers. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I did last time.

Even though I came back for holidays and still went to the same training, I just felt lazy to play. I didn't even really put much effort in improving. I would still prefer playing badminton over other stuff but it just wasn't the same. And so, 2 years passed, my passion for badminton was at an all-time low. However, I think at the end of the 2 years my level of badminton actually improved. How ironic, the 2 years that I spent not playing badminton where I just lost focus on badminton and I ended up better due to me going to gym and improving my overall fitness level and strength.

And looking back now, those 2 years were actually the most important 2 years in my evolution of a badminton player. If it wasn't for those 2 years I would never be the badminton player that I am today.

Fast-forward to August 2011, I first entered uni. Where I was still "meh" about badminton. I knew I have no chance to enter the university team. But there was something called IFG(Inter-Faculty Games) I was intrigued to what it was. So a badminton team among the faculties playing against each other? Interesting.

So I was like, let's just try and give it a shot, why not? I submitted my name and just waited.... and waited.. and waited. No reply from the team captain. So I thought that "ok fine, I guess the team is not taking in anybody." I didn't feel demoralized, just nothing.

Then by a stroke of luck, I was coming back from the gym. As you would normally pass by the badminton courts from the way back from the gym, so I took a peek and see what was happening in there. I saw a group of people and some of them were wearing Science faculty T-shirts. So I approached them and asked who they were. And lo and behold it was the Science IFG team. Then they told me that I could join in with their next training. I was actually starting to get a bit more happy, I guess? I don't know the correct word for it.

So I went to their training. And I realised after the training that, I can actually do this, I can have a good chance of getting into the team next year!!! I actually felt so damn happy during that time. So I started taking badminton seriously again.

Funnily enough, the first time I came Singapore was when my passion for badminton started fading and it was in Singapore again that I am getting that feeling back.

I think I can explain it to you by a simple conversation with one of the people I'm training with now.

Friend: "So it seems you found your passion for badminton"

Me: "No.... I rediscovered it"