Adrian Liu is becoming quite cosmopolitan as the dog days of summer are coming to a close.
Fresh off an appearance in Glasgow, Scotland at the 20th Commonwealth Games in early August, the world-class Prince Rupert-raised athlete took part in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) 2014 World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark from Aug. 25 – 31, where he and men’s doubles partner Derrick Ng faced off against a duo from one of badminton’s most prolific countries, Indonesia.
“We found out the draw probably a week before the tournament,” said Liu last week.
Berry Angriawan and Ricky Karanda Suwardi formed Liu’s and Ng’s first test in the 64-team tournament and the Indonesians gave the Canadians everything they had in the first round.
“We were able to check out some video on them but we knew they were going to be a tough team,” he added.
The first game in the match saw the Indonesians pull away early. After leading 4-3, Angriawan and Suwardi scored six straight points to lead 10-3. Liu and Ng couldn’t recover and fell 21-13.
The second game featured a much better start by the Canadian duo as they got off to an 8-4 lead, but couldn’t pull through the middle stretch of the match after the interval and fell by the same score, 21-13 to lose the match.
“The first set was tough – they just came out quite fast. We weren’t quick enough to adapt right at the beginning and then the second set we came out a lot stronger at the interval,” said Liu.
While the Indonesian duo did make it past Liu and Ng, they would fall in their next match to their fellow countrymen, the ninth-ranked Gideon Markus Fernaldi and Markis Kido.
Indonesia has the fifth-ranked team in the world, composed of men’s, women’s and mixed singles and doubles while Canada is ranked 19th. China, Korea and Japan comprise the top-three nations.
“Our tactics were good. We had all the opportunities we just weren’t finishing where we were supposed to, so it was kind of disappointing,” said Liu.
The Rupertite got a taste of some different partnership styles as he paired up with Canadian Commonwealth women’s singles gold medalist Michelle Li in Scotland before Worlds in Denmark.
“It was amazing,” said Liu.
“We’ve played together before … she’s probably more controlled with controlled attacking and controlled defence as well. Derrick’s a little more explosive and aggressive usually.”
The two reached the round of 32 before falling to Singapore in the mixed doubles category.
For the duration of August, Liu stayed with a Danish coach, learning the ins and outs of the mental side of the game and fine-tuning his performance before Worlds took place.
“We were just focusing a lot on the concentration factor and more patterns and techniques. We’ve just got to work it into our own game and see how it goes from there, but it was good,” he said.
For now, the Richmond-based athlete is home, preparing for the Badminton Pan American Championships happening in Toronto from Oct. 13-19.
