4 In a Row, Charmaine Reid & Nicole Grether win the Canadian International.
Nicole and I had a great weekend in Montreal at the Canadian International. In the quarter finals we were up against the 2010 Canadian National Champions, Melody Liang and Xuelian Jiang, Xuelian was a former Chinese National Team member, (8 years on the Chinese national team) and had won medals at World Championships, we were well prepared for a hard match, focusing on every rally, playing a good attacking solid game and won in two games straight 21-18, 21-18.
In the semi finals we had a marathon doubles match against Japan, Kana Ito and Hitomi Oka. After exciting and amazing long rallies over and over again, with hardly any unforced errors by both teams, Nicole and I were able to win the first game 21-18 in the second game they had a lead of 17-13, we came back to tie it up at 19 all, wanting to win in 2 games but they kept fighting and took the second game 21-19. 2 minutes of needed break between the 2nd and 3rd game and we were back battling on court. We lead 11-4 midway but still long rallies of drop, clear and smash and after 94 minutes we won the match 21-14.
Into the finals, we were well prepared the next day and looking forward to play. Unfortunately our opponents, Huang Ruilin and Lim Yee Theng had to withdraw due to an ankle injury that Huang sustained in the semi finals. The Canadian International title became our 4th title in a row. (New York Open, Peru International, LABC Open and Canadian International)
In the singles action my first round was against a Malaysian player Lim Yee Theng, Lim won the first game 16-21, in the second game I started to move the shuttle around the court well and made her run the 4 corners setting up my smash and drop and I was able to win the next 2 games 21-11, 21-10. The quarter finals I was up against my long time rival Denyse Julien of Canada, I knew going into the match it was going to be mentally tough and Deynse would try and win quick points. The last time I think we played head to head was at the 2007 at National Championships in Alberta where we played in the finals and I was able to win the title.
3 years later and numerous times of playing we both knew what shots were going to be played before the shuttle was struck. Denyse with her good net shots and smart thinking made the 2 games close but I was able to win in 2 straight games 21-18 21-19.
In the semi finals I was up against Hitomi Oka of Japan, the first game I knew I needed to attack as much as possible as she runs everything down, the first game she won 21-15, in the second I made more mistakes going for too many winners giving her the game 21-6, Oka went on to win the singles title at the Canadian International.
Next stop Boston Open, Nicole and I just left Montreal after the Canadian International and taking the Greyhound bus for 8 hours to Boston for our next tournament.
Live your dreams,
Charmaine