“Work it harder, make it better,
Do it faster, makes us stronger.

More than ever, hour after hour
Work is never over.“

Harder, Better, Faster – Daft Punk Tribute (by OVERWERK) – music to listen to during reading

Although being highly competitive as a person and enjoying badminton which is in those terms, I daresay, extreme – and which is in fact in a slight contradiction with the One rule of End7ess soulsports (no competing!), the point of this post is to inspire you to train hard, persist and endure even when it is difficult and inertia wants to kick in. The results will come, don’t worry.

As I stated in a previous, introductory post about my history with this beautiful and fierce sport that is badminton, when you find your true love, or when your sport finds you, you will never „train“ a single day in your life again. Yes, you will put many hours in it but the zone will absorb you, as if you aren’t your body anymore, as if you are something else. Body becomes just a vessel, a vessel with enormous amount of energy.

The autumn is approaching and with it, the new season of badminton tournaments. ADA League, Max League and some local tournaments are in plan for now. There are many events and it is sometimes hard to skip so much hiking and being in nature only to play badminton. But man, the love for badminton burns strong!

The first tournament in the ADA League for the season 2023/2024 was held in Zagreb, Badminton Center Max, Velesajam, pavilion no. 20. There are four groups in which you can compete in ADA: A, B, C and D. Although probably being a very weak B player, and pretty strong for a C player (I am somewhere in between), for now I compete in C group. There are three disciplines in total: mixed doubles, doubles and singles.

It is considered somewhat insane to play all of the three disciplines on the tournament – the toll on the body and concentration is huge so people mostly focus on one or two disciplines. If you play all the disciplines, you need to know you will be playing badminton the whole day, from the early morning until at least early evening. I think we should always push things to the limit because only then can we know, expand and reach our full potential. I consider myself still young (in the badminton world, with my 33 years I am still a senior, soon to be a veteran – after hitting the wall of 35) so I’m deciding to play all the disciplines. I am curios to where this love induced fever can take me. Already during training sessions I have with my colleagues from the club (Concordia), I have realized that two and a half hours are not enough for me, I can do more. Three times a week for more than three hours? I don’t know, still haven’t found the roof of this enormous thing badminton and I have.

THE FRUITFUL RESULTS

I must thank my partners in mixed and regular doubles: Agneta from Orka Varaždin and Vins from Concordia. I am always glad to share happiness and joy with someone, even more when I see that same flame in my partners. Well, you could argue that people who compete in tournaments are there because they want to win and they think they can – win or at least gain some experience and insights and become better versions of themselves.

I think it is not a shame to admit that you want medals – for yourself and for your club. I would be happy with only one really, but three… Three silver medals for a silver surfer. Starting to feel really metallic over here! Joking aside, I feel more fit, strong and more capable than ever. Medals aside, I played badminton the whole day – in total 17 matches and I absolutely enjoyed it and you can bet I will do it again!

You can probably guess where I’m going today after work, right? I will imagine this as being a beautiful never-ending project of becoming a better man. The work is never over. See you on the courts!