Last 16 World Championships Copenhagen 2014

http://www.rte.ie/sport/other-sport/2014/0827/639687-evans-makes-16-at-world-badminton-championships/

Radio interview 98FM Dublin.

Hey,

I did a radio interview this morning for the very popular 98FM station in Dublin. The program is called "Now thats what i call sport" and the host is Johnny Lyons. I have met Johnny quite a few times over the past number of years and he has always been fantastic to me. Very supportive and very interested in how I'm getting on. He is also always straight on to me after i have had a good result to show his support and that really means a lot.

You can have a listen by following this link

http://www.98fm.com/player/podcasts/Now_Thats_What_I_Call_Sport/98FM_Now_Thats_What_I_Call_Sport/25019/0/scott_evans_on_badminton_world_championships

Thanks

WINNER Brazil Grand Prix :-)

Hey,

Sorry its a few days late but didn't have one second to write my feelings down after the final because of all the messages of support i received. I absolutely couldn't believe the amount of messages on my phone, Facebook, twitter, email i received.. it was overwhelming!!

Well what can i say.. i won the final in 5 sets against Dieter Domke. Dieter is a very good player so i knew this would be a tough challenge from the beginning. It started out a lot worse than i expected losing the 1st and 2nd set. I wasn't following my tactic 100%. The rallies i played where i followed the tactic i was winning but i couldn't seem to continue doing it point after point. So i lost the 1st and 2nd set and was starting to think it was going to be a very quick final if i didn't get my act together. I worked really hard between the points to keep reminding myself what my tactic was right and that if i could hold it for each rally i had a good chance to win. I also felt good on court so i had no reason not to go for it.

The 3rd set was better.. still struggling a bit with the tactic but slowly i could feel it was getting better and better. I got lucky at the end of the 3rd where we played a long rally and i played a net shot and Dieter came forward to tried to make a net kill, the shuttle hit the net as i was kind of going backwards i somehow hit the shuttle up and dieter had turned around and shouted as he didn't realise i had hit the shuttle.. and as he turned around he tried to hit it again and missed and that put me in front 10 - 6 instead of 9-7. I think this was a crucial point and it gave me more confidence and my game was gradually coming together very nicely. Towards the end of the match i felt very good and had total control of my tactic and i think Dieter found it hard towards the end to win points and he was more relying on me to make mistakes.

This was my 3rd international victory and my first Grand Prix title and it is something i am extremely happy about. I had a good tournament and learned a lot about my game which i will use to continue improving.

I mention tactic a lot in this blog and i have really realised this week that this part of my game has improved a lot over the last 2 years. I can still improve more on it but it is definitely going in the right direction and thats something i am very happy about.

I would like to really say a big thank you to everyone who sent me a message over the last few days. I don't think any of you will ever really understand how much it means to me and i really appreciate it. It makes these moments so much more enjoyable.

Thank you all again and i hope we will have more successful times like this in the future.

Scott

Into the final in Brazil

Hey,

A good win today against number 1 seed Henri Hurskainen. I played very well and had my tactics right from the beginning. Something that i have struggled with in the past was having a tactic and sticking to it all the way through but today i showed that i have improved in that area.

I won the first set 11-7 which was quite comfortable. The 2nd set i was leading 6-1 and had a bit of a bad patch but managed to get myself back and take the set 11-10.

The 3rd set was a bit the same with me leading and Henri catching up and again i closed out the set and the match at 11-10.

Really happy again to win today and looking forward to another challenge tomorrow where i will face 2nd seed Dieter Domke from Germany.

Thanks

Scott

RTE Sport update

Hey,

Some more media for Irish badminton.

Thanks RTE.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/other-sport/2014/0808/636053-irish-players-reach-brazil-semi-finals/

5 set win and into the semi final

Hey,

Today was a tough match against Petr who played very well. I won 11-8 8-11 11-10 6-11 11-6 in 57minutes.

The match was very up and down from me. I struggled to get any kind of length on my lifts and played too slow to the net which gave Petr an easy tactic of holding the net and getting the lift. I really found it hard to get the feeling on court and my movement wasn't great either. In saying that i still managed to get the win which i am of course very happy about.


Tomorrow i will play my first semi final in a grand prix tournament and i am up against the number 1 seed from Sweden Henri Hurskainen. This will be a tough match but i am ready for the challenge.

Thanks

Scott

Into the quarter final in Brazil

Hey,

Another good, tricky game this morning. I played Bjorn Seguin from USA. I won 11-10 11-9 11-8. First 2 sets where quite close until it was 8-8 then in both the 1st and 2nd i went 10-8 up. Great to close the first 2 sets in those situations. The 3rd i played better with more speed and more quality and was leading 9-4 but let him back in and suddenly it was 9-8. Again i closed out the set and the match which is a great feeling. This was a tougher match than yesterday and i am expecting another tough match again tomorrow against Petr Koukal who i recently played in US Open in the 3rd round.


Scott

2nd round win here in Brazil

Hey,

Good news from Brazil. I won this morning 11-4 11-5 11-5 against a Canadian guy. I saw him play while i was in Canada and he had a good tournament there so this could have been a bit tricky this morning but i was ready from 0-0 which is of course very important with this scoring system. I played very well and was in control for the 3 sets even after having a crazy morning getting to the hall.



The bus was due to pick me up this morning at 7 o clock and after waiting 45mins and still no sign i decided to get a taxi. The journey has been around 1 hour from our hotel to the hall so even at 745 this morning i had good time (i thought). I ended up arriving in the hall at 940 when my match was at 1030. Lucky i left early as the taxi driver got lost about 14 times.

Not to worry :-) i handled the situation well and was able to focus on my game.

Next up tomorrow is a guy from USA. Never played him before but i am sure it will be a good match.

Scott

Brazil Open GP

Hey,

Last day today before the tournament starts for me tomorrow. I have had some great weeks training after Canada and US Open and before traveling to Brazil. 

Brazil Open will be played with a new scoring system which is being tested out by BWF at the moment. Best of 5 sets to 11. At 10-10 it's just 1 point. Will be very interesting to play with this scoring system. 

You can see the matches for tomorrow by clicking this link

http://tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=49C4127A-741E-479D-9F68-F3F359D263C2&d=20140806

Scott

First day in Rio

Hey,

A very good day yesterday to start what will hopefully be a good week. I trained for 2 hours yesterday with Henri from Sweden in the main hall. The main hall has only 3 courts which is a bit strange for a Grand Prix tournament. We had a very good session and I felt very good even after the long trip on Saturday. 

After coming back from training and time for a quick shower and change of clothes Henri, his coach Jonas and myself went out for late lunch/dinner. We walked along Copacabana beach until we found a nice restaurant.

Here is a few pictures of the beach and Henri and myself at dinner. 

The lad on the right is having a great time catching some sun :-)

Yesterday evening Sam, Chloe and Josh arrived so it's nice to have the other Irish players here. 

Today we will be training from 13-15 and then I will go to the gym later this evening for a short session.

Scott

Rio De Janeiro

Hey,

I arrived late last night after a long days traveling. I left my apartment in Copenhagen at 4:40 Saturday morning. First flight was at 6 to Amsterdam. I had a 4 hour wait in Amsterdam and then 11 hour flight to Rio. The flight went very well and with a good seat it means everything. I flew with KLM which is not an airline I would fly with regularly but yesterday's flight went very well. 

Got to the hotel at 2015 last night and had a quick dinner and went to bed. I have just woken up from a good 10 hour sleep which is a great way to start the trip. Another positive is waking up to this view of the Copacabana beach.

The picture is taken while I sit on my bed.

It isn't that busy at the moment but still plenty of people running on the beach which is great to see. 

Hope your all having a nice weekend.

Scott 

Mobile blogging

Going to start doing some mobile blogging while I am away traveling to tournaments. 

Leaving tomorrow or Brazil. Never been so it will be a nice experience and I am feeling good physically and ready for a good tournament.

Going to miss this man all next week...

Some badminton in the irish media

Hey,

After a good tournament in US Open couple of weeks ago its always nice to see the irish media reporting on badminton.

Here are 2 links you can have a look at.

Irish times - http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/scott-evans-progresses-at-us-open-badminton-grand-prix-1.1861911

RTE - http://www.rte.ie/sport/other-sport/2014/0712/630326-badminton-us-open/

Thanks

Scott

Badminton England League - NBL

Hey,

Another quick update to let everyone know the new league will be starting this year in England. Finally they have been able to set this up. Its been a long process but it will be such a big step in the right direction for Badminton in England and also Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Badminton England have made an agreement with Sky Sports to show 1 match every round live which will  be absolutely great for the sport.

Follow the results and updates here:

http://nblbadminton.co.uk

Scott

Back to blogging

Hey,

Its been a while since i last blogged. I can't even remember the last blog i posted but a quick review of my last 2 seasons.

Right after competing at London Olympics i moved my training base from Denmark to England. I had been in Denmark for 6 years and felt it was a good time to move and make a change. It was a big decision and not one that was easy for me. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to join the GB squad and train with them daily in what i would call one of the best badminton centres in Europe and i would also say world wide. Everything that is needed for badminton is there right at your fingertips. I stayed in England (Milton Keynes) for 10 months which was the 12/13 season. I had a great season with some very good results. The highlight for me that seasons as winning Irish Open. That has always been a big goal for me to win my home tournament and to make it my first international win was also special. I followed that up pretty well with winning my next tournament after Irish Open which was Cyprus Open. Irish open was in December 2012 and Cyprus Open was in January 2013. I continued training in Milton Keynes till August that year and after playing the World Championships in China i decided to move back to Denmark. There was a few reasons for that decision. The main reason was because Kenneth the head coach in England was stopping in England and moving back to be mens singles coach in Denmark. I also got a great opportunity back in my club in Copenhagen to train with Peter Gade and i felt that Peter could really help me in many ways not only with my game but in other area's of badminton. I have been so lucky to have that opportunity and Peter is an incredible role model and to work with him daily and to see how he trains and does things on court and off court has been a huge learning experience for me. He addresses every possible detail to do with his game, badminton and how it can help him and I've learnt a lot from that.

So as of now i am in Copenhagen and working with Peter in my club. I will be playing for my club Gentofte next year in the danish league and possibly for a club in England in the new english league as well. This is not confirmed yet but i really hope it will work out. I think this is a big step for badminton not only in England but in Ireland as well as the matches will be shown live in Sky Sports.

Thanks for reading and sorry for absence :-)

Scott