When soldiers go to war together, they form a deep bond of brotherhood that will probably last their lifetimes. I guess, when you tread an unknown path together, you tend to expose your vulnerabilities, and simply trust that your “brothers” will not allow anything to happen to you.

Not to diminish the heroics of soldiers or anything, but to a lesser extent, badminton doubles partners also form a unique bond of friendship when they go through the rigorous process of competing in a tournament. You compete without having any idea how good your opponents are. Of course, you doubt if you are good enough to compete against your opponents, but then you reassure yourself that in case your game fails, your doubles partner will be there to carry your weight. In the same vein,
your doubles partner also knows that you will do the same for him.

As a tribute to my doubles partners, I am dedicating this blog to them:

Partner No. 1: I met Levi on the day of the tournament itself. This meant that on the day of the tournament, we were not only unaware of how the other plays, but we did not even know each other’s names.

Being the more experienced player, he had to constantly remind me to focus and assure me that we can take down our opponents. I guess his reminders worked as our wins helped the team clinch the Division Championship of the Tournament.

Partner No. 2: Chot and I play similar games. We prefer to hit placement shots over power shots. We prefer to hit drop shots over smashes. We are more defensive players than offensive players. In a time-out called by our coach during the only set we lost in the tournament, our coach had to
remind us to stop hitting fancy shots, and go for higher percentage shots. Ha-ha…

Partner No. 3: Unlike my doubles partnership with Levi and Chot, my doubles partnership with Marc was not pursuant to a decision of a coach or a team captain. Marc and I decided to play together and compete in tournaments. One Wednesday leading up to a Badminton Tournament, we had to
brave the storm, flood and traffic, just so we can practice. We play even with sprained ankles, only to scare ourselves to death that our injuries would get worse. If there is one person who is as addicted to badminton (if not more) as myself, that person would be Marc.