Frustrated, freshman Stephen Ding looked at the scoreboard. He had just lost two games, and if he lost another, he would lose the match and be eliminated from the 2013 USA Junior Badminton Nationals, held in the Bay Area from July 3-7.
Ding’s opponent served. Ding hit a bad shot back to him, and he returned it low. The white birdie collided with the top edge of the net and tipped over at the last moment. Ding dived for the falling birdie and hit it back.
This time, his opponent missed. Ding won the point, and went on to win the match 21-13, placing second in boys’ singles in the under-15 age category.
Ding started playing badminton when he was 10 after trying swimming, basketball, soccer, fencing and tennis. He trains at Bintang Badminton in Campbell on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4-7 p.m.
Ding’s coach, Holvy de Pauw, is “very scary, very strict, and very disciplined.” During practice, players work on footwork, drill techniques such as serving and condition. The Bintang Team players, who compete locally, nationally and internationally, count their mistakes. At the end of every practice, de Pauw punishes them with frog jumps and running based on their number of errors.
According to Ding, he usually has the most punishments because he’s an “attack player” who makes “more mistakes than average.” Even so, Ding enjoys a close bond with his coach and finds training “very fun.”
Ding plays both doubles and singles in competition, but prefers singles.
“[In doubles] they usually hit toward your body, and I have long arms, so it’s kind of hard to hit the bird,” Ding said.
His badminton inspiration is Justin Ma, a Monta Vista junior and last year’s CCS boys’ singles champion. Ma trains in the same group as Ding does.
“Whenever I see him training, I feel like I can take [the pain],” Ding said.
Ding’s favorite part about badminton is playing at tournaments. He enjoys not only competing, but also meeting new people and making friends. At Bintang Badminton he only interacts with those in his club, but tournaments are communal events where badminton clubs from around the nation, or even around the worldy, congregate in the same gym.
Ding begins attending tournaments around November. In the spring and summer, he competes every two to three months.
Ding is now training for the Junior International Trials, to be held from Dec. 27-30, and hopes to place in the top four in his age category for singles. If he achieves this, he will be eligible for the Pan Am Junior Badminton Championships (Pan Ams), an international competition held in August.
Two summers ago, at the 2013 USA Badminton Junior Nationals, Ding placed second in singles. During the 2014 competition, he ranked in the top four in singles in the under-17 category.
“[Placing lower than the previous year] put me down, but I was happy about it,” Ding said. “[My goal this year] is to win first place [in at least one category].”