HYDERABAD: What does an aspiring athlete wish for when he/she takes up a sport and aims to become a professional? Proper facilities, resources and sponsorships come to mind, as they can prove to be the requisite ingredients in launching a career. While many use the aforementioned things to make a name for themselves, a few do the same despite the situation not being in favour of them. Canadian shuttler Michelle Li is one of ‘them’.
Currently ranked number 21 in the world, she has constantly figured in the top 30 of the BWF rankings since 2015, touching number 13 in March that year. Winning her first major multi-sport games title in 2011 Pan Am Games, she has come a long way, becoming Canada’s most successful badminton player ever. She clinched the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold defeating Kirsty Gilmour in the final. This year she made the finals of two Grand Prix tournaments — US Open and Dutch Open.
Born in Hong Kong, Li made a move to Canada with her family when she was just six. In a chat with Express, the 26-year-old from Markham shed some light on the ‘shuttling’ scene in Canada. Asked how she developed an interest in the game in a country that worships Ice Hockey, she said: “I started playing badminton when I was 11 with my mom. Later, I was introduced to a badminton club. That is how I got interested in the game.”
Li also said that badminton is not a favourite sport for Canadians. “Ice hockey is to Canada what cricket is to India, maybe even bigger than that. If ice hockey is the number 1 sport in Canada, then badminton is like the 20th.”
And because of that, the game is not well structured. “We have a national team and coaches, but we do not train together most of the time. There are very few instances when all of us get to train at the same place. I have a sparring partner that travels with me from time to time. There are almost no resources. Same goes for the sponsors. I fund all of my trips to various tournaments,” said Li with nonchalance.
However, it is not that the thought of shifting base to Hong Kong has not occurred to her, considering the world-class players that constantly spring up from the country.
“The thought of leaving Canada, and playing and training in Hong Kong has definitely occurred to me. But I want to take the game forward in Canada. I want to take it as a challenge and try to overcome it. There is a different kind of satisfaction in it,” Li explained.
While it will take some time for the sport to grow in huge proportions, there are some positive signs. “More and more people are taking up the sport, but other than that nothing has changed. The resources and sponsors are still hard to come by.”
While it is an uphill trek for Li, she is not afraid to climb.
Speaking about her first PBL sojourn, Li added:”I have played in the Danish league and in Malaysia. I have to say that PBL is a unique concept. All the other tournaments are spread across a longer span of time. In PBL, we play a lot of matches over a short period of time. It has definitely helped me in learning how to handle pressure. At the end of it, we had almost become like a family. Everyone was sad to leave.”
vishal@newindianexpress.com