Anton Menzel preparing for two National badminton tournaments

Yukon badminton player Anton Menzel vied in the 2022 YONEX Western Senior Elite tournament in Calgary over the May 27-29 weekend.

Menzel went into the tournament coming off a medal performance at the YONEX Alberta Series #5.

“It’s pretty stiff competition,” said Menzel. “It’s a lot of the best players from Alberta.”

Coming off the gold medal performance, Menzel said he’s always looking to continue improving.

The success at Alberta Series #5 was tough to replicate at the national event. Menzel went into the weekend sick and said he was unable to put his best games together.

“It was unfortunate timing,” said Menzel. “Despite the circumstances, I think I put up a good fight. It’s definitely not the results that I was hoping for.”

When preparing for the Senior Elite tournament, Menzel said his first goal was to “get on the court, give it my all and see how far that takes me”.

“There was a certain amount of expectations,” said Menzel. “I was looking to at least make round three but the first round I put up a pretty good fight.”

The competition at the tournament, Menzel said, was tough.

“They are all really good players,” said Menzel. “If I lose it’s not detrimental. They’re all really good and play really well. It’s not something I should be sad about. They’re all beatable.”

Now back to feeling healthy, Menzel said he’s back in training.

“I went back into the gym and brought myself back into it because it’s disappointing losing. It’s a process, you get back into training and pick yourself back up. That’s what I needed at that point.”

It’s going to be a quick turnaround for Menzel before he gets back in action. In the first two weeks of July, Menzel will compete in the Senior Nationals followed by the U23 Nationals – both championships are in Edmonton.

“It’s going to be back-to-back, hard games all the time,” said Menzel.

For the senior tournament, Menzel said he’s going for the experience as it will feature some of the best badminton players in the country.

“They are at the level I hope to be at in the next two years,” said Menzel.

The expectations of himself are higher at the junior championship.

Most important, Menzel is hoping to go into the two Nationals healthy, and at 100 per cent.