Beiwen's Road to Tokyo 2021
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Hey Everyone!
It’s me Beiwen Zhang, I am a professional Badminton Player who has held the #1 spot in the U.S for the last 8 years and my Olympic ranking is #14 in the world for Women’s Singles You guys went above and beyond with all the support you showed me back in 2018 for the BWF World Championships that I’m back seeking more support for overseas training, next 4 #RoadtoTokyo2021 tournaments, and then the grand finale; Olympics in Tokyo 2021.
2020 was a tough year for most people but it definitely humbled me to see how important time is compared with money. I was able to spend much needed time with my family but wasn’t able to make as much income due to all the tournaments/leagues getting canceled and my Pandemic Unemployment Assistance not going through.
Unfortunately, the training in U.S. cannot help me improve so I still need to go overseas for high level training. The only country I’ve had the chance to go to is Denmark for training because Pan Am offers a 30-day scholarship to go to the Centre of Excellence. If I want to continue this type of training overseas, I won’t be as lucky to find a scholarship, I will need to pay to go to other countries like Singapore or Malaysia. These are most cost-effective options since I will already be at each country for their tournaments and my coach is also in Singapore.
BWF schedule is almost back to normal with a few exceptions due to COVID. The first 3 tournaments actually started in January but my first tournament was Swiss Open in March because I didn’t have the funds to go to Thailand for those first 3. COVID has definitely put a huge hit into the cost of these tournaments with the new guidelines we have to follow (Bubble System), such as, higher rates for official hotels, extra days for quarantining, and COVID tests done upon departure require payment out of pocket. Pre-COVID I would actually find other hotels or Airbnbs to stay in because the official hotel is usually costing double of the hotels/Airbnbs I stay in. Since we have to follow the Bubble System, all athletes and coaches are required to stay in the official hotel. We also run the risk of flying to the tournament, possibly testing positive for COVID, not being able to participate in the tournament at all since we would need to quarantine for 10 days, then losing all the money spent on that trip.
The next tournaments I am trying to participate in are Pan Am Individual, India Open, Malaysia Open, and Singapore Open. Normally, each tournament lasts 5 days and we just need to arrive 2 days early but with COVID; I have to arrive India 6 days early, Malaysia 7 days early, and Singapore 4 days early. That is a total of 11 extra days in the hotel rooms with 4x the cost of what I was paying for each day from pre-COVID.
Lastly, the Olympics in Tokyo all my travel expenses will be covered by the U.S. Olympic Committee but I definitely need my coach there and all his expenses will come straight from my pocket.
I appreciate any and all the help I can get from you guys. I will do my best to represent the U.S.A. in this year’s Olympics and hopefully inscribe my name in the history books forever!
Wish me luck!!
Badminton World Federation Profile:
https://bwfbadminton.com/player/53806/beiwen-zhang
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/beiwenzhang/
It’s me Beiwen Zhang, I am a professional Badminton Player who has held the #1 spot in the U.S for the last 8 years and my Olympic ranking is #14 in the world for Women’s Singles You guys went above and beyond with all the support you showed me back in 2018 for the BWF World Championships that I’m back seeking more support for overseas training, next 4 #RoadtoTokyo2021 tournaments, and then the grand finale; Olympics in Tokyo 2021.
2020 was a tough year for most people but it definitely humbled me to see how important time is compared with money. I was able to spend much needed time with my family but wasn’t able to make as much income due to all the tournaments/leagues getting canceled and my Pandemic Unemployment Assistance not going through.
Unfortunately, the training in U.S. cannot help me improve so I still need to go overseas for high level training. The only country I’ve had the chance to go to is Denmark for training because Pan Am offers a 30-day scholarship to go to the Centre of Excellence. If I want to continue this type of training overseas, I won’t be as lucky to find a scholarship, I will need to pay to go to other countries like Singapore or Malaysia. These are most cost-effective options since I will already be at each country for their tournaments and my coach is also in Singapore.
BWF schedule is almost back to normal with a few exceptions due to COVID. The first 3 tournaments actually started in January but my first tournament was Swiss Open in March because I didn’t have the funds to go to Thailand for those first 3. COVID has definitely put a huge hit into the cost of these tournaments with the new guidelines we have to follow (Bubble System), such as, higher rates for official hotels, extra days for quarantining, and COVID tests done upon departure require payment out of pocket. Pre-COVID I would actually find other hotels or Airbnbs to stay in because the official hotel is usually costing double of the hotels/Airbnbs I stay in. Since we have to follow the Bubble System, all athletes and coaches are required to stay in the official hotel. We also run the risk of flying to the tournament, possibly testing positive for COVID, not being able to participate in the tournament at all since we would need to quarantine for 10 days, then losing all the money spent on that trip.
The next tournaments I am trying to participate in are Pan Am Individual, India Open, Malaysia Open, and Singapore Open. Normally, each tournament lasts 5 days and we just need to arrive 2 days early but with COVID; I have to arrive India 6 days early, Malaysia 7 days early, and Singapore 4 days early. That is a total of 11 extra days in the hotel rooms with 4x the cost of what I was paying for each day from pre-COVID.
Lastly, the Olympics in Tokyo all my travel expenses will be covered by the U.S. Olympic Committee but I definitely need my coach there and all his expenses will come straight from my pocket.
I appreciate any and all the help I can get from you guys. I will do my best to represent the U.S.A. in this year’s Olympics and hopefully inscribe my name in the history books forever!
Wish me luck!!
Badminton World Federation Profile:
https://bwfbadminton.com/player/53806/beiwen-zhang
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/beiwenzhang/
Organizer
Beiwen Zhang
Organizer
Las Vegas, NV
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