Pan Am gold medal game a thrill for local badminton player

One point was all that stood between Adam Dong and Nyl Yakura and a Pan Am Games gold medal.

Leading 20-14 in the deciding set, their Brazilian opponents Davi Carvalho and Fabricio Rocha fought off four match points. Rocha’s cross-court smash looked like it would continue that run, but Dong reached back and to his right, falling to the ground as his return cleared the net by inches. Carvalho tried a drop shot in front of Dong but Yakura pounced on it and drove the shuttlecock into empty backcourt.

Dong, just back on his feet, dropped to his knees and looked skyward. He crossed himself, put his head in his hands and lowered his head to the court.

The Pan Am Games gold medal was an emotional moment for Dong. It had been less than two years since his return to competitive badminton.

“I was just happy to have this opportunity,” he said. “Winning the Pan Am Games was one of our big goals.”

Dong had thought his days of competitive badminton were over. He took up the sport when he was six after Zhang Zun, from his hometown of Suzhou, China, won Olympic gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. He found success on the court, winning the National Youth Games and even played professionally.

Dong moved to Canada in 2014 to attend Humber College and dominated the college circuit, winning three straight Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championships.

After graduation, having a wife and two children, it was going to be tough making a living playing professional badminton. Instead, he decided to focus on coaching. He looked at possible locations and settled in Burlington where he opened Lions Badminton in 2018.

“I had visited before and I liked the city,” he said. He hoped to help others improve their skills and reach their goals.

All the while, Dong still believed he had the talent and skills to make his own dream come true. Then, late in 2021, he got a call from former Humber teammate Nyl Yakura. The two had played doubles together briefly in 2016, but Dong was unable to compete for Canada at the time. Yakura was looking for a partner after he and Jason Ho-Shoe split following the Tokyo Olympics.

“'Do you still want to play?' he asked. I’ve always had that fire,” Dong said. “I’ve wanted to go to the Olympics. It’s been a dream of mine since I was kid.”

Dong felt the Pan Am Games were an important step in making his Olympic dream come true. But in the lead up to the Games, he wasn’t even sure he would be able to play.

At the world championships in August, he suffered back spasms that forced the pair to retire in their opening-round match. He wouldn’t touch a racquet for weeks afterward. But in the two tournaments before the Games, Dong and Yakura reached the semifinals and finals.

At the Pan Am Games, Dong and Yakura won a highly competitive semifinal, 21-10, 21-23, 25-23, over Mexico’s Job Castillo and Luis Montoya, who fought off six match points. Even Dong and Yakura faced a match point in the third set.

“It was a very intense semifinal,” Dong said. “All their supporters were there and they were cheering so loud.”

That would be good preparation for the final against the Brazilian duo, who had beaten them in the semifinals of a tournament in September. The Brazilians took the opening set 21-19, but Dong and Yakura won the second 21-15. Tied 12-12 in the deciding set, the Canadians took charge by taking six of the next seven points.

And when they finally secured the final point, Dong moved a little closer to his childhood dream.