Stonewall product wins first badminton title in five years, looking toward 2028 Olympics
It had been more than five years since Chris Wiebe last won a badminton title.
A winless drought that dated back to his days as a junior player allowed self-doubt to creep into the 22-year-old’s game at times. A recent triumph, however, has swatted away those negative thoughts and given him new confidence to train harder and achieve more than ever before.
Wiebe, who hails from Stonewall, teamed up with Winnipeg’s Kyi Nichols to win the Phil Allard Memorial doubles badminton tournament at Prairie Badminton in the provincial capital on Feb. 18.
The duo rattled off four straight wins in the 58-team bracket to capture the title. It marked Wiebe’s first tournament win since the Manitoba High School Athletic Association provincial singles badminton championship in 2019.
“Winning that doubles tournament, it was pretty fun,” said Wiebe. “I was like, ‘Okay, this is cool, I can actually win these tournaments,’ because I knew I always had the potential but… winning again felt really good and is momentum going forward. It’s like the training is paying off, it’s really nice to see that.”
Nichols typically forms one-half of the fifth-ranked doubles pairing in the country with Dale Kinley, who, coincidentally, Nichols and Wiebe played in the championship match of February’s doubles tournament. He joined forces with Wiebe, with whom he’s trained a few times each week since November.
The start was less than ideal in the championship, with Kinley and playing partner Mark Shinnie (Teulon) — Wiebe’s childhood friend — going up 20-17 in the first set. Wiebe and Nichols found their stride late in the first set, though, and went on to win 24-22. The second set was over in a blink, as Wiebe and Nichols proved to be too much in a 21-11 win to seal the championship.
“When you get the results you don’t want, it’s kind of like, ‘Is the training worth it?’ or ‘Am I not training enough?’ and I think that was my big thing too (before) — not training enough,” Wiebe said.
After playing in the 2023 Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island, Wiebe took an eight-month hiatus from badminton to grow his business. In November, he returned to tournament play and by December he entered in his first international event — the Canadian International Challenge.
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Wiebe lost his opening match but was inspired in the process. He saw what it would take to reach heights he had only dreamed of before.
“Meeting everyone from other countries is just awesome. Meeting people from Spain and Brazil and just talking to previous top-50 players is really cool,” he said.
“It made me realize that I want to do the international stuff more and that’s part of the reason why I started my business is because I want it to make me money so that I can be able to play tournaments again.”
Wiebe has since dedicated himself to training three times each week to hone his skills. He’s never trained so much, he said.
It’s also the most intentional training he’s ever done. In the next year, Wiebe said he’ll decide whether he wants to continue playing recreationally or make a push for Canada’s national team in time for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
While Wiebe’s aspirations are ambitious, Kinley said he has the right attitude to make it happen.
“The biggest thing for him to do something like that is the consistency and playing as much as he can,” said Kinley, whose Interlake Badminton Club was where Wiebe first learned how to play as a seven-year-old. “If he can get the ability to get the constant training then that’s always when he’s performed his best. There’s no rocket science to doing well in anything you do. If you put the work and the time in, it’s going to go better.
“He’s always hard-working, very energetic, just fun to be around. So it makes it pretty easy to work with him and he’s always trying to learn and get better,” he continued. “He’s always soaking up what he can and get the most of his experiences.”
Wiebe’s attention will be undivided from his next test, which comes at the provincial singles championship, hosted at Prairie Badminton from April 26-28. Needless to say, he feels as ready as he ever has.
“Getting ready for the April singles — feeling good, feeling consistent, getting all my shots over, having the confidence and certainty that I can play and it’s just nice to be rewarded with a tournament win where I can feel confident going into the future tournaments,” said Wiebe.
