20 Dec 2023
Posted by Kelly Fleck 
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Nyl Yakura in action during the 2023 YONEX Canadian International Challenge in Markham on Dec. 9 and 10. Photo credit: Douglas Mann.
SANTIAGO, Chile — Team Canada faced off against Team Brazil in an exciting final badminton match at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, on Oct. 25. The men’s doubles team of Nyl Yakura and Adam Dong were one point away from securing the gold medal, but their opponents, Davi Carvalho and Fabricio Rocha, put up a tough fight, fending off four match points. After an intense final rally, Yakura hit the match point, and the two Canadians dropped to the floor in relief.
The win was Yakura’s second consecutive Pan Am gold medal, bringing him one step closer to his ultimate goal of qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics Games.
“I was just very happy to be playing in the Pan Am Games again, and then also just grateful to be in the finals again and fighting for another gold. So getting a second one is quite satisfying, and I think you can see it from our emotions after the match,” Yakura tells Nikkei Voice in an interview.
Along with Yakura and Dong, the Canadian badminton team took home four gold medals at the Santiago Games, with Catherine Choi and Josephine Wu for the women’s doubles, Ty Lindeman and Wu again for the mixed doubles, and Brian Yang for the men’s singles.
“I was just really happy to see the whole team succeed,” says Yakura
Nyl Yakura and Adam Dong in action during the 2023 YONEX Canadian International Challenge in Markham on Dec. 9 and 10. Photo credit: Douglas Mann.
Yakura, 30, is a full time badminton player and Tokyo 2020 Olympian from Pickering, Ont. and trains at the KC Badminton Club in Markham. Yakura has dedicated his life to playing badminton and has the hardware to show it. He’s racked up numerous medals, including four consecutive gold medals at the Pan American Championships and two golds and a silver at the Pan Am Games.
Yakura began competing in badminton at age 10 and started representing Canada at 14 in the Junior Pan Am Games. Yakura picked up his first badminton racquet at three years old when his father made him a child-sized racquet out of a broken adult one.
“I think at that time when he made me that racquet, I was probably only about three, so I don’t really think I could pick up a full-size racquet,” says Yakura. “He got me started when I was really young… but I was just hitting with my parents for fun because they played.”
Both his parents love the game and still play today, says Yakura. His parents have been his biggest supporters throughout his career.
“My parents, they’ve been there from the beginning, and I’m very lucky that they are very supportive, because not many, especially for badminton, would fully support their kid to just fully go for a sport,” says Yakura.
Nyl with his mother, Susan Yakura, supporter and family friend Marty Kobayashi, and father Roy Yakura after winning the silver medal at the Canadian Challenge. Photo courtesy: Marty Kobayashi.
Yakura’s dream to compete in the Olympics began with watching tapings of badminton matches with his father. Yakura remembers watching an Indonesian player celebrate his gold medal win at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games—Yakura’s mother is Indonesian—and at 10, his Olympic dream ignited.
Yakura did achieve his Olympic dreams when he qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with his partner, Jason Ho-Shue, in June 2021. Arriving in Tokyo, attending the training camp, and competing was a surreal experience, says Yakura.
But amid the pandemic, the 2020 Olympics were not what many competing athletes had dreamed of during their years of training. Because of health and safety restrictions, only the athletes and coaches could attend the Games—no family, friends, or spectators. Athletes could not watch other competitions or stay for the entire Games, leaving the day after their competition finished.
Still, there were parts of the experience Yakura will never forget, like stepping onto the court the first time, seeing the Tokyo 2020 signs, and knowing he made it. He also had the chance to meet international tennis and basketball athletes he’s admired, and it felt reaffirming to be recognized at the same level of sport.
“The first time stepping on the court, even though there was no audience, the fact that you walk out and see the signs and everything saying Tokyo 2020, you start to feel your heart pumping and the weight on your shoulders,” says Yakura.
Leaving Tokyo added fuel to Yakura’s Olympic dream, wanting to return and knowing he still has so much to give.
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“When we got there, it was in the midst of COVID, so it didn’t quite feel like a full Olympic experience, to be honest. And I think that might be why after the Olympics, when we left, I still felt kind of empty, like the goal or the dream wasn’t really fulfilled,” says Yakura.
“I think that’s what is keeping me going right now, is that I still want to give more into it.”
After his partner Ho-Shue retired, Yakura began working with Adam Dong, who he played with at Humber College in 2016.
With Paris less than a year away, Yakura is working and training hard to qualify for Team Canada. For Yakura, this means training on and off the badminton court. On Tuesdays and Fridays, he’s on the court twice a day, and Monday to Saturday, at least once a day for two to three hours. On top of that, he’s in the gym two to three times a week to prepare for competitions.
“I know how tough it is on your body and your mind. I really know how to take care of my body better than before, so that’s why I focus on the off-court [training],” says Yakura.
When he’s in Toronto, he also coaches, but most of the year, Yakura is travelling the world to compete and build up his ranking to qualify for the Olympics. Shortly after his interview with Nikkei Voice, Yakura headed off to El Salvador for the El Salvador International Challenge and then returned home for the YONEX Canadian International Challenge in Markham, where he and Dong won silver.
Adam Dong and Nyl Yakura atop the podium after a silver medal finish at the 2023 YONEX Canadian International Challenge on Sunday, Dec. 10. Photo credit: Douglas Mann.
But this Olympic dream comes with a price. One major challenge is funding. Yakura, like many Canadian badminton athletes, is self-funded. While he receives some financial support from his badminton club, much of his expenses for competitions, such as flights, hotels, and food, are funded by Yakura.
In Canada, badminton doesn’t receive the same level of funding as hockey, baseball, or basketball or that it does in countries in Asia and Europe, where the sport is popular. Yakura is dedicated to training and building up his ranking to, hopefully, get the attention of sponsors.
“It’s also tough for us to find sponsors because badminton isn’t really a big sport. These companies don’t really know what it is, and they don’t know the level of it,” says Yakura.
To help support his Olympic dream, Yakura launched a GoFundMe fundraiser, where people can donate what they can to help support his Olympic dream. Yakura updates supporters through the website with photos, recaps, triumphs, and challenges on the road to the Olympics.
Competing in the Olympics and international competitions has taught Yakura how to adapt to any unforeseen challenges on the court.
“When you play in all these different countries and different venues, it’s always a very different environment, so sometimes the shuttle will fly differently in one place versus another because of altitude or temperature, or amount of people, or wind conditions, or because of air [conditioning],” says Yakura. “I think my first few years going through that was a big shock… but now I think I’m okay to play in every condition. I can adjust a little bit easier, so I think that’s a big advantage.”
Each competition brings new lessons and experiences, and each win brings Yakura one step closer to his goal of returning to the badminton court at the Paris 2024 Olympics Games.
“I just want to go back there and try and put out maybe a better performance than I did in Tokyo and just prove to myself that I can still do it, and maybe to show… the next generation of kids that it’s possible if you want to do it,” says Yakura.
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To help support Nyl Yakura’s road to the Olympics and learn more, visit his GoFundMe fundraiser page here.
