Saturday, May 15, 2010

The end of the road

Bye, bye Thomas...among the status updates in the world of facebook.com, clearly referring to the national badminton's team defeat to China in the Thomas Cup semis a short while ago.

  China's victory was carved out in an emphatic fashion - Lin Dan clinching his first ever win over Datuk Lee Chong Wei in Malaysia, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong failing to win a set and Wong Choon Hann's sad exit from international badminton.

   What next for Malaysia?

    If heads were to roll, can that transform our fortunes?

   Study these facts:

* The Thomas Cup victory in 1992 was the Thomas-Uber-Olympic (TUO) project launched in 1988 coming to fruition. Remember Fang Kai Xiang's appointment, followed by Chen Changjie, Han Jian and Yang Yang? They masterminded Malaysia's victory over China in the semis and Indonesia in the final, with Tan Sri Elyas Omar, as the BA of Malaysia president, strategising behind the scenes and Punch Gunalan executing the plans, with the players delivering on the courts. Making cameo appearances in the 1988 and 1990 finals were a portent of things to come in 1992, whereas our last appearance in the final prior to this year's edition was 2002.

* Malaysia's over-reliance on Chong Wei and doubles specialists Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong is dangerous. Neither Chong Wei nor Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong have ever won a major championship, namely the Olympics and the world championship. Lin Dan and Taufik Hidayat, by contrast, seem to know when and how to win the tournaments that matter! Time to stop glossing over the All England!

* Internal strife that led to secretary P. Ganga Rao's sacking had a slight effect on the team, among them the delay in booking for practice time at the tournament venue.

* Time for Syawal Ismail, Misbun Ramdan Misbun, Zulfadli Zulkifli and Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin to mature and make up for the shortage of singles players in Chong Wei's class.

* BAM is an example of a sports association being helmed by a corporate figure Datuk Nadzmi Salleh but he has admitted that he has had to play ball with the rest of the volunteers and behave like a politician in order to survive...so is it a case of personnel or system?

Loose cannon, in John Travolta's 1970s suit, had the pleasure of interacting with Nadzmi, Rexy Mainaky and Fairuzizuan Tazari two weeks ago in Kafe Sukan

 
And among the issues discussed were the criticism hurled at BAM

* Read

LIN DAN NOT INTERESTED IN BEING WORLD NO. 1


2010-05-14


KUALA LUMPUR (14 MAY 2010) – Three time world champion Lin Dan is not interested in chasing the mantle of being the World No. 1 ranking badminton player.


The Chinese ace bluntly told a press conference that the 'world No. 1 status does not interest him at all' as he has gained everything possible as a badminton player.


“I won everything that the badminton world has to offer. I have the Olympic gold, the world championships and the All England plus numerous other titles. What more do I want to prove my worth?,” said Lin Dan after he outplayed current World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the first singles in the Thomas Cup semi-final against China at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil tonight.


Lin Dan won 21-17, 21-8 to hand Chong Wei his first defeat in 19 matches with the much awaited Chong Wei-Lin Dan encounter lasting 48 minutes.


The win stretched Lin Dan’s wins over Chong Wei to 14 against six defeats.


Lin Dan, however, praised Chong Wei and said: “Chong Wei is the most difficult opponent to beat. He is one tough player to overcome on court.”


He rates Taufik Hidayat and Chong Wei as the best players with whom he would like to be friends with 'although I do not speak much English.'


“I want to be a better friend with Chong Wei and Taufik,” he quipped with a smile. - www.thomasuberkl2010.com

Lin Dan's statement, if one were to dissect it objectively, is proof enough that BAM ought to revise its incentive scheme which currently rewards players based on the world rankings rather the major titles that matter!

Badminton, nonethless, remains a sport that requires our support.

Former South Korean No 1 lady shuttler, Bang soo-hyun, with loose cannon - Hilton Jakarta, 1994

Loose cannon outside the Queen Elizabeth Stadium which hosted the 1998 Thomas/Uber Cup finals

11 comments:

syazwan marzuki said...

ramdan harus segera buck up dan mendapat peluang yang lebih di international tournaments.

saya pernah berlatih bersama beliau sewaktu di sekolah rendah dahulu di kelab nusa mahsuri di kelana jaya.apa lagi yang lebih indah ketika anda baru berusia tak sampai belasan tahun tetapi mendapat peluang bermain dan mendapat tunjuk ajar kelas dunia oleh ayahanda beliau sndr misbun sidek, dan dibesarkan bersama environment champion (ketika itu Roslin Hashim top player, dan ketika itu juga antara kejohanan yang dimenangi roslin yang sempat saya igt adalah terbuka belanda sebelum dia memuncak seketika menjadi world's no 1)

kalau tak salah saya, ramdan sekarang berumur 20 tahun (atau mungkin lebih muda, saya lebih tua satu atau dua tahun..tapi dengan mudah beliau kalahkan saya waktu training dahulu).dalam masa 2 tahun ni, menjadi saksi samada beliau can 'make the break'ataupun tidak di pentas dunia

semoga berjaya kepada skuad pelapis yang lain.

-salam
-syazwan marzuki

The Third Eye said...

I share Nadzmi's prediction that it is not going to be easy to reach the finals. They were even struggling to reach the semi. But I was extremely surprised that the standard was so far, too far apart. I guess we don't have the width and breadth and also depth. In any situation, when it matters, we must count. When we are arithmetically weak, we will get the sums wrong. Whatever, my love for badminton will not fade.

Ariffin, Bdr Baru Bangi said...

Jurulatih China kata, 'Pemain Malayisia tua-tua.'

Tua itu satu hal.

Yang anihnya setelah berapa tahun Rexy jadi jurulatih 'beregu' negara, beliau hanya berhasil mengeluarkan pemain 'ragbi' daripada sepatutnya pemain badminton.

Apabila pemain beregu yang jenis 'debab-debab' dan 'montel=montel', maka pergerakan mereka menjadi lembab, ketangkasan melompat menjadi terhalang.

Mungkin mereka masih jaguh diperingkat tanahair, tetapi dengan perkembangan pemain luar negara yang makin pantas dan cergas, maka jurulatih perlu mencari atau membentuk pemain yang tinggi lampai, bukannya rendah dan debab untuk pemainan beregu.

BAM juga ada kewajaran untuk kembali mengambil jurulatih tempatan kerana jelas Rexy gagal membentuk pemain beregu pelapis untuk megambil alih pemain yang ada.

Pemain kita selalunya 'ranum di luar musim'. Mungkin mereka berjaya dalam sirkit Super Series Dunia (tahniah kepada mereka) tetapi bila datang musim yang sebenarnya seperti Olimpik, Kejohanan Dunia, Suka Asia, Suka SEA dan Piala Thomas/Uber, mereka 'gugur busuk'.

Anonymous said...

salam rizal

Pemain uda perlu di bentuk di latih utk menjadi pemain utama.Best bet Msia pada chong ei dan bergu Koo n Tan
Namun mereka ada dua tahun lagi. Itu yg sedihnya. Malaysia perlu barisan baru.

Hafiz ada fizikal yang terbaik tapi skill dan footork yg lembab. I kecea dgn dia then n now pun.

Zakry and T boleh di bentuk.Farizizuan kenalah muhasabah diri,jgn biar emosi ganggu skill anda. Sukan badminton ini perlu banyak pengorbanan semua pihak dan juga lombong emas untuk oportunis di luar. Perlu di urus dgn cemerlang. Nazmi perlu byk sokongan jgn dia di baham ibarat pagar makan padi.

sekian

Rio Johannian

nstman said...

I dont think we should blame our shuttlers. They tried, they tried, and they tried. Nobody can fault them for their efforts. The point is, China are from another planet. Their depth of strength makes it impossible to even take a point off them. Indonesia will perform slightly better than Malaysia, but they will lose 3-0. Maybe the Indons can take a few games . Maybe. China has turned the Thomas Cup into a farce. And I think the BWf should do something about it. I propose a radical measure to bring more life into the competition. Ban China. Let the Chinese play among themselves for a cup which can be named after Mao Tse Tung. The rest of the world can gleefully compete for the Thomas Cup.

Gallivanter said...

LIVE at www.totalsports.tv NOW - Uber Cup Final China vs South Korea! Live interactive updates at http://bit.ly/acbXsl :-D

Anonymous said...

@Ariffin: walaupun aspek fizikal mungkin ada kesan ke atas pergerakan pemain, kita tak patut judge based on that, apatah lagi untuk salahkan coach on fizikal pemain. kalau kita tengok, mungkin ini visi Park Joo Bong, physical size of Japanese doubles players this time around besar-besar, in contrast with their previous ones.

The Korean Uber team has just proved that China is indeed, stoppable. cuma perlu ada mental strength when it matters most.

and bila main di Malaysia, the audience could either be lifting you up or shoot you straight down. more than the players, the audience sometimes could be a bigger shame.

Muhamad Asri said...

BAM perlulah berani dedahkan pemain2 muda ke kejohanan antarabgsa....beri mereka lebih banyak pendedahan sejak di usia muda...mmg la hasilnye tak nampak skrg, tp ia berguna pd masa depan...contohnya, negara china berani beri peluang kpd pemain mereka menimba pengalaman sejak di usia muda...dan hasilnya pd usia 19 atau 20 tahun mereka sudah mmpu mencabar pemain utama dunia..bndingkan dgn pemain Malaysia, pd usia 19 atau 20 tahun mereka masih kurang pengalaman dan hanya bermain di prgkt Grand Prix sahaja, bagaimana permainan mereka hendak berkembang...dan pd usia 22 atau 24 tahun, mereka baru nak merasa saingan super series....persoalannya adalah pd usia berapakah pula permainan mereka hendak matang untuk menyaingi pemain utama dunia ketika itu?????????

Unknown said...

..no..China is not from another planet..we are..in a class of our own..:)

Anonymous said...

Salam & Gud day semua. Pendapat anda semuanya betul. Pemain - pemain kita memang tak mampu nak menonjol pada saat-saat yang penting seperti SF. Lagipun team kita tak balance berbeza dengan 1992. Masa tu kita ada Rashid Sidek dan kita ada Foo Fighter Kok Keong. Doubles kita ada R/J Sidek dan Cheah/Soo yang muda dan bertenaga ketika itu. Yang tertekan masa SF lawan China tempohari adalah Malaysia. Satu Malaya nak tengok Datuk LCW belasah Lin Dan. Tetapi sapa yang diperkotak katikkan?? Malu beb, pemain no 1 kena Under 10 macam tu. Serupa mcm pemain novis. Koo/Tan macam yo-yo dan mrk tak mampu menandingi Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng. Lebih2 lg Koo yang nampak agak arogance pada perlawanan2 besar. Nak mengharapkan yang lain??? Macam Choon Han atau Hafiz yang pada saya tak perlu disenaraikan dari mula kerana dah tak boleh pergi lagi dah..Semua pihak perlu rasa bersalah. PM & Isteri pun kena bertanggungjawab sebab letak harapan yang tinggi menggunung. Gitu juga la dgn Menteri, timbalan dll di KBS. Yang pi sparring dgn depa tu wat apa? Pegawai2 BAM, jangan cerita la perlu berani tampil mengaku kesilapan dan kelemahan anda. Jurang yang besar ditinggalkan Datuk LCW tetapi apa usaha yang dilakukan oleh mereka untuk merapatkan jurang tersebut?? Kalau mereka kata dah tonjolkan pemain-pemain muda ni di sirkit a/bangsa tetapi asyik balik awal je, apa pulak usaha mereka nak memperbaiki mereka?? Dunia badminton skrg hanya Lin Dan, LCW, Taufik, Chen Jin dan Peter Gade je. So sepatutnya M'sia tampil dengan seorang atau 2 pemain yang mampu jadi world beater. Kita menang sorak sebenarnya di Bkt. Jalil!!! Kita memang juara jadi host. Pas ni ada World C'ships, so fikirkanlah macam mana nak menang kat Paris nanti, jangan pi sana sekadar nak ambik gambor kat Effiel Tower. Susun la semula pasukan kalau tak sekali lagi pemain-pemain kita gah kat ranking no 1 je la sampai bila-bila. Lupa lak, dok ranking yang tinggi pun 'masyuk' jugak beb. Betul kata Lin Dan, dia tak yah pikir nak travel gi main semua Super Siries. Pi cari yang penting2 dan besor2 je. Dan itulah yang sepatutnya BAM buat utk pemain-pemain mereka.

XABI ALONSO
LARKIN

JALAN REBUNG said...

salam bro,

rasanye kita study balik formula cam mana kita jadikan lee chong wei. kemudian kita apply the same formula untuk pemain-pemain muda kita supaya the next thomas cup kita ada bukan satu tapi banyak LCW ...