Friday, July 13, 2012

Our shuttlers depart

Liew Daren, Chong Wei Feng, Chan Kwong Beng, Goh V Shem, Lim Khim Wah, Ong Jian Guo and Nelson Heg. Yes, they were on board flight MH2 Boeing 747 late last night, bound for London. But they are the supporting cast, so to speak. Their job is to make sure Malaysia's creme de la creme - Datuk Lee Chong Wei, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying and Tee Jing Yi, are kept on their toes in the final homestraight before the 2012 London Olympics kicks off exactly two weeks from today.


Chef-de-mission Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid giving the badminton contingent a rousing send-off at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport


From left Chan Peng Soon, Goh Liu Ying, Tee Jing Yi, Datuk Lee Chong Wei, Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat come under the glare of the spotlight before their departure.

Team manager Ng Chin Chai says the 11-day stint at Bath as the final-tune up for Wembley Arena would put the team in the right frame of mind.


"Five days of training, one day rest and followed by another five days of training before we travel to Wembley by a chartered bus seem to be the ideal preparation," said Chin Chai.

In London, the singles players will be divided into 16 groups, with a minimum of three and maximum of four in a group, which is designed in such a way to prevent shuttlers from the weaker nations to take the first flight home so early in the Games.


The winner of each group will advance to the elimination round. In previous Games, it was a straight forward knockout battle from the opening round.


"We will see how the draw on July 23 goes but there is the likelihood of Chong Wei playing only one game in a space of four days based on this round-robin format," said the BA of Malaysia secretary.


The shuttlers will be greeted in Bath, about 150km west of London, by former squash official, Wong Ah Jit, as the National Sports Institute's representative and high-performance committee member. Suprising to note the former Army man, despite not having a sports science background, is leading a group of sports scientists and two chefs. 

In brief

Lee Chong Wei (men's singles)
Age: 29 (30 in October)
Latest world ranking: 2
All time best ranking: 1
Coach: Tey Seu Bock/Rashid Sidek
Motivation: Seeking the elusive gold medal and major title
Current condition: 85 percent fit, following ankle injury in May

Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (men's doubles)
Age: 26 (27 in September)/24 (25 in September)
Latest world ranking: 8
All time best ranking: 1
Coach: Pang Cheh Chang/Tan Kim Her
Motivation: To rediscover the form of late 2006, early 2007 after departure of top-class coaches Rexy Mainaky and Yoo Yong Sung
Current condition: 95 percent

Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (mixed doubles)
Age: 24/23
Latest world ranking: 7
All time best ranking: 7
Coach: Jeremy Gan
Motivation: To cement place as nation's best ever mixed pair
Current condition: Probably at their peak

Tee Jing Yi (women's singles)
Age: 21
Latest world ranking: 60
All time best ranking: 48
Coach: Chi Shanrong (Rashid will supervise Jing Yi in London)
Motivation: Out to enjoy her maiden outing
Current condition: 100 percent underdog

KL Racquet Club owner Datuk Seri Andrew Kam has promised a gold bar, worth RM2 million, to a local gold medallist in badminton. The 12.5kg gold bar will be shared should there be more than one gold medallist. Unfortunately it applies only to badminton. Wonder why it was not extended to other disciplines?


To be continued...

9 comments:

HSKAMAL said...

All the best!
If LCW manages to reach the finals, I believe he can take the gold even if he meets Lin Dan.

Anonymous said...

"Suprising to note the former Army man, despite not having a sports science background, is leading a group of sports scientists and two chefs."
No problem....when the DG of NSC and your nominee for the DG NSI also do not have Sports Science background...

rizal hashim said...

anon 10.31am, my point exactly.

you don't have to be a sports scientist or a medical doctor or a psychologist to manage ISN.

Anonymous said...

rizal 10.43
And that's why we are still where we are......

HSKAMAL said...

What about Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah and our first PM. Did they have any sports related qualification besides being political leaders.

The most important ingredient in sports management and development are:

1. Dedication
2. Determination
3. Responsibility
4. Confident
5. Drive
6. Emotional control
7. Trustworthy
8. Concious

Do our so called leaders in sports posses the above quality?

Anonymous said...

BAM - BOLEH MENANG EMAS KE ATAU ADA ALASAN KENAPA KITA PULANG TANGAN KOSONG - CUBA OLIMPIK 2016?

Unknown said...

Anon 10.49 (July 14)....extremely well said..

Anonymous said...

Salam bro,
Interesting article bro.
Never mind the ISN officials, check out the rombongan of hard working fat cats council members going on the trip..ask this questions. 1. why so many sparring players are in the trip to Bath?
2.leave out the president who is paying for his own, what of the others..free trip because of their hard work of producing the 10 athletes? this is a joke to all Malaysians if they are claimed to have worked hard for this trip. Aren't they paid a fat allowances every month? They also accompany players to the many tournaments as managers with additional allowances? Have we seen Korea or China or England for that matter coming up with this stories? Upon their arrival, the mighty high performance team will do hocus pocus and rain dance to find a scapegoat.What they had to say of the players chances? Are they resigning after the London Olympics. Also, there will be lots of jostling for the post of BAM president since Dato Nadzmi has announced he is stepping down.This will be fun to watch the behind the scene bargaining that goes on..especially when the GE is around the corner. What they have done for former greats...when the government is thinking of private pension scheme what of the former athletes...I suppose they did not work that hard. Ask what have they down to build their own sports complex? Can't BAM be prudent and think far..dahlah buang duit dalam bulan mulia ini, ada alasan semua ahli sudah berkerja keras pulak...tak tahan bro..As it is we are still haggling about the minimum wages for our workers..this fat cats council members worked hard to go for all paid for trip with allowance I suppose, to London to see how the 10 athletes can improve their game. They don't walk the talk bro...Did they see to it that Thomas Cup champions of the past be also included in the trip.What were these fat cats members of the BAM coucil thinking? ...macam kacang lupakan kulit. didn't the past great do their bit of hard work during their time..just do the maths bro as to what current members did compared to the contributions of past greats. I won't be surprise if they would have spend RM 1/4 Millon for this trip. Why can't money be saved for buliding better facilities and improving the facilities in various states if BAM has got much money from sponsors. hope the sponsors do take note and plan for BAM.
Selamat berpuasa bro. W'Salam

kaki sukan said...

Salam saudara Rizal
Luahan Anonymous 20 July jam 4.12
tepat pada isu..
Saya tak pasti sama ada BAM lupa satu ketika dulu bila Perdana Menteri memberi sumbangan RM2juta kepada BAM.. kerana ada hutang ranking pemain-pemain belum dilunas dan hutang Stadium yang belum dijelaskan (tak tahulah yang semua ini BAM dah bayar ke belum)
Tapi itu cerita lain, yang tak saya puas hati, bila susah mintak kerajaan tolong lunaskan hutang..bila dah ada duit sikit lupa masa susah..semua nak joli katak..adake patut. wang RM2juta itu sepatutnya tak perlu diberikan oleh PM dulu baru mereka tahu tinggi mana langit rendah mana bumi...duit rakyat tu bro Rizal..kalau PM tak bayar dulu hari ini wang yang digunakan untuk bersiar siar di kota london tu, boleh lah agihkan pada pemain2. Kupas semua isu ini bila golongan yang bergelar Pasukan peras tahi tinggi terutamamya bekas pegawai khas sukan skuasy, dan seorang yang cakap pandai dengan teknik2 zaman gemilang dia dulu tapi suruh buat tak reti..
biar analisa bersifat kritikal tapi berpegang teguh kepada prinsip diri jangan nak tumpang semangkuk kegemilangan pemain-pemain. Mereka ini tidak ada strategi yang berwawasan tapi sekadar ikut arus..suruh dua pegawai ini menongkah arus dan janji kiranya tak berjaya dalam 2 tahun mereka letak jawatan..ada beranikah mereka...Idea-idea yang sedia ada mereka ni pandai olah dan hidangkan pada sekelian dengan jenama baru, kononnya nukilan mereka.
mana langkah langkah yang ada kesinambungan bagi skuad pelapis,dan sekolah sukan bukit jalil agar bila pemain sampai ke tahap Elit sudah ada skil-skil asas dan kekuatan mental yang perlu diasar oleh jurulatih-jurulatih berkaliber seperti Hendrawan, Dato Misbun, Li Mao dll
sekurang kurangnya Setiausaha kehormat BAM ada juga plan jangka panjang dengan memberi sokongan kewangan kepada negeri-negeri untuk membangunkan sukan badminton peringkat negeri2.

ucapkan semoga Allah SWT menerangi minda dan sanubari semua terlibat dalam bulan yang mulia ini agar kita semua kecapi yang terbaik buat diri,keluarga, rakan taulan, masyarakat, rakan muslimin sekalian dan penduduk Malaysia umumnya.
W'Salam saudara Rizal dan selamat berpuasa kepada bro dan keluarga.
Kaki sukan