rejuvenation of Malaysian badminton or lucky fluke?
The recent good showing of Malaysian players in the still ongoing Badminton Macau Open GP GOLD has stunned many, including me. Malaysia has 4 Men's Doubles pairs in the Quarter Finals, with a junior pair, Chung Chiat Khoo and Mohd Razif Abdul Latif deserving a mention in upstaging recent Japan Open runners up Alvent Yulianto and Luluk Hadianto. Many shuttlers from Misbun Sidek's project 2010-2012 squad have also achieved respectable losses to more experienced and more well known opponents. However, this immediately begs the question: is this one tournament upsurge by our shuttlers a sign of rejuvenation of Malaysian Badminton, or just merely a lucky fluke?
Admittably, Malaysian shuttler's have had easy paths into this Quarter Final. I believe the true test lies in tomorrow's Quarter Finals matches, where they go up against the big guns of the badminton world. If the shuttler's are able to cross this barrier, it would definitely be a good sign, with the 2008 Olympics and Thomas Cup drawing closer and closer.
Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong have faced many failures in recent tournaments. However, tomorrow's test from World Championships silver medalist Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae, would be a perfect indicator whether they deserve their high world ranking. Are they a spent force, as many are claiming, or are they merely going through a phase; remember, all best pairs go through phases of ups and downs. With both pairs not meeting each other before, can Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong win this title without the help of Rexy Mainaky, conveniently not present?
Barring any upsets, seasoned hands Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah, the recent World Championships Bronze Medalist's stiff test would come from Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun (dubbed Feng Yun by many ladies). Fu and Cai will be out to get revenge for their spiteful defeat in the World Championships by Choong and Lee. Can Choong and Lee prove that their victory wasn't just a flash in a pan, but a consistant showing? My mouth waters just thinking about this yummy yummy match up - Choong and Lee seem to play at their best when playing these former World Champions.
It all depends on tomorrow. Can Malaysia stamp its mark on badminton tomorrow?
But as always, MALAYSIA BOLEH!!!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Badminton Tournament - Macau Open
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4 comments:
hi there victor, came across ure blog here. cant help but drop some messages. the only consistency in malaysian players is that they r inconsistent. when u expect them to be down and out, they will show some success. when u expect them to do well, they will fail miserably, albeit KKK/TBH's success in ALL England Open, which i thought was fantastic. but on the other hand, malaysia has done quite well on the international arena this yr, winning some important titles. credits to be given to the malaysian coach. i cant help but just hope for the best from our players. :)
lee: I do agree with you. I think one of the major problems faced by Malaysian players are their mentality. Just like Rexy once said in his interview in badminton trash talk, a good coach will not only enhance the skills of the players, but also the mentality, drawing reference to his ex coach Christian. I think Rexy is trying to achieve that, and I hope this dosen't become a recurring trend in Malaysian badminton - back in the days of Foo Kok Keong, who fought and fought and never gave up.
if our players hv half the fighting spirit of foo kok keong, they would do so much better in their game. most pathetic of which is hafiz, whose lackadaiscal attitude is so imploring that sometimes i wish i could strangle him with my bare hands. if u ask me, he is over his prime and should be downgraded to spar with the junior players and nothing else. probably he could do some justice to the amount of money spent on him all these years. help us build the future players. at the same time, malaysia shld realise there is a change of guard. we shld start sending the junior players to tournaments. we cant expect to find world beaters if we keep them in our backyard under our armpit. right?
lee: hmm... you raise an interesting point here. I honestly believe that Hafiz is a great player, except that he is lacking in mental strength. If there is something we can do, like bring back Foo and try to train our players, I think it would be worthwhile to consider. Malaysian player's biggest enemy is themselves.
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