Sport: Badminton: Relax, Gade tells Hafiz
Graig Nunis

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FORMER world No 1 Peter Gade is taking it one game at a time in his comeback and he is advising fallen Malaysian hero Hafiz Hashim to do the same.

Gade, silver medallist at the 2001 World Championships, suffered a serious knee injury in a competition two years ago and it was aggravated in training.

He only returned to the professional circuit late last year but has been struggling to make an impact.

On a good day or bad, he still plays with a smile and this is part of the advice Gade has given to Hafiz, who appears to have lost his way since beating Chen Hong 17-14, 15-10 to win the All-England Open title six months ago.

“It has been a hard struggle coming back from my injury but I’m determined to return to the top of the game,” said the former Malaysian Open champion, who arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday to prepare for this year’s tournament.

“Of course my utimate goal is to become the top player in the world but, for now, I have to take it one game at a time.

“I would love to start by winning the Malaysian Open next week but let’s wait and see what happens.”

The Malaysian Open will be held in Kota Kinabalu on Sept 2-9.

Asked what he thought of Hafiz, who has failed to get past the second round in four tournaments since winning the All-England, Gade said the Kelantanese has to relax when he goes on court.

“Of course, Hafiz has not been helped by his poor rankings and the postponement of tournaments in May,” said Gade, who has sought the help of Morten Frost to put his game back on track.

“He has not had the luck of the draw either. He played the world No 1 (Chen Hong) in Singapore and lost in a rematch of the All-England final.

“But Hafiz is still young. He needs to steady his game a bit to be a more complete player.

“Hafiz also has to relax more on court and not think of the pressures which come with being a champion.”

Like Hafiz, Gade himself is a former All-England champion, capturing the crown four years ago when he defeated Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat 15-11, 7-15, 15-10 in a titanic battle.

He, however, managed to handle the pressures which come with winning the most prestigious and oldest badminton title.

He built himself up to become the only European player the Asians hated to meet with his determination and hard work.

Four years on, another All-England champion will do well to heed Gade’s advice.

Sorry. The above article is from Malaysia's Malay Mail [27 August 2003].

Graig is a seasoned sports writer and a good friend of mine. We had a good time together during the WC2003 and he got me into the press conference room plus a few private interview sessions with Choong Hann in the hotel.

Sport: Badminton: Hafiz falls from grace
Graig Nunis

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CAN Hafiz Hashim handle fame and fortune? Judging from his recent results, the answer is an emphatic NO.

A couple of months after winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal a year ago, Hafiz found himself thrown out of Misbun Sidek's house.

What prompted such a drastic action? Simple, Hafiz like many sports personalities in the country, allowed the fame to go to his head and began to slack in training.

Hafiz amended his ways and Misbun took him back. In February, the Kelantanese stunned the badminton world by winning the All-England title.

Now, six months later, Hafiz is struggling yet again.

Perhaps part of the problem is the hype which was built up or perhaps, he may not be as good as many of us thought he was.

Whatever it is, the Malaysian was bundled out of the Singapore Open in yesterday's first round by the very same player he beat to win the All-England – China's Chen Hong.

Chen Hong may be the World No 1 but he has failed to beat Hafiz in his previous three meetings.

He changed all that when he took 67 minutes to win 15-11, 17-14. Hafiz had promised to win as he was aiming for the quarter-finals but all he had to say after his defeat was: "I'm disappointed to lose as I could see that Chen Hong was tiring in the second set. "The last three times I beat him, I was able to move him around and trap him. But today (yesterday), he was ready to take all my shots and he was on the attack constantly." Hafiz added: "To beat Chen Hong, you can't simply attack. You have to push the shuttle to the backcourt and then wait for the opportunity to attack. Hopefully, I will be able to make amends if we meet again in Indonesia next week." But will it be possible? As evident from the match, Chen Hong has learnt from his defeats. He changed his tactics and Hafiz was found out.

Hopefully, the Nusa Mahsuri shuttler will take a leaf out of Chen Hong's book and vary his style, when they next meet.

Otherwise, Hafiz's chances of playing in next year's Olympic Games will be good as gone.