ants
02-29-2004, 01:23 AM
THE BA of Malaysia (BAM) will utilise the services of a full-time sports psychologist to assist coach Misbun Sidek during the gruelling Swiss Open in Basel and the All-England championships in Birmingham over the next two weeks.
The Swiss Open will be held between Tuesday and next Sunday while the All-England will commence on March 9 and based on past experience, Misbun has personally requested for National Sports Institute (NSI) sports psychologist Frederick Tan to keep the players motivated throughout the two tournaments.
BAM have never sent a sports psychologist to help the players in grand prix tournaments but they will do so until the Athens Olympics to ensure that the players are well equipped in every aspect.
Misbun said that after a fine run in the All-England last year, where Hafiz won the title and three Malaysians reached the quarter-finals, they faltered in the Swiss Open a week later. All the Malaysians crashed out in the preliminary rounds.
Misbun stressed that the low temperature at both venues, averaging 5 degrees Celsius, will test the mental resilience of the players.
"After the All-England last year, the players could not lift their performances in Basel and with the temperature dropping as low as two degrees, they could not sustain the momentum," said Misbun.
"It has more to do with lack of mental toughness and they need to be motivated all the time. Fred will be a great help during the two events.
"The All-England is the most crucial tournament but it will be held after the Swiss Open. The players need to be in a good frame of mind if they want to do well in Birmingham.
"The players will be recharged with regular mental training sessions and having witnessed their performances in Europe last year, it looks necessary to have a sports psychologist."
Wong Choong Hann, Lee Chong Wei, Roslin Hashim, Hafiz Hashim, Lee Tsuen Seng and Kuan Beng Hong will be competing in both tournaments.
Last year, Choong Hann suffered the worst fate as he lost in the second round of the All-England and crashed out in the third round of the Swiss Open despite being the top seed.
Chong Wei replaced James Chua in the All-England but came down with flu and lost in the first round.
The Malaysians also suffered in their second trip to Europe during the Dutch, Danish and German Opens between September and October last year.
Hafiz reached the final of the Dutch Open but faltered in the Danish and German Opens while Choong Hann was a semi-finalist in Denmark but lost in the second round of the German Open.
BAM are hoping that the Malaysians’ performance will get better with the additional help from Tan while they have also included physiotherapist Othman Husain for the trip.
Tan will also help doubles pairs Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng and Gan Teik Chai-Koo Kien Keat during the trip and he will work full-time with the national team until the Olympics.
The Swiss Open will be held between Tuesday and next Sunday while the All-England will commence on March 9 and based on past experience, Misbun has personally requested for National Sports Institute (NSI) sports psychologist Frederick Tan to keep the players motivated throughout the two tournaments.
BAM have never sent a sports psychologist to help the players in grand prix tournaments but they will do so until the Athens Olympics to ensure that the players are well equipped in every aspect.
Misbun said that after a fine run in the All-England last year, where Hafiz won the title and three Malaysians reached the quarter-finals, they faltered in the Swiss Open a week later. All the Malaysians crashed out in the preliminary rounds.
Misbun stressed that the low temperature at both venues, averaging 5 degrees Celsius, will test the mental resilience of the players.
"After the All-England last year, the players could not lift their performances in Basel and with the temperature dropping as low as two degrees, they could not sustain the momentum," said Misbun.
"It has more to do with lack of mental toughness and they need to be motivated all the time. Fred will be a great help during the two events.
"The All-England is the most crucial tournament but it will be held after the Swiss Open. The players need to be in a good frame of mind if they want to do well in Birmingham.
"The players will be recharged with regular mental training sessions and having witnessed their performances in Europe last year, it looks necessary to have a sports psychologist."
Wong Choong Hann, Lee Chong Wei, Roslin Hashim, Hafiz Hashim, Lee Tsuen Seng and Kuan Beng Hong will be competing in both tournaments.
Last year, Choong Hann suffered the worst fate as he lost in the second round of the All-England and crashed out in the third round of the Swiss Open despite being the top seed.
Chong Wei replaced James Chua in the All-England but came down with flu and lost in the first round.
The Malaysians also suffered in their second trip to Europe during the Dutch, Danish and German Opens between September and October last year.
Hafiz reached the final of the Dutch Open but faltered in the Danish and German Opens while Choong Hann was a semi-finalist in Denmark but lost in the second round of the German Open.
BAM are hoping that the Malaysians’ performance will get better with the additional help from Tan while they have also included physiotherapist Othman Husain for the trip.
Tan will also help doubles pairs Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng and Gan Teik Chai-Koo Kien Keat during the trip and he will work full-time with the national team until the Olympics.