Badminton/All England Championships: Hafiz must start believing in himself again

07 Mar 2007
K.M Boopathy (boopathy@nst.com.my)

HAFIZ Hashim must start believing in himself and explore to the fullest his potential if he hopes to capture a second All England title in Birmingham.

Coach Misbun Sidek said it was this attitude that won the Malaysian the title in 2003.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Wednesday/Sport/20070307084941/hafiz.JPG Misbun said that Hafiz (picture) can achieve his target, despite the tough draw, if he comes out his comfort zone, especially now that Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat is no longer in the reckoning.

Hafiz still has to play another Indonesian, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, in the second round and the in-form World No 1 Lin Dan of China in the last eight, but Misbun believes his charge has the game to beat them both.

"There is no doubt that Hafiz is a special talent but he must realise this and start exploring his full potential. He did that here in 2003 and his revival can start here again," said Misbun by telephone from Birmingham yesterday.

"Of course it will tough to overcome Sony and Lin Dan. He (Lin Dan) didn’t have to play in the German Open but used it as warm-up and won. That shows how confident he is and he will be at his best in the All-England.

"Lin Dan has the edge but if Hafiz plays to his ability, we can look forward to a surprise."

Hafiz was to open his campaign against Taufik but with the latter’s withdrawal the Malaysian instead now opens against New Zealand’s John Moody which should be a walk in the park.

Hafiz has beaten Sony four times in five head-to-head meetings but his record against Lin Dan is seven meetings seven losses.

Hafiz, on his day, can beat the best but will still need to draw inspiration from his 2003 success to put Lin Dan in the shade.

Source: News Straits Time
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Wednesday/Sport/20070307084941/Article/index_html

I am not sure why Misbun is so confident about Hafiz? Lets see, Hafiz has yet to beat any Chinese players lately, even lost straight set consistently to his team mate Lee Chong Wei and he suppose to beat Lin Dan on his good day? Of course anything is possible but I won't bet Hafiz to go that far, he just happens to get lucky with the withdrawal of Taufik.
It's very likely Hafiz can advance to QF if he play seriously and abondon his useless fancy trick shots(end up tricking and tripping only himself). I rather see Roslin play then Hafiz.

i think the very most he can get is a set from LD... which is still very unlikely..

Btw Han, he did beat Chen Hong in KO last month.... he ended CH's internationally career... that stupid lil bugger... (i mean HH... ;p)

I am not sure why Misbun is so confident about Hafiz? Lets see, Hafiz has yet to beat any Chinese players lately, even lost straight set consistently to his team mate Lee Chong Wei and he suppose to beat Lin Dan on his good day? Of course anything is possible but I won't bet Hafiz to go that far, he just happens to get lucky with the withdrawal of Taufik.
It's very likely Hafiz can advance to QF if he play seriously and abondon his useless fancy trick shots(end up tricking and tripping only himself). I rather see Roslin play then Hafiz.

His good day will come :D:D:D
I am also very confident with Bro Hafiz this year, he will show who's the real talented player with a splendid touch of magic fancy tricks :rolleyes::eek::p:D

the real talented player with a splendid touch of magic fancy tricks :rolleyes::eek::p:D

If you look at his game the shots were only successful like 1/10 in every fancy shots. I wonder why he did not get scolded by the coach. I thought only casual players are allowed to do these kind of risky shots.

His good day will come :D:D:D
I am also very confident with Bro Hafiz this year, he will show who's the real talented player with a splendid touch of magic fancy tricks :rolleyes::eek::p:D
just hope that his heydays are over haha :D

just hope that his heydays are over haha :D

hahahahahaha :D:D:D

If you look at his game the shots were only successful like 1/10 in every fancy shots. I wonder why he did not get scolded by the coach. I thought only casual players are allowed to do these kind of risky shots.

I believe he will reduce his fancy shots and play very seriously this time...actually, i prefer Hafiz to play straight forward shots rather than fooling around with his 'magic' tricky shots which bring him nowhere :D...He should used his height to do more attacks to his opponent and at the same time strengthen his defence...Way to go Bro Hafiz :p

just hope that his heydays are over haha :D

Why would you wish that on Hafiz? Guess you 're kidding. Actually HH is rather talented; just the match intelligence does not synchronize with the match talent most of the time.He has stretched LD before ,so I would still say, anything is possible but he would still do PG a favour by playing his best..It's normal for a coach to give a best scenario possibility. No coach would declare his charge would lose although Rexy did unwittingly give that away when he complained about Sigit's notional ranking. Not good for TBH's confidence.

Why would you wish that on Hafiz? Guess you 're kidding. Actually HH is rather talented; just the match intelligence does not synchronize with the match talent most of the time.He has stretched LD before ,so I would still say, anything is possible but he would still do PG a favour by playing his best..It's normal for a coach to give a best scenario possibility. No coach would declare his charge would lose although Rexy did unwittingly give that away when he complained about Sigit's notional ranking. Not good for TBH's confidence.
Yup, he has stretched LD into 3 games before, and also be able to beat PG,KJ,CH,BCL with his ability. If he can improve more during AE onward, he can strongly challenge LD,CJ,TH & LCW for sure :cool:

i think he should keep playing this song from his ipod to pump himself up:D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY2Hp6KhGf4

If he believes he can fly, he may jump from tall buildings.

Recent pronouncements by Hafiz seem to indicate that he is confident of himself, which is good. But he must not become too over confident and give away easy points to his opponents with his fanciful strokes that slow him down and allow more room for his rivals. :rolleyes:

Why would you wish that on Hafiz? Guess you 're kidding. Actually HH is rather talented; just the match intelligence does not synchronize with the match talent most of the time.He has stretched LD before ,so I would still say, anything is possible but he would still do PG a favour by playing his best..It's normal for a coach to give a best scenario possibility. No coach would declare his charge would lose although Rexy did unwittingly give that away when he complained about Sigit's notional ranking. Not good for TBH's confidence.
DANG!!! i mean AREN'T over yet... goodness me.. sori bout tat..
was in a hurry n din check wad i typed hahaa :p

Recent pronouncements by Hafiz seem to indicate that he is confident of himself, which is good. But he must not become too over confident and give away easy points to his opponents with his fanciful strokes that slow him down and allow more room for his rivals. :rolleyes:
ya.... hopefully....

hafiz. haiz don given so much hopenese at hafiz...... tis guy hv something prob on his fizikal.... i guess oly ah! better jz normal heart 2 watch hafiz beat sony match lah......... haiz.........

hafiz. haiz don given so much hopenese at hafiz...... tis guy hv something prob on his fizikal.... i guess oly ah! better jz normal heart 2 watch hafiz beat sony match lah......... haiz.........

hehehe based on your comment, better u put your hope on mighty LCW :D