According to the website of Singapore Badminton Association, the Cheers Youth International Badminton Championships will be held at the Singapore Badminton Hall (SBH) from 15th December to 22nd December 2007.

I guess this will be one of the last few tournaments to be held at this historical building...
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest+News/Sports/STIStory_143053.html

I understand there have been a few changes since the previous post:

Changes of tournament dates: Monday 17th December to Saturday 22nd December
Venue : Toa Payoh Sports Hall

The draw is out:
http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=18177

Thanks for the link. A Sydney junior is competing in the U13 event.

I couldn't believe the increase in the lease from 100K to 1mil! :eek:

What will happen to badminton development there???

the draw is at www.tournamentsoftware.com (http://www.tournamentsoftware.com).

Draw is up but how about the match schedules?

I understand there have been a few changes since the previous post:

Changes of tournament dates: Monday 17th December to Saturday 22nd December
Venue : Toa Payoh Sports Hall

The draw is out:
http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=18177

Hi Sealman,

So the venue has been changed from SBA to Toa Payoh Sports Hall?
Do you know whether it's free? :)

I couldn't believe the increase in the lease from 100K to 1mil! :eek:

What will happen to badminton development there???

Answer:
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48529

By the way, the tournament venue will remain at the Singapore Badminton Hall and not the Toa Payoh Sports Hall according to the SBA website and local papers.

By the way, the tournament venue will remain at the Singapore Badminton Hall and not the Toa Payoh Sports Hall according to the SBA website and local papers.




Hi Sealman,

Thank you for updating this thread.

And watch out for our Melbourne player, Victoria Na, in the Under 17 Girls Singles.

Cheers... chris@ccc
:):):)

Thanks for the link. A Sydney junior is competing in the U13 event.

I couldn't believe the increase in the lease from 100K to 1mil! :eek:

What will happen to badminton development there???

I think the SBA has been enjoying very low rents in the past because of connections. Now that the lease is up, I suppose the authorities are asking for commercial rates. Many other recreation clubs, especially the golf clubs, have been paying hefty rentals, once their leases have expired since 5 or more years ago.

Land values and rentals have gone up substantially during the past year, no thanks to the IR (Integrated Resorts comprising casinos, hotels, meetings and exhibition centres, amusement parks, etc) projects that have started the rush. Private properties will continue to remain strong in prices although the government has introduced policies recently to dampen expectations, especially in the public housing sector.

Badminton development in Singapore, as I see it, will remain a core sport. In fact now we have a number of new entrants to the badminton scene which specialize in coaching and training. Recent age-group tournaments seem to be popular and well attended. The Sports Council is encouraging and promoting a viable sports industry as one of its objectives.

Early next year, the SBA will move to the Sports School which is up-to-date with physical and services facilities. When the Singapore Sports Hub in Kallang is ready by 2010? the SBA is expected to move to a more permanent location there. There will be a new indoor stadium with seating capacity of around 3,000.

I see Singapore Badminton growing in strength. :)

Draw is up but how about the match schedules?

Right..we need to know exactly what time our matches, Singapore not exactly our home turf. I probably need 2 hours head start to ensure i bring my kid to the venue. Anyone can help........

Watch out for Zulfadli ZULKIFFLI from Malaysia too, heard that he is very good, tall boy with good skill :)

try google map and if you are using bus. www.sbstransit.com.sg (http://www.sbstransit.com.sg)
Hope this helps. You not joining Ong Beng Teong meh? I tot he's baby sitting some Aussies kids there?
Indonesian will sapu all lah...
rgds

try google map and if you are using bus. www.sbstransit.com.sg (http://www.sbstransit.com.sg)
Hope this helps. You not joining Ong Beng Teong meh? I tot he's baby sitting some Aussies kids there?
Indonesian will sapu all lah...
rgds

Thanks for info.....will be very useful. Ong Beng Tiong....who's that? is he that good?

Ha..ha, just kidding. Calling all Malaysians.....let's make sure Indonesians do not sapu all.....Malaysia Boleh!

Hello the match time is out on the web. wish everyone good luck on their match. see u in singapore.

badaddict,
Are u Soong? Good luck on your game.:D Sad to hear the nonsense from SBA again on partnering issue.

Thanks for info.....will be very useful. Ong Beng Tiong....who's that? is he that good?

Ha..ha, just kidding. Calling all Malaysians.....let's make sure Indonesians do not sapu all.....Malaysia Boleh!

badaddict,
Are u Soong? Good luck on your game.:D Sad to hear the nonsense from SBA again on partnering issue.

Yes i am...the senior of course. Latest update, the doubles issue is taken care of. How? No comment. Thks for your kind words.

Badaddict;
Is your son name SOONG JOO VEN? Single match against Haafizh Bin Muhammed f Singapore Sport School.

Adi Pratama and Arif Nandang Saputra will be competing in BSU19.

Badaddict;
Is your son name SOONG JOO VEN? Single match against Haafizh Bin Muhammed f Singapore Sport School.

Yes...he is SJV & this is the first time he is playing outside of Malaysia. He is also asking u whom are the top u-13 Singapore players in this competition.
TQ

Thanks for info.....will be very useful. Ong Beng Tiong....who's that? is he that good?

Ha..ha, just kidding. Calling all Malaysians.....let's make sure Indonesians do not sapu all.....Malaysia Boleh!
Dear Baddict,

Do not worry I will be in the stadium to support the Malaysian younger players like Iskandar , Jonathan Lee and many new faces. Malaysia Boleh! I want to see them be a champion in front of my eyes especially Iskandar and Jonathan as they are seniors in the team. This time, Malaysia team send new faces to give exposure to them.All the best of luck.

From:
Ayu

Dear Baddict,

Do not worry I will be in the stadium to support the Malaysian younger players like Iskandar , Jonathan Lee and many new faces. Malaysia Boleh! I want to see them be a champion in front of my eyes especially Iskandar and Jonathan as they are seniors in the team. This time, Malaysia team send new faces to give exposure to them.All the best of luck.

From:
Ayu

Kak Ayu,
Please take some photos of Msian players and post them here so at least I know what they look like, our future stars.

Kak Ayu,
Please take some photos of Msian players and post them here so at least I know what they look like, our future stars.
Dear eaglehelang,

I will try to take the photo of Iskandar and Jonathan because I know them very well. For the rest, I will try my best as this is the first time I met them in person. I will download their photo into this forum.

From:
Ayu

I think the SBA has been enjoying very low rents in the past because of connections. Now that the lease is up, I suppose the authorities are asking for commercial rates. Many other recreation clubs, especially the golf clubs, have been paying hefty rentals, once their leases have expired since 5 or more years ago.

Land values and rentals have gone up substantially during the past year, no thanks to the IR (Integrated Resorts comprising casinos, hotels, meetings and exhibition centres, amusement parks, etc) projects that have started the rush. Private properties will continue to remain strong in prices although the government has introduced policies recently to dampen expectations, especially in the public housing sector.

Badminton development in Singapore, as I see it, will remain a core sport. In fact now we have a number of new entrants to the badminton scene which specialize in coaching and training. Recent age-group tournaments seem to be popular and well attended. The Sports Council is encouraging and promoting a viable sports industry as one of its objectives.

Early next year, the SBA will move to the Sports School which is up-to-date with physical and services facilities. When the Singapore Sports Hub in Kallang is ready by 2010? the SBA is expected to move to a more permanent location there. There will be a new indoor stadium with seating capacity of around 3,000.

I see Singapore Badminton growing in strength. :)
Dear Loh,

I hope to meet you at the stadium. I will be in the stadium after I finish my work.

From:
Ayu

try google map and if you are using bus. www.sbstransit.com.sg (http://www.sbstransit.com.sg)
Hope this helps. You not joining Ong Beng Teong meh? I tot he's baby sitting some Aussies kids there?
Indonesian will sapu all lah...
rgds
:D:D Dont worry...Indonesia will not sapu all.....:D:D many clubs like Djarum or Tangkas send their players for exposure....all new faces......most of them will be first time to Singapore.....;)

So the venue has been changed from SBA to Toa Payoh Sports Hall?
Do you know whether it's free? :)

The venue will remain at Singapore Badminton Hall. Apparently some of the participants I spoke to were not aware of the changes. And yes, admission is free of charge. The finals will be held on Saturday 22th December 2pm onwards and there will be a lucky draw and goodie bags to be given away according to the advertisement in the New Paper. :)

Besides entries from the Asean countries (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand and Philippines), I note from the list that there are players from Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, England, Sri Lanka and even Egypt!

Results of today's matches (Qualifying rounds):
http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=18177&y=2007&m=12&d=17

Hi Sealman,

Thank you for updating this thread.

And watch out for our Melbourne player, Victoria Na, in the Under 17 Girls Singles.

Cheers... chris@ccc
:):):)


She's seeded No. 1!

Dear Baddict,

Do not worry I will be in the stadium to support the Malaysian younger players like Iskandar , Jonathan Lee and many new faces. Malaysia Boleh! I want to see them be a champion in front of my eyes especially Iskandar and Jonathan as they are seniors in the team. This time, Malaysia team send new faces to give exposure to them.All the best of luck.

From:
Ayu

Kak Ayu, are you going to bring along your big Malaysian flag? :)

Kak Ayu, are you going to bring along your big Malaysian flag? :)

Bruce, please bring a big Singapore flag to counter Ayu's! :D

take pics of goh soon huat and goh kang zhuang..i know both of em :)

Loh + Bruce,
u guys going to watch the games at SBA this Sat 2pm? Can I tag along? I promise NOT to carry Msia flag or scream "Msia Boleh!!" :D PM or SMS me ya :)

Dear Baddict,

Do not worry I will be in the stadium to support the Malaysian younger players like Iskandar , Jonathan Lee and many new faces. Malaysia Boleh! I want to see them be a champion in front of my eyes especially Iskandar and Jonathan as they are seniors in the team. This time, Malaysia team send new faces to give exposure to them.All the best of luck.

From:
Ayu

The court there is quite good, good lighting & good carpet

Dear eaglehelang,

I will try to take the photo of Iskandar and Jonathan because I know them very well. For the rest, I will try my best as this is the first time I met them in person. I will download their photo into this forum.

From:
Ayu

Oh yes, Kak Ayu, please also take photo of BadAddict Jr. He's SOONG JOO VEN, should be in U13 MS or MD. See BadAddict Sr & Jr post here, nice to see what this potential national player looks like.

The Straits Times
December 18, 2007

By Wang Meng Meng

There is still time fro one last hurrah at the historic Singapore Badminton Hall.

Although tenants Singapore Badminton Association will relocate to the Sports School when its lease ends on Jan 31, it will host the Cheers Youth International Badminton Championships for the 55-year-old facility's swan-song.

The six-day tournament, which started yesterday, has attacted over 700 entries from countries like Australia, Brunei, Egypt, England, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, (Philippines), Sri Lanka, Thailand, (and Taipeh) in the various categories ranging from Under-11 to Under-19.

There are also 221 entries from Singapore, as well as 135 from Indonesia and even three (I saw only 2 names Megan Foreman (U-11 and possibly her brother Brendan Foreman U-13) from England. (Pity no representatives from South Korea and Japan) But at least Brunei (new ?) and Sri Lanka are represented.]

A Singaporean to watch out for is 18-year-old Ashton Chen, who is the top-seeded player in the boys' Under-19 singles.

Ashton comes into the tournament brimming with confidence, after having won the Waikato International in Auckland in September.

Another local face to watch is Huang Chao, the top seed in the boys' Under-17 singles.

Huang won the Under-15 category in the same competition last year.

The country's Under-19 duo of Ricky Widianto and Chayut Triyachart will also return to defend their doubles title.

The semi-finals will be on Friday from 7pm and the finals will be on Saturday from 2pm. Admission is free.

can anyone take pics of jonathan lee in action? We were best friends and in the same class for 7 yrs when in primary school...

Kak Ayu, are you going to bring along your big Malaysian flag? :)

Dear Sealman,

How do you know that I will bring my big Malaysia Flag? Indeed, I will bring it to the stadium in the semis and maybe final. Instead, I will use my voices to support them and the morale supportment.

From:
Ayu

It seems that Ashton was almost upset by INA junior Adi Pratama which 3rd set ended 25-23....INA has 6 players in U 19...

can anyone take pics of jonathan lee in action? We were best friends and in the same class for 7 yrs when in primary school...
Dear KZ,

I attached photo of Jonathan Lee for you.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2122/2124196399_a604c20419.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2290/2124970070_c41489b1a1.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2408/2124969656_69f33cb96f.jpg?v=0

From:
Ayu

Dear KZ,

I hoped that you are happy to see your friend's photo in the stadium. I cannot take the photo of his actions because no photography is allowed during game.

From:
Ayu

INA team...

6 players in BSU11
3 players in GSU11
6 palyers in BSU13
1 player in GSU13
3 players in BSU15
4 palyers in GSU15
4 palyers in BSU17
0 players in GSU17
5 players in BSU19
4 pairs in BDU13
1 pair in GDU13
2 pairs in BDU15
1 pair in GDU15
3 pairs in BDU17
4 pairs in BDU19

well let see how these club players(Djarum & Tangkas) can perform...

All the best and Selamat Idul Adha and Merry Xmas for those who r celebrating and Happy New Year To All Mankind

Nice picture Kak Ayu...perhaps can u take picture while players still playing... is it allowed??

INA team...

6 players in BSU11
3 players in GSU11
6 palyers in BSU13
1 player in GSU13
3 players in BSU15
4 palyers in GSU15
4 palyers in BSU17
0 players in GSU17
5 players in BSU19
4 pairs in BDU13
1 pair in GDU13
2 pairs in BDU15
1 pair in GDU15
3 pairs in BDU17
4 pairs in BDU19

well let see how these club players(Djarum & Tangkas) can perform...

All the best and Selamat Idul Adha and Merry Xmas for those who r celebrating and Happy New Year To All Mankind

Adi Pratama is from Jaya Raya, and many players from Suryanaga are in Singapore too... So almost all the big Indonesian clubs are joining the fun... :D Cool eh?

Nice picture Kak Ayu...perhaps can u take picture while players still playing... is it allowed??

Dear Justin,

It is difficult to take during games because my camera is digital without zooming that can take pictures from far angle unless take it without a flash but I worried that the photo will be dark. Whatever, I tried my very best today.

From:
Ayu

I confident only Zulfadli Zulkifli (BSU15) and pair Iskandar Zulkarnain/Jonathan (BDU17) from Malaysia will make history and enter to finals.

quite difficult to distuguish INA and SIN players due to SIN's flag almost same as INA one...

Adi Pratama and Arif Nandang Saputra will be competing in BSU19.

It seems that Ashton was almost upset by INA junior Adi Pratama which 3rd set ended 25-23....INA has 6 players in U 19...

Are Adi Pratama and Ari Nandang Saputra in the Indonesian junior squad or representing their clubs? They are pretty good imho.

Are Adi Pratama and Ari Nandang Saputra in the Indonesian junior squad or representing their clubs? They are pretty good imho.

They are club players..Adi Pratama is from Jaya Raya club, Ari Nandang Saputra..i am not sure.:confused:

Adi Pratama is from Jaya Raya, and many players from Suryanaga are in Singapore too... So almost all the big Indonesian clubs are joining the fun... :D Cool eh?

There were many Indonesian players indeed. Can you help identify which clubs do these players come from?

Team from Down Under

And watch out for our Melbourne player, Victoria Na, in the Under 17 Girls Singles.


I reckon she will face stiff competition

Players from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sri Lanka and Philippines

I like the fighting spirit and the 'never give up' attitude of the Thai players

Jonathan Lee, Iskandar and other players from Malaysia

Singapore players

Thanks Bruce for posting these pics of the region's up-and-coming shuttlers!
Keep it up!

Look who's in town!!!!!! My idol.... What a pleasant surprise! 'Babysitting' the Djarum players... :)

Thanks Sealman..for the pictures...yeah...i didn't know that Mas Sigit was there. Thanks for the pic..and keep it updated

BSU19 SEMI-FINALS
Asthon Chen Yong Zhao [1] vs Bobby Kaisar Alexander
Anggi Sepdianto vs Arif Nandang Saputra
-- it looks like a matchup between the top-seed and Arif in the Final. Arif beat the second-seed Wong Wing Ki in the QF today.

BDU19 SEMI-FINALS
Riky Widianto/Chayut Triyachart vs Hendro Mulyono/Ariyanto Haryadi Putra
Arif Nandang Saputra/Marcus Fernaldi vs Angga Pratama/Kevin Alexander

BSU11 SF -- INA vs INA, SIN vs SIN

GSU11 SF -- INA vs INA, SRI vs THA

BSU13 SF -- all-INA SF

BDU13 SF -- MAS vs INA, MAS vs INA

GSU13 SF -- no INA in SF: PHI vs SIN, SIN vs THA

GDU13 SF -- THA vs MAS, SIN vs INA

BSU15 SF -- INA vs MAS, MAS vs PHI

BDU15 SF -- INA vs MAS, PHI vs MAS

GSU15 SF -- THA vs INA, INA vs INA

GDU15 SF -- TPE vs INA, THA vs MAS

BSU17 SF -- INA vs MAS, THA vs THA

BDU17 SF -- THA vs THA, SIN vs INA (Djarum's pair, Sigit's boys...:D)

GSU17 SF -- again no INA in SF :mad:: SIN vs TPE, TPE vs THA

Photos from the preliminary rounds....

More photos....

More photos....

I was there in the afternoon and managed to witness a good match between Malaysians Iskandar and Jonathan Lee against their Thai counterparts Maneepong Jongjit and Pollawat Boonpan. The latter won 23-32, 14-21 and 21-11 to face their compatriots Nattanan Tansanga and Pisit Poodchalat in the semi-finals at 9.30 pm tonight.

It might as well be as Iskandar, who is seeded No 3, will feature again the the BS semi-finals against Airie Guna Dharma of Indonesia. Iskandar will need to draw on his reserves to overcome Dharma. The other BS U17 will be an all Thai affair between Poodchalat (4) and Jongjit.

pep talk from the coaches.....

I was surprised to see a familiar Indonesian 'veteran' coaching Huang Chao and Febriyan Irvannaldy of Singapore in the BD U17 against Indonesians Seto Danu Kusuma and Tony Tan. The Singaporeans won 21-19, 21-17 in 22 min to enter the semi-finals tonight.

No prize for guessing the name of this Indonesian coach. ;)

that's all from me folks..... hope you like the photos... newbie photographer here.... not really nice shots.... wished the photos turned out better...

will miss the matches today and tomorrow due to work... :crying:

have a super weekend!

jonathan lee has become so skinny after being selected to train in BJSS...I guess the training there is really harsh..

Looks like Indonesian will eventually close to sapuing all the events. Very strong kids. U know who their coaches are? Guess.

Its also deliciously looking when the Indonesian and Malaysian doing the jump smash... yum2...

Try get some picture of these young guys doing the jump smash man. Good to show our kids here how to do it.
rgds

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=38393&stc=1&d=1198232633
wow, wearing spectacles playing badminton...

The Finals will be held today. Overall, the number of finalists:
11 INA
8 THA
6 MAS
5 SIN


The 2 groups that will be strongly contested are:

BSU19
Ashton Chen Yong Zhao [1] vs Arif Nandang Saputra -- as expected, the two players will meet each other. Ashton Chen has the edge and experience over the young INA player.

BDU19
Riky Widianto/Chayut Triyachart [1] vs Arif Nandang Saputra/Marcus Renaldi -- hmm...first BS/BD prospect from INA perhaps?

The other age groups:
BSU17
Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin [3] vs Maneepong Jongjit -- MAS vs THA

BDU17
Maneepong Jongjit/Pollawat Boonpan vs Barry Anggriawan/Seiko Wahyu Kusdiyanto -- THA vs INA. The Djarum pair is under the tutelage of Sigit Budiarto. Can they turn to be a top junior pair in the next 2 years? We shall see...

GSU17
Tanapat Pisitpong vs Sapsiree Taerattanachai -- SIN vs THA, although the Singapore girl is probably from Thailand too :D

BSU15
Zulfadli Zulkiffli vs Teo Ee Yi -- all-MAS Final

BDU15
Sant Enos Jani/Heg Wei Keat Nelson vs Nur Azriyn Ayob/Teo Ee Yi -- MAS dominate the Boy's Under 15 group.

GSU15
Ratchanok Ithanon vs Yosephine Yulia Susanto -- THA vs INA

GDU15
Shella Devi Aulia/Mega Cahya Purnama vs Maetanee Phattanaphitoon/Ratchanok Ithanon -- INA vs THA

BSU13
Ade Yusuf Santoso vs Roy Danu -- the only all-INA Final.

BDU13
Jason Singgih Koeswono/Ade Yusuf Santoso vs Teh Sheen Yale/Hee Yong Kai -- INA vs MAS

GSU13
Liang Xiao Yu vs Sureeporn Chaithongwatana -- SIN vs THA

GDU13
Sureeporn Chaithongwatana/Narissapat Lam vs Rusely Hartawan/Lya Ersalita -- THA vs INA

BSU11
Rizky Aulia vs Wu Song Jian -- INA vs SIN

GSU11
Rusely Hartawan vs Palita Assawachaiporn -- INA vs THA

Results:
BSU19 FINAL
Ashton Chen Yong Zhao [1] lost to Arif Nandang Saputra 17-21, 21-17, 14-21 -- wow...first international title for Arif.

BDU19 FINAL
Riky Widianto/Chayut Triyachart [1] beat Arif Nandang Saputra/Marcus Fernaldi 21-8, 21-18 -- a respectable title for the host.

Overall, THA is the big winner with 5 titles (GDU13, GSU17, BDU17, GSU15, and GDU15).
INA is second with 4 titles (BSU19, BSU13, BDU13, and GSU11).
SIN is third with 3 titles (BDU19, BSU11, and GSU13)
MAS also wins 3 titles (BSU17, BSU15, and BDU15)

Good to know thailand is doing well.. Go thailand.

Congratulations to Iskandar and Zulfadli.And Zulfadli is simply awesome.He blasted his opponent in 3 and 13.There are sill many good players other than the BJSS's.

Congratulations to Iskandar and Zulfadli.And Zulfadli is simply awesome.He blasted his opponent in 3 and 13.There are sill many good players other than the BJSS's.
Dear Kokcheng,

Are you at the stadium to watch the match? I have an awesome day to see that my team wins the game.

From:
Ayu

Dear Kokcheng,

Are you at the stadium to watch the match? I have an awesome day to see that my team wins the game.

From:
Ayu

Kak Ayu, when you have the time, tell us a bit about the matches you watched, esp the Semis and Finals. The ones you know better are Jonathan & Iskandar right? Why did they lose in Semis? Opponents very good?

Ayu,I wasn't at the stadium but I know Isk and Zul very well.Isk is a fighter whereas Zul is skilful.Both have good positive attitude.

It's quite shocking me when I found out rattchanok Inthanon beat Ho jia yi 21-0 in the secong game:eek:.This is the first time I saw this score

Well done to the Thai boys and girls winning the overall events. Nice to see some emerging countries besides the big boys winning. Who's the next Boonsak Junior?:D

It's quite shocking me when I found out rattchanok Inthanon beat Ho jia yi 21-0 in the secong game:eek:.This is the first time I saw this score

this thai girl is http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif. she managed to win the U15 singles title and also the marathon U15 doubles match with her partner. they were trailing in the rubber set and finally won the match after failing to convert a few matchpoints. the thai supporters were overwhelming. great fighers imho.

Results:
BSU19 FINAL
Ashton Chen Yong Zhao [1] lost to Arif Nandang Saputra 17-21, 21-17, 14-21 -- wow...first international title for Arif.


congrats to arif nandang saputra. he was leading in the second game and should have won it. ashton chen disrupted arif's momentum as he repeatedly asked for the floor to be mopped. finally he was refused by the umpire. guess its all of the game.

am impressed with arif because:
- he has a backhand smash, like tafik's but not as powerful.
- he didnt even have a coach yet he was able to read ashton's game. on the contrary ashton kept turning to his coach for ideas.
- his defence is excellent. he neutralised most of ashton's smashes.

a pity he didnt win the doubles title as well. i thought his partner made a lot of errors.

is arif one of the top juniors of the indonesian clubs? he will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future imho.

BSU17
Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin [3] vs Maneepong Jongjit -- MAS vs THA

BDU17
Maneepong Jongjit/Pollawat Boonpan vs Barry Anggriawan/Seiko Wahyu Kusdiyanto -- THA vs INA. The Djarum pair is under the tutelage of Sigit Budiarto. Can they turn to be a top junior pair in the next 2 years? We shall see...


maneepong jongjit was trailing 19-20 in the rubber set of the bsu17 against iskandar and he tried to flick serve. too bad it was out and iskandar won the match. maneepong jongjit managed to make up for his disappointment by winning the bdu17 title with his partner.

congrats to arif nandang saputra. he was leading in the second game and should have won it. ashton chen disrupted arif's momentum as he repeatedly asked for the floor to be mopped. finally he was refused by the umpire. guess its all of the game.

am impressed with arif because:
- he has a backhand smash, like tafik's but not as powerful.
- he didnt even have a coach yet he was able to read ashton's game. on the contrary ashton kept turning to his coach for ideas.
- his defence is excellent. he neutralised most of ashton's smashes.

a pity he didnt win the doubles title as well. i thought his partner made a lot of errors.

is arif one of the top juniors of the indonesian clubs? he will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future imho.

He just won Yunior Kejurnas in Solo this year by defeating Adi Pratama whom Aston beat in the 3thrilling sets....Arif is one of top junior in INA now.....

Congratulations to Iskandar and Zulfadli.And Zulfadli is simply awesome.He blasted his opponent in 3 and 13.There are sill many good players other than the BJSS's.


I know Zulfadli can do it because based track record in Kedah Open Division Two a few months ago. He got title at that time after beat his Selangor's teammate, Sharizal Abd Latip in final. In semi final, he and Sharizal beat top BJSS's. This is bad news to BJSS's.

congrats to arif nandang saputra. he was leading in the second game and should have won it. ashton chen disrupted arif's momentum as he repeatedly asked for the floor to be mopped. finally he was refused by the umpire. guess its all of the game.

am impressed with arif because:
- he has a backhand smash, like tafik's but not as powerful.
- he didnt even have a coach yet he was able to read ashton's game. on the contrary ashton kept turning to his coach for ideas.
- his defence is excellent. he neutralised most of ashton's smashes.

a pity he didnt win the doubles title as well. i thought his partner made a lot of errors.

is arif one of the top juniors of the indonesian clubs? he will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future imho.

Totally agree with you, Arif will be a force in near future, very calm and skillful. I especially like his sportmanship, normally the player who hits the shuttle to the net will pick up the shuttle and send it back to the opponent, but Ashton Chen seldom do that during the game, in fact Arif was the one who picked up the shuttle most of the time even though the shuttle was hit to the net by Ashton.

Arif Nandang Saputra and Adi Pratama were two members of INA's WJC team in Auckland this year.

Hi,

Adi Pratama from Jaya Raya Badminton Club in Jakarta.

and Arif Nandang from Tangkas Badminton Club in Jakarta

Are Adi Pratama and Ari Nandang Saputra in the Indonesian junior squad or representing their clubs? They are pretty good imho.

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=38393&stc=1&d=1198232633
wow, wearing spectacles playing badminton...

discrimination against short-sighted players? haha

Kak Ayu, when you have the time, tell us a bit about the matches you watched, esp the Semis and Finals. The ones you know better are Jonathan & Iskandar right? Why did they lose in Semis? Opponents very good?
Dear eaglehelang,

I really enjoy watching the semis and the final. Let me informed you that this is the first time Iskandar and Jonathan partner. Reaching quarter finals stage considered good achievement. The most interesting match in the semis are the boys doubles under 15 when we have to fight in rubber game against Indonesia pair. We managed to pull through to give Malaysia the ultimate winner. In the final boys singles under 17, Iskandar had to a close fight in the rubber game. Malaysia players and me continued to give him encouragement,he managed to pull through and win the titles for us.

In 6 days events, I have been the strong person who stood tall behind the players in happiness or sadness. I have enjoyed myself in meeting the new batch of players who need to be groom.Well done, Malaysia! I am proud to fly Jalur Gemilang high when Iskandar won the title.

From:
Ayu

Ayu,I wasn't at the stadium but I know Isk and Zul very well.Isk is a fighter whereas Zul is skilful.Both have good positive attitude.
Dear kokcheng,

This is good for Malaysian badminton as we have raising stars for our badminton in future years to come. Our girls are able to enter semi finals in girls doubles under 17. This is a good sign for us as we send all the new batches of players not our key stars to the tournament.

From:
Ayu

The Filipino players put up a decent showing this year. They had 3 semi-final matches (1 GS Under 13, 1 BS under 15 and 1 BD Under 15). Here are a few pictures of them in action.

Although Singapore held its own with having 5 finalists, I don't really think we have much to be proud of except for young Ashton as the rest of the "Singaporeans" are from other countries. Tanapat Pisitpong was brought in by Xin Min Secondary School from Thailand, Ricky And Chayut are foreigners too, Ricky being from Indonesia and Chayut from Thailand I think, with his sisters Natthaporn and Thitirat. Liang Xiao Yu is from China and she claims to be 11 years old. She's good but I seriously doubt the 11 year old thing. Look at her muscles and her height, all quite developed already. Wu Song Jian is a real talent, small young kid who really looks his age. Pity he's from China too. But still, Singapore has it's fair share of local talent. Maybe it's because of poor draws that few of them made any noticeable progress.

Just my two cents worth. =/

Everyone everywhere originally came from somewhere.
That's how today's communities and societies were born.

Tony Gunawan for the US, Pi Hongyan for France, Mia Audina for the Netherlands...
...when these players win, they win for their adopted nations too.

Singapore has no reason to feel low :)
Import talent, emulate talent and grow talent.
That's the road to eventual self-sufficiency in sport. :cool:

Everyone everywhere originally came from somewhere.
That's how today's communities and societies were born.

Tony Gunawan for the US, Pi Hongyan for France, Mia Audina for the Netherlands...
...when these players win, they win for their adopted nations too.

Singapore has no reason to feel low :)
Import talent, emulate talent and grow talent.
That's the road to eventual self-sufficiency in sport. :cool:

It's a pity that even some locals feel 'ashamed' of having foreign talent in our midst. When non-locals from other countries criticize or become sarcastic with our policy, we can understand why, especially when their own players were defeated by our foreign talents.

Even those who demean us should ask themselves where they originally came from, their fathers and their forefathers. Can they claim that they were the original "sons of the soil", from time memorial?

Our Singapore foreign talents are like our forefathers who fled from different parts of Asia, especially Southeast Asia, for various reasons, but mainly to seek a better life. They became local citizens eventually and contribute to the well being of their adopted country, helping in its economic, social, educational and cultural development.

Can we denounce these foreign talents as fortune seekers, traitors, etc for abandoning their own countries? If we do so, then we are not true to ourselves, for most of us are their descendants.

So I hope that those who look down on foreign talents and their adopted countries should change their view. Now that the world has become global, one day you may be a foreign talent yourself! :D

i think the reason why there are so many foreign talents is because no one believed in the locals

i think the reason why there are so many foreign talents is because no one believed in the locals

Not really because we have local talents who have excelled, but circumstances are such that not many in the past took to badminton as they did to swimming, bowling, water polo and sailing.

Remember in badminton Singapore contributed to the badminton world a great name Wong Peng Soon.

But mindsets are changing now and we should have more local talents represented in more sports and games, even in badminton, in years to come! :)

Absolutely agree with Loh though I aint proud of their achievements, there's nothing to be shame for being FTs (Foreign Talents). However, I just dont like the idea of "scouting" for young talents from overseas (mainly CHN and INA) as part of their processes.

It's different if the players venture into a foreign countries volunteerily for greener pastures and being "scouted" with perks (education, allowance, etc...). Not to condemn those "recruiters" coz I understand why SG did/doing so :rolleyes:

Make no mistake. Those young talents arrived in SG at a very young age and are trained to be the next Taufik or LinDan. It takes a whole complete sport system to produce a world champion and we should give them, both the players and coaches, the credits.

If you live in SG and watch the local tourneys (esp the school tourneys), it's not hard to see why they are "FTs" coz they dominate the local school tourneys. I've seen few very talented INA young and senior players playing in local leagues/tourneys and they are simply superb.

As we move into globalization, sports are intensively driven by results. It makes perfect sense for the top mgt to produce "results" to keep their heads up, or rather, their iron rice bowl :p

Just a joke, one of my local friends was joking with me during the SEA Games table tennis match. "ehh... I thought our women table tennis team is CHINA 2nd team... coz by reading their names, I cant tell if they are local breeds" (Just a joke, no offence intended)

[COLOR=#800080]If you live in SG and watch the local tourneys (esp the school tourneys), it's not hard to see why they are "FTs" coz they dominate the local school tourneys. I've seen few very talented INA young and senior players playing in local leagues/tourneys and they are simply superb.

Just a joke, one of my local friends was joking with me during the SEA Games table tennis match. "ehh... I thought our women table tennis team is CHINA 2nd team... coz by reading their names, I cant tell if they are local breeds" (Just a joke, no offence intended)

Yes we need the foreign talents to show us the way, to inspire us to do better and to affirm to us that a higher standard can be reached. :)

Hanyu Pinin names

Regarding the Chinese names, your friend may wish to know that for a short period in Singapore's early independent history, the government tried to introduce a policy to simplify the names of the various Chinese dialect groups by using 'hanyu pinin' and their equivalents in the Chinese character. So instead of the dialect surnames of Teo, Chan, Tan (?), etc, the hanyu pinin is just 'Zhang'. Children during that time were required to register in their hanyu pinin surnames when they first started formal education in the schools.

Unfortunately this policy does not go well with the parents because their children's surname will be spelt differently from theirs and their forefathers. A surname to the Chinese is very important to carry the family name generation after generation.

So instead of the dialect names of Teo Wei Yuan or Chan Wei Yuan, the hanyu pinin is used as just 'Zhang Weiyuan'. People will not be able to tell from the hanyu pinin name whether the child is a Teochew, a Hokkien or a Cantonese, unlike before.

Later the parents resisted and insisted on continuing to use the dialect surname to ensure that the family name is not broken. So now we have a compromise like Teo Weiyuan or Chan Weiyuan, a hybrid version of the hanyu pinin! :D

So if you find a Zhang Weiyuan playing for Singapore, he need not be a foreign talent!

So if you find a Zhang Weiyuan playing for Singapore, he need not be a foreign talent!

Like Ashton Chen Yong Zhao?

There were many Indonesian players indeed. Can you help identify which clubs do these players come from?

Hi Sealman, these players are way too young for me to know individually, so I will take hints given by their clothes... :p


The grey shirted kids with RS brand attached on them are from Suryanaga.
The orange shirted kids are from Jaya Raya, that's their favorite color and some of them clearly had Jaya Raya written on their shirts. ;)
The blue-base shirted kids are most possibly from Wima club, East Java. One even clearly has Wima written on his shirt.
The ones from Djarum are clearly the ones with black & red or white-based with patterns of black & red. That's the club colour.
I don't know what Arif Nandang wore, but I bet he would wear the Tangkas white-base with blue collar and blue accents on the right or left sleeve.
The others... err... sorry... :p They are probably from smaller clubs who do not have any consistent colored-uniform. :)

Thank you Krisna.

[/b]

It's a pity that even some locals feel 'ashamed' of having foreign talent in our midst. When non-locals from other countries criticize or become sarcastic with our policy, we can understand why, especially when their own players were defeated by our foreign talents.

Even those who demean us should ask themselves where they originally came from, their fathers and their forefathers. Can they claim that they were the original "sons of the soil", from time memorial?

Our Singapore foreign talents are like our forefathers who fled from different parts of Asia, especially Southeast Asia, for various reasons, but mainly to seek a better life. They became local citizens eventually and contribute to the well being of their adopted country, helping in its economic, social, educational and cultural development.

Can we denounce these foreign talents as fortune seekers, traitors, etc for abandoning their own countries? If we do so, then we are not true to ourselves, for most of us are their descendants.

So I hope that those who look down on foreign talents and their adopted countries should change their view. Now that the world has become global, one day you may be a foreign talent yourself! :D

Haha, I was quite shocked when I read "look down on foreign talents". I'm really sorry if my post sent that kind of message to people because I really didn't mean it. While it's true that almost all our ancestors were from other countries and came here to seek a better life, that was their sole purpose. I guess it goes both ways because the foreign talent are also here for a better life with better education in Singapore. But as a young shuttler myself, it's quite frustrating and demoralizing to see how sports in Singapore is dominated by foreigners and not true-blue Singaporeans. It kind of gives you the impression that it's all that much harder to make it big in sports in Singapore with so much foreign talent around. I guess it boils down to how you define Singaporean.

Li Jia Wei (CHN) for table tennis
Ronald Susilo (INA) for badminton
Tao Li (CHN) for swimming

And I think our national billiard player is an American or something along those lines, I may be mistaken. While these foreigners provide good sparring and valuable experience to the local players, it's really just THAT hard to surpass them. Only one in one or two generations can make it big like Wong Peng Soon or Wong Shoon Keat. Not to mention our up and coming Kendrick Lee who managed to outplay first singles Ronald Susilo in the SEA Games trial or Ashton Chen who fought to the finals of the Youth International. Or even Ang Peng Siong for swimming. Once again I'm really sorry if I came across as putting down foreign talent. I have all the respect in the world for their superb skill.

But as a young shuttler myself, it's quite frustrating and demoralizing to see how sports in Singapore is dominated by foreigners and not true-blue Singaporeans. It kind of gives you the impression that it's all that much harder to make it big in sports in Singapore with so much foreign talent around. I guess it boils down to how you define Singaporean.

Of course it is hard to make it BIG in sports, not only in Singapore but in many other parts of the world. Even in China, with so many talents queuing up for a chance to join the national team, even the established athlete has to be on his toes all the time. There is no guarantee that his place will not be taken up by someone willing to train harder, make more sacrifices and is more committed to performing better.

Even foreign talents in Singapore find it hard to do battle with top athletes of other nations. It simply means that they are still not good enough! The forthcoming Beijing Olympics will give an indication of which country has the best athletes and in which sports, whether for individual or team events. Singapore would be very happy to win an Olympic gold medal and that's why a million dollars have been offered as the carrot.

The Thomas and Uber Cup competitions this year will put a ranking on all participating teams and Singapore would hve considered to have done well if she could enter the final rounds for both team events.

The foreign talents in Singapore provide a yardstick for local athletes to aspire to their standards and to surpass them one day. Only then will local athletes have a chance at the gold medal in any international competitions. If you find them difficult to beat, it is not surprising for you have not reached their standards unless you are talented and committed enough to turn professional.

But as in the other spheres of Singapore's endeavours, foreign talents have helped us move forward to align ourselves to the world market place and at world standards. Otherwise, Singapore would not have made it to the first-world league in a relatively short time.

So, brace yourself that foreign talents is here to stay and take it as a positive motivation for you to move forward with them.

Dear members,

To have foreign talents in the sports is not wrong but it should have a balance between local and foreign. For example, if you send foreign talents to this competition,you also needs to send local too. Thus, it will help them to be more confident and gain experiences. It could not get through books or lecture but it is through the feeling of competing and learning to adapt pressure of various tournaments. Let's monitor whether with the Singapore Sport School in place, S'pore can produce more local talents that can represent the country in the games.

Foreigns talents are good to be the sparring partner of the local instead of overtaking them.Recently, the government encourage Singaporean to take up sports but with no assurance of their future as a sport man or woman, most parents were reluctant to let the children to participate in sports.This mindset must be changed and make Sport as one of the career to choose. Beside that, how many numbers of Singaporeans are coming to the stadium to support the players during various tournament? Based on my observation, purchasing Singapore Super Series tickets is much more easier as there will always be sufficient tickets because not many locals will buy it. Compare when i want to support badminton in Malaysia, I will get it first because the stadium will be full if Malaysian players are playing in the quarter, semis and final. Sports culture must be cultivate in the Singaporeans since they are young otherwise we are likely to depend on foreign talents forever. Please take note that I am Malaysian die-hard fan for badminton even when i at the stadium, I will only support my Malaysian players but not in other sports.

From:
Ayu

The results are so disappointing for Singaporeans !!!!
It only goes to show that our young players need more time to
train and develop into better players. I do agree foreign talents are
good for Singapore sports, but maybe a bit too much ?

See the badminton teams and table-tennis teams.

The recent results in the Sea games show that even with foreign sports talents, we have not reached the world stage yet.

It will be too much to ask for a world badminton champion from Singapore at this stage of her development. But the process is now in place to encourage those talented to take up sports more seriously and parents are beginning to look up to support their children. Therefore mindset is changing.

We do have local talents who are world champions in other sports like bowling, sailing and even bodybuilding. But as of now, the foreign talents are required to lead the way in especially the racket sports until our own talents are good enough to take over. But I think our local shuttlers are given adequate opportunity to participate in tournaments, both at home and abroad, for the exposure.

The fact that the government is vying to host the inaugural Youth Olympics is a case in point that sports in Singapore is on its way up. There are other evidence that we are moving in the right direction.

The Singapore Open SS has always been well supported especially in the final stages like the semis and finals. Do bear in mind that our Singapore Indoor Stadium is relatively huge and it is not possible to fill up the entire stadium which I believe can hold 15,000.

Ayu's cause not to support even her own Singaporean team is to say the least, very disappointing. Therefore to see parents coming to support their children in recent local badminton tournaments during the June/November/December school holidays is at least more reassuring! :rolleyes:

Now is the time that the Singapore Badminton Association will be selecting talented school boys and girls for serious training. Though the numbers are small, it seems there are more choices from a wider source as more badminton training centres are now in place helping to develop the badminton pool.

This is yet another indication that Singapore badminton is still on the move, hopefully on a higher plane! :)

If you live in SG and watch the local tourneys (esp the school tourneys), it's not hard to see why they are "FTs" coz they dominate the local school tourneys. I've seen few very talented INA young and senior players playing in local leagues/tourneys and they are simply superb.

its true that FTs help locals to improve, and with their presence, locals may improve faster within a shorter period of time and eventually, overtaking them.

however, when you see a whole bunch of FTs here to stay in school tourneys (and eventually entering the national team), the FTs serve no purpose except to dominate the whole of the tourneys.

locals, especially those who train extremely hard, will just be blown away and be forgotten.

Ayu's cause not to support even her own Singaporean team is to say the least, very disappointing...... :rolleyes:

:)

Errrr, I thought Noriayu is Msian. She definitely sounds like one. There're a lot of Msians working in Spore. + she could be related to one of the players, since she knows them so well

its true that FTs help locals to improve, and with their presence, locals may improve faster within a shorter period of time and eventually, overtaking them.

however, when you see a whole bunch of FTs here to stay in school tourneys (and eventually entering the national team), the FTs serve no purpose except to dominate the whole of the tourneys.

locals, especially those who train extremely hard, will just be blown away and be forgotten.

If our locals can't even beat the FTs, how can they face the competition at the world stage? Even our FTs find it difficult to win international titles like the SS. Only Ronald Susilo managed to win the Japan Open once. Kendrick Lee, our only local who could measure up to the FTs, has won lesser titles and this goes to show that it can be done if Kendrick continues to improve.

The FTs do serve a purpose as targets for the locals to emulate and eventually eliminate them. Again Kendrick is a case in point. Imagine if Kendrick does not have Ronald and other FTs to spar with, will he have made such good progress. Remember in the last Singapore Open, he beat world no.3, Chen Jin and more recently in the Korat SEA Games, he shocked many with his display and took the MS individual silver medal, losing only to Taufik Hidayat. Although Malaysia's first team was not present, Kendrick did beat very strong rivals in the persons of Boonsak of Thailand and Sony of Indonesia.

If FTs dominate local tourneys, it will only mean that the local standards are just not good enough and they must work even harder if they really want to make an impact! Saying that it is no use because you can't beat the FTs is like the rest of the world saying that it is no use competing against formidable China, because they can't win. But this is not true. Yes it is very tough trying to beat the Chinese but inroads by non-Chinese have been made which means that their standards have improved and they are closing in on the Chinese.

So we should thank the FTs for showing us the way and giving us a chance to beat them eventually!

Errrr, I thought Noriayu is Msian. She definitely sounds like one. There're a lot of Msians working in Spore. + she could be related to one of the players, since she knows them so well

Dear Eaglehelang,

I am Singaporean but I am Malaysian supporter for badminton. I have no relationship with any players but I did my homework by getting involve in the competition that they participated and have a great conversation with them. I build the relationship with the players since they were young or teenage years.
From:
Ayu

hey noridayu, i though u go to the stadium to cheer for malaysia player??
any pics to shre with us?