(I'm glad that the SBA is widening its net to trap more talented youngters to provide a bigger base for the National Team selection ultimately.) Coach Liu confident a star will emerge from the National Intermediate Squad by Low Lin Fhoong 04:45 AM Sep 08, 2011 SINGAPORE - The Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) are ploughing an additional S$100,000 into their newly-formed National Intermediate Squad (NIS), boosting their yearly kitty to S$300,000 in their bid to bring back the Republic's golden years. Launched on May 30 with an initial batch of 19 shuttlers aged 12 to 16, the group will be expanded to 29 as the association lob for medals at the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics and the Summer Games in Rio two years later. Trials will be conducted next month to pick another 10, with invitations sent to badminton coaches to nominate up to two shuttlers each to battle for places in the squad. SBA staff and coaches will also be out talent-spotting at the ongoing Kason Age Group Badminton (Invitational) Tournament at the Chinese Swimming Club. Said SBA chief executive officer Bobby Lee: "We hope our next generation of badminton stars will come from the NIS. Our next Youth Olympics representative will definitely be from this group as we will be investing between S$10,000 and S$15,000 annually in each player for overseas competitions, facility rental, training and coaches." The sentiment was echoed by coach Liu Qingdong: "There will definitely be one - in the next four years a good player will come out from this batch. My hope is for them to get better in the next few years and earn a place in Team 1 with the seniors." The youngsters spend some 20 hours weekly under the watchful eyes of coach Liu, who handled the Sichuan province women's team prior to the Singapore appointment, as well as former Singapore internationals Jiang Yanmei and Liu Fan. Plans are also underway to conduct nightly training sessions for NIS players at a new badminton facility along Geylang Lorong 23 called the Singapore Badminton Hall. Being built by events company Arina Hogan at a cost of S$2 million, the 2,500 sq m venue will house a 300-seat gallery, a gymnasium, a 30-bed hostel and 14 courts, six of which will be air-conditioned. The public can book the courts after the hall's launch in the middle of next month, while the SBA will enjoy discounted rates. The national sports association also intend to host five of their annual age-group and national tournaments there starting next year. Said Arina Hogan general manager Richard Tan: "We built this out of a love for badminton and named it Singapore Badminton Hall out of nostalgia for the old place (along Guillemard Road). We want these to be the best courts in Singapore in terms of experience and facility." Plans are underway to conduct night training for NIS players at the new Singapore Badminton Hall being built along Geylang Lorong 23. Photo by SYAFIQAH HAMID
Wow, Singapore loves its badminton! (If they run out of ideas where to put their badminton slush-fund, contact me first!)
So it seems the SBA is getting more serious. But the talented youths nowadays have many more options than badminton and many will be attracted to where the money is. And for now, getting a good degree seems the better option for the future. Unless world badminton continues to increase the prize moneys and other benefits, it will take a long time for Singaporean youths to come onboard. But this is a commendable start by SBA in its continuing attempts to entice those who are interested in the game. Already our population is strinking, so will be the local talent pool with less babies being born each year. As for slush-fund, it is very difficult to divest this in non-badminton activities. Singapore holds tight to its reserves and we even need the President's approval to use past reserves for emergencies.
if they have spotted Kevin Cordon, Kevin would have been World No.1 & Singaporean would have their champions!
erm, golden years? i must have missed that while i took a toilet break! when was that? before the war?
Singapore's Golden Years? There was nothing outstanding with world badminton before World War II, with the West dominating the game and IBF located in England being the world badminton governing body as predecessor of the current BWF. The All-England was then the unofficial world championship until 1977 when IBF launched its own official championships. No players from the East, particularly from Asia, took part until 1949 when Ooi Teik Hock of Malaya was soundly beaten by American Dave G. Freeman, 15–1, 15–6 in the MS final (I think Wong Peng Soon, who was first singles with the then Malaya contingent for the Thomas Cup was either injured or ill.) But Wong who was from Singapore, then part of Malaya, became the AE champion for three consecutive years from 1950-1952. Wong became champion again in 1955 when he beat compatriot Eddy Choong. Malaysia (then known as Malaya) came into prominence because of the introduction of the first Thomas Cup in 1948/49. The donor of the TC, Sir George Alan Thomas of England was himself a great badminton player, having won 21 AE medals, four for Men's Singles. He mooted the idea of a team competition for men in 1940 but the event was postponed due to the outbreak of WW II. He was the co-founder of IBF in 1934 and was its president from 1934 to 1955. In 1949, Malaya surprised all its Western opponents when it won the inaugural TC by beating first USA 6-3 and then, Denmark 8-1 in the final. Two players from Singapore who were in the victorious Malaya team were Wong Peng Soon and Ong Poh Lim. That period perhaps could be considered as Singapore's golden years. References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_England_Open_Badminton_Championships#Full_list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_England_Open_Badminton_Championships http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cup Singapore badminton was never in the limelight since then until the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002. Li Li, who was talented scouted from China when she was barely 13 years old, brought glory to Singapore when she caused a major upset by beating England's Tracey Hallam in the women's singles final at the Games. It was the first time Singapore had won a gold medal in Commonwealth Games badminton but Li Li retired prematurely before the Beijing Olympics 2008. Singapore's women's badminton squad have benefited from the arrival of mainland Chinese players to take up residence in the country. With Li's absence, we are left with Xing Aiying, Gu Juan and Fu Mingtian, who are good players but will have to fight for qualification to the London Olympics, let alone deliver medals. Singapore also captured a silver in the mixed team in Manchester and won the Women's SEA Games gold medal in 2003 while Ronald Susilo won the Japan Open in 2004. More recently, Yao Lei and Shinta Mulia Sari (originally from China and Indonesia respectively) won the Singapore Open WD last year and this year Fu Mingtian won the Vietnam GP WS title. We don't expect our men to perform as well as our ladies. So the golden years seem more elusive than previously.
I just remembered this young man from Guatemala (?) who impressed many during the recent WC. Yes, KC will be good for Singapore!
Singapore's Golden Years Oh, I've almost forgotten the contributions from: Kendrick Lee Yen Hui (World Junior Championship 2002 Runner-Up to Chen Jin) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_IBF_World_Junior_Championships and Xing Aiying both of whom won the US Open 2004 in MS and WS respectively. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Open_Badminton_Championships
And of course almost 28 years ago, Derek Wong's father, Wong Shoon Keat, captured the MS gold during the 1983 SEA Games (then known as the Southeast Asian Games, which in turn came after the inaugural South East Asian Peninsular Games (SEAP) in 1959.) I believe Shoon Keat beat Icuk Sugiarto, Tommy's father, on that occasion. That was the only SEA Games MS gold won by Singapore. Now will Derek Wong be able to repeat his father's feat in Palembang, Indonesia from Nov 11-25, assuming LCW is not playing? Or will Tommy be the man to emulate his father who won the gold three times in 1985, 1987 and 1989? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badminton_at_the_Southeast_Asian_Games