Act before it is too late, BAM By K.M. BOOPATHY - My reply to NST

Discussion in 'Malaysia Professional Players' started by shooting stroke, Aug 13, 2013.

  1. shooting stroke

    shooting stroke Regular Member

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    LEE Chong Wei may have had his final shot at a World Championships title when dehydration and cramps robbed him of his chance of winning the crown, thus allowing his nemesis Lin Dan of China to clinch a record fifth world title in Guangzhou on Sunday.

    Lin Dan can now lay claim to being the greatest badminton player ever, while Chong Wei will have to learn to live with being second best and probably never laying his hands on a major title.
    The Malaysian camp was quite sure that this would be Chong Wei's year after Lin Dan seemed past his prime, having, competed in just one tournament -- the Asian Championships -- in the last 12 months leading to coaches Tey Seu Bock and Rashid Sidek believing that their charge would finally bag a big one. How wrong they were.
    Lin Dan's absence from tournaments leading up to the World Championships must have been a ploy which many fell for.
    It is virtually impossible to keep a true champion, who is still hungry for more titles, down and Lin Dan is certainly that.
    On Sunday, he showed that he had lost none of his agility, power, court-craft and strokes, and ironically, it always takes Chong Wei, the World No 1, to bring out the best from Lin Dan.
    Their last two meetings, the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics, both at the Wembley Arena, had been epic battles and it was no different on Sunday until Chong Wei gave in to dehydration and cramps with the score at 16-21, 21-13, 20-17 in Lin Dan's favour.
    One can argue that Lady Luck had deserted Chong Wei at the eleventh hour, but Lin Dan's character, attitude and fighting spirit could have drained Chong Wei's energy and resolve.
    Chong Wei's own high expectations and the pressure he put himself under could also have contributed to his mental state, and not having won a major title only made him give it his all and more. He was so finely tuned that putting extra pressure on his already taut muscles could result in cramps and that was exactly what happened.
    BA of Malaysia officials and coaches must forget about lodging a protest over the failed air-conditioning which caused the players to suffer, which the Malaysian coaches believe caused Chong Wei's cramps.
    Lin Dan was a deserving victor and is a great ambassador for the sport.
    There are bigger issues for BAM to tackle at this stage, like focusing on the younger generation of players to fill the void which will come about soon.
    While Chong Wei will still continue playing, but at 31, BAM must realise he is in the twilight of his playing career as is Lin Dan and both must give way to younger players sooner rather than later.
    BAM must not only look beyond Chong Wei but also Liew Daren, who is not expected to make much headway as he is already 26.
    BAM may have to wait for between three to five years to see the likes of Asian Junior champion Soo Teck Zhi and Soong Joo Ven, both 18, show progress on the international stage while the progress of Goh Soon Huat, 23, and Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, 22, must be sped up.
    Two others -- Zulfadli Zulkifli and Misbun Ramdan Misbun, may be independent players but BAM must keep tabs on them and encourage the duo to join the national team as well.
    Coach Hendrawan, who looks after the back-up players, must also buck up as his current group of players have stagnated.
    Though a dedicated coach, Hendrawan's soft approach will not be able to make Malaysian shuttlers, generally a pampered lot, work harder and the Indonesian must set a stringent training regime and set high targets.
    BAM can take a cue from Thailand and India who have been producing lots of young talents of which several have reached world class.
    Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon has become a trend setter for the junior players in her country as at 18, she has become a world champion and this was achieved despite a lack of funding.
    Apart from Ratchanok, Thailand have immense talent in the women's singles and have three more top internationals, thus making them the only country to stand out regularly against China.
    India's P.V. Sindhu, also 18, has beaten some of China's top shuttlers and reached the semi-finals in Guangzhou.
    The future of Malaysian singles post Chong Wei looks very bleak but if BAM starts improving its system, especially the national set-up, there is still hope.
    It must be noted that Rexy Mainaky, discarded by BAM, has been doing an admirable job as the high performance director (HPD) of Indonesia badminton and is supported by an effective system put in place by Indonesia BA president Gita Wirjawan.
    Likewise, his Malaysian counterpart Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff must also make some hard decisions and revamp the current national set-up and bring in a HPD who is in touch with the latest developments and who can get the best out of coaches.
    The 2016 Olympics is fast drawing near and if BAM does not act fast, it will be caught in a hopeless situation of once again depending on a 34-year-old Chong Wei, that is if he is still playing.

    Read more: Act before it is too late, BAM - Badminton - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/sports/badminton/act-before-it-is-too-late-bam-1.336826?open=true#commentsForm-487261#ixzz2buogaqrA



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    To step into the empty seat once vacant by Dato' in the men single department is not that hard. We have CWF, Liew D and few youngster that has been mentioned here that can work hard to fill up this post.

    The most difficult part is does all of this players has the exact same qualities that Dato' has that has made him most likely if not, one of Malaysia most successful badminton player? If the answer is yes then it is likely now that while Dato' is trying hard to achieve positive result in any tournament he participated while donning our national flag on his shirt, that burden is also most likely being carried together with his other fellow team mate but in reality, he is just alone at the moment.

    It is an extremely a hard task to emulate what Dato' has achieved for Malaysia in the world of badminton, alone to beat it, Players the like of Chong WF, Liew D is unlikely can provide better achievement as their performance seems to be inconsistent and at their current age, they should also already be within the bracket of world top players if seriously we want someone to replace Dato' or at least consistently be as competitive as him is concern. As for now, their role most likely as i see is just to ensure that our Malaysia flag can still be present in any tournament held and in any case they can win any SS/PS, it's a recognition bonus for us and them.

    To replace Dato' is an impossible quest for now as far as we observe closely any major achievement from the arsenal of players that we have currently. Other than Liew D who won the previous France SS, the follow up seems to be none in any world class event. Most likely within this many years to come (2-5 years or more), I'm not surprised if Dato' still want to play just to ensure that there is a competitive player from Malaysia to challenge the rise of new top players from the other country as well as to ensure that the Malaysia name is not buried deep and forgotten in the men single event while waiting for the emergence of a reliable and consistent competitive player/s.

    To fill the gap once Dato' decided to retire is a future and long term mission that BAM needs to plan, construct and implement quickly. The agenda for this issue has been a major discussion already for many years but still the outcome is still the same that is at the moment there is NONE who can be a genuine world beater in the single department, not like China or Denmark as an example who already have few players queuing behind their current flagship player that is within the bracket of world top 10 if LD, for an example decided to quit.

    Even we have few prospect youngster that has produced proud result for Malaysia be it in the recent asian junior or few world junior championship, the fact and repetitive scenario is that they POORLY CAN produce a similar impact in the senior level. Muhammad Arif that is in the same boat with China Chen Long is the best example. Not to mention Zulfadli as well as for a few.

    We can be speak very loud for having a lot of talented and successful youngster but if the system that BAM used now in their coaching approach does not translated this youngster to become a mature world class player as what Thailand did to Ratchanok and obviously like China did to Chen L as well, then definitely you need to be living in a cave deep inside Pahang thick jungle (if your a hardcore Malaysia badminton player) for all this years NOT to notice that there is something lacking NOT wrong in BAM coaching structure if i may comment sincerely. If Dato' is a product of BAM coaching system regardless who trained him previously then for sure you can produce one or more player like him or at least competitively like him again. If it is a miracle and once in a life time event for such player like Dato' to be born and exist in Malaysia as the answer for his current existence then BAM should put some budget into genetic research and eventually open a hospital.

    The window period to replace the gap from Dato' later absence seems to be a late effort now but not in the future, Coaches need to be given more coaching decision and policy making authority while the high profile figure play the role in supporting them administratively IMHO. A constant collective input from players, BAM coaches as well as local coaches should always be done in order to quickly detect and rectify any loop hole or flaws in the BAM coaching system as well as in regards in players performance. Having a CTC already within BAM is a good platform to do this regularly.

    Badminton is a sports that acquire the highest level of dedication in terms of physical and mental training. The technique and skills that exist from how a player moves his footwork until hitting the incoming birdie to produce any winning opportunity for himself demands years of hardwork training. Therefore producing a champion in this sport is not an overnight work but requires a very long term training approach. If the coaching system used in training does not able to produce a competitive world class player while other country could, it's time for BAM to evaluate what is the problem quickly or otherwise it is for sure it's going to be always late for BAM.

    SS

     
  2. volcom

    volcom Regular Member

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    There are too many pleasures in life readily available to players that easily help them on their whiny spirally road downwards....

    young players simply have too much access to computers, internet etc... social media influence and peer pressure influence.

    In my opinion it is a lot harder nowadays to stay focused and come back up from setbacks etc than it has been in the past especially when they can easily see the luxuries of life and pleasures that their peers are living.... why should they train day in a day out through blood and guts when their friends are partying hard and looking for hot girls?

    How many can maintain the discipline of staying on schedule day in and day out ? sleeping before 10pm, waking up everyday around 4am, practicing abstinence and raging hormone levels towards females especially when they reach puberty....?

    When everyone else is drinking, playing poker, online games, driving fast cars, looking all fashionable, pao lot's of lui's and enjoying all the youthful adolescent fun?

    back in the day where players were withheld from mass media through twitter, FB etc... I believe it was a lot easier...

    nowadays u just look at FB and twitter pages of perhaps KKK or etc.... what kind of image or inspirational example does he give young players?
    it's all cool to go out and Kao Lui at clubs till 4am during tournaments and smoke + drink or he wants, who cares about diet... just eat more roti's :D...
    Look at him driving his fast sports car with all his bling bling and lot's of fast girls on the sides....

    Just my 3cents
     
    #2 volcom, Aug 13, 2013
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2013
  3. limsy

    limsy Regular Member

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  4. Jagdpanther

    Jagdpanther Regular Member

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    [MENTION=22717]volcom[/MENTION]

    volcom: What you write is a challenge faced by kids (aspiring to be athletes) all over the world. Not necessarily in Malaysia alone.
     
  5. volcom

    volcom Regular Member

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    Yeah that's what I mean :p....

    Didn't mean to target any country in particular....
    Hence why I'm so frustrated by a player like Wang ZhengMing especially when he spouts stuff like "Chen Long beats me cos he trains harder than me"
    I can only shake my head in disappointment..
     
  6. gelee

    gelee Regular Member

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    Very well said. KKK has this giant beer gut....i am like are you for real? Does BAM even try and do anything about it? Half of KKK's problem could probably be attributed to his current lifestyle. Well, whateva it is, hes happy spending tax payer's money on tequila shots.
     
  7. gelee

    gelee Regular Member

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    Lol, i got a saying once from my coach when I was kid and it has stuck to me since then...

    "Dont get beaten just because you let him worked harder than you, working hard is the easy part".
     

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