Unfit Pros Axed from National Team

Discussion in 'Professional Players' started by Loh, Jan 15, 2004.

  1. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Yes the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) have found Hendra Wijaya and Hendri K Saputra unfit to remain in the National Team. They failed to satisfy their fitness targets despite repeated warnings although these targets were not unreasonable, admitted Hendri. Last November, the two shuttlers even lagged behind the national women's team in a 3-km run.

    This is a great blow to Singapore's aspiration to qualify for the Thomas Cup Finals in Jakarta this August. It appears that last year, Hendri's twin brother, Wandi and China's San Qingqing were also dropped for poor performance.

    It is particularly sad for Hendra, 19, who won a bronze medal in the 2002 World Junior Championships and a silver in the Asian Junior Championships 2002 and seemingly has a bright future ahead of him. Hendri, 23, also had some success when he partnered Denny Setyawan to win the Waikato International (NZ) and Western Australian Invitational last year. Both of them came to Singapore in 2000 and were given permanent resident (PR) status two years later. Both will return to Indonesia soon.

    But SBA policy on foreign-born athletes is that receiving citizenships or PRs is no guarantee that they can remain in the national team. They still have to meet the standards set by the SBA. The SBA have also given a number of players ultimatums to pass a fitness test on Feb 5 or face the consequences. I hope Ronald Susilo is not one of them!

    A spokesman for the SBA said, "Fitness is a fundamental part of top-level sports. No matter how skilful a player can be, if he has no fitness, he will not go far."

    What do you think? Are pros supposed to maintain in a tip-top condition to be in the national team? Is the action by SBA correct or too drastic?
     
  2. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

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    lol, maybe having too much of the good life
     
  3. cappy75

    cappy75 Regular Member

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    Sounds like they're not giving those athletes enough motivation to keep in shape. Heh! Probably too many distractions in Singapore:p.
     
  4. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Any other interesting motivations apart from cash?
     
  5. cappy75

    cappy75 Regular Member

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    Well, I think even hired guns of good quality should be retained with sufficient amount of 'respect':p. Guess SBA wasn't paying enough to keep them motivated.

    Now if they're locals and they're groomed right at the start... then individual aspirations and nationalistic pride will be other motivations as well. Otherwise, they will just take the money and let it slide. More to the point, were those hired guns of high enough quality to justify 'adopting' them?
     
  6. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    But Ronald Susilo has got a gf, thankfully champion table tennis player instead of badminton. She may be an inspiration instead of a distraction! So Ronald won't get the sack as he is not a tt player. And our Commonwealth ladies singles badminton champ, Li Li also got herself an escort, thankfully again he is not a shuttler!
     
  7. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    You have a point. Nationalistic pride is an important motivation indeed. Those "hired guns" must be of good quality otherwise they will not be considered by the SBA in the first place. But being foreign imports, do they have that pride to win for Singapore? There may be a difference between a foreign talent who has aqcuired citizenship and those who only obtained PRs.

    As I have said, Hendra has shown so much promise and he is only 19, but he has confessed he hates running and admitted that he has been warned many times. Actually the SBA have invested quite a bit in these pros, Hendra in particular and I'm sure that they are rather sad to have to make such a decision.

    As regards incentives, I'm not sure about the details, but I would expect them to be acceptable. If they win big tournaments, they will get bigger rewards. Nowadays much is based on productivity, better bonuses for they who performed better, I suppose.
     
  8. cappy75

    cappy75 Regular Member

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    Would it matter much for athletes if their significant others are in the same sport? What really count is their ability to focus and be emotionally balanced when they perform, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue for shuttlers to date one another.
     
  9. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    So long it doesn't affect their performance. But you probably agree that boy/girl relationship is rather sensitive and fragile. Sometimes disruptive and short. What happens if there is a breakup?
     
  10. reaper

    reaper Regular Member

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    fitness

    Tony Gunawan once told me at their level, fitness and stamina could determine between a win and a loss ....... because they all have the shots

    I have a friend who played Peter Gade and got beaten quite quickly and said to me that after that that Peter had better shots but the biggest thing was his superb fitness and his agility and stamina on the court.

    In some ways, I think the decision to drop those players from the team was too harsh, as Wijaya had a bright future, but in some ways, they've gotta keep their standards to do well internationally.
     
  11. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Just a followup to my previous comment. Can you remember the Peter Gade/Camilla relationship? I thought Gade was devastated with the breakup and coupled with injuries, he took a long time to recover and is never his real self again. Remember too how embarassing it was to him to be treated a 'wild card'!

    I think the coaches and officials are trying to discourage such a relationship to prevent the players concerned from being distracted later by personal problems and therefore lose sight of their professional goals. Let's hope Chen Hong and Gao Ling will know how to 'pace' themselves and remain focus on the TC/UB and Olympic goals.
     
  12. tcstay

    tcstay Regular Member

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    our nation's policy of hiring foreign talent in the sports arena is backfiring. as you can see, Hendra is taking things for granted as he maybe thinking that he's of some quality and substance and so if he didn't bother to show much effort in his training, it's still be all right coz he's a foreign talent needed by some other country. to get the PR status doesn't prove his loyalty to the adopted country; it is just a mean to get the foreign talent to represent our country instead of true allegiance of loyalty.

    fitness is the darn most impt factor in any game. any opponent can try to tire you out if you don't possess good fitness. he's only 19, and should be more energetic and hardworking. even if he dun like to run, that shouldn't be an excuse to lag behind in fitness exercise. he must understand that running is part of the fitness regimen, and i'm sure that he's well aware of that than laymen.

    we may have the monetary power to pay them a lot, but we still can't change their mentality and personality. and it may even spoil them more as they may take the huge salary for granted.

    if he himself isn't putting much effort in bucking up his fitness, let alone taking part in competitive matches, and even let alone winning them.

    and therefore, though the decision is tough and embarrassing, we should axe him from the team for the good of other professionals. he isn't a good example for others to follow.
     
  13. bigredlemon

    bigredlemon Regular Member

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    I can't imagine an elite athlete being kicked off for being lazy...

    they've worked so hard and through skill and chance managed to get there, and now they're too lazy to run a few hours a week? It just doesn't sound right.
     
  14. viver

    viver Regular Member

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    It can happen if the competition for a place in the team is not that strong. Probably there are no other potential candidates in sight, or they are not at his level even if he is not fit.
     
  15. viver

    viver Regular Member

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    Hiring young players with potential is a good idea. They raise the level of the game in the country and also bring more attention from the media when results are achieved. But the environment is also very important. The team spirit, the competition for a place in the team, the team mates abilities, I think all contribute to the success of the player(s). Hendra's situation might not have happened if the competition for a place in the team was stronger.
     
  16. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Yes Viver, I also share your view that the environment is important. Unfortunately for Singapore, competition for a place in the National Team is not fierce enough. That was why the foreign talents were imported as one of the means, I believe, to stir up greater interest in the game at a higher-level. But none of our Singapore-born players are good enough to come close to their standards, except for Kendrick Lee, who himself was bogged down by National Service. So, I guess the foreign imports took things too easy.

    The foreign players were supposed to set the standards (including fitness), but from
    the recent reports, they were the ones who were a let down by not being able to pass their fitness test, even after several warnings! Only Ronald Susilo, who is now a citizen and who turned pro after his secondary education in Singapore, perhaps has greater pride in donning National colours.

    But in about four years' time, when our first batch of sports school students graduate, the competition should be keener! So I guess we have to be more patient.
     
  17. Iwan

    Iwan Regular Member

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    Hmm, maybe they should start doing psychological tests on the players before hiring them.
     
  18. Californian

    Californian Regular Member

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    Does anyone know what the fitness target for the 3-km run was?

    I don't think straight running like this is the best measure of badminton fitness, but I guess it's done because it's the easiest to administer. And if they knew what the standard was and wanted to play for the team, then they should have concentrated on meeting it.

    Well, maybe they can try some other country that has easier standards.:)
     
  19. Matt Ross

    Matt Ross Regular Member

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    So soon after xmas too, no doubt that xmas turkey is a major factor :)
     
  20. viver

    viver Regular Member

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    I don't have any numbers for the 3km run. I did I did run (long time ago) 3.2km in about 11 mins.

    I agree with you that running is not the best measure but it is a very good tool to evaluate your general conditioning. If you are not fit you can't perform your best - fitness is also part of your technique.
     

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