Sport: Badminton/ABC Championships: Choong Hann may quit after Athens S.S. Dhaliwal Send to a friend | Printable Page THE nation's No 1 shuttler Wong Choong Hann could well quit after the Athens Olympics in August. The singles player has given himself another four months to see just how far he can go before deciding to hang up his racquet. Choong Hann has set a target to win a medal at the Olympics and should he achieve that, he will carry on playing for at least another year. Failing which, he will go for a degree in Business Management. "I am totally focused on the Olympics after the Thomas Cup next month. "I want a medal to show from Athens," said Choong Hann, when met after he was named as one of the Malaysian torchbearers for the torch run in Greece. "My aim is to win the gold medal and that is every athlete's dream. But it will not be easy. "It's not that I am being conservative but I am just being realistic. "To me, winning the gold is not for myself but for the country. There are others who share the same dream. "Sometimes, it all boils down to fate. Suffice to say, I am not going to leave it at that but do all I can to win the gold." The 27-year-old southpaw is currently pursuing a degree in Business Management and while he has signed up as a fulltime student, he has only been attending lectures when time permits. "Maybe after the Olympics, I can spend more time on my studies as I intend to complete my degree within the stipulated time," said Choong Hann. On his selection to participate in the torch run, Choong Hann said it was not only a honour for him but the whole badminton fraternity. Although he is expected to be in Greece for a week in July for the event, Choong Hann will bring his racquets along. "I will not let up on my training and hopefully, I get to see the badminton venue when I am there," said Choong Hann. "Hopefully, I will get a chance to play on the court."
sad......................... if choong hann retired after olympic we will very miss his badminton action......
I dont see Lee Choong Wei so much, because when there is any broadcast on tv he is beaten in earlier rounds, isnt he young and a good prospect of the future for Malaysia?
Am sad also, he is a great player in my mind, gives me the impression of being a qaulity player, who works hard to achieve his goal, and I think his WC silver medal was a great achievment. He is a good role model for other players.
He is one of the most disiplined player. It will be a great lost for the country if he decide to hang his racket professionally. Anyway all the best to wong if he want to retire.
Definetly wasted if hes gonna hang his racquet up.. Hes like currently the backbone of Malaysia Badminton currently
i couldn't agree more to his action of hanging up actually come on guys, i think m'sia has to let more youth to partcipate in international games to gain exposure just like many countries like china, indonesia.....we couldn't let veterans like heryanto arbi, joko suprihanto, hendrawan and etc to continue sport event development i'm glad to c many china new stars such as ling dan, bao chun lai and so on r adapt the international competition quite well.....thumbs up to china.
Choong Hann will stay on at most for another year. When he goes, Malaysian badminton will drop a notch. There is no one of his capability and discipline to take over. Roslin: Will be following Choong Hann soon. Hafiz: No dispcipline Lee Chong Wei: Not attacking oriented enough, relies too much on rallying strokes and defense. Modern/young players will just blast through. Lee Tsuan Seng: Maybe too late for him, bogged down by injury as well. Kuan Beng Hong/Yeoh Kay Bin: Not good enough, nothing special. This is a cruel breakdown of Malaysian MS currently. Lets face it, the dark ages beckons for Malaysia again.
But to depend solely on one player to carry the Malaysian torch is suicide in a subtle way as the country needs to continously churn out quality players as well as sending more youths to world class competitions to develop in skills, technique and mentality. Yes, sadly, Wong is also the most disciplined of all of them in the current senior squad and the best performer too. He had stayed in the top ten quite consistently in the past few years and it's all due to hard work and effort. The other thing that makes him stand out compared to others is his level of play - it's world class. He is capable of taking on the likes of those in the top five and win. Well, except Xia maybe... A true role model for a lot of Malaysian BF members and the nation as a whole, sadly he will be greatly missed. To have the 'King Card' retired is like having a great part of the squad depleted. Still, I hold much faith in the youngsters such as Lee CW and Kuan BH for they are still young and had only been playing international badminton for the a while. Wong was a mediocre player when he first arrived at the scene and had only shown his true class of the past few years. Same can be said and expected of the others. But I guess, and I do hope that he will at least stay another year and gun for AE2005. Hopefully he does himself and the country proud in Athens. This one's for HongHong and Kwun : And I hope he retired with at least ONE victory over Xia.
Yes, lets hope Wong leaves with a big bang, he deserves it. As for the others, I think they have to seriously ask themselves what do they really want? Choong Hann obviously knows what he wants, that's why he is at the top. I just get this feeling that some of them are not hungry enough.
It is difficult to change ones inate style of play. Maybe CW is fundamentally a stroke player, or "playful" . However, we all know that modern badminton is all about taking the initiative to attack. Most of the top 16 players are attack oriented, or tend towards attacking style. In Lin Dan's case, his strongest attack is his counter-attack, it nullifies his opponents attack so he can mount his own. His speed is incredible, and his mental strength is so high, facing him is like facing all the Chinese players combined together. Lee CW needs to develop a technique that should tend towards an attacking style. It is difficult being overly defensive, as proven by good old Roslin. At the end of the day, Lee CW must find within himself what makes him strong, and work on that. You cannot afford to just retrieve shots, you have to make them as well to win points.
It is very sad to see our idol hangs his racket. But the new star will always take his place with a new "wave". Like Chinese proverb/saying says "New wave always pushs the older to the shore".
Yeah, I am thinking about the same thing ,too. MA probably won't have any stars in singles for another couple of years if Wong decided to quit...... He has done so much....and it's hard for others to catch up. I am actually thinking/wondering how long will MA take to find another great player like him? 2 yr? 4 yr? or even 5 years +?
I think Malaysia should not have problem looking for a good player like Wong CH. It all boils down to attitude towards the game. Basically Wong Choong Han is no different from other players. Just that his attitude is much better than the rest.
Makes sense.I agree on the part WCH has a atitude which is better than the rest.But it also obvious he has high enthuaism ( sorry for the spelling dono how to spell it ) which is kind of hard to find . But who knows , in maybe like a few years or maybe end of this year a prodigy in malaysia may appear which could be next Lin Dan kind of youngster .For now all hopes depends on WCH ! Gogogo!