Cheers has again supported the development of youth badminton by being the main sponsor of this national tournament for our students from primary,, secondary and vocational schools, the private clubs and training centres, the tertiary institutions like the polytechnics and universities and the armed forces. And its efforts seem to be well-received judging by the record entries for most of the events, which also include the Men's & Women's Singles and Doubles, apart from the Under-11 to Under-17 competitions. The tournament which started on May 30 and ending June 11 is staged at the SBH (Singapore Badminton Hall) during the mid-year school holidays and has attracted many entries. Of the 509 boys who entered for the singles, 179 (35%) competed in the U-15 and the same holds true for the 210 girls, of which 80 (38%) are in this same category. So the U-15 seems to be the most popular and this is not too bad for Singapore Badminton, since these young players will have at least another 10 good years ahead of them if they continue to play. The boys will be slightly disadvantaged when they are called up for National Service military training when they turn 18. As Singapore is trying to make it for the Thomas Cup (and maybe the Uber Cup) Finals in 2012, this 15 years age-group will be most keenly watched and the potentials selected for further development and training, I'm sure. Of course, it will be much better if we have a bigger base of 11- and 13- year-olds. The following entries breakdown tells the story: U-11 U-13 U-15 U-17 TOTAL Boys' Singles 73 (15%) 129 (25) 179 (35) 128 (25) 509 (100) Boys' Doubles 22 (9) 62 (24) 95 (37) 76 (30) 255 (100) Girls' Singles 38 (18) 50 (24) 80 (38) 42 (20) 210 (100) Girls' Doubles 13 (8) 31 (20) 68 (43) 46 (29) 158 (100) In the Men and Women open categories, there were 82 MS, 82 MD, 19 WS and 26 WD. Permanent residents are eligible to participate. All eyes will be on the Sports School representatives, with their boys featured mainly in the U-15 and the girls in the U-17. Three Cheers!!! Naturally, Cheers and the SBA should be congratulated on their efforts in attracting such good numbers but we must not forget the hard-working officials like the line-judges, the umpires, the SBA staff, volunteers and the supporters, particularly the parents, for making this year's tournament such a huge success!
You can refer to the following : http://www.singaporebadminton.org.sg/horizon/110897649405ibsi04main.htm
U-17 Singles The Cheers Age-Group 2005 Championships ended last Saturday after several days of hectic and long hours of activity. I watched a number of matches during the Finals and found the Boys and Girls Under-17 Singles to be quite entertaining., apart from the Men's Doubles. In the Girls' Singles, Valerie Wang of Singapore Sports School beat Siti Mastura (in white and red shirt) of Tanjong Katong Girls' School in a close finish 6-11, 11-3 and 11-8. Despite being injured on the left knee as a result of diving, the taller Siti fought her best before surrendering. Valeries was seeded no. 1. The Boys' Singles turned out to be the best match of the evening and a surprising one at that! For No. 1 seed, Derek Wong (in dark blue shirt) lost to Combined Schools teammate, Ashton Chen, in straight games of 11-15 and 6-15. Ashton did very well to beat Derek, whom he's never beaten before. Ashton is a SBA trainee and Derek has just been promoted to the National squad. Here are some pics for the record:
Finals & Other Prize Winners The most intersting match in terms of crowd support and fast action came from the MD Finals. Indonesians, Aman Santosa & Rocky, representing Adaya Club were in devastating form and left their rivals, Gerald Ho and Tan Koon Meng of Chinese Swimming Club with no chance whatsoever! The older but tricky Aman was well supported by young Rocky who simply smashed his way through and cut short many of the rallies. They beat last year's champions in the semi-finals and were expected to do the same in the Finals which they did not disappoint with a resounding 15-5, 15-5 scoreline. With such vociferous crowd support behind them, they just could not disappoint! In the GD U-15, Vanessa Poo and Macey Tan of Raffles Girls School did well to eliminate favourites Ting Ting & Noriko Goh of the Singapore Sports School in three hard-fought games, 11-15, 15-4 and 15-12. I like the way Vanessa played and if she continues to train hard she may well be a future champion! This year also saw the presentation of badminton scholarships up to S$2,000 each, to the deserving young trainees whom you can see dressed in maroon-orange shirts in the pic. It was hard work organizing such a tournament with so many events/categories and with such a record turnout! But to the participants, especially the school kids, that was a time well-spent in competitive but friendly environment during the mid-year holidays. I'm sure many will be looking forward to participating next year but the organizers may have to come up with a better solution to ease the heavy workload and tension all round! Here are some other pics of the Finals:
Hey Loh, didnt see you at SBH. Yeah I thought I was in Indonesia. The Indonesian supporters were overwelming! They were also supporting Rosie, the gutsy Indonesian gal from Adaya Club who won the women's singles. Was amazed when I saw the Thai doubles partner of Derek Wong jump smash despite his huge size. And he look like Ha Tae Kwon.
Hi Sealman, Yes, I tried to be there for as many matches and was a little late for the Finals, having missed the morning session. I was surprised to see the younger kids from Indonesia (U-15) and Thailand (U-15 & U-17) now studying in our local schools and really making an impact on our youth badminton scene. This is only good for the sport here. Indonesians, Agrippina and Christian, both of Montford Sec Sch, were Champion and Runner-up in the BS U-15 and they teamed up to win the BD U-15 title as well. The Singapore Sports Schoool will certainly find it hard to defeat Monfort, which also has some Thai students as well. It seems to me that Monfort is importing some good foreign badminton kids to help them counter the best from our Sports School. I'm sure the other better known secondary schools will do likewise. Standards can only spiral and this can only be good for Singapore badminton!
Haha, I know them though.... they dun import them but they come automatically to our school... Ya thailand people in my class, I played with them and i find that they are indeed good even they dun need any training..... from montfort pri onwards, everyday they have training, around 6 hrs... after sch till late nite... not only those thai are good, got 1 singaporean in our sch make it top every yr and now he is in sba "Johnathan Tang". From sec onwards, they everyday train too..... from afternoon till nite..... they dun wan win also cannot... Singapore sports school can beat us easily, they is a reason behind.... montfort student JUMP to singapore sports school. And thus we might get some difficulties in defeating them...
Hi Loh, thanks for all the pics, too bad I can't make it to watch the Final. IMO, I think foreign students/palyers will help to bring up the standard for SG students/palyers.