As one who has been following Singapore Badminton closely, I am delighted with our Women's Team performance at the current Doha Asian Games 2006. Drawn against seemingly stronger opponents in the team event, Singapore had a close call but managed to pip Hong Kong to enter the Women's Team Semi-final on count-back as follows: Singapore beat Thailand 4-1 (Thus avenging our defeat in the Manila SEA Games) 1. Li Li b Sortja 21-19, 21-12 2. Xing Aiying b Monthila 21-13, 21-19 3. Jiang Yanmei b Salakjit 21-8, 14-21, 21-18 (a surprise and decisive win!) 4. Li Yujia/Sari Shinta Mulia b Kunchal/Duanganong 21-19, 12-21, 21-17 (another surprise win, as Li was not paired with regular partner Jiang) 5. Jiang Yanmei/Vanessa Neo lost to Saralee/Satinee 6-21, 7-21 Singapore lost to Hong Kong 2-3 1. Li Li lost to Wang Chen #3, 12-21, 19-21 2. Xing Aiying lost to Yip Pui Yin #7, 11-21, 11-21 (even Zhang Ning #1 lost to Yip 19-21, 19-21 during the individual QF) 3. Jiang Yanmei b Assunta Ng 21-14, 21-11 4. Li Yujia/Sari b Yip Pui Yin/Chau Hoi Wah 21-18, 21-14 5. Jiang/Frances Liu lost to Wang Chen/Louisa Koon 11-21, 18-21 Hong Kong lost to Thailand 2-3. Many thanks to Thailand, in the end, based on the number of matches won and lost, Singapore emerged on top to enter the semi-final: 1. Singapore (Won 6, Lost 4) 2. Hong Kong (5 & 5) 3. Thailand (4 & 6) With this result, Singapore secured the team Bronze Medal, its first in badminton in the Asian Games. Unfortunately, in the SF, Japan proved too strong for us, although it had a hard battle with South Korea before winning 3-2 for a place in the SF. Results of Singapore's SF match with Japan (0-3): 1. Li Li lost to Mori Kaori 19-21, 11-21 2. Jiang Yanmei/Li Yujia lost to Ogura Kumiko/Shiota Reiko 21-23, 14-21 3. Xing Aiying lost to Hirose Eriko 14-21, 21-12, 18-21 Suffice to say that Jiang Yanmei, our doubles specialist, won valuable points for Singapore playing at third singles although she lost her doubles matches with different partners, a strategy to split the regular partnership which worked well for Singapore. New Discovery But, Singapore has now rediscovered a 'new' gem in Xing Aiying, who performed better and better as the team events, followed by the individual competition progressed. Singaporeans who saw her live in action on TV yesterday must be proud of the way she almost defeated Korean, Hwang Hye Yeon in the QF. A brief description of this momentus match will come later. Aiying gave higher ranked Hirose Eriko #5 a fright in the team event and almost won the decider and match as shown above. (On the other hand Saina Nehwal of India lost to Eriko 23-25, 7-21 during the individual competition. Xing had beaten Saina in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. But Eriko eventually lost to Xie Xingfang #2, 7-21, 24-22, 16-21, but certainly not disgraced. Xing Aiying's results during her individual campaign: R1: beat Shrestha Sumin (NEP) 21-1, 21-6 (14m). R2. beat Mori Kaori (JPN) 21-15, 21-12 (30m) (Li Li lost to Mori in the Team event) QF: lost to Hwang Hye Yeon (KOR) 21-14, 15-21, 18-21 (65m) In the decisive final game against Hwang, the line judge made a grave error by calling Xing's baseline shot "out". The TV replay clearly showed it to be on the line. At that time the score was close (15-17, I think) but because of this error Hwang went on to score 18 points, when Xing should get 16 and Hwang remained at 17 - a net difference of 2 points! Certainly a costly error by the line judge which must have deprived Xing of a possible win.) So Xing lost a good chance of appearing in the SF and a possible AG medal! Li Li did not do too badly either. In the individual singles R1, she beat Cheng Shao Chieh (TPE) 21-11, 18-21, 21-15 (52m) but succumbed again to Team event opponent, Wang Chen (HKG), 13-21, 20-22 (34m), a slight improvement over her earlier loss at 12-21, 19-21 (30m). Watch out for Xing Aiying, who now has a new coach to guide her.
Yup, I concur that Singapore team played very well. And Xing Aiying and Jiang Yan Mei impress me the most ! Congrats to the girls and Loh !
A nice piece yet again by Loh. Indeed, Xing Aiying has a bright future in front of her. The Women's Team had a great year so far. They won the Silver in the SEA Games exactly 12 months ago, followed by an appearance in the Uber Cup Finals and now the Bronze medal in the Asian Games team event. Congratulations indeed... I thought Aiying and the other juniors fared miserably at the World Juniors last month. Aiying even lost very early But, they made up for that and performed incredibly in the Asian Games. Aiying indeed has a bright future ahead of her.
I think you will be as happy if you were in my position. Indeed, just like you, I thought our juniors were regressing judging by their dismal WJC performance. I just hope that this precious medal, which comes with monetary rewards, will inspire all our girls and coaches to do better. Aiying fought on bravely and was not rattled by the occasion. Her strokes and strength have improved in a relatively short time under her new coach, but I'm sure she will become better as her mental strength has also improved.
Congrats to Singapore by fine performances by their women's team. absolutely gutsy show of fighting spirit! Cheers TBBMBB(N)
Not really Singapore team Just wondering why only the Malaysians respond like that. Anyway wonder if you "guys " follow soccer. It's like saying Chelsea , Arsenal Football is not really an English Club.
Who would want to give up one's citizenship for another? Our Malaysian friend should know that many of his 'ex'-countrymen have also changed citizenship. They prefer to be called differently but why not let them be if they are happier than where they were. Why chastise, why be negative???
Very impressed with Xing's performance, and I must say that line call was daylight robbery, maybe should use video evidence. In this 21 pts system, the cost of a bad line call is significant. In fact I was looking forward for another Xing vs Yip game. The top 2 youngsters of the new age. Li Li played well too, but I'm afraid her days as SG no 1 is numbered. Xing had better build and body strength to succeed in the power game.
yes definitely very typical of them. ask urselves, do you ever see a person commenting on team sin when they lost with " yea team sin lost.. but they are mainly made up of previously CHINA players! not entirely singapore's defeat!" my point is, pple get 'red eyes' when they see success in other countries, esp. when their own national team had not much success. so stop being so negative towards a improving country and start digging up their profiles.
by the way, Li Li is singaporean? or is she another player with susilo's fate... ahem.. (i mean most of singapore's atheletes are from foreign countries)
KZ is still very young and his comments may be just a little bit sensitive.Honestly most educated Malaysians are not that paranoid regarding citizenship issue.There are thousands of Malaysians all over the world contributing to their host nation's progress.Anyway,his viewpoint may change as he grows older.
Yes, I agree that at 15, he is still very young and we should not take his remarks too seriously. But it is also good to make him reflect on what he has said and what others feel about it. I hope he understands that the entire world has been brought so much closer and those who are able can travel to any country in a relatively short time and make their contributions. So-called globalisation has even made employment and lengthy stays in any country of choice much easier. So much so that Malaysia is able to benefit from foreign coaches like Li Mao and Rexy. Rexy, together with past 'foreign imported coaches" like Park Joo Bong, Indra Gunawan, Han Jian, Yang Yang and Morten Frost, have made their contributions to the success of Malaysian badminton. This may have escaped the knowledge of KZ. In any case KZ should dig up all the past postings in this forum on this subject of "Foreign Imports" so that he can gain a better insight.
singapore TVs called Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait sprinter "Kenyan imported citizen" shouldnt we call the shuttlers? "Chinese imported citizen" There wont be any benefit with foreign import players. Look at the badminton, where are all the real Singaporean after more than 4-5 years? Didnt most secondary schools complain regarding Monfort's foreign player scheme last year? Foreign coach & foreign player are totally two different matters.
It's nothing new from you. You're still harping on the same thing, unfortunately. If our sports CEO's are as myopic as you, then we'll never be able to progress in the sports arena. If you ask me, Singapore badminton has improved a great deal over the years, with greater interest from both parents and their children and greater participation in the schools and in tournaments and as a good form of recreation among the working adults. When once 'O' Level school leavers were reluctant to take up full-time badminton training, we now have a number who dared to take that risk. When once parents were unwilling to place their talented children in the Sports School, we now have more who applied for the limited places available yearly. Wining 5 gold medals in sailing for Singapore by our youngsters at this Doha Asian Games speaks volumes for the Sports Council, the Sports School and the Sailing Academy. Although badminton has not yet attained similar success, I think we have in place an action plan to reach there in good time. The mindset of parents and their talented children is changing and the recent announcement that the Government will do much more for sports henceforth will be pivotal in accelerating this change. Have patience. Rome is not built in a day! Aren't you asking too much, 4-5 years to produce champions. Do you know how long it takes to produce someone in the mould of Lin Dan and Taufik or even lower-ranked players of international standard? Coupled with similar ambitions by other countries who also want to put badminton on top of their pedestal, achieving international success is now made more difficult. So Singapore needs all the help it could gather in the sports arena, including foreign talents: players, coaches, sports specialists, organizers, administrators, etc.
Merry Xmas & Happy New Year 2007 to all Singaporeans !!! Hi Loh, A Merry Xmas & Happy New Year 2007 to all Singaporeans !!! I met Li Li, Xing & rest of team, when they were here in Melbourne@Commonwealth Games 2006. Congratulations for doing well @Doha 2006. And I wish all of you All the BEST in 2007. Cheers... chris@ccc
Unlike my country, Singapore Goverment has done a very great job in promoting sports to the public. However, I dont see any reason why foreign players scheme can change the mindset. Badminton Coaches & players felt very dissapointed during last year school tournament. Their feedbacks & comments were published on newspaper. When coaches & players had given the same conclusion, do you still think that I have myopic eyes? And they did it without foreign players scheme. It proves that you do not need foreign import players to compete with others. Those spots should have been filled by the local Singaporeans. So, they gain quality experience to enhance in the future. How can they improve, when they are not given chance to do so? Personally, I would prefer to see local Singapore athletes winning gold (sailing, bowling, body building) than looking at the foreign import winning a medal. Theorically, nobody would. Practically, there are many external factors. eg. $$$, better opportunity, etc.
Exactly! Who would want to be uprooted from friends and families to migrate to a foreign place for long periods of time unless for very good reasons. Maybe, you also have good reasons for wanting to live in Singapore for some time now. That's why Ronald Susilo, Li Li, Jiang Yanmei, Li Yujia, Sari, Xing Aiying and others made the important decision to become Singapore Citizens.
