Monday June 4, 2007 Age no barrier to veteran By STUART MICHAEL Photo by YAP CHEE HONG FOR 72-year-old Malaysian Alan Teoh Choo Leong, playing badminton in the United States is a more positive experience than playing with Malaysians in their homeland. Teoh, who won the men's doubles in the 70-74 age group in the United States Senior National Badminton Tournament in Colorado Springs three months ago, said that Malaysians tended to criticise older players and discourage them. “In Hawaii, where I play three times a week at the Hawaii Badminton Club, the players treat older players with respect. “If a person is above 80 and wants to play, he can join the club and there are competitions for their respective age groups. “In Malaysia, people have down on me, saying I should stay home and not come to the court and spoil the game,” said Teoh, who now lives in Hawaii. Teoh lamented the fact that Malaysians did not appreciate senior citizens who still played sports, or past heroes. “I was sitting next to Ong Poh Lim when Malaysia won the Thomas Cup in 1992 in KLBA stadium in Cheras. “The announcer did not have the common courtesy to tell the crowd that Poh Lim, who was noted for his 'crocodile service' and was in the then Malayan team which won the first Thomas Cup in 1949, was present at the stadium,” recalled Teoh, who was visiting his daughter in Subang Jaya recently. “Since then, Malaysia has won the Cup four more times – in 1952, 1955, 1967 and 1992,” he added. Teoh, who also won the men's doubles title in the 65-69 age group in the Summer National Senior Games in Hampton Roads, Virginia in 2003,travels around the world for International Badminton Meets. He is a badminton coach in Hawaii, where he lives, and restrings badminton rackets, and sells shuttlecock and badminton racquets in the United States. “In sports, there is no age barrier and I am not afraid to join a group to play provided they treat me fairly in the match and no handicaps given. “This is what badminton is all about and I love the sport. To get a point from an opponent is so difficult and every point matters. “The game also uses a lot of mental and physical strength and I am not afraid of dying on the court because I love the game,” he added. Achievements to be proud of: Teoh with his medals at his daughter's home in Subang Jaya.
cool... i think the commentator was prolly someone young with no background on who Ong Poh Lim is...1949 is 50+ years ago... at least 2x my age. i dun even know who ong poh lim is... O_O otherwise... i'd say pretty cool article. but there are nice malaysians too... he prolly hasn't met them, that's all...
Nah, the story is too one sided and we don't have all facts. The other side of the story could be: "I got teh 2 medals, fear me" As an intermediate player, I've seen some crazy old men in competitions, as there are no age limits But I digress. What is the point of the story? That in the US, where badminton has backyard pastime status, there is no trouble to find people (he doesn't even say young) who want to play with veterans? Find other 3 people in Malaysia and go play, who is going to stop you, mr. medalman
from all my playing experience, the most talented, the truly skilled players that i have met or watched before, ~90%+ of them are humble and reserved type of people. Those players that can do some skills well but lacking certain other skills, or has a certain talent gap, tend to play with players they know they can handle, seem to overuse or overplay their only best attribute(s) (eg. overly smashing or over doing trick shots), seem to be the cocky type. Sometime when i'm bored, i like to watch the latter type of players coz it makes me chuckles.
I believe many players doesn't care how old their fellow players are. As long as we are playing the game... Maybe the announcer doesn't know Ong Poh Lim was in the stadium or the officials doesn't inform them.
Actually i think they do care, as long as the other player isn't hitting retardedly, like miss every hit (AKA LEISURE BADMINTON)
Discrimination did not happened only to older people. It happened to everybody. People with blown up self interest will always be found everywhere.
