Firstly, what I am about to say here is my personal take. You dont have to agree. If you dont like what you are about to read here, there are many other threads in this forum. Personally, I would recommend the thread about Micheal Jackson. If you are staying, let me warn you that I am going to put things straight up here, as such, if there are certain stuff you dont like to hear about your favourite shuttler or shuttlers, well, be an adult and accept the fact that everyone in this forum is entitled to his/her opinion. If you agree, great. Dont agree, just agree to disagree then (its much better than whining). Now, first order of business ... LCW vs PG. Honestly, I must say I am pleasantly surprised with LCW's overall gameplay and approach. He is looking more serious and is all business this time. PG is no easy meat but LCW is just so much faster and sharper. Looking at the match today, I must admit PG just could not cope with LCW in all aspect. I see a hunger in LCW and maybe ...maybe this time LD will be given a run for his money. Anyway, well done to LCW. Well deserved win and paycheck. Hopefully, we can see this run extended in KL. To cement his name amongst the greats, LCW need to win a couple of majors and improve his head to head against LD. The AE and WC this year is a must do. PG? Despite being beaten by LCW today, he was not a loser today. Making the final was victory enough for this model pro. Beside LCW's win, if we really look at things, I must say our future is looking rather bleak. None of our back up shuttlers like Chong Wei Feng, Liew Darren, Pei Wee Chung, Arif, Gan/Tan etc or whatever you call them made any breakthrough. They were all bundled out in the early rounds. While other seniors like WMC, KBH hardly raised any eyebrows. If I am not wrong after 3 days of competition, we were left with one LCW. If we compare upcoming shuttlers like Chen Long, Chai/Zhang, Sung Ji Hyun to our CWF, LD, Arif etc etc, we are indeed in trouble. Its like our badminton factory is producing sub-standard Kancils and sending them out to compete (sometimes not on merit) against the Chen Longs & company. Are we progressing or are we going backwards. I hate to say it maybe LCW's win today is like one step forward but 2 steps backward kinda thingy. Till today, we have no one in the horizon with some flicker of a talent to take over from LCW. Neither do we have any solid potential in the MD department. XD and our women's badminton? ... well, lets just say we should start praying even harder. Lastly, someone said that it is not easy to be a MAS player because when they win, they get bashed and when they lose, they get bashed even more. To counter this statement, I will relate an experience I had with a friend sometime back ... I had a good friend and he is a professional footballer. He plays for a state team in our Malaysian Super League. He is younger than me, he is about 22 years old now. Please note, academic wise he stopped studying in Form 4. He is being paid a basic salary by his state team of about RM4,500.00 a month, excluding match bonuses etc. One day he commented to me that life as a footballer is hard because of expectations, pressures and whatnot. Since we are pretty close, I just told him that if he finds what he is doing now is hard i.e. training, playing football and driving a decent car at aged 22 he should go have a look at how the average Malaysians in those low cost housing estates lived. Or maybe go to the kampungs and see how an average rubber tapper or fisherman survive with less than RM1,000 a month.
i'll have to treat Pemuda to a nice meal, the next time i'm in KL/M'sia, if this thread goes more than 1 page..
This is one of the few rare times I agree with Pemuda. But I think of it in a slightly different way. In my point of view, at least since the 80s, we have always been producing Kancils (small fragile Malaysian-made cars). But sometimes, the factory makes a mistake and somehow makes a BMW!
considering that pg had 2 long matches earlier, 6 years older than lcw, married with 2 kids, he did quite well to be a finalist. If we adjust time for body degradation, would lcw do this well like pg in six year time? Another worry for MAS is MD, what i saw yesterday was a new level of MD badminton. I dont think kkk/tbh would attain that level, well, i mean for more than 1 game. In WS, WD and XD dept, china and KOR factories keep churning out new and fresh batch of fighters. I can't see any other competitors that could upset this. I havent yet see any new INA players could upset china and korea machines either (unless INA is doing training under stealth)
I wouldnt say a BMW yet (until LCW wins a major). I would say LCW after yesterday's business has upgraded from a Proton Waja to a Honda Accord.
i am a bit dumb...but bro. what are trying to say here??? meaning LCW or MAS players must be open to bash??? more than 1 page yet???
No, what Pemuda is saying is, Pressure and expectations are not rules of sports, they are rules of life and no one is exempt. The higher up you are at, you should be expected to handle even higher pressure. Thus if sportsmen who are paid better than the average Malaysian start to complain, how could they expect to be mentally adept for critical situations.
Bro, You are not dumb. You are my bro, man. What I am trying to tell my friend is that no matter what you do there are pressure & expectations. Being educated up to Form 4 and able to take home about RM6-7k (including match bonuses, allowances etc etc) a month at the age of 22 for just playing football is a blessed life. Of course as a footballer, his performance is subject to critique by the fans and all. In my work place, I look at my Aussie MD. He has a big office. Given a very nice and classy company car and driver, stays in a classy high end apartment along Jln Ampang. His kids attends the best international school here. I estimate his pay and perks to maybe around above RM45k. Now, can we say his work is a bed of roses?? No pressure or expectations? The shareholder dont bash him? There is no such thing as no pressure or expectations in life. Well, unless you live in Nilai Memorial Park . Honestly, I find it amusing when I hear people say being MAS shuttlers is a hard job because they get bashed either way. I would like to say to these folks, try visit my kampung in Terengganu and experience the life of a rubber tapper then lets talk what is hard.
Despite at the age of 33,PG still can play competitive badminton this time around...I am truly amazed by his determination and sportsmanship.My salute to PG!
thanks, bro...i understand now....being WR#1 and hopes of millions of Malaysians....LCW and others must be able to take whatever comments and expectations thrown to them...or else they should hang-up their rackets... of course being in the workforce, I understand clearly the amount of pressure that comes with our paycheck.... 2 page yet?
