How true are the predictions of some forum writers here about M'sia. Not too long ago some suggested that if Hafiz wins any major tournaments, there will be pandemonium and he will be congratulated from heaven to hell. So it is, now that he had be crowned AE champion. It is no small feat, considering the gathering of top players in the tournament. Simialrly, China Open is just as tough. But Wong CH never got such treatment. No mention of rewards, sadditional sponsor, land etc etc. I guess race is still a factor in M'sia sports arena. How sad.
Not sure about that. A better comparison to Wong CH would be Roslin winning the Japan Open. Japan Open and China Open do not compare in history to the All England so the comparison between Wong and Hafiz is wrong in the first place.
I think to the Malaysians, the Thomas Cup is more prestigious. Wait till the players bring the Cup home - the reception will be much more rowdier! They may even declare a public holiday to celebrate the victory. The team players, irrespective of their race, will be handsomely rewarded.
Gone are the days of the Asian miracle. Rewards may just mean a scholarship. All Msian players have already been awarded by a private college to pursue a Twinning business program. They can't even find sponsors to telecast AE live. when they do 1 hr recording, one has to tolerate 5 minutes of advertising. Even Supersports can only afford to purchase 2 hours of footage from Europe.
My major concern is whether the rewards might distract Hafiz and make him loose focus. They should never have pulled him from the Swiss, but told him to go play and try to win it or at least do well. If Hafiz had no focus and lost in the first round, loosing will get him back to reality real quick and make him more focused for the next tournament. Treating him like he is really special this early in his career might result in him being unfocused for the entire upcoming year. Time will tell, but if Hafiz can maintain focus after all the bru ha ha, he must really be mentally tough. I suspect that all the special treatment will distract Hafiz from badminton. After all Tan Aik Huang went on to win 18 tournaments in year Aik Huang won the All England, and Rudy Hartono, who won the All-England the following year, won it for 7 consecutive years. I know the competition was easier then, but Aik Huang and Rudy were mentally tough. Ron
