That's dedication. source: http://english.cntv.cn/english/special/news/20101119/107831.shtml Yara Azad Abdulhamid: Iraq's one-man badminton team 11-19-2010 14:33 BJT Special Report:Guangzhou Asian Games | With the scoreboard reading 18 to 17, and only three points left before match point, Iraqi badminton player Yara Azad Abdulhamid swung his racket and sent a shot towards the backcourt. Hu Yun, Abdulhamid’s first singles opponent from Hong Kong, dared not to be careless since the score between the two players had been close from the very beginning. Not only were the Chinese spectators who watched this men’s singles match in the last-16 knockout round of the badminton competition at the Guangzhou Asian Games surprised, but Hu Yun, who had trained with the Chinese national team, also felt a little surprised. After hitting his last shot into the net, Hu smiled in a self-mocking way while he picked up the shuttlecock. It seems that he had to adjust his mentality in such a tough match. It is not surprising because no one was familiar with Abdulhamid. Even on the match day, Abdulhamid was the only one that showed up at the court, even without a coach. In the surrounding player seats, there were no teammates except for several fans rooting for him. "I'm the only one on the Iraq national badminton team," Abdulhamid said, "this is the eighth time I have participated in international competitions. The Asian Games is the largest comprehensive event I have participated in." Badminton is not a particularly popular sport in Iraq. People there like football more. Abdulhamid said that he also would like to play football in his spare time, but is usually very busy. "I train 10 hours a day and five days a week," Abdulhamid said, "I do not have much time to engage in other sports." Abdulhamid is the 228th ranked player in the world; Hu is ranked 17th. Therefore, Hu quickly steadied the ship as he adapted to Abdulhamid’s pitch of shots and won the first set 21 to 18. In the second set, Hu did not give any chances to Abdulhamid and won in about 10 minutes by a score of 21 to 9. "I think I played fairly well." Abdulhamid said, "There are many reasons why I lost the match. I’m not quite used to the venue here." It is not surprising. Abdulhamid did not have sufficient time to adapt to the venue before the match. Iyad Najaf Elias, head of the Iraqi delegation at the Asian Games, said earlier that in order to save expenses, Abdulhamid was not in the first batch of players to arrive at the venues. However, Abdulhamid said that he felt his performance was satisfactory. "My goal is the 2012 London Olympic Games. Failure this time will bring me much more experience than numerous training sessions." 24-year-old Abdulhamid was born in Iran and he said that an important reason for him to continue in badminton is his parents' expectations. Both Abdulhamid’s parents are badminton enthusiasts. Under their guidance, Abdulhamid had loved the sport that originated in England but shone in Asia when he was a child. In order to achieve his Olympic dream, Abdulhamid accepted the invitation of the Iraq national team to become a professional badminton player. However, he is the only player on the team. In the absence of coaches, he had to train with a club in Malaysia, and unlike Hu and other players, he is the only one from his team to take part in the games, and cannot receive timely coaching during matches or on the courts. After the 26-minute match, Abdulhamid bid farewell to the Guangzhou Asian Games. Although he had participated in other international competitions as a doubles player, now he has lost the chance to compete for a higher place at the Asian Games. "It is not important whether or not I'm the only player, but the key is that I like badminton," Abdulhamid said.
wow... thats freaking crazy! i respect the man! he must have been really mentally stable, i mean no coach or anything... and its freaking singles :s +1 for this guy, i respect him!
That is really impressive getting 28 points of Hu, from what I have read in this thread, he sounds a good player. hope to see him in more tournaments.
..if he had been playing for a long while and received sufficient and high quality training (in M'sia), then it's not a surprise..hope baddy will grow in popularity even more in Mr. Abdulhamid's part of the world..
Very inspirational. A lone player dauntlessly faces improbable odds. And, in losing, he takes away only positive lessons. Stories like this are great for the sport and for the forum. Thank you for sharing it.
Can you imagine the confusion and panic in Hu Yun's head. He probably never took this guy seriously and nearly ends up losing the 1st game. BWF should be taking guys like this into their development program. I hope they have been paying attention.
wow, he trains 10 hours per day!! I salute to him, wish him all the best in the future. He should come over to Asia to get a more better training program.
I think you mean maybe to an established badminton country in Asia. It did mention he trained with a club in Malaysia. Either that or another another continent annexed Iraq
Daaannnggg.... Indonesians typically train 6 hours a day. 10 HOURS?!? His body does not have time to recover...
yeap, normally the players train 6 to 7 hours per day. Normally 9am to 12pm, then 3pm to 6pm or 7pm. 10 hours per day are really too much!! I wonder why the club lets him train 10 hours per day.
Salute to this guy... he managed to get more than 15pts from Hu Yun (a very good player), and he trains 10hrs a day... in one of the most "dangerous" countries in the world... Iraq... Hat off to him...
No one has mentioned it yet, but don't forget about the commitment of his parents (from the article) who themselves badminton fanatics and fully support and encourage their son to pursue his (their?!) passion and dream.
Training 10 hours a day is real dedication . Training 10 hours a day is real dedication. He said his goal is the 2012 London Olympic Games. Within the next 2 years, we hope to watch him participating in more tournaments, like the SS. I was also thinking for him; that if could get accepted by one of the many Badminton Leagues, like in Denmark, Germany, etc..., he could get more match experience before the 2012 London Olympic Games. .
He is getting better, lost today against Sho Sasaki, with a decent score let's see if he can improve further. it appears that there is more than one member on the Iraq team after all, one is up against Lin Dan tomorrow !
This guy is ranked 205th in the world. The highest ranked Romanian is 684th. This guy trains in a country that's poorer and far more dangerous than Romania, and still manages to be much better ranked than the best Romanian (actually, there are four other Iraqis ranked higher than the best Romanian: Abood Maher is 520th, M. Besha Haidar is 591st, Kalyana Fan is 670th, Khadum Jabar Ali is 672nd). Talk about the popularity of badminton in Romania... Khadum Jabar Ali defeated his countryman M. Besha Haidar at the BAC today, and will be facing Nguyen Tien Minh in the Round of 32. Abood Maher lost against Hu Yun in the Round of 64. So Yara Azad is not the only one on the IRQ team anymore. Yara Azad and M. Besha Haidar played MD too, but lost in the Qualification. The same goes for Abood Maher and Khadum Jabar Ali.