Wednesday January 26, 2011 Unearth new shuttlers Star says ONCE again, Malaysia’s world number one singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei did not disappoint his fanatical followers at home. While his teammates wilted one by one, Chong Wei stood solid with an incredible show of form and finesse to nail his seventh Malaysia Open title, crushing veteran Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia 21-8, 21-17 in the final. The 29-year-old Chong Wei, who was almost booted out from the national camp for indiscipline in his junior days, has indeed made us proud with his single-minded will to excel. If he continues to show such diligence and determination, he is certain to erase the record of the late Wong Peng Soon as the most successful player in the Malaysia Open series. Peng Soon won the title eight times. In fact, based on his current form, Chong Wei is the only local player with the potential of ending Malaysia’s elusive chase for a world title and a gold medal at the Olympic Games. But his dominance has a downside to it. His reign as the only player to bring glory to the country clearly exposes the lack of talent coming through and the huge gulf between him and the rest in the team. The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is aware of this, but it either does not give two hoots about the lack of talent or is not doing enough to revive the development programmes in the states and clubs. The national body gives RM30,000 yearly to the states for their development programmes – but pumps in millions into its one and only elite training centre. For it is the success of the elite shuttlers that brings all the fame and, literally, fortune – with all the sponsors clamouring to jump on the bandwagon. It is time, however, to reset the focus, resources and time to unearth talent at lower levels and to give the decentralised training programme a chance. States should be active agents of the BAM in producing players. Sadly, many are just deadwood, contented with the meagre handouts that they receive and the occasional free trips they get for being top officials in the states. The problem is coming to a head – especially with the recent dispute between BAM and Chong Wei’s coach, Misbun Sidek. The BAM is counting on the presence of All-England champion Chong Wei to inspire the youngsters in its stable to raise their game. The BAM is also hoping that by sparring with Chong Wei, the youngsters’ game will progress faster. So, it must have jolted BAM when Chong Wei hinted that he may leave the national body to turn pro during the height of the dispute. Chong Wei openly backed the coach who had nurtured him, saying he would walk out of the national training centre as a show of loyalty. Misbun resigned on Dec 31 citing unhappiness over several decisions made by the BAM’s coaching and training committee, including his failed attempt to get his son Ramdan and a few other juniors to spar with Chong Wei. The BAM is now trying to find ways to retain the services of both Misbun and Chong Wei for the sake of national interest, without having to compromise on its training and coaching structure. It won’t be easy. Someone will have to give in – big time. Whatever the outcome, there is a painful lesson for BAM to learn from this episode. It should never have come to a stage where it has to depend on just one player or one coach, or even a small pool of players. It has happened before. After the golden era of the likes of Tan Aik Huang, Yew Cheng Hoe, Punch Gunalan and Ng Boon Bee, Malaysia went into a spiral when it could not produce worthy successors. BAM would do well to learn from that folly, and like China, invest on having a broader base of talent at the lower level for a better future. © 1995-2011 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D
dont waste time on them. Just let them do every 'double', this should help. If they smash 1000 times, make them smash 3000 times. No exception. No easy meat. If want to improve, just do the double whammy.
http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2011/1/26/sports/7870864&sec=sports Kok Siang-Wei Shem eye bigger rewards in Seoul KUALA LUMPUR: The focus will be on all the big guns eyeing for big bucks in the US$1.2mil South Korea Open, which begins today in Seoul. But a few darkhorses, including, the Malaysian back-up pair of Teo Kok Siang-Goh Wei Shem are quietly hoping to steal the thunder in the first BWF’s World Super Series Premier event. They start against qualifiers Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan of China today. Victory will give them a second-round match against either seventh seeds Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu of Taiwan or Japan’s Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata. Even if they crash out after two matches, they will pocket US$36,000. A place in the quarter-finals will be even better as it will be a big leap for Kok Siang-Wei Shem towards qualification for a first appearance in the world championships in London in August. They are currently ranked 21st in the world and by reaching the quarter-finals it will put them in a strong position to get among the top 20 pairs. National back-up squad doubles coach Tan Kim Her said that it would be a big boost for the youngsters if they made it to the last eight. “They are the only Malaysian back-up pair to qualify for the South Korea Open. It is a great platform for them to earn good world ranking points,” he said. “I am not targeting them to go far. But a top eight finish will be an excellent start for them this year.” Kim Her said that he was pleased with the commitment showed by Kok Siang-Wei Shem. “They have grown in confidence since winning the Vietnam International Challenge last year. They have been consistent and do not easily lose to lower ranked players,” he said. “Kok Siang, especially, has been suffering from knee pain. In fact, we have scheduled an appointment with the doctors on Feb 9. Despite the difficulties, he continued to be in high spirit in training.”
That's right..not motivated enough, not enough drive to make it big. If everything else fails, players here can fall back on becoming a coach and/or open a pro shop.
Victory will give them a second-round match against either seventh seeds Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu of Taiwan or Japan’s Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata. Even if they crash out after two matches, they will pocket US$36,000. Is it a printing error or what , US36,000 is a lot of money for crashing out in the 3rd round, i.e.winning 2 matches..?
I don't know but I think it is a typo... may be USD$3,600... anyway, their mentality is to go there to win one or two matches and pocket the money... LOL
Last 16 = 8 pairs to share the US$36,000; meaning each pair will get US$4,500 which is a decent amount of money really!
Every time there's a media report on these elite back-up players, almost every time also these players went out in the first-round.
Xiaolong Liu/Zihan Qiu (CHN) beat Wei Shem Goh/Kok Siang Teo (MAS): 21-13 21-18 LOL looking at the score... LOL BOLEH LOL BOLEH LOL
Hanbin He/Yang (F) Yu (CHN) beat Peng Soon Chan/Liu Ying Goh (MAS): 21-17 21-12 still no breakthrough for the MAS XD pair... TAK BOLEH...
+1 I wonder why? everytime these bakup players get interviewed, they sure crashed out in 1st round... Pressure from the media or too much Pleasure from being famos?
What I wonder is how on Earth did they target to reach the QF when one player is suffering from knee pain? China youngsters so easy to beat until injured also can win? Erm... did you read your own news article that you posted? I mean in full.
LOL injured? high spirit? hmm... may be weather is freezing up there... BAM should bring some heaters in the stadium... LOL
