Since you've mentioned it...... I could swear there is a picture somewhere here in BC of WCH wearing a T-shirt wlth the caption "dazed and confused" printed across it. Er...you think he was wearing that just for fun, X Ball? Rashid Sidek: We have a problem The New Straits Times 19 May 2006 A SAD reality but former international Rashid Sidek believes Malaysia’s only reliable singles player currently is Lee Chong Wei. The rest of the national singles players, as far as Rashid is concerned, are not committed and are hardly making an attempt to become better players despite the tremendous support they receive from the BA of Malaysia (BAM). Worst still, Rashid feels most of the players are content just being in the national team and becoming sparring partners. "Chong Wei is the only reliable singles player for Malaysia. The rest need to show more commitment, focus and have their own targets," said Rashid yesterday. "Chong Wei has always given his best in training and knows what he needs to do to become a quality player. Sadly, the others do not have the same attitude. "Instead of improving, quite a number of the players merely act as sparring partners. "The coaches can do everything but if the players’ attitudes remain like this, the poor results achieved in the Thomas Cup will become a norm." Rashid , currently the head coach of the 2010-2012 project squad, is not impressed at all with the way Hafiz Hashim and Kuan Beng Hong have been performing throughout the year as they are capable of playing better. Acknowledging Hafiz’s strength as an attacking player, Rashid said the former needs to work on his physical condition. "When Hafiz won the All-England title (in 2003), he was lean but he now looks bulky. This has slowed him down." "Hafiz and Beng Hong must be aware of their weaknesses and work harder. "No player has become world class without working hard. Chong Wei is on the right track but I don’t think the others are doing enough." Rashid also said his players Lim Kenn and Tan Chun Seang, both 20, can be considered by chief coach Yap Kim Hock for the national singles squad. Lim Kenn and Chun Seang are attacking players and Rashid feels they can give singles coach Li Mao fresh options. Besides Chong Wei, Hafiz, Beng Hong and the injured Wong Choong Hann, the national senior squad comprises Yeoh Kay Bin, Lee Tsuen Seng, James Chua, K. Yogendran and Roslin Hashim. Kay Bin is the only other player who has made some progress this year while the performance of the other players has been poor.
No disrespect to WCH. I think he has resigned himself to become second fiddle to LCW. The guy has not won internationally for some time and he is not sure whether he will ever win again. My prognosis is that the head shrinker must get to him quick. He is a typical example of what I have said so far --- not fit (only 'so so' all the time) and also needs mental building with a psychologist to make him feel he can do it again (he can actually play for another few years if he gets help). I think the 2006 Commonwealth Games is perhaps the fittest he has ever been for a long time. Against LCW, he is technically sound but he can never beat LCW because LCW is miles fitter than him --- he cannot match LCW smash for smash. If we do a 'fats' test, I think you will find WCH might fail the test for a top sportsman. Some of the doubles guys will also fail but since they are playing doubles, it might be ok. For singles players, you cannot afford the extra layer around the tummy or buttock. Although Rashid is able to voice his thoughts on the lack of fitnss and their mental strength, he has not said much on why the players are so - I guess he did want to 'rub further on the wounds' of his brother Misbun. Where do we go from here you may ask. Well for my two cents worth, I think BAM should launch into the following prgrams (and I think Minister Azalina has already hinted very definitively) : 1. Get a Pilate Coach (or a good fitness coach) -to ensure the body is properly toned & conditioned 2. Get a sports psychologist to psyche every player up (whether it is a 29yr old or a 20yr old) --- get them to come away from thinking they are too young or too old (e.g. WCH or Roslin for that matter) which is the factor inhibiting their capabilities to perform 3. Continue to sign Li Mao and Rexy (they are good, irrespective of whether they have a language problem understanding and requires translators). Li Mao has shaped LCW well and WCH was getting sharper. With a fitness coach and sports psychologist in place to take care of players, Misbun might be more effective because I do not think he needs that 'stress' and would be a true 'tactical and strategy' coach (and will not be blamed for any player's lack of mental or physical fitness). 4. The younger players under Rashid must start to play internationally --- maybe the regional satellite tournaments rather than expensive European tours -- besides the tournaments around here have good players participating to give our younger players good match experience. 5. There is a batch of players which I felt can still be tapped on --- Kay Bin, James Chua, Arub Sayob, etc. I think they are still competitive --- if we subject them to fitness and mental training, I think they can relive their glories again. James Chua was a good player but lacks match temperament and fitness. If I were given the reign of running this team, I think our players will be champions again
Finally, here's what the President of BAM has to say. WCH's injury revisited Even for the number of times being said, the factor of WCH's injury once again becomes an excuse of BAM for the failure of its TC squad to enter the final in Tokyo. To BAM, the injury to WCH's Achilles at the quarterfinal against South Korea destroyed the team's strategy and hence weakened its strength in the semifinal match against Denmark resulting in a 2-3 loss. However, it is odd that BAM itself did not take the blame for its own weakness and oversight towards the possibilities such as WCH's injury, and its decision to bring only 4 singles players. "BAM agrees that the squad is capable of reaching the final," said the President of BAM Datuk Nadzmi Salleh, "but WCH's injury played havoc on the team's strategy". *"WCH's injury also undermined the team's strength, with Hafiz having to play the 2nd singles and singles KBH......which caused them to be under pressure and did not perform well," said Nadzmi. It cannot be denied that WCH's injury undermined the team's strength, but on hindsight the issue at hand is why team management chose to bring 4 players thus exposing to the risks such as the one experienced in Tokyo. In addition, didn't team management consider and analyse all the possibilities that might happen in Tokyo such as injuries by having a contingency plan in case they do happen? It is clear what had happened in Tokyo was not anticipated at all by team management thus not having any contingency plan in its wake, and all these is due to weaknesses in the planning that it shouldn't have. It is quite easy to hide behind excuses that are clear to see but it does not cover up the weaknesses in team management, and that they should have owned up they have overlooked other unforseen factors. Berita Harian (Malaysia) 24/5/06 *Note:the original sentence was incomprehensible, and the liberal use of the "....." is mine http://www.bharian.com.my/m/BHarian/Wednesday/Sukan/20060523233331/Article/
Physical training I find the Malaysian debate on the TC loss to Denmark rather interesting, but would like to "butt in" with a couple of remarks if I may. Some Malaysians here have been arguing that the Malaysian singles players looked out of shape and not fit. I find it rather hard to believe that world class players can be unfit. And I personally don't think they are. There is however one point I think has been omissed in the ongoing discussion so far: restituition. I think restitution has generally been given higher importance in Europe than in Asia, which is showing already in the number of hours the athletes train per day and per year. It is generally acknowledged in Europe that in order to train a lot, you need to have already trained a lot earlier, that is, you need to build up your ability to train. It stands to reason that if you run a marathon one day, you will have a hard time running a new marathon the next day, and even more so the following day, and so on... In fact, if you keep on running marathons every day, you do not build up, you break down. Therefore, since the Malaysian players already practise more than the Danes (so I have heard), I think one should be careful about "whipping" the players to train more. Many of the European coaches in all sports are actually stopping their players from training as much as they like. When they feel that the quality of the training drops below a certain level, then it's time to say stop. There is a day tomorrow as well, and the focus is on quality as much as on quantity. But the quantity needed varies with the age of the player, the level the player is on, and the time of the year - is it off season or in season? There are plenty of examples where teams and players have been training so hard in the build up to a great event, that they did not have proper amounts of energy and spirits left for the event itself. Could that be the case for Malaysias TC team? Additionally, I would say that the match against Korea, with the injury of WCH and everything, probably drained both mental and physical strength from the Malaysian players, and I was really impressed by the Malaysian doubles against Denmark. Altogether, I am not sure if Malaysia is in need of drastic changes. Rexy seems to have a balanced view on training from what I read in these newspaper clips. I think he will find a good way to the top for Malaysia.
To svp97 on your subject of "restitution" It is interesting that you brought this up coz I agree in some ways "too much" training will work against the atheletes. And you are also right that it depends on the age. Your double Danish players who lost to the first Malaysian pair in the TC said that they have to train continuously because it takes them longer to come back, if they take long holidays, because of their age. With regards to marathorn running, it takes as long as 3 months to recover from a world class marathorn competition. Marathorn runners compete in no more than two competitions in a year. But going back to badminton, your thoughts that perhaps Malaysians overtrained for the TC is perhaps misguided. They did train hard but I think it was perhaps still 'wanting' for one or two players. LCW, I agree, is superfit, and he lost to Peter Gade because Peter was the better player on the day. Hafiz was clearly struggling to keep up in the 2nd and 3rd -- he 'blew' heavily, suggesting he was still building up his stamina (there was a difference in the Philippines Open later when you can see he was going for every shot and even got away from his competitors). But all said, I think conditioning is a big thing --- when you are superfit like Kenneth/Peter/LCW/Lin Dan, you do not need to train as hard anymore but only need conditioning (maintaining) --- and that is what you are practicing "restitution".
No, this thread is not exclusively for Malaysians. You're more than welcome. I too feel that restitution is a small factor to consider as being the cause of our singles players' failure. Simply, PG managed to read LCW's tactics on that day, and LCW was out-manouvered as a consequence. He did try though but it wasn't good enough. Fitness wise I don't think I saw LCW gasping for breath during the match. PG was alert and always thinking on his feet. (Have you seen the reversal of PG's fortune in his sf match against LHI at AE2006?). It was the same with Hafiz; tactically he was out-manouvered by KJ too. That he was panting for breath and being at his wit's end are the end results of KJ's superior tactics, So when it comes to KBH....It's pointless to say it now, being a noob (although others would dispute that) he just cracked up under the pressure. In a nutshell Denmark came well prepared since they did their homework. Malaysia did but that wasn't as good as Denmark's. Pure and simple, But there's aways the danger looking at the problem in isolation to the extent of excluding other possibilities, Can the low semifinal target by Malaysia be factored in? The mind works in strange ways. A self-fulfulling prophecy? Why did the 2 doubles win (as if I want them to lose) and lose in another? And the possibilities go on, as the first clipping rightly says "The mystery shrouding...
Good points. That both Danish doubles pairs lost was probably almost as surprising as the loss of all three Malaysian singles. And again, it emphasizes how even the two teams were, and how well played the match really was also. Your hints actually echoes some of my thoughts about my examination results at the university. Some of the subjects I thought I knew well, I did not do as good as I thought I should. And some of the subjects I really felt nervous about, I did really well. And the reason? Well, I think that sometimes a good general feeling can make you lose motivation to go and look for important details, and sometimes if you feel uncertain you really focus and look for all the details, thus giving you a better preparation. Maybe a similar effect took place in this badminton semifinal to some extent. In that case, Rexy's focus on mental preparation is the right way to go; but also for Denmark!
I want to add a few of my own to yours. Review the training regiment of our up and coming young players: I just couldn't believe my eyes when I look how some of our national players, especially singles, are running round on the badminton courts in their competitive matches. Their footwork seems to be horrendeous. We must inculcate the habit of having the correct footwork right from the start among our young players. It wouldn't be unacceptable to say that by not having the correct footwork, serious injuries will bound to happen. Build a healthy pool of up and coming young players: Rashid's revealation that our players are just contented with just being sparring partners is a serious matter. If that's really the case then the Project 2010-2012 might be in jeopardy. I think the Minister of Sports should step in on this. Yes, some of our singles players don't appear shiped-shaped for badminton to me inspite of the nutritionist. The on-going joke at the moment is if you throw a pebble randomly in KLIA, it will hit a member of the Malaysian badminton entourage coming home.
C'est la vie. I am almost resigned myself to the fact that life will get tougher for the Malaysian players because of their ineptness. Just when you think that things will go well, they prove you wrong. It seems like no amount of support will get them to play well - especially the second stringers. I think the Minister has already expressed her displeasure with the performance. My feeling is if Li Mao can turn it around, he would be the best coach around So much money has been spent but the team is still playing 'yo-yo' -- up a tournament and down another.
What can you make of this X Ball? Rashid disagrees with latest move BAM's decision to absorb 2 players from Project 2010/2012 was not received well by its coach Rashid Sidek who felt that it would be counter-productive in terms of the players' development. Rashid who rarely speaks to the media is of the opinion that this latest move by BAM would undermine the development of the players who are yet to attain maturity since they need time to hone in their games. "It's still too early for them to be absorbed into the national squad. They've been with me for nearly a year now". "My players are not matured enough, and they need time. Why must they be taken in the presence of the 2nd stringers?" said the ex-national player who was watching his wards playing for their respective states at Sukma XI. The squad under Rashid's wings is the 3rd stringers in addition to the national squad and the 2nd stringers. "What about players like K Yogendran, Lee Tsuen Seng and Yeoh Kay Bin who are the 2nd stringers? Why aren't they picked up?" "The rationale for the absorb is that there is a huge performance gap between my wards and the national team. I admit my wards' performance now is not consistent, but they are still immature and still far from being complete players". "That is why they are under the Project 2010/2012 so that they'll peak by then. If that's the case why having the Project 2010/2012 squad in the first place?" One of the heroes of TC 1992 also said that he couldn’t attend fully to his wards, considering they will be taken away at any time. "The players to be absorbed are yet to be ascertained. National singles coach Li Mao is in Alor Star to assess the players before making a decision" Berta Harian Online 2/6/06 http://www.bharian.com.my/m/BHarian/Friday/Sukan/20060602080751/Article/
I have to agree strongly with Rashid. These squad members are still 'babes in the wood'. None of the guys are able to hold their own --- you just have to examine how they played in the Sukma games recently. There is no maturity in them. To take them out and play them in the National team might scare them off eventually. The sad thing is none of the 2nd stringers are any good --- beyond Hafiz and LCW (and maybe Roslin), the rest cannot be counted on. I think there is definitely a very 'shallow' Malaysian team. I think every now and then we get a natural champion coming along. So far there is none in the horizon. A champion does not really need to be very old to be known (e.g. Aik Huang was barely out of school when he became All England champion). I think the Chinese have developed a technique in creating champions -- once a champion grows old, they seem to be able to replace them with another. We must learn that technique and hopefully, we have that person to teach us --- Li Mao.
In return these are my thoughts X Ball. I think the plan is to have a scaled-down version of "China's training school" within Li Mao's set up. It is out of question for the noobs (you called them babes) to take part in competitive opens initially, and I'd imagine that is only plausible after at least a year. His plan is to get the noobs on the correct foundation right from the start, i.e. the rudiments of racket skills, footwork, fitness and so on as we would normally expect to happen in China. Probably he'll inch on to something else relatively bigger once he has managed to get them moulded or tuned in to his way of doing things. Since the number of players is only 2, we can assume that this is only experimental. So Rashid Sidek should not be unduly alarmed for now at this seemingly unsavoury prospect. Li Mao would not be able to do very much with the current crop of 2nd stringers. It's a mammoth task to change them if they had been trained improperly/indifferently or because of problems in the past. I appreciate the fact that it is quite difficult to change someone else's old habits. I think this is the group Rashid was referring to earlier as being contented with just being sparring partners. You can see Li Mao's exasperations quite clearly even when dealing with players under his own wings because of the gaps in the badminton culture. Nevertheless and in spite of the above, it does imply a lack of cohesion within BAM, and that means the presence of disjointed-little empires inside it (and outside it?). This does not augur well for the future of Malaysian badminton. Datuk Azalina had this in mind very clearly judging from what was said in the clips. Also inter-related is the question of continuity. What are the prospects after Li Mao and Rexy Mainaky? Would we still be hiring foreign coaches thereafter? How do we prevent ourselves from being too dependent on foreign coaches? We must make a conscientious effort to produce our own coaches of quality from now onwards. This means that there must be a road map to ensure us that that target will be achievable in the not too distant future. The President of BAM has to address these two main problem areas very seriously if we want to see Malaysian badminton restored to its former glory. Otherwise what we're going to get repeatedly is as per the current scenario: patchiness, inconsistency and, exactly like you said, shallow. It is no coincidence that you've brought up Aik Huang since his name is indelibly linked with the notion of continuity. Not only him, but also scores of them: Eddy Choong, Boon Bee, Yee Khan and others, with due respect whose names too many to mention. These are the forefathers of our badminton who have made their sacrifices to lay down our foundations. We owe it to them, but at times I just can't help myself from having the notion that we have failed them miserably.
I agree with what you say. Li Mao, as you rightfully said, should be in charge of bringing up the the next batch of champions and he has very little to work on as the players are all ingrained with either wrong technigues or wrong attitudes or something else. After watching Chen You played against Taufik, it daunted on me that LCW will face a lot competition in the future coz players like Chen Yu are smart and play intelligently. If the 2nd stringers were watching, I hope they learn from the vastly improved Chen Yu, and also from Taufik who used his better skills to control Chen Yu in the end. Coaches will come and go but I think if we see one that fits, he should be maintained at all costs, whether foreign or local. To be frank, the Malaysians need a Chinese coach like Li Mao to teach them the better technigues in badminton, particularly how to win (particularly at a consistent level).
