I think our 'young star' is too shy, but I need to introduce him to you. Some of the pics were lost in transit, I suppose, and I'll now try to reproduce them below:
Hi Jug8man Sorry I missed this one earlier. I spent most of my time at the satellite championships and tried to include some pictures. Kendrick is No. 2 in Singapore behind Ronald, his good friend in training. Kendrick is still serving his national service (NS) but gets time off to train with the national team. That goes the same with another national player, Gerald Ho, whom Kuan Beng Hong beat during Round 3. During his NS, I guess they (NSmen) have to abide by strict rules and regulations and certainly overseas competitions are out for the time being, unless it is very necessary, like the SEA Games. I suppose it affected Kendrick's world ranking very much because of this. Kendrick, I think, is coming to 20 years old and he may decide to further his studies overseas after his 2 - 2 1/2 years NS stint. If that happens, S'pore will definitely be worse off!
Kendrick Wins! Kendrick Lee won the final match 12-15, 5-15 in 45 mins. All final results are avaliable at http://www.singaporebadminton.org.sg/horizon/110897649404ibsi06main.htm
thanks for the reply. NS for 2.5 years huh... bummer. tough luck to kendric and aspiring singaporean atheletes i think. congratulation however to kendric on another title. tough luck to malaysia. especially yeoh as i think his 'blunder' would have been swept under the rug if KBH had won. that does not seem to be the case however. im insterested to see how following events will unfold
Championships End Today The Cheers Asian Satellite Badminton Championships came to a successful end today with host Singapore winning the MS and LS, Indonesia the LD and XD and Malaysia the MD. Thailand was unfortunate to miss out on the LD. Many of the young shuttlers in this part of the world, particularlly Southeast Asia, had a chance to cross-swords with one another, some perhaps for the first time and in the process made many good friends. The strong contingents from both India and Vietnam were eye-openers and no doubt we will see some of them returning the next year or even coming for the Singapore Open this November. Though Taiwan and Hong Kong did not win any event, I'm sure the experience had been useful. The following are the detailed results: XD: Pribadi & Endang Nur Sugianti (Indonesia) bt Modh Tazari Mohd Fairuzizua & Ooi Sook Ai (Malaysia) 15-13, 15-13. LS: Li Li (Singapore) bt Salakjit Polsana (Thailand) 6-11, 11-6, 11-9. MS: Kendrick Lee (Singapore) bt Kuan Beng Hong (Malaysia) 15-12, 15-5. WD: Endang Nur Sugianti & Rani Mundiasti (Indonesia) bt Aroonkesorn Duanganong &Voravichitchaikul Kunchala (Thailand) 8-15, 15-12, 15-10. MD: Lin Woon Fui & Mohd Tazari Mohd Fairuzizua bt Rendra Wijaya & Yonathan Suryatama Dasuk (Indonesia) 15-8, 15-9. Mixed Doubles When Pribadi & Endang (Unseeded) beat Narkthong & Voravichitchaikul (Seeded 1) during the 2nd Round, not many paid much attention to them. Even during the Final, many thought that the Malaysian pair of Mohd Tazari & Ooi would win as they are seeded 2. But when the match started, it soon becme clear that the Indonesians had other ideas as they quickly picked up 6 points and stormed to a 13-7 lead before the Malaysians made a comeback to draw13-all. But that was all they could muster before their opponents wrapped up the first game 15-13. The second game started on the same pattern as the Indonesians stepped up gear to a 4-1 lead before the Malaysians slowly caught up to 12-all, then 13-all and that was it. The Indonesians won with the same score as the first game. So the unseeded pair had made a mockery of the seedings! Women's Singles This time the WS seedings were spot on with Li Li (Seeded 1) up against Salakjit (2) in the Final. Salakjit, whose brother is the more famous Boonsak Polsana, adopted the right strategy in the first game by creating attacking opportunities with her low serves and relying heavily on her useful smash to take it 11-6. Li Li, normally a slow starter, was more patient in the second game and began to move faster to counter Salakjit's attacks. Salakjit still managed to punished Li's wayward low serves with quick pushes to the rear court. Not really an aggressive player, Li relied on her more accurate baseline and net shots to tease Salakjit, who was forced to hit out on a few occasions. Li Li's 'cat-and-mouse' tactics worked and frustrated her opponent who surrended the second game. The third game was the best. Salakjit must have been reminded to continue with her attacking play as in the first and it worked as she took a 3-point before Li attempted to stop the attrition from 3-6 down. But Salakjit refused to budge and stretched her lead to 8-4 with her favourite smashes. All seemed to be lost when Li made a last-ditch effort to slow down her rival with greater determination and accuracy. The rallies were longer with Li making the best of them. Salakjit felt the pressure as Li clawed back to 8-all, then 9-all and before she knew it, Li got the last 2 points and the match 11-9. Li Li almost paid the price for being a slow starter. But she now retained her crown for yet another year. Men's Singles This was the match that everybody was eagerly waiting for. With top-seed, Yeoh Kay Bin , out of the way, Kendrick Lee and Kuan Beng Hong, both seeded the same at 3/4, were equally matched for the occasion. I suppose both knew each other's attacking game quite well. Kendrick would try to avoid Kuan's powerful smashes with low serves and likewise Kuan would serve mostly low as well. It was a matter of who made the more unforced errors and who managed to keep the shuttle down more times. The first few points started off cautiously but Kendrick suddenly found himself with a 4-point deficit, trailing 2-6, when he made a number of mistakes trying to keep the bird too low and Kuan also scored with his smashes. Although Kendrick managed to add more points, it was Kuan who reached 8 points first and Kendrick was still 3 points behind. Patiently, Kendrick clawed back to 8-all by moving Kuan around the four corners with well-executed shots and sharp net drops but Kuan did not give up until the score was 10-all. Kendrick's luck turned for the better with net cord shots helping him along the way and he led 14-10 before Kuan struggled to get 2 more points and lost this important game 12-15. It was to Kendrick's credit that he did not buckle under Kuan's relentless attacks and his patience and more accurate shots paid off in the end. In contrast, the second game was a rather tame affair with Kendrick leading all the way to 7-1 when Kuan decided to let loose with more smashes. He managed to gain up to 5 points but that was as far as he could go before Kendrick turned on his attack to end the game and match at 15-5. Kendrick's second game was a masterly performance indeed! Women's Doubles It was a major upset that the Indonesian girls won. The Thai pair led comfortably in the first game 15-8 and it was taken for granted that the second game would be a walk-over, especially since the Indonesians were unseeded and the Thai pair had beaten the second seed Singaporeans the day before. But, due to the complacency of the Thais, the Indonesians put up a spirited performance to reverse the wide gap of 6 points, when they were trailing 5-11. Slowly, they climbed back to 11-all with a more-coordinated display of sharp smashes and good defence. This stunned the Thais but they were not allowed to recover as the Indonesians closed the second game 15-12 to give themselves a chance at the title. During the rubber, the Indonesians continued to dominate the rallies although the Thais tried hard to fight back. But their momentum was lost, so were their spirits which contrasted sharply with the Indonesians, who now found a new meaning in their game. So it all ended at 15-10 in favour of the Indonesians. The Thais could have won the title had they not given away a commanding lead in the second game. Complacency is a costly business! Men's Doubles This MD event was strategically placed last to lure spectators to stay back and to support the prize-giving ceremony which followed. But it spoilt all the hgih expectations of a very keenly contested battle as the more energetic Indonesian young pair of Rendra & Yonathan put up a less than satisfactory fight against their more experienced Malaysian foes. Some last pictures for the record:
[ It seems that Singapore cant sweep all the five titles like they did last year. I have seen Beng Hong play his last three rounds. He sure can beat Kendrick Lee with this type of skills ! The same goes for Li Li. He took such a hard time playing against the Thai girl. On the other hand, Ponsana took the whole game smoothly. And I am very confident Rendra Wijaya can win too. Today, he thrashed the Malaysian pair and only gave away points through unforced errors.[/QUOTE] Looks like your predictions are not as accurate as you thought them to be! Many of us were also knocked out during the Athens Olympics thinking that we were right in our guesses! :
i think what kwun means is that he recognizes you not the young star. plus why mention cheung? is this person from HK? is he Ng Wei or who?
Ah, there might be something that kwun knows that you don't. It could be 'insider-information' and Chueng may be privileged to it as well since he is one of the 'in-group'. Maybe you should ask kwun.
Players' Names & Photos The Names of players appearing in the above photos under "Championships End Today" are: 1. Voravichitchaikul Kunchala (Thailand) "Ain't She Sweet..." 2. Rani Mundiasti (Indonesia) "Short but a stunner and fighter!" 3. Li Li (Singapore) "Baby look" 4. Salakjit Polsana (Thailand) "Walks and plays like elder brother Boonsak...and the Thai girls all look so pretty!" 5. Kuan Beng Hong (Malaysia) & Kendrick Lee (Singapore) 6. (L to R) Yonathan "Lightning Serve", Rendra "Chubby Cheek" (Indonesia), Mohd Tazari (can be a male model with such looks lah!) and Lin Woon Hui (Malaysia) 7. (L to R) Voravichchitchaikul, Duanganong Aroonkesorn (Thailand), Endang Nur Sugianti "Crouching Tigress" (Indonesia) Endang is the most decorated for having won both the WD and XD. Her stance with her partner serving is always in a crouching position, seemingly relaxed and lazy but ever ready to pounce and attack without warning! 8. The WD Final between Thailand (L) and Indonesia (R).
News Reports on Finals Ronald's fine performance at Athens must have benefitted the Singapore badminton fraternity as three newspapers, The Straits Times, Today and Streats, reported on the just concluded Asian Satellite Championships Finals today. I append the report from ST for your information: SEPT 13, 2004 BADMINTON Double Cheers as Li Li, Lee claim crowns Susilo gives Lee sound advice, Li Li's fitness sees her through By Marc Lim THEIR doubles collaboration may have ended on Thursday, but for Ronald Susilo and Kendrick Lee, their partnership continued all the way to the men's singles final yesterday - although only one of them played in it. Taking a backseat for the first time in his badminton career, Singapore's top shuttler Susilo played the role of mentor and coach to good effect at the Singapore Badminton Hall yesterday, helping Lee to beat Malaysia's Kuan Beng Hong 15-12, 15-5 to lift the men's title at the $10,000 Cheers Asian Satellite Badminton Championships. It was one of two titles for Singapore, as defending women's singles champion Li Li retained her crown. For Susilo, who competed only in the doubles with Lee in this tournament - they lost 14-17, 1-15 to the Indian pair of V. Diju and Jaseel Ismail in the second round - the coaching role came naturally. He said: 'We discuss tactics regularly anyway, so I didn't feel as if I was coaching him. 'I just told him to keep it safe and would chip in with suggestions or advice if I saw something that he didn't.' The Singapore Badminton Association's rationale for pushing Susilo into a mentoring role is to gear the pair for the US, German and Denmark Opens later this month - as no men's coach will accompany them on the trip. And it seems to be working so far. After Lee scraped through the first game, Susilo pointed out to him that Kuan appeared off-form and instructed Lee to attack. Said Lee: 'We knew he had a good smash and quick follow-up, so our plan was attack and leave him on the back foot. 'The more he attacked, the more unforced errors he made and I was lucky to take advantage of them.' For Lee, 20, whose only other win on the senior circuit was at the Thailand Asian Satellite in May, the win was satisfying, especially since it was against a player ranked higher than himself. Lee is ranked 62nd in the world while Kuan is placed seven slots higher. Said Lee, who took home $1,000: 'It's a good feeling and hopefully, I can improve on my ranking and make the World Championships next year.' While it was a relatively easy win for Lee, Li Li had to come back from a game down to overcome Thailand's Salakjit Ponsana 6-11, 11-6, 11-9 and claim the $800 winner's cheque. She had been leading 3-0 in the first game when a back-drop separating the front courts from the back came crashing down. Distracted, both by the incident and the draught behind her, she dropped the opening game. But when the pair switched sides, it was the Thai's turn to struggle with the draught, often misjudging the flight of the shuttlecock and hitting it long. In the decider, it was Li Li's superior fitness which made the difference, winning almost all of the long rallies and the match. Said the four-time Singapore satellite champion, who also won the the Iran Fajr International in February and the Croatian International in April: 'Every year, it's getting tougher and tougher to defend the title. 'Although I am improving, so are the opponents. I just have to prepare myself better each time.'
Ronald & Jiawei Celebrity Status Our most famous Olympics sporting couple, Ronald and Jiawei, have brought glamour and recognition to their respective sports of badminton and table tennis when they were invited to appear on TV for a brief moment to cajole viewers to donate generously to the "President' Star Charity Show" by phoning in their pledges. This Show has been an annual event to raise funds for the vaious charities under the patronage of the President of Singapore. Our young couple can now be included as "stars" in their own right to be counted among the many TV stars, singers, presenters, DJs, etc, who appear on stage and form themselves into the red and blue teams to challenge each other in a variety of games for donations. It was a glittering evening full of fun, magic, singing and celebrities galore televised nation-wide. Jiawei was simply radiantly beautiful with light make-up and sports attire. Ronald appeared "star-struck" by her side with mic on hand to say a 'few' words in English, certainly much, much, much fewer than the fluent Mandarin spoken by Jiawei. Whatever, it is great to see that our sports celebrities are getting the long over-due limelight they richly deserve, whether they are local-born or not.
