yes.. tats wad i said b4... every players will have to go through this phase and only coming back stronger cuz of their mental more matured.... good example so far: Peter Gade
I agree with those who think that the Chinese have analyzed and figured out how to beat LCW. In my opinion, if you exclude the Chinese players, only PG, LCW and TH are real title contenders. So the Chinese coaching staff would only have to concentrate on figuring out how to beat these 3. On the other hand, the three I mentioned would have to worry about each other plus LD, BCL, CH, CJ and CY. These 5 Chinese players are all contenders who have very different styles. That is why, in my opinion, the Chinese have the edge and why non-Chinese players like LCW are finding it more and more difficult to win a title.
I agree. Plus, I think the "internal match" practices help the CHN players a lot. They have way more than enough "high level" practices (against each other) day and night, which make a lot of them thinking the open tournaments are "much easier". For ppl like LCW, he might have a little bit difficulties to even get a quality opponents in his daily training. Even if he finds one, the quantity is no where near the CHN national team (plus 2nd team and juniors).
Li Mao must feel he ran out of ideas to combat the China players. Thirty six policies, the best policy is to go away. Friday February 2, 2007 Chong Wei’s left in the lurch as coach Li Mao packs his bags By RAJES PAUL PETALING JAYA: Chinese coach Li Mao has left Malaysia to rejoin South Korea and it has thrown a spanner in the works of Lee Chong Wei's preparation for the World Badminton Championships. And the 25-year-old national number one, who has set his sights on winning the championships, which will be held at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Aug 13-19, hopes that Li Mao would explain his reasons for leaving abruptly when he returns to Malaysia after the Chinese New Year holidays on Feb 20. Li Mao, who left for China after his last assignment with the national team at the Korean Open last week, has yet to officially inform the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) of his decision to leave the national team. National chief coach Yap Kim Hock confirmed yesterday that Li Mao signed a contract with the Korean BA during the Korean Open and he was expected to begin work in Seoul in March. Prior to joining the BAM in 2005, Li Mao had taken the Korean men's singles players to greater heights. His two-year contract in Malaysia expired on Dec 31. But instead of renewing it until the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the National Sports Council (NSC) sat on it. For now, Kim Hock said that women's singles coach Wong Tat Meng would take over the job of handling the men's players. It is unlikely that the BAM would hire a foreigner immediately and the Sidek brothers – Misbun and Rashid – are seen as the better candidates to take charge of the men's singles department. Misbun is currently with the national team and he coaches Mohd Hafiz Hashim while Rashid is the chief coach of the Project 2010-12 squad. “We did not expect this. I called him two days ago (in China) and he confirmed that he has joined the Korean BA,” said Kim Hock. “He is a professional coach and making decisions like this is normal. We have to accept it. “Now, we have to decide on the coaching structure for the men's singles at the next BAM's coaching and training committee meeting. The show goes on for us. Tat Meng has learnt a lot under Li Mao and he will take care of the men's players for now.” Chong Wei, who reached the number one spot for the first time – albeit for a short period – under the charge of Li Mao, was disappointed. “No, I did not hear this news from Li Mao. He dropped hints during the Korean Open but I thought it was a joke,” said Chong Wei. “When he comes back from his break, hopefully, we can have dinner together. I hope he will tell all of us (the men's singles players) about his decision. Was it because of me? The BAM? Or was it the country? We want to hear why he chose to leave.” Chong Wei's performances have dropped since his elimination in the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Madrid last September. Now ranked at world number five, he hopes that his preparation for the upcoming world meet will not be affected. “It takes a while for me to get used to the styles of a new coach. In fact, it took me half a year to get used to Li Mao's coaching methods. There are only six months to go to the world meet,” said Chong Wei. “I have to make the best out of the situation. My immediate task is to concentrate on the All-England (in Birmingham from March 6-11).” Under the charge of Li Mao, except for the achievements of Chong Wei and Wong Choong Hann, there was nothing to shout about from the others.
Life being a coach is not easy. One can get fired if the players do not perform. Li Mao was a good coach but unfortunately, players are sometimes wayward and when they don't perform as expected, the coach gets the jitters. In this case, I think Li Mao felt insecured and it was better to be safe and therefore he took up an offer from Korea. I think Li Mao was feeling the heat recently when Kim Hock said that if LCW did not perform in the Korean Open, Li Mao would have to answer for it. Well, I think Li Mao 'answered' by saying goodbye.
when i first got to know about Li Mao's departure, i felt that he betrayed Mal. however, after reading the article, i could not blame him, his contract expired on 31st Dec and BAM sat on it! if i were Li Mao, i would leave.
Well, BAM refuses to renew the contract, and also Li Mao has been always underpaid, plus too much workload with many fingers point to. If nobody blames firing a coach, how come a coach cannot find a better job?
Who can help bring up standard and confidence back to LCW? Not much! Saturday February 3, 2007 New coach likely to be announced before Chinese New Year By RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: National number one shuttler Lee Chong Wei hopes that a new national coach for the men’s singles will be named quickly. And he is set to get his wish before the Chinese New Year. Yesterday, the 25-year-old Chong Wei, ranked third in the world, said the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) should act fast to find a replacement for coach Li Mao. The Chinese has decided to leave and join the Korean BA. Chong Wei wants to have a coach named fast to enable him to prepare for this year's World Championships, which will be held at the Putra Stadium from Aug 13-19. “It is my only hope that this (replacement of the coach) will be sorted out quickly. For the time being, (Wong) Tat Meng will take care of the men’s singles. But I am still waiting for the official announcement,” said Chong Wei. “The absence of coach Li Mao will not affect my game greatly. I have learnt a lot from him and I’m grateful. But it is important to have a coach, who will prepare the training programme and also encourage the players at the same time.” Yesterday, the BAM’s general manager Kenny Goh Chee Keong said that the matter would be resolved before the Chinese New Year. “Yes, we will solve this quickly. The BAM will hold their exco meeting before the Chinese New Year and we will name the new national singles coach,” said Kenny. “Wong Tat Meng has agreed to be the caretaker coach of the men’s singles for now. After two years with Li Mao, he knows the trick of the trade,” he added. The candidates for the spot are the Sidek brothers - Misbun and Rashid.
May be it is the attitude from players like KBH that make Li Mao shakes his head. Sunday January 7, 2007 Beng Hong has no fear of the juniors PETALING JAYA: National men's singles shuttler Kuan Beng Hong is in no rush to be among the world's best. In fact, he's not even thinking about being the country's best. He knows that none of the back-up players are even close to his standard. National singles coach Li Mao has targeted Beng Hong to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games but the 24-year-old player is not too worried about missing out. He knows his place in the national team will not be jeopardised. “My coach (Li Mao) has high hopes. But it is a tall order for me, especially now that I am not very confident about my game,” said Beng Hong. “But I’m working hard in training. Hopefully, I will be able to achieve a breakthrough in one of three tournaments – the Malaysian Open (Jan 16-21), Korean Open (Jan 23-28) and the All-England (March 6-11). That would help me enter the Olympic qualifying period with more confidence.” The Olympic qualifying season begins in May. While Beng Hong is hard-pressed to psyche himself up, the absence of juniors and peers to keep him on his toes is fast becoming another problem. “I will be back to training even if I do not make the cut for the Olympics. I will be concentrating on other tournaments,” he said. “It is just unfortunate that there is no pressure from the juniors right now. For the time being, my place in the national team is safe.” Beng Hong, who is ranked 31st in the world, said there was a big gap in standards between the seniors and the second team. “It was different when I was in the back-up team. We trained with the seniors and had match practice every week. “Our back-up players now train on their own. They only get a chance to rub shoulders with the seniors during the local circuit. And last year, we had only two legs of the circuit! “I’m not looking down on them but their standard is low now,” added Beng Hong. The back-up singles players under the Project 2010-12 are Chong Wei Feng, Tan Chun Seang, Azrihanif Azahar, Lim Kenn, Mohd Syafiq Jamaluddin, Liew Daren, Chong Li Qun and Beryno Wong. The seniors train in Bukit Jalil while the back-up players are based at the Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara.
I think he should be kick out of the team, because his present attitude will definatly affect the top players like LCW/hafiz/WCH and lower their standard
The problem is not with his attitude, but with BAM's policy of not letting the back up and senior shuttlers spar together. Hence, the gap between the seniors and the backups are widening.
how do you expect the juniors to be competitive when seniors like you (KBH) provides such "enjoyment" everytime we watch you play???
BAM and NSC is to be blamed. Sunday February 4, 2007 Li Mao’s exit is the result of feet-dragging by BAM and NSC KUALA LUMPUR: Procrastination is the deferment or avoidance of an action or task. The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and National Sports Council (NSC) are certainly guilty of this, which led to the premature departure of Chinese coach Li Mao. The two parties were slow to act and Li Mao, whose contract ended last December, was hired by the Korean BA. Last week, the Chinese decided to join South Korea, leaving the men singles team – especially Lee Chong Wei – in a lurch ahead of the World Championships, which will be held at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Aug 13-19. Happier days: Filepic shows BAM president Datuk Nadzmi Mohd Salleh (left) welcoming Li Mao, who was hired as the national coach in 2005. Li Mao has joined the Korean BA and Misbun Sidek (centre) is among the candidates to take over his post. Now, the BAM are scrambling to find an able replacement among the local coaches – Wong Tat Meng, Misbun Sidek and Rashid Sidek. Tat Meng, who is the women’s singles coach, has agreed to take care of the men for the time being. Last month, Li Mao and the other coaches asked BAM why their contract renewal had been delayed and the badminton body pointed their finger at the NSC. Like all the other National Sports Associations, BAM chose to wait for NSC to announce their plans for the year. And subsequently BAM sent memos to the coaches telling them to wait until March. The BAM were, after all, following orders as the NSC are the paymasters for the coaches. Following the end of the Doha programme last year, NSC are currently in the midst of re-organising their programme and looking into the contracts of the athletes and coaches. Even the project managers under the Doha programme headed by Damien Kelly don't know what's in store for them. And one wonders why is it taking such a long time to finalise matters? China, Australia and other European countries are already in their second phrase of preparing their teams for the 2010 London Olympics. The “brainstorming” sessions to decide the training programmes for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (which is only a year away) should have been done before last December's Doha Asiad. In fact, the coaches should have been appointed immediately after the Asiad, which ended on Dec 15. Does it really take more than a month to decide whether to hire or fire a coach? Now, the NSC are waiting for the cabinet committee for sport to approve their major plans. And it is not easy getting the committee together which, of course, will lead to more delay. Unfortunately that is the sad tale of Malaysian sport – as far as management is concerned. As for national chief coach Yap Kim Hock, he can only mull about the Li Mao episode. “If only I was in South Korea, probably Li Mao would not have left,” said Kim Hock, who stayed home due to the poor health of his grandmother. “I would have persuaded him to stay on. He (Li Mao) has done well with the men’s singles and it is a great loss to our team. But the show will have to go on. “ And there may be more cases of coaches jumping ship if the BAM and NSC and other sport associations continue to procrastinate.
often, fans ask why their favortie athletes/team aren't performing and often the answer is poor management. It's the same in the business world as well.
LCW must be ill at heart coz one gets this feeling with all the recent commotion of Li Mao joining the Korean team, he must have known somewhat of what was going to happen. Maybe it is the little bit he knows and the little bit he did not know that was causing him to play so badly recently. A player can be affected by his coach easily, it is like the mentor leaving you and you feel a sadness, which can affect performance. LCW mentioned that Li Mao said to him that he was leaving but he thot it was a joke. I am pretty sure someone like Li Mao (if he was going to leave) would have said something to LCW so that he will not be seen as quiting his charge. LCW must now pick up the pieces with a new coach. Li Mao is history. If it is going to be Rashid, then I think it would not be that bad coz Rashid was a great player (and probably a good coach). One has to respect a great player and he might strike a good cord with LCW. Good Vibes LCW.
