Xing Aiying: Singaporean Womens Singles Badminton Player

hehe.trueness.but not the good one i hope..

 

Cannot say like that.

Singapore is trying to made badminton famous amongst their citizen. To do that, SBA have to buy player from overseas first. Produce results, then make it popular. Then will attract local singaporean to join SBA. After that, the door for the talents from overseas will be closed.

Normal things i guess.

 

Singapore's Sports Dilemma

Now I don't think the way you described how Singapore goes about making badminton popular is as simple as you put it!

Badminton has always been popular among our school children and working adults. Almost all our schools have badminton courts and working adults find difficulty in booking courts in the evenings from the many community halls and community centres.

SBA don't simply "buy" players from overseas. You talk as though the best players in the world can be bought to form a national team and Singapore is doing that! SBA prefers to scout for young teenage talents and to develop them into potential champions. Just like Xing Aiying, brought in at about 13 years of age and now at 18, she could measure up to almost the best in the world.

Yes, with such models like Aiying, we hope local-born Singaporeans will be more interested in becoming badminton professionals. But it is very difficult as most parents prefer that their children study for a degree so as to have a more decent livelihood in future.

Discussion recently focused on how poorly paid some Malaysian Juniors had to endure. They have to rely on their parents and others to lend support. In a high cost country like Singapore, it will even be worse off for those who may wish to consider playing badminton as a career. In general, the rewards and prospects are not attractive compared to other professions.

In developing countries with a capitalist system where the salary scales are much lower compared to the developed countries, playing professionally may still be attractive but not in Singapore, not unless the prize monies are many times higher and commercial endorsements are available and there is an active professional league to keep the players going, preferably locally or abroad. When world badminton has reached the level of rewards offered by world tennis, then it may really attract the best players from around the world. Even then how many players can achieve the standards to compete internationally and survive?

The case of China is unique in the sense that the state looks after their welfare almost from start to finish. Professional players there do not have to worry about their bread and butter.

So it is not surprising that first world countries like the US, Canada, Australia and some European countries do not treat badminton seriously! I believe Denmark managed to survive as with a few other European countries, because they have other form of supplements.

Now why would a local-born Singaporean want to be a professional player when he/she knows that badminton can't offer a future?

That's why the Singapore Government, SBA and the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) need to work very hard and come up with better ideas to attract talents to turn professional.

By attracting more sponsors, by building more sports facilities (like the Kallang Sports Hub), by organizing more international sport events (like F1, Youth Olympics 2010), by employing foreign coaches and players to raise local standards, by increasing prize monies/rewards/incentives for winning international competitions (like S$1 million for any Olympic gold medal), by giving incentives to developing a more vibrant sports industry, etc, etc.

Now this is not "normal things" that you think you guess.

 

In every country players weigh the pros and cons of playing full time for their country. If a player can command a high-paying job, say receiving job offers from investment banks with packages of US$500,000 plus bonuses, it is likely he will quit full time badminton. If playing badminton full time is no worse than whatever alternative the player may have, then the player will stay. I will not be surprised that the current crop of the world's top players do not have an alternative like an investment bank position. Also, I will not be surprised if some very promising national players have quit badminton for a much better alternative. This is life.

 

I promise to Uncle Loh dont want to discuss on the FT (Foreign Talents) anymore.

All the best to Singapore Badminton Sports.

 

great player ! met her at Equinox New Zealand 2006 Open and KLRC New Zealand World Juniors Championships 2007 ! haha .