New Straits Times » Sport Badminton/ World Championships:‘Hafiz is my enemy now’,says elder brother Vijesh Rai BIRMINGHAM, July 30: THERE won’t be any brotherly love as far as Roslin Hashim is concerned when he steps on court to face brother Hafiz in the second round of the World Championships at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham today (9.30pm in Malaysia). Roslin avoided a potential banana skin when he easily beat Thailand's Boonsak Polsana in his first round tie, triumphing 1512, 15-9 in 48 minutes, and he is now prepared to end Hafiz's World Championships dream. Roslin, at 28, knows that time is fast running out on him and will treat Hafiz as the "enemy" when they cross swords today. It won't be easy though as most meetings between the two have ended in favour of Hafiz, 21. "I have only beaten Hafiz once in a competition, in Holland two years ago," said Roslin. The last time the brothers met was in the Elite Challenge which Roslin lost in straight games to hand his brother the title. "It will be tough to play Hafiz, not only because he is my brother but because as Malaysians, one of us has to bow out so early. "But this is something beyond our control and when the time comes, I will forget that Hafiz is my brother and treat him as my enemy," said Roslin in Birmingham yester-day. While he wouldn't put a price on the importance of the match, it is important in the sense that Hafiz has overshadowed him in recent times. Not only is Hafiz the Commonwealth Games champion, he ended a 37-year drought for Malaysia when he won the AllEngland title in February. And at 21, his achievements far over-shadow that of Roslin's, who after a productive 2001 where he lifted the Sea Games singles gold as well as the Swiss and Japan Open titles, he has been in freefall since. "I am confident although Hafiz seems to be the player in form. The conditions are different here and I have trained hard for the World Championships. "There is no pressure on me and I will play as well as I can." Roslin knows about the burden of pressure as he was the top seed and World No 1 in Spain two years ago but was sent packing in the second round. And Hafiz knows that he can't take his brother for granted as Roslin too needs to win to bolster his sagging career. "There is no compromise and I know that both of us will play to win. This is a prestigious championships and I will give it my best," said Hafiz, who easily beat Russian Stanislav Pukhov in his first round clash yesterday. "I rate my chances as 50-50 but whoever wins, I am sure we will still be on talking terms after the match."
