26 Sep 2006 K.M. Boopathy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE National Sports Council (NSC) has directed the BA of Malaysia (BAM) to explain the World Championships failure. NSC, which funded RM423,389.98 just for the Madrid "excursion", is not happy with just the mixed doubles bronze delivered by Koo Kien Keat-Wong Pei Tty. The bronze was the least expected, especially as BAM had led many to believe that Malaysia’s gold medal drought would end through either men’s singles Lee Chong Wei or one of the men’s doubles pairs. NSC deputy director general and Doha 2006 committee chairman Datuk Zolkples Embong said BAM was given everything it had asked in preparation for the World Championships and it must now be accountable for the failure. Besides the 21 players who qualified, BAM also had in the Madrid group four sparring partners, two officials, seven coaches and a seven-member sports science support team only to suffer its worst World Championships outing since 1999. "The Sports Minister (Datuk Azalina Othman Said) has expressed her disappointment and we are worried by the performance of the shuttlers as time is running out for the Doha Asian Games," said Zolkples at the NSC headquarters in Bukit Jalil yesterday. "Badminton has received the highest assistance among the Eight Core Sports and we have provided practically everything for their preparation towards the World Championships. "BAM has forecasted gold in the Asian Games but the players’ failure in Madrid is a reflection of what we can expect in Doha. Besides the players, they had two officials, four sparring partners, seven coaches and a seven-member support team. "BAM must be responsible and we have already written to them officially today (yesterday) and they have one week to explain the reasons behind the failure. "Although BAM did not specifically mention targets prior to the tournament but based on current form, Chong Wei should have made the final and the doubles pairs should have done much better. "We will review based on their explanation and measures will be taken out to ensure that the players deliver in Doha." BAM was provided with a total funding of RM876,652.97 for overseas competitions since April, beginning with the Thomas Cup Finals. Zolkples was also not happy with the coaches and players blaming line-calls and China chief coach Li Yongbo’s alleged comments on Chong Wei as reasons for the overall performance of the the squad. "I feel these allegations are petty. Bad line-calls do happen but it does not change the course of a match totally," said Zolkples. "They have gone to the extent of accusing Yongbo and such excuses should stop. Now it seems that approving everything BAM had requested for was a mistake."
World Badminton Championships: Reality check for BAM 26 Sep 2006 S. Selvam reporting from Madrid, Spain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BA of Malaysia (BAM) has targeted a gold medal in the Asian Games in Doha on Dec 1-15. The nation awaits with bated breath for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in anticipation of badminton delivering Malaysia's first ever Olympics gold medal. But at the rate the national shuttlers are going, and judging by their performances, but more importantly, their opponents' performances in the World Championships which concluded on Sunday, Malaysia needs a large dose of luck, and a whole lot of prayers. So, were the Malaysians that bad in Madrid? With the exception of Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Hafiz Hashim and Lee Chong Wei, the Malaysians were not that bad. If anything, they gave their best. And therein lies the problem. If Malaysia's best was not even good enough to carry most of the players past the quarter-final stage, what hope do we have of winning the gold in Doha or Beijing? Tan Fook-Wan Wah were disappointing in the third round match against Indonesia's Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan. To quote their coach Rexy Mainaky, "We simply did not play badminton." And this veteran pair are one of our gold medal hopes in Doha. Another pair, Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat did not see action as the former's father passed away and he had to rush home. Chong Wei and Hafiz were also guilty of self destructing. Chong Wei, the top seed who spent a considerable amount of time, energy and effort in maintaining his world ranking to be amongst the top two to avoid Lin Dan, never even got to play the eventual world champion. The World No 1 could have easily wrapped up his quarter-final match against China's Bao Chunlai in straight games. Instead, one bad line call and China's chief coach Li Yongbo's unsporting behaviour, rattled him and he lost his focus. Hafiz, on the other hand, simply had no answer to Lin Dan's game in his last eight match. Hafiz had vowed to put Lin Dan under pressure but the reverse happened. And they, in a nutshell, are Malaysia's best bets for a gold medal in Doha or Beijing 2008. Yes, the mixed doubles pair of Kien Keat-Wong Pei Tty did extremely well to win a bronze but that was not a calculated effort. Nor was it targeted. The Malaysians just played above themselves and, deservingly, landed a medal. It should not be used as a yardstick to measure the success of Malaysia's campaign in the World Championships. China, in sweeping four of the five titles, showed that they are the best prepared team at the moment. And with the Olympics to be held in their backyard, no player from any other country looks capable of winning gold in Beijing. But the English have improved and had finalists in the men's doubles and mixed doubles. The Danes had two pairs in the semi-finals of the men's doubles. Germany, surprise, surprise, had two players in the semi-finals of the women's singles. As such, where does it leave the Malaysians? Which brings us back to the Doha Games. It’s time for the national shuttlers to learn a thing or two from China’s players. Lin Dan plays for each point like a man possessed. Most of them are arrogant on court, and go into a match like they are the champions. Their coaches and officials are equally fired up, shouting, cajoling, scolding, motivating their players all the time — before, during and after the match, whether they are winning or losing. Malaysian players show the whole world they are troubled. They don't stare their opponents in the eye and their shoulders keep dropping when they fall behind during a match. Sport is about passion and Malaysians only seem to have it in abundance when the going is great. And against the Chinese, Danish and English, that passion is all that is needed to separate the winners from the also-rans.
Hafiz now under NSC microscope KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Mohd Hafiz Hashim may have to join players in the national training centre in his preparation for the Doha Asian Games. Following his mediocre performances in the just concluded World Championships in Madrid, his coach, Misbun Sidek, will have to meet the National Sports Council (NSC) to discuss ways to improve his training programme. The NSC’s deputy director general, Datuk Zolkples Embong, said yesterday that Hafiz, who bowed out in a tame 10-21, 9-21 defeat by eventual champion Lin Dan of China in the quarter-finals, had lost his touch. “It (his performance) did not come as a surprise to me. He seems to have put on extra weight. I am concerned with his training programme and I will certainly call up Misbun for a discussion on the matter,” said Zolkples. “I have read reports that he hardly spars with the national players. He also does not take the food that we provide at the hostel. He is a talented player and I think that we have yet to tap his full potential. He has to show improvement over the next two months.” The 24-year-old Hafiz has been in and out of the national training centre. His last break from the national centre was after the Thomas Cup Finals in Japan in June. He now trains at the Nusa Mahsuri centre in Kelana Jaya.
Malaysian shuttlers are found wanting on the world stage By LOGANATH VELLOO MADRID 2006 IBF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ANOTHER World Championships have ended in failure for the national badminton squad. And a world title remains elusive for 29 years since the inaugural championships in 1977. The 20-member Malaysia squad to the championships in Madrid was the second largest after China and they had one of the best preparations to mount a serious challenge. The team arrived in Madrid 10 days before the competition began to get acclimatised and conduct their final phase of training away from the unwanted distractions back home. But for all the time, money and effort spent, they only had one bronze medal to show for and it came from an unexpected source – the mixed doubles combination of Koo Kien Keat-Wong Pei Tty. While it would be easy to blame biased umpiring and bad line calls for the failure, the fact remains that the Malaysians were simply not good enough to win at the world championships. China also had to put up with the antics of the European match officials but their players were mentally stronger and physically and tactically superior on the court to not let the impartiality affect their game. National chief coach Yap Kim Hock agreed that his players could have gone further in the competition if they had been mentally stronger. “It is true that bad decisions by the officials, which included service faults and bad line calls against us, cost us vital points in several closely-fought matches,” he said. “But it should not have affected our players' focus and confidence as much as it did. Our players need to learn to block out the negative distractions and carry on with the game. For example, if the service judge felt that the service was illegal, then the players must be smart enough to make the necessary adjustments on the spot.” The unfortunate departure of Chan Chong Ming following his father’s death had an effect on the other men’s doubles pairs alhough Kim Hock and national doubles coach Rexy Mainaky had said at the time that they were mentally strong enough to cope with it. But the exit of the serious medal contenders piled on the pressure on the other two pairs – Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and Mohd Fairurizuan Tazari-Lin Woon Fui. “I was surprised that Chong Ming’s departure had a negative effect on the others. The pressure on them to perform increased and the cost of failure seemed heavier. And they failed to live with the huge responsibility,” said Kim Hock. World number three pair Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah crumbled easily in their third round match against Indonesians Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan, who they also lost to in the final of the preceding Hong Kong Open. Although all the three Malaysian men’s singles players fell to Chinese opposition, they put on strong performances. China have set the new benchmark in badminton by featuring in all the finals, except the mixed doubles. Three of the finals were all-China affairs and they went on to take the men’s doubles title as well with Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun pulverising England’s Anthony Clark-Robert Blair. If Malaysia are to do well in future big tournaments, beginning with the Asian Games challenge, they have to seriously work on bringing down China’s “Great Wall”. China continue to be two or three steps ahead of Malaysia in the men’s singles and the country cannot continue to depend on Chong Wei alone to take on the Chinese brigade. The national coaches need to work on getting Hafiz, Beng Hong and the fit-again Wong Choong Hann to exit their present comfort zone and start backing up Chong Wei to match the Chinese prowess in international competitions. The lack of talent coming through the ranks in the men’s singles is also a cause for concern for Malaysia because China can boast the likes of youngsters Chen Jin, who made the quarter-finals in Madrid, and Chen Yu to replace their current stars. There was no shame in defeat for the national top women players’ Wong Mew Choo and Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui. They went down fighting against much stronger Chinese players, who went on to qualify for the final. Malaysia learnt the hard way that all the best coaching and preparation in the world will come to nought if the players are not mentally strong to stay focused on the tasks. And with the World Championships coming to Kuala Lumpur next year, there will be 12 months to work on learning from the costly mistakes in Madrid.
NSC: Time for badminton to live up to promises By RAJES PAUL Datuk Zolkples Embong KUALA LUMPUR: Badminton may not enjoy the privilege as the sports to receive the most funding from the government if they continue to fall short of expectations in major tournaments. The National Sports Council (NSC) deputy director, Datuk Zolkples Embong, said yesterday that they deemed the performance of the national team in the just concluded World Championships in Madrid as a major failure. On the directive of the Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Azalina Othman Said, Zolkples held a special press conference at Bukit Jalil yesterday to state that the team had failed to justify the money – almost half a million ringgit – spent on them in Madrid. And to get them back on the right track for the Doha Asian Games scheduled for Dec 1-15, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) had been given one week to explain the failure in Madrid. “We, the NSC and the Sports Minister are truly disappointed with the badminton team. Their recent failures at the World Championships does not reflect well on what we can expect from them in the Asian Games,” said Zolkples, who is also the chairman of the committee who oversee all the NSC’s programmes. “We have earmarked them to win gold medals at the Doha Games. We are now very concerned and want answers from the BAM within a week. “The NSC have provided everything for them and given them all forms of support. They get our priority. In fact, they enjoy our biggest funding. For the World Championships alone, the budget was RM423,389.98 to be exact. “They (the BAM) said that they had the best prepared team but, except for the mixed doubles, none made it to the semi-finals. (Lee) Chong Wei was the men’s singles top seed and he failed to reach the final. And there were empty promises in the men’s doubles.” Zolkples said that the NSC would not tolerate excuses for the failures. “We have spent so much on them. But the players and coaches talked about dubious line calls and umpires favouring Europeans. But look at China, they still went home with four world titles,” he said. The NSC also said that the team’s early departure for Madrid and the large number of officials incurred them additional cost. “Why send sparring players like James (Chua)? His career is as good as over. We did not know about him because he is not under the elite programme. If they had wanted to take sparring players, they should look at the juniors,” said Zolkples. “Does a nutritionist need to be there? In fact, the players could have used the excellent facility that we have here (at Bukit Jalil) for training instead of going there early. They would have the option to spar with more players here and it would have saved us a lot of money.” He also questioned the presence of the assistant singles and doubles coaches, Wong Tat Meng and Pang Cheh Chang, and assistant manager Lim Kok Wye. On why the NSC had in the first place approved the team’s early familiarisation stint and the large contingent to Madrid, Zolkples said that they had faith in badminton. “I had two meetings with Ganga (Rao, the BAM secretary). I told him to reduce the number of officials because the cost was too high. But I was given an assurance that they had the best-prepared team and we accommodated them. Maybe, we are looking at all these details now because we are upset over the team’s performance.” Zolkples, however, said that they would await an official report from BAM. “For now, there will not be any drastic decisions because the Asian Games are just two months away,” he said. “But badminton need to remember that they will be treated just like the other sports if they fail to live up to the high expectations we have placed on them at the Games.” The NSC will conduct a review on every sport under their payroll after the Asiad.
It is time to put some GUTS back into our players ! Having watched the progress of our players, I have this to say. They lack guts when guts was needed. At the most important event of the year (WC), they went down like 'wimps'. LCW, on a winning note in the 1st set, crumbled, affected by LYB's calls. Zolkples did not think it was a good enough excuse. Hafiz fizzles out without a fight. They have the skills to play to help themselves but they lack guts - wilting in the face of their opponents. We have heard of these defeats before --- this is not the first time. Clearly, the energy level from our players was well below par. They did not put in too much of a fight. Hafiz was too mild. LCW caved in easily --- he did not raise his 'bar' one iota. In the face of things, it is not surprising Zolkeples is mad (Misbun is likely to lose Hafiz to the central training camp under Li Mao). But in my opinion this is not all that needs to be done. The inability of the Malaysian boys to handle pressure is almost 'legendary' now. THAT must be looked into --- why is it so every time ? A good psychologist must be brought in to assist in this --- this (behaviour) is getting to be symptomatic in the Malaysian team. What is the thing holding the Malaysian players back ? I believe it is guts -- or the lack of it. They go in with the impression that they cannot win and lose the fight soon as the going gets tough. It is time to change that and IT CAN BE CHANGED. How ? As much as LCW can be distracted by LYB's remarks, he can also be influenced by a good psychologist. We need to 'brainwash' the mind - innoculate the mind with a potent vaccine called "Never GIVE UP WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN!". Use hypnotism if it is the thing to do--- whatever. The NSC in doing its review next will have to agree with me that the Malaysians are skillful enough (with all the coaching --- from top coaches over the years) but what is lacking is guts. Raw guts to spur the will to win.
In my view the Malaysian plyers performed well for such a small pool of talent. Lee CW and Choong/Lee were under too much pressure to win. KKK played with no pressure and managed a bronze with a first time partner. I think players have to be set realistic targets. England played with no pressure or egos and Tracy Hallam and the MDS pair made quite an impact. Lee CW has actually outperformed Wong Choon Han , probably needs more time. Even seasoned China players like Bao, Lin Dan, Cai/Fu can crack under pressure and need help from their loving chief coach.
Malaysian press are always like this. When it's bad, it's all doom. When it's good, it's all rosy. We have to accept that in sports, it's you against others. For someone to win, someone else must lose. It's disappointing but it's all part of the game. For me, I am disappointed, but this is one of the scenarios I expected, from glorious two-titles to no-one-in-the-semis gloom, with one-finalist so-so result being what I expected the most. I am ok with the players' results. I believe they did ok, but luck may not have swayed their way. The exception is Choong/Lee who were embarassingly aimless in their loss against Kido/Setiawan.
If the BAM was given almost everything they requested it would be only fair if they had promised to bring back some silver that is consistent we what they were given. If they failed to bring back what they promised-and they were given far too much-then the head of the BAM should be held accountable.
I kinda agree with you on this. A lot of planning was done trying to win medals at the WC. Expectations were high and even the 10-day training in Madrid was to ensure winning medals. Players were told to focus on this - LCW wanted to shift focus to the Asian Games in Doha but was told that the WC was very important. Hence, it is not surprising that the NSC is conducting post game analysis to see where it has gone wrong.
It's true that accountability must be established in order to improve but we must recognise that this is sports. It's a zero-sum game. Overall, China may have spent 10 times what Malaysia spent. Who knows?
It's usual. A narrow win in some tournament, and everyone goes ballistic, wow great talent, all the hard work, sure-win for WC etc. etc., not recognising that maybe there is an element of luck involved there. Then in the next tournament, a narrow loss, and everyone goes ballistic, mental block, all the money wasted, no hope for the future, line-judges bias etc. etc., not recognising that maybe there is an element of luck involved there. But the two matches were quite close, could have gone either way, and still people only recognise the win and the loss. Player A worked very hard, Player B worked slightly harder and scrapped a win. Player B gets all the rosy accolades, Player A gets stuck with a mental-block epithet.
As much as I would like to agree with you, I think this is deeper than just an element of luck. Sure anything can go wrong in a game but the fact that LCW had won a lot of his games (someone mentioned 6) against BAO and then just blew it against BAO in the WC, even though leading at some stage in the game, suggests to me that BAM has a problem at hand. And if go into self denial again and not recognising a problem exists, it might continue to be such for a long time coming. Even though this is not my call to say what should happen, I think NSC wants to get down to business and come up with an answer (and I fear it will not be a nice answer). My opinon (and mine alone) is that Malaysian guys play without guts (per my earlier post) --- they wilt under pressure (and in this game we need to be strong every time, all the time). If not, the display in the recently concluded WC 2006 would be common every time. It won't be me getting disappointed but BAM would also continue to suffer --- that means less money at the end to support the current environment, which is very supportive of players.
No guarantee This is not about fairness.What is important is that Team MAS has slogged hard for WBC.That part of the equation BAM has control over.However, some things are unforseen and beyond control ie misfortune that befell WCH and CCM that benefitted opponents like a windfall.Based on their preparations, it makes sense to make a realistic prediction.It would be foolish to believe predictions should be 100% right or even 50%.China just got lucky (MD) and 'smelly'(MS) this year (You think opponent coach verbal harassment should be part of the game? Look at tennis. Coaches are not allowed to even coach anytime during match) Again look at China;last year even with 200% preparation, they 'failed', this year they triumphed. Got the message,Zolkples?
The NSC was led to believe by the BAM, in return for the very large funding provided for just this one championship, that Malaysia would have a good chance to win the MS and a good showing in the MD. It is the extravagance of the requested funding that is the problem. I am sure if they had gone on 25% of the funding they would have done no better or worse. The NSC rightly calls this an "excursion" by the BAM.
I just dont understand the outcry??? Is the NSC and the Sports Minister out looking for scape goats after the 2 issues - sport complex in UK and football was a slap in their face. Well I believe all the players had done their utmost best....(maybe except the CTF/LWW pair) or the authority is only championship result, then the players and coaches shud change strategies to win AT ALL COST and forget about sportmanship
thanks for sharing the infos, ksooi...rest of post snipped for brevity.. ..wow, i just did a conversion of that sum and it came out to be roughly US$115,050.80 from MYR(M'sia Ringgit) to USD ...phew...i'd say that's a lot of pocket change for this WC...If say 20 people were in the MAS contingent(which i don't think they sent that many), that's already US$5,725 and some change/per person(i assume that incl. airfare/lodging/meal+extra monies for players' spending) for abt 2.5 weeks.. I'll say the BAM and their sponsor(s) are quite generous..
(1) BAM --> Was obviously being greedy. They took a 30/70 chance and sold it to the Sports Council as a 90/10 chance with extra colouration on the return. (2) LCW --> How can you blame someone who has been carrying so much for the nation for so long? No one else seems to be stepping up to the plate enough. We should be gratefull that we have someone like him fighting for us. (3) Malaysian Press & fans--> Blood in the water has brought out the sharks in us, ready to gobble up everything. Eyes are perhaps blinded in this frenzy leaving 'casualties of war'. (4) Watching Hafiz play accross the court losing to Lin Dan so tamely....... was very sad. the lack of fighting / effort in the match makes one wonder if this loss was intentional???? --> to put BAM in hot soup??? --> or his mentor Misbun???? If not intentional, then perhaps Hafiz just doesn't really thinks, doesn't really care anymore. (5) Doubles Dun know what to say...
