BUKIT JALIL GOLF & COUNTRY RESORT BADMINTON JR CHAMPIONSHIP 2014

L to R : Ryan Yong, Ryan Wong, Samuel Chia, Darren Tan

Ryan is defending his title here which he won 7 months ago. This time is different as there are more non-members participating this time around.

Ryan began his campaign against a fast improving Wong Hong Yuan which he had beaten before in the November 2013 tournament. This time Ryan was stretched to rubber game winning by the skin of his teeth 21-18, 15-21, 22-20. In the quarter final, Ryan again had to labour for a three setter against a lithe Rex Hooi. Fortunately Rex tired out in the second half of the third set and Ryan took the serving on the plate but not without some anxious moments.

In the semi-final, Ryan was up against a giant of a boy, Samuel Chia which again was stretched to a rubber game. This time Ryan had no answer to Samuel’s hard smashes using his height and strength to his full advantage. The 3^rd and 4^th placing was academic as Ryan breezed past his opponent by a large margin. So Ryan had to settle for a bronze medal and took home a Dunlop shoe bag with a tube of shuttle cocks.

Aaron’s mysterious poor form continued in this tournament. The only notable game was against his Putrajaya mate Darren Tan in the quarter final which he lost uncharacteristically. I was utterly disappointed and had no answers to his poor performance.  It is a game which we would want to forget and move on. Darren went on to become runner-up after losing to Samuel Chia in the final.

BOYS SINGLES U12

1^st Round :           Ryan vs Bye

2^nd Round :          Ryan vs Wong Hong Yuan             21-18, 15-21, 22-20

Quarter-Final :   Ryan vs Rex Hooi                              21-18, 15-18, 21-16

Semi-Final :         Ryan vs Samuel Chia                       21-11, 9-21, 18-21

3^rd Placing :         Ryan vs Ryan Yong                           21-2, 21-2           

 

1^st Round :           Aaron vs Wee Pang Sheng           Walkover

2^nd Round :          Aaron vs Dey Dilshadh                   21-3, 21-4

Quarter-Final :   Aaron vs Darren Tan                       22-20, 18-21, 17-21

TRIVIA Part 2

1)        In BCA Indonesian Open 2014 Superseries in  Jakarta, the following statistics were derived from men singles matches on average.

            a)    Average time per set = 18.6 mins (21 pts system)

      b)    Average time per point = 30.9 sec

      c)    Average points per set = 36 points (ie. 21 – 15) 

 2)         Tennis vs. Badminton

The speed and the stamina required for badminton are far greater than for any other racket sport.  At the 1985 All England (Tennis) Championships, Boris Becker defeated Kevin Curren, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.  At the 1985 World Badminton Championships in Calgary, Canada, Han Jian of China defeated Morten Frost of Denmark, 14-18, 15-10, 15-8.  The following is a statistical comparison of those matches.

           a) Time:  Tennis, 3 hours and 18 mins.  Badminton, 1 hour and 16 mins.

           b) Shuttle in Play:  Tennis, 18 mins.  Badminton, 37 mins. (15 points system)

           c) Match Intensity*:  Tennis, 9 percent.  Badminton, 48 percent.

           d) Rallies:  Tennis 299.  Badminton, 146.

           e) Shots:  Tennis, 1,004.  Badminton, 1,972.

            f) Shots Per Rally:  Tennis, 3.4.  Badminton, 13.5.

            g) Distance Covered:  Tennis, 2 miles.  Badminton, 4 miles.

            Note that the badminton players competed for half the time, yet ran twice as far and hit   
            nearly twice as many shots.

 3)      Longest Rally

a) Men Singles : BWF World Championships 2013 in China, Nguyen Tien Minh (Vietnam) vs Jan O Jorgensen (Denmark) 108 strokes

b) Mix Doubles : Sudirman Cup 2003 in Netherlands, Ra Kyung Min / Lee Kyung Won (Korea) vs Rikke Olsen / Ann Lou Jorgensen (Denmark) 157 strokes

4)       Any Helpful Rituals?
On tournament day, before we let the boys out of the car, we will join hands together     and get the boys to proclaim out loud that they want to win in every game and give it a go to the Final. This is to set a correct frame of mind in the beginning of the tournament. It certainly works for the boys.

5)       How about Training one day before a Tournament?
          Normally yes but light to moderate workout.

6)       How do you relax in between matches during the Tournament?
Play smart phone games.

7)       What is your most common injury?
             R : Ankle aches.
             A : Knee aches.

8)       Do you play better in the mornings or in the afternoons? Why?
          Afternoons. Morning is cold which make the body stiff.

9)       Any particular preparation by the dad before any Tournament?
           Yes. If I know the Tournament courts are parquet flooring, I would make an effort to
           wash the sole of their shoes the night before the Tournament. This is to get a bit  
           more grip out of their shoes.

PBVKL “PIALA PUSINGAN BELIA KL 2014”

In this Tournament, only Lim Chun Yeh stood in their way. 

This is the second instalment of PBVKL’s tournament in 2014 held in Champions Badminton Hall in Taman Kepong, KL. This was a much better organised tournament than the first one in Stadium Badminton Cheras KL although some of the nets with gaping holes needed replacing.

Ryan was on song in this tournament. In his quarter final match against a gutsy Hossin, Ryan was trailing 0 – 7 and 10 – 15 before the changeover. We noticed Hossin left a sizeable gap in front of the net and during the break we pointed to him to take the net. His caught up and eventually persevered and won the match 30 – 25.

In the semi finals, Ryan met Lim Chun Yeh again whom he lost a week ago at the Sunlight tournament. This time Ryan fought tooth and nail all the way to rubber set and was leading 19 – 17. Somehow, Lim Chun Yeh found it in his reserves to force a deuce 20 – 20.  Then two winners from Chun Yeh rendered Ryan second time unlucky going down 20 - 22. He was in tears but we consoled him because he had displayed marked improvement in prolonging his rallies and making successful front lunges. Most of all, his mental approach to this tournament was exemplary.

Aaron was not very much troubled in his run up to the final but I noted his game was smeared with bits of silly errors. He may be trying out some stuff and I was not very convinced that he was heeding to our advice.  In the final vs Lim Chun Yeh, his body language after coming out short in the first set did not look very good. Lim Chun Yeh had all the answers to his attempts and he was getting frustrated as the game progressed. Up to the last third of the second set, Aaron snapped and flung his racquet out of frustration. The game was lost after that.

In the U12 doubles, the brothers were also untroubled until the semi finals against Times BA duo of Kingston Tan and Lee Chen Shen.  Both of them were lanky and had strong smashes. It was a contest of fast exchanges between both pairs. The brothers was overwhelmed in the first set but made a strong came back in the second. In the decider, both brothers could not last the pace and their defence began showing signs of cracks with many unforced errors. At last, they conceded to the better pair. Both Kingston and Lee eventually became champions.

While Ryan struck a right tune in this tournament, we cannot say the same for Aaron. We saw the untamed side him let loose in the heat of the moment. Despite the glittering medals the boys brought back home, there wasn’t much celebration to it. Maybe it was due to lack of product sponsors or monetary reward and the boys must have sense that taking losses badly is not very sportsman like. I talked this over with Aaron’s but this young man with little words may need his own time and space for this. This is what he will get.

BOYS SINGLES U12

1^st Round – Aaron vs  Bye

2^nd Round – Aaron vs Lee Choon Shen    30 – 22

3^rd Round – Aaron vs S. Khabilan              30 – 16

Qtr Final – Aaron vs Wong Hong Yuan     30 – 27

Semi-Final – Aaron vs Roslin                        21 – 9, 21 – 11

Final-Aaron vs Lim Chun Yeh                       17 – 21, 12 – 21

1^st Round – Ryan vs Hosinth Rao                  30 – 12

2^nd Round – Ryan vs Muhd Taufik Faisal     30 –  9

3^rd Round – Ryan vs Chai Chun Hong          30 – 11

Qtr Final – Ryan vs Hossin                             30 – 25

Semi-Final – Ryan vs Lim Chun Yeh           21 – 19, 9 – 21, 20 – 22

BOYS DOUBLES U12

1^st Round – Ryan/Aaron vs Zairi Idris/Chai Chun Hong                      30 – 12

Qtr Final – Ryan/Aaron vs Hosinth/Pavithran                                      30 – 22

Semi-Final – Ryan/Aaron vs Kingston Tan/Lee Chen Shen                16 – 21, 22 – 20, 12 – 21

Sunlight Junior Badminton Cup 2014

This tournament was held in Sunlight Badminton Hall in Taman Kencana, KL. Despite limiting the state players from participating, it still attracted a decent number of participants.  As such, coach Andy was optimistic the boys could make something out of this.

Ryan kicked off his U12 singles with a 30 – 1 drubbing over his first opponent. His subsequent games were also a walk in the park. His worthy challenger only appeared during quarter final in the form of Lim Chun Yeh. Early in the game, it was clear Ryan could not match the racket craft of his opponent. In spite of all the tricks in the book to frustrate his opponent, Ryan managed to garner 22 points but not without a good fight.

Aaron’s went about his singles campaign like another day at work in the office. His quarter final thriller with KL based Tan Ming Yue was the highlight of the day winning by just one point 30 – 29. During this break, I offered dumplings to the boys fearing they might be hungry. It proved a costly mistake. When Aaron took on Lee Kai Wen in the semi final, he developed stomach cramps in the second set despite winning it. In the decider, it was clear Aaron was affected by the discomfort and took his foot off the pedal. Lee Kai Wen went on to win in the final as U12 singles Champion. I regretted offering the dumpling to him earlier. As I reflected his game, especially coming back in the second set, I was convinced for a while, that he really could take the decider under better circumstances.

The U12 doubles were supposed to be the boys trump card since the group was small  and they have been trained exclusively for doubles in Putrajaya. They even won their quarter final match against Lee Kai Wen pairing whom had beaten Aaron in singles earlier. In the semi final, from their first set win, I had this sure feeling like we were already home and dry. Unexpectedly, their game fell apart in the second set when their opponents upped the pace of the game. The decider was equally frustrating as the boys committed many unforced errors. The game went right down to the wire with 20-20 deuce, then their opponent snatched a point 21 – 20 and called for time out. When the game resumed, the score levelled again at 21 -21. Nail biting finish it was.  Then in a flash, Ryan committed two successive errors to give the game away at 21 – 23. I sat there in disbelief.

The boys and their booty

For their effort as semi finalist, Aaron was rewarded with two Yosen sponsored bags and two medals whereas Ryan also walked away with one each.  One thing I have to give credit to the two boys this time was that they did not quarrel in court like they used to. I suppose this was one positive we can take back home as they continue to mature in their game. They have another back-to-back tournament in a week’s time in Kepong. So stay tuned.

BOYS SINGLES U12

1^st Round – Aaron vs  Bye

2^nd Round – Aaron vs Ong Sheng Kai        30 – 23

3^rd Round – Aaron vs Ivan Loo                    30 –  7

4^th Round – Aaron vs Ng Zhi Wen              30 – 11

Qtr Final – Aaron vs Tan Ming Yue            30 – 29

Semi-Final – Aaron vs Lee Kai Wen           14 – 21, 21 – 9, 13 – 21

1^st Round – Ryan vs Bye

2^nd Round – Ryan vs Tay Ming Hong         30 – 1

3^rd Round – Ryan vs Chan Yong Yao          30 – 10

4^th Round – Ryan vs Lau Chun Yi                 30 – 10

Qtr Final – Ryan vs Lim Chun Yeh               22 – 30

BOYS DOUBLES U12

1^st Round – Ryan/Aaron vs Bye

2^nd Round  – Ryan/Aaron vs Lok Kah Sheng/Ong Sheng Khai         30 – 11

Qtr Final – Ryan/Aaron vs Lee Kai Wen/Chia Ming Jie                      30 – 17

Semi-Final – Ryan/Aaron vs Bryan Chang/Tan Ming Yue                 21 – 13, 14 – 21, 21 – 23