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

MSSS 2014

MSSS 2014 in Sepang

Subsequent to the MSSD triumph, all 4 players from the Ladang Harcroft doubles finalist were called for centralized training in preparation for the MSSS competition (inter-Selangor district).  Unfortunately, Ryan was dropped from his partnership with Lee Jie Quan in favour of another singles finalist, Siow Zi Feng.  However,  Aaron and Jie Yang’s partnership were retained as second doubles because the coaches wanted to develop them for next year’s MSSD/S.

This year’s MSSS competition was held in Sepang but clashed with the National Junior Circuit 2^nd Leg in Melaka. Therefore, both tournaments suffered some dilution of players – something which both BAM and Kementerian Pendidikan should have done better. In the end, the team lost their top singles player, Muazzam Danish to the Circuit. Petaling Perdana U12 boys team therefore comprised as follows :

First Singles        : Amirul Arazi

Second Singles : Siow Zi Feng

First Doubles      : Lee Jie Quan / Siow Zi Feng

Second Doubles : Aaron Wong / Tan Jie Yang

Aaron had to skip school for one week due to the centralized training in MBA, Puchong together with the other gender and age categories. On the hindsight, Ryan’s omission from MSSS was also a blessing in disguise as he avoided skipping his classes since he had to sit for his first term exams in the same week with MSSS. Ryan, like all 12 year olds, will be sitting for his UPSR this year.

The team had to stay in Sepang over 3 nights. Again I was unable to attend due to work exigencies, therefore my wife had to cover on my behalf.  Sadly, the results for Petaling Perdana team was disappointing. The first doubles crashed out in the first round. Aaron / Jie Yang had a first round  bye and won their second round. The next day, they met with their Putrajaya mates, Aziq & Rahman and went down after a closely fought battle in the second set.  Both singles also crashed out in the quarter finals. Thus Aaron’s MSSS journey ended rather unglamorously but from the coaches prediction, Aaron is favorite to be seeded top in 2015 Petaling Perdana MSSD. We shall see.  

BOYS U12 DOUBLES

Round 1   Aaron/Jie Yang PP           vs            Bye

Round 2   Aaron/Jie Yang PP           vs            Heng Mok Joo/Azam Fahmi SB   21 – 5, 21 - 12

Qtr Final  Aaron/Jie Yang PP           vs            Aziq Nabihan/Abdul RahmanHL   11 – 21, 24 - 26

WHATS IN THE ID?

What does a BAM ID mean to the boys? They may not realize it but you can sense the zeal for it like a holy grail of badminton. I see it more like an aspiration for the boys to avail themselves the opportunity to be up there with the cream. Again I go back to this maxim, “To run as fast as a gazelle, you must be in the herd of the gazelles.”

It’s also a ticket to participate in BAM sanctioned tournaments, like a tertiary pool for BAM to search for grass root talents. The secondary pool being Bukit Jalil Sports School (in which national juniors are picked from) and the primary pool, the national back-up squad. Of late, BAM is also keeping their eyes open for worthy independent players who are scattered all over private clubs with reference to ex-BAM players who quit from the national team.

Therefore, the ID, looks as though it’s a passport and a stepping stone to BAM’s institution of badminton albeit not essential but it’s something advantageous to have. The boys may not understand the significance of it yet but they know it has an aura of status by having one. The important thing is, they know to live with it, they have to work very hard. That to me is a reason enough as any to have an ID. 

MSSD 2014

SRKC Ladang Harcroft Puchong - swept 3 titles

This year’s MSSD Petaling Perdana District was held in MBA, the boy’s old home training ground. The only regret I had was I could not attend their games due to my work commitments. Nevertheless, they were in good hands as their school teachers and PTA volunteers were there to see to their needs.

Since the school could only submit 2 names for U12 singles and 2 pairs for U12 doubles, Aaron was chosen ahead of his older brother to play second singles. Lee Jie Quan remained the first choice. In doubles, Ryan was paired up with Lee Jie Quan since they have some chemistry going on between them while Aaron was paired with Tan Jie Yang as second doubles.

Jie Quan/Ryan Boys U12 Doubles Champion

In the singles event, Jie Quan went all the way up to quarter final before he faltered under the hands of a Selangor player Muazzam Danish.  Aaron had a bye in the first round. In the second round he was drawn to play with his PutraJaya mate, Darren Tan. We did not expect Aaron to be troubled since he had a good winning streak against Darren of late. Unexpectedly, he did lose and terribly as well. We wondered how was it that he caught a Liew Darren syndrome. We suspected it could be due to a mild strain on both his knee.

Fortunately, the disappointment in his early elimination in singles was made up with good doubles performance with his partner Tan Jie Yang.  This 11 year old pair did the unexpected by eliminating all their opponents including top seed Muazzam/Arif in the semi finals to meet with their school’s top pair, Ryan/Jie Quan in the final.

Aaron/Jie Yang Boys U12 Runners Up

Enroute to final, Ryan/Jie Quan also upset the second seeded pair of Amirul Arazi/M Jazlan. The all Ladang Harcroft final gave big smiles to everyone in the school camp. The cheers did not stop here because over in the U12 girls category, the doubles final were again another all Ladang Harcroft affair. The icing on the cake was that we have also clinged the girls U12 singles title.

In the closing of day, we were in a daze of having SRKC Ladang Harcroft swept all 3 titles, Girls singles, Girls Doubles and Boys Doubles. Both doubles runner-ups pairs were also Ladang Harcroft’s. This has been the best MSSD badminton performance the school has ever produced and we were all very proud to have contributed to this success. The boys and girls were finally treated with Mc Donald’s for lunch by the school stewards and I’m sure the celebration euphoria will certainly linger a little longer in the coming weeks at school – and deservingly so.  

BOYS U12 SINGLES

Round 1  Aaron LH       vs       Bye

Round 2 Aaron LH        vs       Darren Tan LGH           13 - 30

BOYS U12 DOUBLES

Round 1  Aaron/Jie Yang LH       vs       Dhirran/Vignesh LM                                   30 – 6

Round 2  Aaron/Jie Yang LH       vs       Zairi/Mohd Faiz PBP1                                30 – 17

Round 3  Aaron/Jie Yang LH       vs       Ryan Chang/Wong Ting Xuan SRD B2         30 – 24

Round 4  Aaron/Jie Yang LH       vs       Visnu Girioran/See Pei Shen Help               30 – 18

Quarter Final  Aaron/Jie Yang LH       vs       Siow Zi Feng/Choong Jing Liang SRD B1  30 – 24

Semi Final      Aaron/Jie Yang LH       vs       Muazzam/Arif Zafry SBG                 21 – 7, 21 - 13

Final              Aaron/Jie Yang LH        vs       Ryan/Jie Quan LH                          13 -21, 14 – 21

Round 1  Ryan/Jie Quan LH        vs       Bye

Round 2  Ryan/Jie Quan LH        vs       Tan Jun Hoe/Cheong Chien Shen CW          30 – 17

Round 3  Ryan/Jie Quan LH        vs       Andrew Lau/Sie Yie Yu SRD B1                  30 – 12

Round 4  Ryan/Jie Quan LH        vs       Kevin Lim/Eugene Phang Sri KL                  30 – 7

Quarter Final  Ryan/Jie Quan LH        vs       Darren Tan/Brandon Ang LGH              30 – 9

Semi Final      Ryan/Jie Quan LH        vs       Amirul Arazi/M Jazlan SBGB          21 – 9, 21 - 12   

Final              Ryan/Jie Quan LH         vs       Aaron/Jie Yang LH                         21 – 13, 21 - 14

In a Limbo

We have been reflecting upon an earlier change of events that had profound impact on all 13 Putrajaya players who could not obtain their ID from BAM including Ryan and Aaron. Despite all efforts from the state secretariat to appeal and seek fellow members from KLBA & SBA to support us, BAM was steadfast with this simple rule – unless the players are schooling in Putrajaya, they cannot represent Putrajaya state which was enforced strictly beginning of this year. Both Ryan & Aaron are now schooling in Puchong under the state of Selangor which is in conflict with this new ruling. My wife even contacted her former NS coach and the current BAM Honorary Secretary, Mr Ng Chin Chai but there is nothing he can do to bend this rule.

With this decision, many players suddenly found themselves in a limbo as all hopes to play in the BAM sanctioned tournaments like the national junior circuit were torn to shreds. The coaches and parents were counting for any last lingering hope from BAM to make some exceptions in the name of developing grass root talents in search for another Lee Chong Wei - or so we thought, as these were merely rhetorics.

So what does this mean to the players whom had trained so purposefully all year with the single aim to become a state player, only to be denied this opportunity at the eleventh hour? Some were devastated. Many despaired and looked lost. Some withdrew from the Persatuan to seek new paths elsewhere. Only one shifted school to Putrajaya and eventually got his ID from BAM. The rest just reverted back to studies and resort to play in private tournaments.

Persatuan Badminton Putrajaya was very sympathetic and still supported the players who do not have ID like their own state player while their parents sort out the player’s schooling dilemma. The problem is many of the player’s education were already entrenched in the vernacular syllabus and moving to a non-vernacular school in Putrajaya is unthinkable. Therefore, in time to come, we have to ask the hard questions. Should we continue to train in Putrajaya? For how long? Now that the 1^st leg of the National Junior Circuit 2014 has completed and reality has already sunk in, our boys will definitely miss the boat this year. Beyond this point, I don’t know if the boys will ever get an ID.

So where does that lead the boys from here? The path looks bleak. The only flicker of light at the end of the tunnel will be the school organized MSSD tournaments. It may well provide us with some answers although it is a long shot to get into Selangor BA. We will just have to see through the MSSD next week and hope for the best! 

ARA GOLDEN EAGLE BADMINTON CLUB KL JR BADMINTON TOURNAMENT 2014

This club based in Selayang, KL is managed by the former chief coach and council member of KLBA. The organizers did not restrict state players from participating. Therefore we were rather apprehensive coming here. Sure enough when we received the draw, Aaron was crest fallen.

For boys U12 singles, his draw couldn’t be any more hazardous when he was drawn to meet 3 high profile players in the first 3 rounds ie. Muazzam Danish, Jimmy Wong & Wah Jia Wei. As anticipated, he could not get past the Selangor state player Muazzam Danish who was in devastating form here. He steam rolled his way to become champion. This is the second time Aaron has lost to him. Ryan also couldn’t get past the first round - losing to the eventual runners-up, M Shaarveen.

The boys were left with the doubles to salvage whatever pride was left in them. Although they had an easy passage in the second round, but they eventually fell in the quarter final in straight sets. Aaron in this tournament made many uncharacteristic errors. I was unsure if he was unaccustomed to the court lightings or probably due to a reverse backlash from last week euphoric final in Cheras. Here, he seemed lost. Even Ryan who was suffering from stomach virus all week had a decent game.

It was indeed a tournament to be forgotten and to be put behind us. Like it or not, the boys were only left with a little more than a week before the MSSD 2014 tournament takes off. Aaron’s dip in form is quite worrying and we will have to work hard to get his confidence back – in time!

Boys Singles U12

Aaron Wong       vs            Muazzam Danish              14 – 30

Ryan Wong         vs            M Shaarveen                    15 – 30

Boys Doubles U12

1^st Round          Ryan/Aaron       vs         Bye

2^nd Round         Ryan/Aaron       vs         Low Eng Seng/See Yu Rong      30 – 12

Quarter Final     Ryan/Aaron       vs         Edmund Onn/Lee Kai Wan         14 – 21, 12 - 21