14th MBA HOME TOURNAMENT 2013



Aaron nailed it finally!

 Aaron has finally nailed it! He has beaten defending champion, Darren Tan, his second title to date.

It was exactly one year ago after the 12^th Inter-MBA Tournament, spurred by the boy’s encouraging results, we started the boys to train seriously and today, Aaron’s victory is the testament to all our family’s one year of tireless effort to get the boys where they are today.

Aaron was lucky to have a free passage all the way to the Quarter Final. He had his nerve tested early by a strong hitting Tay Zhao Jun from Taman Megah.  However, Aaron prevailed and won. In the semi-final against Tan Chi Hong aka dinosaur despite being three years his senior, Aaron had not much trouble apart from Chi Hong's close net play.

Ryan cant match the speed of Darren

In the final, Aaron raced ahead by some large margin due to Darren’s uncharacteristic unforced errors. He won his first set by an unexpected large margin 21 - 5. In the second set, Darren tried to come back but Aaron stood his ground and won 21 - 12 to claim his victory. 

Ryan was seeded No. 8, unlike his younger brother, had to battle his way from round 1. When he crossed swords with the defending champion in the quarter final, he ran out of steam and lost to the diminutive no. 1 seed.

That evening, we celebrated with a hearthy Japanese meal of Aaron’s choice followed by a movie “White House Down” to unwind the boys. The next day, they were back to serious training. I spoke to Aaron not to be carried away by this success. This is only but the beginning. He had to keep his focus on achieveing his targets next year. To close the gap with his bench mark, Ooi Zhin Yang and to get into the National Circuit. 



The semi-finalist of 14th MBA Home Tournament 2013

  Intermediate Boys Singles Under 12

1^st Round             :  Walkover

2^nd Round            :  Walkover

3^rd Round             :  Walkover

Quarter Final        : 3 Aaron Wong (Puchong) vs  5 Tay Zhao Jun (Tmn Megah)          30 - 25

Semi Final             : 3 Aaron Wong (Puchong) vs  7 Tan Chi Hong (Puchong)              21 – 17, 21 - 9

Final                      : 3 Aaron Wong (Puchong) vs  1 Darren Tan (Puchong)                  21 - 5, 21 – 12

1^st Round             :  8 Ryan Wong (Puchong) vs Tan Lik Shin (Puchong)                        30 - 14

2^nd Round            :  8 Ryan Wong (Puchong) vs Koi Zhen (Tmn Megah)                        30 -6

3^rd Round             :  8 Ryan Wong (Puchong) vs Ngeow Dey Ren (Tmn Megah)            30 - 20

Quarter Final       :  8 Ryan Wong (Puchong) vs  1 Darren Tan (Puchong)                    16 – 30

Seeding :

1 Darren Tan (Puchong)

2 Chew Kuan Leong (Tmn Megah)

3 Aaron Wong (Puchong)

4 Roy Koh (Tmn Megah)

5 Tay Zhao Jun (Tmn Megah)

6 Chai Chun Hong (Puchong)

7 Tan Chi Hong (Puchong)

8 Ryan Wong (Puchong)

PERTANDINGAN BADMINTON REMAJA USJ23

This year unexpectedly, USJ23 invited both MBA and Wira Tangkis at the eleventh hour to fill in the shortfall of participants. I was in a dilemma as to who the boys should represent since they now attend trainings in both venues. In truth, I had already registered the boys privately long before MBA & Wira Tangkis were requested to populate the shortfall of entries especially in the girl’s category. So in order not to stir things up, I instructed the boys to adopt neutrality and not to lean too heavily on either side.



Aaron's got the better of Chun Hong

Aaron started his campaign with a winning note against Wong Vinsen to face-off with his fellow  MBA mate Chai Chun Hong in the second round. This was a much anticipated match for many observers in MBA because the fast improving Aaron has been making lots of dents in Chun Hong’s armour during  their unofficial sparring matches. So it was no surprise that this must-see match for many of us.

Both players started off taking turns inching forward point for point. Aaron took a slim lead during the changeover. After the interval, it was clear the fitter between the two made lesser errors.  Aaron raced to the end with a convincing victory 30 – 18 to earn him Intermediate level bragging rights. 

However, his campaign came to an end in the next round when he met Muhd Atef Haikal, a controversial entry because information in the internet revealed this player’s name was registered with BAM with DOB 2002, which means he was overaged (if he is the same player as in the list of BAM registered players). However, the organiser did not acknowledge my e-mail which acquiesce his entry. Nevertheless, Aaron put up a gallant fight to go down 25 – 30. There was no shame in his defeat because he went down fighting his heart out! What made me more suspicious was that Muhd Atef Haikal went all the way to the final to win the boys U10 title beating Teoh Hong Kai in straight sets. Incidentally, Aaron has beaten Hong Kai before in the recent Setia Tournament. The story would be so different if Aaron had been drawn to play with another player in the third round. His title remains elusive and he will have to wait a little longer for it in the next under 10 tournament in 20^th July.

 


Ryan in action with Muhd Izzmir

 Ryan surprised us with his quarter final entry but his journey there was not an easy one.  He barely scraped through in his first and third round matches winning by the slimmest of margins. However, the last eight proved too much for him as he gave his game away tamely to the slick Manfred Chow 14 – 30.  Should he have won, he would have met his school mate Ooi Zhin Yang in the semi-finals. Unfortunately, he was miles away from the Wira Tangkis number one player. Zhin Yang marched on to win the USJ23 U12 title.

Next, the 14^th MBA Home Tournament. Stay tuned!  

Boys Singles Under 10

1^st ROUND :         Aaron Wong vs Wong Vinsen                                     30 - 18

2^nd ROUND :        Aaron Wong vs Chai Chun Hong                                 30 - 18

3^rd ROUND :        Aaron Wong vs Muhd Atef Haikal                               25 - 30

Boys Singles Under 12

1^st ROUND :         Ryan Wong vs Muhd Izzmir                                         30 - 28

2^nd ROUND :        Ryan Wong vs Hazim Naquiddin                                 30 - 20

3^rd ROUND :        Ryan Wong vs Muhd Farhan Arif                                 30 - 29

Quarter Final :   Ryan Wong vs Manfred Chow                                       14 - 30

CROSS ROAD

“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don't know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter which road you take.”
Lewis Carroll

The thought has crossed my mind before - fleetingly at first but gradually it became more pressing - like a child constantly tugging at my hem. I’m sure many parents must have gone through similar thoughts before... and it is often more weighty than what we think.

MBA has played a stellar role in grass roots development over many years now. It boast the biggest trainee pool unsurpassed by others. The passion of the Indonesian coaches manifest in their training frenzy on court have been irrefutable. Having said that, players planning to move on to a higher level will be but threading on new ground here.

The fact that MBA is not an associate member of BAM and not affiliated to any state badminton associations for that matter has consigned it to just a developmental academy – like many other private clubs and academies. Not that it is not a good place to train badminton but it does not have that pedigree yet to support budding shuttlers who aspires to play for state and beyond.

To improve the future prospect of the boys in badminton, we would have to ride on the right ship with compass and sail. That was the reason why I have been mulling over the decision to involve them with an establishment that has the DNA to prepare them for the annual National Junior Circuit. The analogy here is, "....to run as fast as the gazelle, they must be in the herd of gazelles..". It may sound a little over blown at the moment but at the very least, we know what road to take.

We are in an awkward situation right now due to the sensitivity of the transition. My only sincere hope is for the coaches to understand that it is all about the boys and we should not restrict the boys’ growth by denying them the opportunity to explore other options. We should not strike fear and guilt into them as they learn to embrace change. After all, don’t we all want the best for them?  

Fallen feathers : Who’s the next in line for Malaysian badminton?

Here is an account from former world number 1, Han Jian on the state of affairs in BAM...

Malaysian badminton- A horrifying gap between elites and younger players

At the current moment, there isn’t any sign of the emergence of good talents among the younger batch of players. The best solution for this situation is to prolong the career of elite players, so that Malaysian badminton will get into the crisis of having capable players to take over the baton from the elite players.

Once a national coach of BAM, Han Jian, pointed out that the lack of Malaysian talents rising up to the senior ranks, especially in the MS department, is worrying. The only one and feasible solution is to prolong Lee Chong Wei’s career.

Established players go a long way

Han Jian : “Single is different from the other event, because the players are on their own in the tournament. As such, it’s very demanding to be a good single player, this includes good footwork, movement speed, endurance and specialized training regimes. As a result, if a player does not have a solid foundation in skill and techniques, this will greatly impede their progress later on.”

“A lot of time is needed to polish all the fine details of the techniques and skills mentioned above. Normally it will take at least 5 to 7 years for a talented player to learn all these skills. This explains why it is rare to find good single player these days.”

Taking short-cuts when training

Han Jian emphasized that although it is very hard to develop single players, but these single players will go a long way in their career once they are established. At the moment, Peter Gade and Wong Choong Hann are very good example which can testify this fact. Although they are already branded as “old men” on court but they are still capable of winning matches in international tournaments.

Han Jian was once a player who is famous for his ability to play long rallies. He expressed his opinions to the reporters of China Press in a recent interview.

Han Jian feels that the current training methods emphasize too much on getting short terms results. Most of the time, these players do not have a good grasp on the basic skills and they struggle to produce results. This is also why a lot of younger players still cannot challenge Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan up until now.

“I have seen Wong Choong Hann and Peter Gade’s matches a lot of time. Though their younger opponents are very aggressive, but those young lads could not match them in a lot of department, especially in racket techniques. As a result, these young players find it hard to beat the veterans; single game is not just about stamina and power play.”
From the just concluded World Championship, it is apparent that Malaysians badminton is facing a crisis in which no capable young players could take over the baton from senior squads. Han Jian gave his personal thoughts on what could possibly be the root causes of this crisis.

　
The Characteristics of Single Player: Compete and develop at the same time.

Han Jian said: “Judging on current trend, I could not see a reason why Lee Chong Wei cannot continue for another few years. Based on Lee Chong Wei’s playing style and techniques, I don’t think that there will be players emerging from the younger batch who are capable of threatening him in 3 to 5 years time.”
“This is the characteristic of single players: your career goes a long way once you are established. This is especially so when you have a Lee Chong Wei whose basic skills and techniques are solid nowadays. He can play for another couple of years and decide whether to call it a day by that time. ”

Han Jian also pointed out that the current training regimes emphasize too much on seeing short term results. Whether BAM’s management is willing to chip in more time and money to develop new talents is a whole new issue all together. Ultimately, they have the same thinking as the fans, which is to use the selected few outstanding players to fight for the honour of the country, and doing what they can to maintain the current status quo.”

Han Jian said is not easy to find a good player because you cannot judge a player’s talent based on intuition alone. It takes a lot of selection process and development programme to discover a good player. Not many people are keen on investing that much for talents discovery.

Get rid of favouritism –BAM to accommodate others

Han Jian feels that a workable system needs to be in place in order to effectively develop the talents in the long run. Unless BAM could come out with a plan with long term vision, we could pretty much predict the future of Malaysian badminton if things remain as status quo.

“The so called revamp of the current system includes: BAM should put more attention in juniors and grass root levels and npt just on the elite levels alone. They need to come out will a sustainable plan to develop all the younger talents step by step.”

Han Jian think that BAM should treat every Malaysian player equally and not playing the petty politics of favouritism. Han Jian feels that independent players should be allowed to represent the nation. At the moment, more and more industry and sponsors are willing to sponsor players. If those independent players have the capability, why don’t BAM give them a chance to play for Malaysia?

A more transparent selection process

He pointed out that, selection should be based entirely on merit. Just take an example on the just concluded World Championship, why the players who have the higher rankings are drop from the list? Isn’t this being bias towards players in your own stable? This is simply no credibility in this sort of selection.
Han Jian said that only player with the skills can win a tournament. If a higher ranked player is not selected, it will greatly affect the players’ morale and thoughts. How does it help the development of local badminton scene if BAM select a player without any outstanding result to play for the country?

“Not to mention that those independent players have their own private sponsors, who play an important role in developing badminton in the future. No doubt BAM’s monopolization will only make them think twice about investing more in developing the Malaysian badminton in the future. BAM should get rid of favouritism if they want more players to represent the country in the future. ”

Conclusions from Han Jian’s interview:

1.                               Prolong Lee Chong Wei’s career

2.                               Abolish favouritism, select players on merit

3.                               Revamp the training programme

4.                               Distribute the funding evenly and not placing all on the elite team.

SP SETIA ANNUAL TOURNAMENT 2013

Aaron (in white) vs Vincent Fum (in yellow) 

The Setia Annual Tournament has attracted many outstation players and some top local names. Some notable ones were the MSSWPKL 2013 champion, Kenny Khew (10), Times BA 2013 champion, Daryl Foo (10), 2012 BAKTI finalist, Muhd Affan Artabek (11), the up and coming Penang star, Gabriel Loo (10), Wah Jia Wei (11) a season campaigner from Penang and even Rahman Sidek’s son Abdul Rahim (11). Some of them are National Junior Circuit players. Immediately, I knew this tournament will not be easy for the boys. 

On the first day, Aaron started off his campaign with a no show from a Penang player. He had to sit longer for his next game. In the second round, he faced Teoh Hong Kai. This player was a worthy adversary as he collected points again and again from his overhead smashes at Aaron’s side- line. At one point, I was convinced Aaron would not make it to the next round.  To make matters worse, the empire had miscounted Aaron’s score. Both were fighting neck to neck and not far from each other.  Fortunately Aaron found in his deep reserves to snatch a few vital points towards the end and won the game 31-28. He lived to battle another day.

Ryan (in white) vs Lim Ming Hong (in yellow)

Due to the larger pool for boys single under 11, Ryan was drawn into a qualifying round. He cruised to a 31-13 win over a KL player. In the next two rounds, he was untroubled and won comfortably to come back the next day for the last 16.

In the second day, Aaron faced Vincent Fum, a circuit player from Melaka in the third round. As the game progressed, Vincent strokes were evidently sharper and Aaron failed to get himself going. He fell 9-21 in the first set.  In the second set, Aaron tried to come back but he gradually fell into his opponent’s game with many unforced errors. He conceded his second set 14-21.

Ryan’s third round opponent was a lanky Penangnite, Lim Ming Hong who dwarfs Ryan by at least a half a foot. What was more intimidating was Lim Ming Hong wore a Gosen sponsored Penang state jersey with his large name printed at the back. I could see Ryan has already lost the battle before the game begun. Ryan was outplayed and lost tamely 10-21, 5-21. Little did we know that Lim Ming Hong went all the way to the final to defeat Muhd Affan Artabek and became champion.

In the end, the boys ended their campaign with wounded pride. So, we took the boys for a movie to unwind themselves and to relax their tired limbs. The next day, it was back to the drawing board as always. Thus their journey continues…

Boys Singles Under 10

1^st ROUND :         Aaron Wong (SEL) vs Ooi Yi Hern (PEN)                  Walkover

2^nd ROUND :        Aaron Wong (SEL) vs Teoh Hong Kai (KL)                31-28

3^rd ROUND :        Aaron Wong (SEL) vs Vincent Fum (MEL)                 9-21, 14-21

Boys Singles Under 11

Qualifying :        Ryan Wong (SEL) vs Yong Wai Meng (KL)                  31-13

1^st ROUND :         Ryan Wong (SEL) vs Kok Jia Cheng (KED)                 31-17

2^nd ROUND :        Ryan Wong (SEL) vs Jason Cheng                              31-16

3^rd ROUND :        Ryan Wong (SEL) vs Lim Ming Hong (PEN)               10-21, 5-21

MBA Mid Year Ranking Contest

Aaron - can he snatch the title from Darren this time?

   Just a day before the Setia Tournament, MBA summoned all their players for a contest to rank them in preparation for the coming 14^th Inter-MBA Tournament. I was apprehensive because the boys were already at their physical limit from the recent spell of muscles aches.  I didn’t want them to risk any more injuries and over exhaustion just before the Setia Tournament.

Moreover, I was unable to see them play due to my work commitments. Since the boys were very resolute to heed the call of their coaches, I reluctantly agreed and have them record their own scores for me.  The results were somewhat comical among the top 4 players since there was no clear and consistent winner. 

For the record, Darren Tan is the defending champion while Chun Hong the runner up. Considering the brothers were nowhere near them last December 2012, they have made great strides to close in on them not to mention threaten Darren’s crown. After all, the results below says it all. Its going to be a close one. 

Intermediate Under 12 Results

Aaron Wong (10) vs Chai Chun Hong (10)               21-14, 16-21, 14-21

Aaron Wong (10) vs Ryan Wong (11)                       21-15, 21-14

Aaron Wong (10) vs Darren Tan (11)                        21-18, 18-21, 21-16

Aaron Wong (10) vs Tan Kai Hong (12)                    21-15, 21-15

Ryan Wong (11) vs Darren Tan (11)                         17-21, 23-21, 14-21

Ryan Wong (11) vs Chai Chun Hong (10)                 21-19, 21-12