DOUBLE BLOW AT PERAK BA

Wira Tangkis at Perak Badminton Academy

Today, a double misfortune befell on the boys. Today, Wira Tangkis had planned a trip to Ipoh for a friendly with Perak Badminton Association.  Ryan woke me up at 6am convulse and quivering all over as he had a bad stomach all night and had just vomited. However, he felt better after that but during our two hour long journey to Ipoh, he vomited again. His bout proved too much for him and finally had to sit out on his match.

However, we still have Aaron left to play, or so we thought.  He started his match against the like of Anson Cheong and was going blow for blow. As the match progressed, Aaron’s game deteriorated. In the middle of the second set, we noticed he was limping slightly. In the end of it, he lost in straight sets. We didn’t heed him as he was left to rue in his defeat.

Aaron's left knee in bandage

Having known Aaron being the type who suffers in silence, my wife being the more attentive one by her fair nature decided to take Aaron to a chiropractioner to examine his troubling knee.  It was found that the internals of his knee was swollen. Only then we realised he must have picked this injury up during the Young Apologist tournament last Sunday. He was to be rested for another three days.

Reluctantly I broke the news to the head coach. He fully understood the situation and urged the boys to be fully rested.  A double blow like this was indeed unwelcomed and this lost time incident would mean the boys would have to lose a weekend worth of training.

2013 YOUNG APOLOGIST SG BULOH JUNIOR BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIP

L to R : Tan Wei Tze (Jia Quan replacement) , Tan Jae Yang, Ryan & Aaron

When the draw was published in www.malaysiabadmintontournament.com, I couldn’t help myself giving a cheeky yelp on the good fortune as the boys have avoided all the top players in this tournament.

In U10, I saw a clear path to the semi-finals for Aaron being drawn to the same group with the girls.  Only Ting Wen Xuan stood in his way in the second round. If he could get pass Ting (runner-up of 2013 KLBA U9 Junior Closed Tournament), Aaron would cruise all the way to the semi-finals meeting a high profile Fazirq Razif, the son of the doubles ace Razif Sidek. Unexpectedly, his run was instead halted by a certain Wong Vin Sean in the 4^th round, the same player whom Aaron had beaten before in the USJ23 Tournament. As we saw it, both were of the same calibre but Aaron was clearly disturbed by some injury picked up during his doubles game earlier. It was truly a let off on this one.

Similarly in U12, Ryan was drawn in the quadrant of unknown players. As the known state players were group in other quadrants, Ryan’s path was lit up for him until he crosses over in the semi-finals with a state player, either KLBA No.1 Chua Yue Chern or PutraJaya No.1 Ooi Zhin Yang. However our optimism was short lived as his run was also halted by an unfamiliar Chan Jun Han in the 4^th round.

In the U12 doubles, both brothers were bundled together at the eleventh hour after learning Ryan’s regular partner Lie Jia Quan could not attend the tournament. Nevertheless, the brothers made it to the third round before going down to SRK(C) Puay Chai’s top pair of Lok Chong Ming & Danish Ravindran.

It was another dismal outing for the boys given that they couldn’t take advantage of a favourable draw or perhaps we were being too ambitious. Be that as it may, it was evident with the present skill level they have, they are only as good as 3^rd or 4^th round players. They lack competitive mind set and game astuteness to match the players at the next level – quarter final and beyond. It becomes necessary now to equip the boys with higher level skill set and game resilience which they require badly for their circuit preparation next year.  

Boys Singles Under 10

1^st Round             :  Aaron vs Walkover

2^nd Round            :  Aaron vs Ting Wen Xuan           30 – 25

3^rd Round             : Aaron vs Keegan Khoo               30 –  3

4^th Round             : Aaron vs Wong Vin Sean            18 – 30

Boys Singles Under 12

1^st Round             : Ryan vs Bye     

2^nd Round            :  Ryan vs Visnuvaaman                 30 – 11

3^rd Round             : Ryan vs Nazim Naquiddin            30 – 11

4^th Round             : Ryan vs Chan Jun Han                  19 - 30

Boys Doubles Under 12

1^st Round             :  Ryan/Aaron vs Bye

2^nd Round            :  Ryan/Aaron vs Kok Choon Han/Liew Jun Y        30 – 14

3^rd Round             :  Ryan/Aaron vs Lok Chong Ming/Danesh R        21 - 30

FLYPOWER Badminton Tournament 2013

Wira Tangkis Team A (L to R)
Lau Hong Quan, Ho Ka Tim, Saw Hong Jay & Ooi Zhin Yang

Wira Tangkis sent two teams, 4 players in each team. Team A consist of the circuit quartet Ooi Zhin Yang, Lau Hong Quan, Ho Ka Tim and Saw Hong Jay (all 12 yearls old) Whereas team B made up of the Harcroft Quartet Lie Jia Quan (11), Ryan Wong (11), Aaron Wong (10) and Tan Jae Yang (10).

In the singles event, all 4 from the first team made it to the quarter final. Only Ooi Zhin Yang in a class of his own marched on to the semi final and eventually won in the final again.

In the doubles category, 3 pairs from Wira Tangkis booked their tickets to the semi-finals and as predicted, both pairs from Team A were the ones left for the final scrape of the U12 doubles title. Ooi Zhin Yang/Saw Hong Jay eventually won in the doubles category beating comparriots Lau Hong Quan/ Ho KaTim which means a clean sweep for the Wira Tangkis team.




Wira Tangkis Team B (L to R)
Daryl Foo (Friend), Aaron, Ryan & Tan Jae Yang
(Absent Lie Jia Quan)

Aaron surprisingly fell in his first round singles. He seemed to have a thing with slow mornings. However, he made amends with his debut doubles partner Tan Jae Yang to make it to the semi finals against fellow mates Zhin Yang and Hong Jay. The seniors by two years proved too hot to handle as the juniors fell in straight sets.

Also in the singles, Ryan could not get past Selangor BA number 3, Jeffry Wong in the second round. Later, Ryan paired up with school mate, Jia Quan but also found it tough going and fell flat in the first round.

Although the boy’s performance were dismal here but playing under the Wira Tangkis banner with exposure of state level badminton will hopefully rub off some winning culture on the boys. Although time was on their side, but Team B still have lots of catching up to do.  The gap between both teams were miles apart.

Boys Singles Under 12

1^st Round             :  Aaron Wong vs Bronson Wang               20 – 30

1^st Round             :  Ryan Wong vs Lee Juin Xian                   30 – 11

2^nd Round            :  Ryan Wong vs Jeffry Wong                     16 - 30

Boys Doubles Under 12

1^st Round      :  Aaron Wong/Tan Jae Yang vs Chong Yaw Cheng/Gan Yi Zheng 30 – 21

Quarter Final :  Aaron Wong/Tan Jae Yang vs Bryan Wang/Bronson Wang         30 – 23

Semi Final    :  Aaron Wong/Tan Jae Yang vs Ooi Zhin Yang/Saw Hong Jay        6 – 21, 10 - 21

1^st Round      :  Lee Jia Quan/Ryan Wong vs Daryl Foo/Ong Hsien Jun                25 – 30

SAVE MALAYSIA STOP LYNAS (SMSL)

Some may be aware I have supported SMSL by creating awareness in the local Time Attack races in Sepang International Circuit last year for a good cause. I still am for reasons like this press statement just recently released.

Lynas’ breached licensing condition – TOL should be suspended!

3rd July 2013

SMSL calls on the Government to suspend Lynas’ temporary operating licence since it has failed to identify an acceptable safe permanent disposal facility (PDF) by 2nd July, ten months after the issuing of the licence, as a required condition for the licence.

Mr Tan Bun Teet from SMSL said “The Government has promised to scrutinise the Lynas project. It has even gone as far as saying that it will revoke Lynas’ licence if it is unsafe.  Not having a PDF is not a scientifically sound or safe solution to Lynas’ toxic waste.  The Government must act responsibly in the interest of the public. We do not want toxic and radioactive waste from Lynas contaminating Malaysia!“

One such promise was made by the Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Mustapha Bin Mohamed this year on 15th January. He claimed that the plant is safe scientifically and promised to scrutinise the plant and to revoke Lynas’ licence if it is unsafe.  SMSL is gravely concerned that the Government has not fulfilled its duty of care in scrutinising Lynas and letting toxic waste be dumped in technically unsound and poorly designed retention ponds.

“The Lynas plant is situated near dense rural fishing villages and housing estates. Allowing Lynas to continue to pollute our air, contaminate our waterways and our land tax-free is foolish.  It is a violation of people’s rights to clean air and water and a safe place to live. ” Said Haji Ismail Abu Bakar, another spokesperson from SMSL.

According to a detailed scientific analysis by the reputable German institution Oeko, Lynas’ proposed radioactive waste management plan is seriously deficient, contrary to claims by Lynas.  More details can be found in the attached Oeko Report Summary.

Meanwhile the market has lost confidence in Lynas.  Its share value has plunged to below Australian 40 cent last week.  Currently Lynas is operating below a sustainable financial manner.

“Lynas’ failure to stick to its licensing conditions is unacceptable.  It is unsafe for the public. Malaysia should not expose this kind of hazardous risk to its rakyat!” continued Mr Tan

“Lynas and the Malaysian Government may think that we will give up fighting Lynas.  In truth, we have never stopped.  We said we would fight till the end to Stop Lynas and we are doing exactly just that!” concluded Mr Tan.

SMSL will continue with its judicial review cases to seek the court to intervene to withdraw Lynas’ TOL for the safety and in the interest of local residents and all Malaysians.  Additionally, SMSL will embark on a campaign to Stop Lynas on a wider global scale.

For further comments, please contact SMSL hotline 012 982 3302

• Mr Tan Bun Teet, spokesperson for SMSL, Hp: +60 17973 0576
• Haji Ismail Abu Bakar – Hp+6019953 0921

Summary findings of the Oeko Institute on Lynas’ radioactive waste management

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The Oeko Institute concluded that the Lynas rare earth plant in Malaysia has several serious deficiencies especially with regard to its solid waste management:

• The roughly 1.2 million tons of WLP (water leach purification – radioactive) waste to be produced have in any case to be disposed of in a Permanent Disposal Facility (PDF), that isolates the radiologic and toxic content over virtually unlimited future times.
• Any hopes that this waste can be re-used in the public domain are scientifically and technically nonsense and, with respect to the so posed risks, careless.
• The operation of a facility that generates those wastes should only be (temporarily or permanently) allowed if the PDF is available, otherwise another dangerous legacy is created and the burden of caring about and disposing these wastes is unacceptably shifted to future generations.
• The fact that neither the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, in it‘s review) nor Lynas (in its Radioactive Waste Management Plan RWMP) nor the regulators AELB and MOSTI recognize, mention and respect the dose criteria and do not set this as their prime condition for any re-use scenario is irresponsible.

Details of the Oeko findings and conclusions can be obtained online as follows:

•The complete study (114 pages) can be downloaded here:

http://www.oeko.de/oekodoc/1628/2013-001-en.pdf

•The summary (5 pages) can be downloaded here:

http://www.oeko.de/oekodoc/1629/2013-002-en.pdf

•The press release (1.5 pages) can be downloaded here:

http://www.oeko.de/press/press_releases/dok/1484.php