A pleasant long weekend it was. Starting
with a Thaipusam Friday and a public holiday, Putrajaya BA held a friendly with
a visit from Yap Brothers Academy from Muar, Johor. This academy amazingly boast
the supply of the majority of Johor state players and understandably so since
it is run by the brother of former national doubles specialist, Yap Kim Hock.
We witnessed the likes of Yap Roy
King (13), Yap Sai Kuan (11) and Liew Xun (11) displayed their mesmerizing crafty
skills against our young hopefuls. This is a prelude to what the boys will be
facing against in Zone B of the coming National Junior Circuit in Feb.
Then on a more relaxed Saturday
night, saw Arsenal cruise to a 2 – 0 win at home over Fulham which brought them
back to the top of the EPL league. Thanks to a Santi Cazorla’s brace who is one
of my favorite attacking midfielders which Wenger had the foresight to bring
in.
Finally, on Sunday, where the
Malaysian Open Super Series Premier final was held in Bt Jalil, our local hero
Datuk Lee Chong Wei defended his crown and his 10th home title with
a straight set win over Tommy Sugiarto. The icing on the cake has been our men’s
doubles whom unexpectedly snatched the crown in the finals with similar straight
set win over young Chinese pair of Chai
Biao and Hong Wei.
After winning Chong Wei cradling his young son Kingston said this could
have been his final Malaysia Open.
“I haven’t decided. I have to see how my conditioning is at the end of
the year. I am not sure if I will play till the Rio Olympics in 2016, but I
hope to still be around until then. I have the support of my wife but since
becoming a father last year, I have to think about my family too.”
So could this be a hint that the World No. 1 is finally feeling the
strain of top flight badminton for 5 consecutive years?
http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Badminton/2014/01/20/A-long-dry-spell-ahead-if-Chong-Wei-retires/
Like the saying goes, all good things must come to an end...
http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Badminton/2014/01/20/A-long-dry-spell-ahead-if-Chong-Wei-retires/
Like the saying goes, all good things must come to an end...
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| Lee Chong Wei and his son Kingston Lee |
The BAM are coming out with plans to beef up the grassroots plans by reviving the inter-school, inter-state and inter-club competitions.
ReplyDeleteThis has been tried before and failed to either take root or take off because of poor implementation. Even if it works, it will take probably five to seven years before the nation can see some results.