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!