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