Monday, April 30, 2007

The Malaysian clashes in Singapore Open

Thanks to the draw, we have Malaysians v Malaysians in the first round of the the Singapore Open. It will be the first tournament where points will be accumulated for the Olympics qualification. Sorry to hear that Roslin will have to stay at home and miss all the fun.

On the other hand, can his younger brother, Hafiz Hashim rise on ocassion? Can the wedding luck continues to be with him throughout the tournament? Can he beat Lee Chong Wei who is on the verge of proving himself? Can Chong Wei defies all odds to resurrect his game? Can Chong Wei even reach the quarterfinals to play against Lin Dan? or is Hafiz going to be the one to face Lin Dan instead of Chong Wei?

It's even worse in the men's doubles. Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong v Zakry/Fairuzizuan in the first round, and Hoon Thien How/Chan Chong Ming v Lee Wan Wah/Choong Tan Fook also in the first round. While the veterans are still in hunger for success, the newly paired Thien How/Chong Ming shall not give up that easilly. I predict the more experienced pair to prevail. Same goes to Kien Keat and Boon Heong. Whether or not Rexy's action in disciplining Kien Keat is fruitful, we'll find out by the end of this week.

Attentions will be on the mixed doubles where the limelight mostly shines on the juniors, Woon Khe Wei/Tan Wee Kiong. They will have to fight the likely Korean pairs in the qualifying round before playing with the best in the main draw. Will miracle be produced? How far can this pair go?

The answers will be revealed soon.

On a side note, Nicol David finally falls to Natalie Grinham 9-4, 9-4, 9-0 in the finals of the Seoul City Open. She only has herself to blame for not being focused. Fear not. I believe she will bounce back. Blaming herself rather than blaming the lightings, or citing injuries as the cause, or other excuses is very acceptable. See, that's what many Malaysian atheletes will have to learn from our squash queen.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

BAM bummed!!

Alright. Not even sure if "bummed" ever exists!!

Anyway, the issue is: BAM has gotten herself in hotsoup with the omision of Hafiz Hashim's entry into the very important back-to-back tournaments, Singapore Open and Indonesian Open.

Excerpt from The Star Online

“How can they forget to submit my name? This is the third time that it is happening to me (his name was also missing from the list in the last year's China Open and this year's Malaysian Open). This is ridiculous"

“I just arrived from Denmark today (yesterday) and I was shocked to find out that my name was not entered for the two tournaments,” said Roslin, who had been playing for the Danish Vendsyssyl Badminton Club."

“I cannot help but feel that this is a sabotage. I cannot accept the explanation that they (the BAM) have missed out my name again. This time, I am not accepting their apology. I am very disappointed,” said Roslin.

“Yes, I wanted badly to win a place in the squad for the world meet. But it will be unfair if I am considered despite missing these last two tournaments that are being used to determine the third singles player for the country for the world meet."

“There are other club players, who are equally determined to win a place in the world meet. For now, I think my hope of playing in the world meet is as good as over.”



Besides the world No. 18 ranked Roslin, the others in the running for the world meet are KLRC Bhd’s Lee Tsuen Seng (16th), Sairul Amar Ayob (22nd) and Yeoh Kay Bin (25th). The top two singles players assured of their places for the world meet are Lee Chong Wei and Roslin’s younger brother Hafiz. Roslin is now looking forward to competing in satellite tournaments to safeguard his world ranking.

“My next goal is to try and qualify for the Olympic Games (in Beijing). By missing the Opens in Singapore and Indonesia, my world ranking will certainly drop,” he lamented.

and how did BAM react?

Taken from The Star:

“There were so many entries and there was a slip-up from the BAM. We realise this ratherlate and we could not make any changes.
The BAM will be more vigilant in dealing with the entries of the players in future,” said Kenny.

He explained further:
“For a start, we have appealed to all the clubs to send one letter of entry for each particular player and tournament in the future,” said Kenny.

“In Roslin’s case, the club had sent one letter on his entries for three tournaments - the Asian Badminton Championships, Singapore and Indonesian Opens. My staff saw only the entry for the ABC."

“It was a human error. We have not made it a rule but we hope to get the co-operation from all the clubs in submitting only one letter per entry. "

“We will also form a committee to go through the entries of all the players before it is submitted to the BWF (Badminton World Federation). This committee, however, will not have decision-making power but they will ensure that qualified and deserving players are not left out of any tournaments.”

On whether any form of compensation would be given to Roslin following the error, Kenny said:

“There is no issue of compensation here. We can only give an assurance that this will not happen in future.”

Roslin's verdict:
“I am going ahead to sue them (the BAM). They can have a meeting with my club (Nusa Mahsuri) but as far as I am concerned, I am not happy with them for making mistakes after mistakes,” said Roslin.



Oh dear. SOOO many entries? How many players actually registered? 500? 1000? BAM's staff must be sleeping. Now that Roslin's taking legal action, they only initiated the corrective action. Funny isn't it? - that when it actually happened before last year in China Open and Malaysia Open, BAM should have opened up their eyes to be MORE CAREFUL and double check the entries. I'm actually supporting Roslin for his move, not that he's my favourite player but I always like to see someone stepping up to do something. What's wrong with sending ONE letter for three tournaments? It saves up EVERYONE'S paper work for sure. The admin clerk must be really blind, or the admin clerk clearly hates Roslin or maybe the BAM is really sabotaging Roslin.

I am no expert in legal matters AT ALL. As far as I'm concerned, as a full-time professional badminton player, his MAIN income comes from sponsorship and the prize money in tournaments. He must have missed a lot of cash inflow so far by missing out in the coming 2 tourneys and the 2 tourneys last year. Well, Roslin. Be smart. Ask for compensation too.

Coming into a more sports-loving view, I really pity Roslin for NOT having the chance to fight for his position to play in the World Championship this year. I know, I know..can still try next year what, but tell me, who likes to be missed out, especially when the world championship is held at your homeground? You can emerge as a hero, who knows, you may even revive your career since you are a very very vigilant fighter on court.

As much as I am a fan of Lee Tsuen Seng (i still remember his glory days), however putting aside of favouritism here, I must say Roslin SHOULD have been given a chance to prove himself too. He's really missing out A LOT for not competing in both tournaments.

I do not know now how the third slot for the world championship will be chosen since those two tourneys will be used as the major factor. If the others performed badly, will Yap Kim Hock be sympathetic to choose Roslin instead? And if let's say Tsuen Seng performed miracle, then Roslin would be left out unfairly.

I'm not sure at all of the effect of the legal actions will be should Roslin succeed. How will it affect BAM and the players under its wings?

You know, sometimes I'm not even sure if Roslin shall win this case. It might take ages to see the outcome, AND.....

Since BAM is a government body, do you think Roslin shall prevail?

Smart move, BAM for sending Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong to an election campaign (Machap).

What do you think?

Friday, April 20, 2007

"The curse of Hafiz Hashim"?

News which arouses my interest.

Excerpt from The Star Online on what Rexy blasted Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong due to their poor performance in the recent ABC.

"The signs are already there. They did not play to expectations in the ABC. They were lucky to win because the Taiwanese pair made more mistakes in the second game."

“Kien Keat tends to play to the gallery and this is what I fear most, especially when it comes to the World Championships (which will be held in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 13-19). "

“It will be the same situation when it comes to the World Championships. A full capacity crowd is expected whenever a big competition takes place here. The only difference is all the top players in the world are competing and I do not want them to repeat this,”
said Rexy yesterday.

“They had just won their first title in the Doha Asian Games (in December) but the expectations then were not as great compared to now."

“People are looking up to them because of their successes on the international arena and the attention and praises are getting to them."

“I do not want them to lose their focus. They are still young and mentally they are not that strong yet. "

“The main goal is the World Championships and next year's Olympics. They have not won it yet. If they have become an Olympic champion, then they can really celebrate,”
added Rexy.

For the record, Malaysia have never produced an Olympic champion in any sport. And Rexy is prepared to step in to prevent the situation from turning bad, including taking away their handphones if Kien Keat-Boon Heong continue to be distracted by external factors during a competition.

If I have to impose any restriction, it is for their own good. I treat all the players under my care the same, irrespective of how many titles they have won.”


and I want to add this which is taken from the New Straits Times Online

"Nathan Robertson-Gail Emms’ (mixed doubles pair of England) celebrations extended to three months after they won the World Championships in Madrid last September and they have not won a title since."


So to say is, their low performance in the ABC is due to the celebrationS they attended after winning the All England (not surprising).

It's easy to get to the top, but maintaining their position is definitely difficult. If taking away handphones from them just to make them concentrate, I think it's a little too serious. They are adults, and yet they still have to be controlled by the coach.

What I'm trying to point out is that having such high profile career where you are carrying the nation's name is NOT easy. They have distractions, they are allowed to linger around and have quite a freedom as compared to the Chinese players. At first I thought that being someone who represents China would be similar to living in a soldier camp where all you have to do is to train, train, and train like robots. Wang Lin, a women's singles junior player who frequently updated her blog was instructed to stop blogging just because it will disrupt her performance. It was illogical at the first thought. However their perseverance of facing such ordeal lives paid off when they are constantly dominating in almost every discipline.

So, when I read this:
taken from the New Straits Times Online
"Nathan Robertson-Gail Emms’ (mixed doubles pair of England) celebrations extended to three months after they won


I was shocked. That was a little overrated. Now at least Rexy has some point to prove to our hopes, Kien Keat and Boon Heong. It's ok if you want to slack off when you are self-employed but it's NOT ok if you go off track when you are REPRESENTING the country. All eyes will be on you both. Ok. The same goes to our junior players, back up players, AND Lee Chong Wei, Kuan Beng Hong and Hafiz Hashim. Just do not get the "curse of Hafiz Hashim" - winning the All England and then flops eventually.

You win, we praise. You lose, we condemn.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

First Buzz

I've decided to start blogging about sports of my interest anonymously because at the moment I still do not feel confident about my writings and my thoughts.

Why Malaysian Sports?

It's because of the exposure from the daily newspapers I have on Malaysian athletes who have been bringing up the name of Malaysia internationally.

Mostly, this blog is going to be on badminton because it is my number one favourite sports. I know our badminton team's performance has been a yoyo but thank god we have Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong to save us from the embarrassment. I know it's not easy to shoulder such huge responsibilities when the whole nation is expecting you to deliver, after all badminton is one of the few Malaysian proud. That is why, our Men's singles players like Lee Chong Wei, Hafiz Hashim and Kuan Beng Hong HAVE to be ready to carry our country's name proudly. I've heard a lot of reasons on Chong Wei's downfall recently. I would say, if you are from China, you're most definitely going to hear more critiques than here in malaysia. Buck up!

As much as I always like to criticize them when they're underperforming, I also always give my fullest support to them when they're on court. But being a typical Malaysian they always let me down, especially during the finals.

I am going to try my very best to follow the upcoming Singapore Open and try to write down my thoughts. I know it will be a challenge to me because I have not done it before.

Besides badminton, once in a while I may also blog on other sports. Squash, definitely because Nicol David is certainly who we really appreciate, having won soooo many major tournaments and having the mental strength is really something which our badminton players should learn. She once lost in the 2002 Busan Asian Games when everyone had expected her to deliver the gold medal. She was disappointed. She was criticized by the media, and yet she bounced strongly after that, winning tournaments after tournaments, including the World Champion which she had successfully defended. I'm really proud. Malaysia is really proud of her.

What else do I have in mind at the moment? Swimming - I remember some names too. Like Daniel Bego finished a second later than the world's fastest swimmer or something in some strait swimming? Diving - Yeoh Ken Nee and his partner finished silver in a highly ranked tournament in CHina a few days ago. Sorry, I think I should start paying attention to these two discipline if I want to blog. I know it's irritating to have partial information here.

Not forgetting we have Sazali who won the Mr Universe(i admit i'm not really into body building). Well, what about our tracks and fields? I don't think we have that much runners/high jumpers/long jumpers/shot putters to be able to challenge the world.

But we still have Ng Shu Wai for gymnast but no one else comes closer than him so far in malaysia. There still so much room of improvement for him. It's sad to see that we do not have that much proper management in artistic gymnastic section. I make such conclusion based on what i've read from the newspaper because there were always several issues regarding on where he should go to train.

Why buzzingbambee.blogspot.com?
Well, I am not that creative in names, so I thought since my focus will be on badminton, so BAM should be the first on my mind. I've seen cars number plates with BAMBEE followed by the numbers. At first i wanted it to be bambee.blogspot.com, but it was taken. I've checked that website and it's not updated since donkey years ago, so why not the owner deletes it and let me have it.. Hmm. Anyway, i added buzzing at the front. It goes very will with BEE, and I think it can also be intepreted as "what's buzzing in BAM?"

Yeah, I think that should be it for the introduction of this newly registered blog. Please note that sometimes I may be biased but I will try my very best to be professional (wanna-be).