Badminton: A lot of work still needed to become world-beaters
News 11:09 AM
KOTA KINABALU: Thanks to China, Malaysian shuttlers enjoyed a big payout in the just concluded US$500,000 Super Series Masters Finals at the Likas Indoor Stadium here.
Malaysia had qualifiers in all five events and they dug in for a total of US$147,500 (RM513,000). And the big share of the pie was earned from three outstanding winning performances — Lee Chong Wei (men’ singles, US$40,000), Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (men’s doubles, US$42,000) and Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty (women’s doubles, US$42,000).
Money aside, it was a good achievement considering that Malaysia have never won three titles in a single Open championships.
Chong Wei claimed his first title as world number one; Kien Keat-Boon Heong defeated several top pairs to regain their confidence after having struggled with their acts for almost a year; and Eei Hui-Pei Tty continued to give Malaysian women’s badminton a boost by nailing their biggest career win.
But when celebrations over the triple successes die down, reality will remain painful for Malaysia badminton.
Can the Malaysian players pull off the same feat in the presence of the mighty China players?
China withdrew all their qualifiers for the Masters Finals citing three reasons — that it had been a long season; they did not want to risk their players to injuries; and all those in their national team had to attend a three-month camp.
For the season-opening Super Series tournament, the Malaysian Open scheduled for Jan 6-11 at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil, China will only be represented by their second stringers. Their best will make a return at the All-England in March.
Getting the better of the Chinese players should be the challenge and mission for the Malaysians next season.
Chong Wei showed superb speed and great determination in outclassing Indonesian Taufik Hidayat and Dane Peter Gade-Christensen in the semi-finals and final of the Masters Finals respectively.
These qualities were much lacking in his performances at the World Championships last year (he bowed out early to Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro) and in the final of the Beijing Olympics last August (he was thrashed by China’s Lin Dan).
Chong Wei has set goals to win the big ones this year — the All-England and the World Championships in August.
In these tournaments, the Chinese brigade of Lin Dan, Chen Jin and Bao Chunlai and a host of newcomers will be the big tests for Chong Wei to underline his status as the world’s best.
For Eei Hui-Pei Tty, it would have been improbable for them to win the Masters Finals if two of these three Chinese pairs were in the fray — Du Jing-Yu Yang, Zhang Yawen-Zhao Tingting and Zhao Yunlei-Cheng Shu.
But recent breakthrough wins have whetted their appetite for greater success.
“In reality, the players from China are better than us. But Eei Hui and I have bridged the gap. Now, we know that we can go into every tournament with a chance of giving them good fights. Eventually, we want to get the better of them,” said Pei Tty.
The absence of China in the men’s doubles, however, did not leave a big impact as it did in the other events. Only Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng were missing from the cast.
For Kien Keat-Boon Heong, it was a timely morale boost for them to beat Olympic champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia and All-England winners Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae en route to winning the title.
Together with compatriots Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif and several national back-up pairs waiting at the wing, Malaysia can look forward to getting more good results from the men’s doubles department next year.
But the bottom line remains — Malaysia still need to put in a lot of work to continue to raise their standard of badminton in all the events.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 11:09 AM.
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