Thursday, August 14, 2008

Beijing Olympics - Badminton

For awhile I've been blogging about the state of politics in Malaysia - current issues that make you vomit blood. Surely one of them is corruption and more corrupt cases being dug out like worms.

So, one issue that puts me in disbelief this time is about our national badminton team competing in the Olympics. What a shame! Do I need to say anything else??? Blogging at this moment while anticipating LCW match up against SDK. LCW should pull through to the semi-finals. Beside this point, what more can I say about the rest? Pathetic.

With all the hype going into the games, they flopped yet again. Again? Not a surprise to me at least going by the way they played out their matches. They have everything there e.g. skills, experience, match temperament, well prepared, one of the best coaches, etc, etc. But what they don't have....I tell you, the Winning Mentality!

Many a time our players go into a tournament saying last 16, last 8 or last 4 will be satisfactory. What kind of target is that??? Why can't they aim for a championship medal or No.1 spot? It's not about boasting, it's about one's confidence. If don't have confident, why participate in the first place? Sports is all about winning and huge money being spent to get one prepared and going.

I've said before in my blog; badminton is not a powerhouse sport but Malaysia has the tradition as a badminton playing nation and a top one too. It is the only event which Malaysia can win a medal (gold???) in international games but yet still remains elusive, each time when it matters most. I would not want to single out the players that flopped in the Olympics, after all they already given up winning before they landed in China.

Like when a commentator asked one of the players about the chances of winning, he just said "if only we can beat the Japs first"! That's from our young hotshots. Couldn't he say, "going to gun for the gold no matter what"? See, mentally he is not prepared or "programmed" to win but lose! Of course there is no 'draw' otherwise....

Aghast is the word to sum up my feelings for the badminton team for now. Over to you Lee Chong Wei.

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