Friday, December 30, 2011

BAM ‘pilih kasih’



The heading simply means double standards. And that is what Malaysia's top Malay daily tabloid Harian Metro is implying on the Badminton Association of Malaysia.

The fact that BAM has some preferred players has been obvious but the main stream papers have been somewhat cajoled into not writing the truth. There are so many "little napoleons" with BAM that one can be forgiven if the phrase warlord and godfathers is used to describe ongoings in sports scenario.

The article meanwhile outlines the fact that players are punished just because they are aligned to a private club, KLRC in particular, and while all kind of rules of engagement are used against players donning the KLRC name, some others are treated with tender gloves, akin to these players having some kind of special protection.

Yes, BAM will come out with all sorts of theories and denials, yet how will they evade this scenario, especially since a statement was made on TV that World Junior Champion Zulfadli Zulkifli will not find a place in the Thomas Cup squad.

Now I wonder what criteria was used to determine this when the same person came out and said that the performances of the last six months will count towards determining the Thomas and Uber Cup squads. So how is it that Julia Wing is not being considered although she has a higher ranking then some BAM players.

The best should represent the country, that we all agree, but not TWO people in BAM. They play politics and have vested interests, simple. Who cares about their so called motto that they have been serenading all the while - in the interest of the nation, what a load of bull.


ADAKAH Persatuan Badminton Malaysia (BAM) mengamalkan sistem ‘'pilih kasih’ terhadap pemain yang keluar meninggalkan badan induk badminton negara itu, apabila dengan sengaja menetapkan syarat berbeza.

Contoh terbaik isu Tan Chun Seang yang diharamkan menyertai kejohanan di Asia selepas bertindak keluar dari BAM manakala hak Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen dirampas daripada beraksi di Kejohanan Dunia 2010 yang sehingga kini dikatakan masih belum ada penyelesaian selain isu pelbagai syarat dikenakan terhadap Zakry Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari andai mereka ingin berlatih bersama skuad negara di Bukit Kiara secara berkala.

Syarat yang dikenakan terhadap lima pemain disebutkan itu sekadar contoh yang mungkin dihadapi lebih ramai pemain sebelum ini tetapi yang menjadi kemusykilan mengapa gandingan adik-beradik Ng Hui Lin-Ng Hui Ern bebas berlatih bersama skuad negara meskipun sudah keluar dari BAM.

Apakah kerana ada ‘payung’ besar yang memayungi sehingga BAM tidak berani mengatakan tidak kepada mereka? Hui Lin-Hui Ern, kedua-duanya sedang melanjutkan pelajaran di United Kingdom pulang bercuti di tanah air bebas berlatih tanpa syarat di Bukit Kiara tidak seperti pemain yang disebutkan tadi.

Hui Lin yang ditemui mengakui BAM tidak meletakkan syarat untuk dia menjalani latihan di Bukit Kiara setiap kali pulang ke Malaysia.

“Saya dan Hui Ern seperti sebelum ini, menjalani latihan dengan pasukan kebangsaan tapi kami bukan lagi bernaung di bawah BAM,” kata Hui Lin.

Meskipun dua adik-beradik ini tidak bernaung di bawah mana-mana kelab atau persatuan lain, mereka tetap mengikuti pertandingan di Eropah dalam tempoh melanjutkan pelajaran.

Perbezaan antara dua beradik ini dengan pemain yang lain hanyalah status majikan (kelab). Mungkin mereka tidak perlukan majikan kerana ada ibu bapa yang berkemampuan untuk membiayai mereka.

Apapun, hakikatnya Hui Lin-Hui Ern sudah keluar dari BAM dan hal itu disahkan sendiri Pengurus Besar BAM, Kenny Goh yang mengatakan kedua-dua pemain terbabit meninggalkan badan induk badminton negara, Oktober lalu tetapi masih mendapat hak berlatih di Bukit Kiara tanpa syarat.

Tidak dinafikan tidak ada salahnya untuk Hui Lin-Hui Ern berlatih bersama skuad kebangsaan meskipun mereka tidak lagi bernaung di bawah BAM tetapi mengapa pemain lain dikenakan pelbagai syarat.

Adik-beradik itu yang melanjutkan pelajaran di Universiti Larborough dalam jurusan ekonomi mengambil bahagian dalam Kejohanan Antarabangsa Wales dan Ireland dan muncul juara dalam acara beregu wanita di kedua-dua kejohanan terbabit.

Seperti pernah ditegaskan Setiausaha Kehormat BAM, Ng Chin Chai sebelum ini, dua beradik itu tetap dianggap atlet kebangsaan, namun menjadi persoalan mengapa kedua-duanya tidak menggunakan jersi Malaysia ketika bertanding di Eropah? “Kami bertanding di Eropah dengan menggunakan nama Malaysia tapi kami tidak menggunakan jersi negara,” akur Hui Lin.

Jika benar mereka masih dianggap atlet kebangsaan seharusnya ada penetapan supaya mereka mengikut garis panduan ditetapkan ketika mewakili negara oleh BAM.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

SMASHED ADVERT



Having seen the Maybank advert on TV, I did some research on the Internet with regards to the smash record. And really if some in BAM or Maybank would have done the same then we could have potentially avoided a wrongful or mis-representation of an advert.

Read on...

For reasons I will outline below, the official badminton smash record is still 332km/h (206mph).

This record was set by Chinese Badminton Doubles player Fu Haifeng (a left-hander like Boon Heong) in the 2005 Sudirman Cup.

Boon Heong’s and Kawamae’s badminton smash records are significantly faster – is this because these players have much more powerful smashes, or because the ArcSaber Z-Slash is far superior to the Yonex Titanium 10 which Fu Haifeng used when he broke the record in 2005? I think not.

The badminton smash speeds with the ArcSaber Z-Slash are not comparable to Fu Haifeng’s record for three reasons:

Measuring method: High speed video equipment was used in the Yonex speed trials rather than the microwave technology which is used to record shuttlecock speed in matches.

Situation: The smash was not hit during a match. It is much easier to smash harder when the shuttlecock is being fed to you in a relaxed situation.

Unofficial status of readings: The speed was recorded by Yonex rather than by badminton officials.

In fact, even in 2005, Fu Haifeng’s smash was not the fastest badminton smash to have been measured.

At the 2001 Swiss Open, high speed video was used to measure badminton smash speeds in speed tests similar to that performed by Yonex at the Japan Open.

The results (on the internet archive – can take a while to load) included a 364km/h smash from J. Laugesen of Denmark.

But of course Fu Haifeng’s smash was considered to be the official record.

And of course, if Yonex are so confident they’d have compared the ArcSaber Z-Slash to other badminton rackets in the speed test and be publishing those results too.

You can draw your own conclusions about the effect that being in a speed test has on a player’s smash speed, but the technology used in each case is interesting too – so here’s some information about radar guns and high speed video compares for measuring shuttlecock speeds.

The Technology: Radar Guns and High Speed Video

Fu Haifeng’s record badminton smash was measured the same way speeds are measured during all sporting events: using a radar gun, which measures the change in frequency of microwaves bouncing off the moving object (in other words the gun measures the Doppler effect on the microwaves). The advantage of this method is that every shot in a rally can be logged, and the fastest can be displayed as soon as the the rally ends.

The Yonex speeds were measured using high speed video, which requires manual analysis of the speed, so cannot provide instant feedback. For this reason it is more suitable in test situations such as Yonex’ speed test. Here’s the high speed video in action measuring Boon Heong’s 421km/h smash:

This equipment, provided by NAC, typically records video at 300fps, allowing slow motion 6-12x slower than normal speed. This technology was used at the Olympics and is being used increasingly in sports for showing slow-motion replay – regular slow motion in sports coverage is around 3x slower than normal speed – approximately 75fps.

According to their site, their equipment will be used by SKY during their coverage of the All England next year. NAC’s site has a variety of interesting slow motion videos.

So is the big difference between Fu Haifeng’s record and Boon Heong’s badminton smash speed due to the measuring equipment used? Possibly.

Shuttlecocks are light and have high air-resistance, so they slow down significantly over a short distance. Slow-motion video captures can be used to measure the speed at any point in its flight, so Yonex’s measurement presumably measure the speed of the shuttlecock immediately after the initial impact, when it is at its fastest.

I am not convinced that the radar guns used in the Sudirman cup would have captured the speed immediately after impact. I have not been able to find much information on the internet about this – the most relevant information was from a baseball chat forum:

“The Jugs Speed Gun (Fast Gun) will pick up the speed of the fast ball after it has travelled 3.5 feet”

So it’s entirely possible that the radar gun speed measured the shuttlecocks a foot or so after impact, which would means that Fu Haifeng’s smash was actually significantly faster than the 332km/h which was recorded. However, this is pure speculation on my part as I not been able to discover what type of radar gun equipment is used now, let alone during the 2005 Sudirman Cup.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

DEAD MAYBANK MALAYSIAN OPEN WEBSITE


Sometimes I wonder if those who call themselves educationalists or experienced badminton administrators know what they are doing when it comes to dissemination of information.

No I am not talking about what happened during a talk show at a pay per view TV station where the guest was so evasive with regards to the questions posed that even the main actor in the TV drama series Lie To Me would have a tough time trying to read this guy.

But rather the focus is on the Maybank Malaysian Open Badminton Super Series 2012 and their so-called official website, the link which is as follows:

Now go onto the website and you will find nothing on the tournament that is newsworthy, not even a history of the tournament, write up on the sponsors, even biodata of Malaysian players let alone the top players that are coming for the tournament.

Websites are supposed to be the epitome for news and promotion of the country. And the so-called consultants from the Tourism Ministry were taken all the way to New Zealand so that they could help prepare and do presentation for the bid for the Sudirman Cup, that in reality Malaysia had already won technically since the other bidder Australia had withdrawn two days prior to the BWF meeting.

It is bad enough that the BAM website just collects news from newspapers and pastes them and frequently is down due to exceeded bandwidth.

And here you have a website that is something similar to what Malaysian Hockey Federation and the 1MAS website has – absolutely zilch.

It is easy to talk about something one does not know, so while I will not talk about badminton coaching, I feel that I have much more experience in websites and sports management that some who claim that they do not slander me.

My ex-friend who claims that you have never slandered me, and the administrator who cannot reason objectively, this is nothing personal, but it is clear that you have no inkling on what you are doing.

It is easy to claim in the interest of the nation, but if this website is in the interest of the nation, I do hope you are watching this little space Maybank, for you are being taken for one hell of  a ride.

Monday, December 26, 2011

KELADAK BAM

That was the keyword in the story carried by Utusan Malaysia quoting Dato Misbun Sidek as to why he would not return to the Badminton Association Malaysia.

The para in the story is repeated here below:

"Perkara ini (permintaan Chong Wei) sebenarnya tidaklah susah sangat, tetapi hendak membersihkan 'keladak' itu yang susah. Ketika saya hendak keluar dulu, ada keladak yang kena dicuci, kemudian ia bersih dan perlu dicuci semula.

Now the little I know of Bahasa and from what I gathered after asking other journalists, "keladak" literally means algae or residue.

And if one were to read the quote, then it is clear that Misbun was hinting at some personalities within BAM that are hanging on to their positions and creating a divide in Malaysian badminton.

Now I was privileged to sit with Misbun for well over two hours, some three months before he quit BAM and I feel it is time that the details of those conversations be made public.

Trust me when I say that some officials in BAM will not sleep easy as they have portrayed that they are saving badminton but in reality are taking it to another notch, below.

What have you delivered in the past two years in charge, well you cannot even get the media to carry players wearing Maybank logos on the shirts in the print media.

Or is it done to please the master?

Friday, December 23, 2011

MAU KERJA

Well the Malaysian Athletic Union will be conducting walk in interviews on December 30 from 10am onwards at the National Stadium ( next to the Yakeb office).

The position to be filled is as the General Manager.

Registration is at 10am and the panel will commence the interviews at 11am.

This transparent exercise is in stark contrast to the questionable manner in which the Badminton Association of Malaysia has handled the process of picking their High Performance Director.

Well what say you BAM? At least MAU are transparent...

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

MEDIA SPOKESPERSON FOR FAM

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) must inform the Negeri Sembilan Football Association in writing if the floodlights at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi did not meet the specifications and not just announce it in the newspapers.

Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan who is also the Negeri Sembilan FA President said he only came to know of the matter after reading the newspapers Wednesday.

"I didn't know.....but according to reports that I received, inspection was carried out two or three times at the stadium and everyone said it was okay. What is not up to the mark? If it did not meet the specification, they (FAM) should have told us a long time ago and not now when the season is about to kickoff," he told reporters here today.

Mohamad Hasan was commenting on newspapers reports today that the floodlights at the Kota Baharu, Kuala Terengganu and Paroi stadiums did not meet the specification set by the FAM.

Mohamad Hasan said the state FA should have been informed in writing and not release it to the newspapers.

"I as the president of the Negeri Sembilan FA was not aware of the matter....I only knew about it after reading the newspapers. Who is playing? The newspapers or the Negeri Sembilan team? he asked.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

WHY THE DELAY NSC?

Malaysia is my country, says Zulfadli



BY: HARESH DEOL

KUALA LUMPUR: World and Asian junior champion Zulfadli Zulkifli has been offered to play for the United States in the Thomas Cup.

Internal bickering and the failure to acknowledge Zulfadli's efforts could prompt the youngster to don Uncle Sam’s colours.

Zulfadli is yet to receive his incentives estimated at RM50,000 since last year.

However, the Los Angeles-born lad does not want to turn his back on Malaysia — not at the moment, anyway.

Zulfadli’s dad Zulkifli Sidek, who is also his coach, confirmed his son was approached by the US Badminton Association and a US player. They want to strengthen the US team for the Thomas Cup.

It is pertinent to point out Zulkifli used to train the US team from 1990-94.

"My son said no. He wants to play for Malaysia and I guess he pretty much made up his mind,” said Zulkifli.

“I also want Zulfadli to play for Malaysia and I’m happy he made that choice.

"But I hope to see Zulfadli in the Malaysian team for next year's Thomas Cup, even as a reserve.”

BAM have yet to name the squad for the Thomas Cup in May 20-27 in Wuhan, China.

Former junior player Arif Latiff was part of the Thomas Cup team in 2008.

Zulfadli was apparently approached by an official during last year’s Thomas and Uber Cups held in KL. The USA team played in the Uber Cup.

American player Howard Bach followed up later to ask Zulfadli to consider playing for US as they “lacked singles players”.

Zulfadli, who plays under the KLRC banner, is yet to receive his incentives since winning honours for the country last year.

Zulfadli was the placed third in the 2010 Asia Junior championships and the national team were runnersup in the same competition.

This year, he won the World and Asian junior championships and the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Zulkifli insisted his son was not demanding the incentives but found it strange how quickly Sea Games medal-winners were rewarded in a pomp affair.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak graced that ceremony at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara on Friday.

Zulfadli is preparing for the India Open GP Gold (Dec 20-25) before heading to the US for a training cum holiday stint.

Friday, December 09, 2011

NEW WEBSITE



It is with great pleasure and pride that I wish to inform you that I will now be administering the website www.hockey-asia.com.

This website was developed by Jaap Syuk and he has handed over the site for me to maintain and further develop. And I am grateful and indebted to him for having the faith and confidence in letting me take over the site without any cost involved.

In order to develop the site, I will need to fund it and hopefully there will be sponsors who will back me up. And I hope to merge my blogs into the tie to make it a one stop site for hockey fans.

At a time hockey administrators in my own country lack faith in my ability, it's good to note that foreigners are willing to hand over years of hard work of their own for me to explore or the benefit of hockey in Malaysia and Asia.

I hope to start updating the site from this Monday and the Sea Cup in Myanmar next week will be provided coverage as I intend to be there, with or without sponsors secured.

On another note please log on to www.malaysianhockey.blogspot.com where there are two articles on the Olympic Qualifiers process as well as the next Champions Challenge 1. The articles provide insight on issues raised in the main stream media of late.

Read on and thank you.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

CHANGE OF DATES

Seems that SUKMA dates have been changed from May to July, more precisely from July 4 to July 15.

Sukma Pahang will feature 24 events, 19 compulsory sports and five choice namely boxing, volleyball, petanque, equestrian and golf with participation of 14 state contingents and Brunei.

All sporting events will take place in four districts of Kuantan, Pekan, Rompin and Temerloh with 80 percent of the events held in Kuantan.

Funny thing the NSC, the guardians of Sukma are quiet on this news and have wrecked havoc on the domestic calendar.

Thursday, December 01, 2011

HIGH PERFORMANCE DIRECTOR OF CLERK?

The Badminton Association of Malaysia has advertised for a High Performance Director position, as seen in the advert below.

It is not a new position but one that key personalities were eager to fill so that they could get rid of Dato James Selvaraj who holds the position currently.

Just look at the job description and see if it fits requirements of a HPD, And mind you the advert has no closing date so take your time to apply.


Now have a look at part of a HPD criteria that Canadian Fencing has requested for in its advert. See that stark difference in job decscription.


One key element is the reporting line as the BAM wants the High Performance Director to report to the General Manager, someone who has always advocated that he is an educationalist and has over the past few months went to great lengths to slander this blogger.

So my question to the great BAM leaders, are you looking for a clerk or a High Performance Director?