Secret of Successful Badminton Nations

http://mystarjob.com/articles/story.aspx?file=%2F2012%2F5%2F29%2Fmystarjob_features%2F20120529185723&sec=mystarjob_features

Why are progressive countries like China,Korea,Japan,Germany ,Denmark and even Thailand continuing to push the boundaries of success? Do they look for scapegoats ,look for someone to blame or bark like dogs everytime something goes wrong?No, they have a culture of continuous improvement and single minded purpose in things they do and do not get entangled in nit-picking and have a long term and holistic view of things they do and what needs to be done.It all boils down to the culture and mentality of a people and is what separates an advanced society from a basically 3rd world people.If that 3rd world culture and mentality is not
erased,be prepared to wallow in the dirt.
To achieve things all members of a country or organisation must share the same passion and work together as one,ie, THE TEAM whether it is the leader,foot soldier or cook. 

Badminton Powerhouses-From Hero to Zero

Many countries are currently on the ascent whilst others are descending.Those on the ascent like China,Korea,Japan,Germany,Taiwan,Denmark and Thailand have been quite consistent through the ages and are technologically advanced and progressive societies which do well also in other areas and fields.Countries like England and Sweden have simply lost interest as they are more interested in things European whilst some countries in South East Asia actually chose to decline,as their politicians boast,one must take 2 steps backward in order to be able to move 10 steps forward (but more probably they are actually taking 2 steps backwards and moving 3 steps forward only for decades at a huge cost to the citizens).let's study an example.

In the 70s India was a world power in field hockey but then the government decided to change its policy:
1) It seems that India was powerful only because the team was selected from players from a certain community from a district from the hundreds available in India.It was a close-knit team which functioned effectively as a team.The other communities were unhappy and demanded that this bad practice be stopped, this elitism was no good for national unity and the government had to select a team whose members represented a cross section of society in India. So politics was prioritised over excellence in sports.
2) Indian players had great skills with the hockey stick and dribbled well and was very effective on grass turfs.But then world hockey insisted on artificial turf in internationals and this blunted them as there weren't that many astro-turfs in India and it blunted their superiority in dribbling.the game became more physical and technical and Europeans started to dominate the sport.

The 2 points summarised may not be really accurate accounts and I apologise if it offends anyone but it serves to show how sports can be affected by the political,economic,social and technological environment.
 To those still dreaming of having their cake and eating it at the same time and trying to please everyone and still come up with an excellent formula, I can only say,all the best.
 Americans had a simple formula for achieving excellence,KISS ie.keep it simple,stupid.  

Badminton in danger in the Olympics?

http://www.cncworld.tv/news/v_show/24746_Badminton_not_affected_at_Olympics.shtml
This is the response from the BWF about the status of badminton in the Olympics.The rumors were probably raised by a certain fox of a player desperate for attention or with an agenda to attract more fans and business opportunities to his school.This has-been character keeps hanging on in the circuit and getting obliterated by any Tom Dick and Harry but does it so that he can promote his business.He keeps polishing himself and tries to convince people that he is an angel promoting badminton when all he does is actually promoting his own interests and doesn't even do enough to help his own country's players unlike,say, players from China who work as a team,make personal sacrifices and have a good succession culture.He tries to be a hero to his people and instigates his countrymen especially in the field of China- bashing supported perhaps unintentionally by a certain badminton magazine desperate for more income hits.
 There is something called ethics even in business,using other institutions to promote personal business is irresponsible and unethical, unfortunately it is common practice amongst many communities in South East Asia. This clown known for being the chief moaner and cry baby of the circuit is surely in line to become a shifty politician in his home country,where a large percentage of the population are ignorant rural folks.He has even managed to convince many people in the global badminton fraternity past and present (some who are famous ex-player aunties) who are dumb enough into promoting him and his vested interests in the media.
His country has been reduced recently to a minnow in the world of badminton.Instead of looking at themselves in the mirror and identifying their own internal problems and weaknesses ,as usual they try to look for an external threat to shift the blame and try to shift the goalposts to gain some advantage by accusing others of "cheating" and not doing enough to promote the sport.Fortunately history has proved that the rest of the world are not fools and unsophisticated and primitive tactics like that are self-deluding and will only cause a community to remain running on the spot in a stone age.I, for one,was not born yesterday and won't easily allow cunning people to pool the wool over my eyes.

Lin Dan comments on Darren Liew

http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/05/28/match-against-liew-darren-was-most-interesting-lin-dan/

Other than Darren,LD had already praised Chong Wei Feng. Its ridiculous that these youngsters had not been allowed to develop but used as sparring partners for LCW.Everybody wants to benefit and ride on LCW's success but developing new winners is something else.There are some really sinister people working/worked  for the BAM.
It was a few years back when Li Mao complained about having no players to train and juniors like Darren and Chong Wei Feng not being allowed to move from the juniors to the seniors.But then when the "junior" juniors were not allowed to join the elite recently the erratic local coach threw a tantrum and quit.When coaches were asked why juniors like Liew or Chong were not sent to tournaments overseas the excuse was always lack of funds or that it was not worthwhile as they never delivered.Probably these coaches never heard that Rome was not built in a day and that players need to be exposed to different grades of tournaments to gradually build their confidence.Some of the coaches even have the cheek or are naive enough to blame the administration for their recent Thomas Cup failures.
  I suspect there is a continuing underlying agenda by certain quarters to emulate Indonesia into politicising badminton, making representation and management of the sport more communal in nature instead of focussing objectively on results and merit.There was even audacious statements that children of certain coaches were the best even though the public can easily judge by watching them perform on TV.This is an agenda already successful in most of the institutions in the country,badminton being one of the last strongholds.If this is true,for certain, the country will also emulate Indonesia in joining the ranks of the minnows eventually.Unfortunately this is an ailment that cannot be treated in Malaysia and the tide irreversible because of an underlying agenda and lack of integrity.
  Objectively,and politics and secret agenda aside,if everything in this world had to deliver instant results humankind will be doomed as there will be no pioneer research,archaeology, investments for posterity etc.which are long term goals and don't yield quick returns.

http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2012/8/28/sports/11922070&sec=sports

Walkovers in Badminton Tournaments

http://www.borneobulletin.com.bn/weekend/news/may26s7.htm

Guess who the rabble rousers are and the role of a certain net identity claiming to promote badminton but really out to attract more hits and income to the site.  

Li Yong Bo on 2012 Thomas and Uber Cup

http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2012/5/26/sports/11362377&sec=sports
Li Yong Bo offers his views, sure to be received with brickbats by ranting irrational rivals,who politicise and pour all their frustrations and failures on him negatively,but not responding positively by working and solving their own deficiencies and  taking him on in the badminton Court,like gutsy Japan,Korea and Denmark .Its no wonder the flops keep sliding in the ranks when they cant see the wood for the trees.

2012 Thomas and Uber Cup Finals Trends and Updates

At the Semi Finals stage of the Thomas and Uber Cup certain trends are becoming obvious :

1) Progressive nations like China and Korea continue to improve in the Uber Cup,albeit with minor flaws.Other progressive countries like Japan,Taiwan,Germany and Thailand continue to progress and threaten to upstage the top two.Countries like Indonesia and Malaysia continue to be stuck in their insularity,protection,
complacency and archaic systems just like other institutions in their countries and continue to fall behind, although Indonesia has provided some sparks from their young players,probably because they recognize their limitations and have sought help from outsiders.
2) In the Thomas Cup it is still the big guns of China,Korea,Japan and Denmark holding the fort, whilst yet again Malaysia and Indonesia have fallen by the wayside.Just as Japan had beaten Malaysia in the last series, this time they also claimed Indonesia's scalp denying Indonesia a place in the semis for the first time since 1958.Korea has the help of Chen Gang, Japan the stewardship of Park Joo Bong and Indonesia the help of Li Mao (but only showing results with the women.). It is no secret that many of the senior Indon Thomas Cup players do not accept Li Mao's methods and continue to rely on their old local coaches,lets see how far they go. Malaysia as usual still maintains their top heavy bureaucracy with foreign coaches passing through like a who's who like Han Jian,Yang Yang,Fang Kai Xiang,Frost,Park Joo Bong, Rexy Maniaky,Li Mao,Yoo Yung Sung,Hendrawan and most of the locals do not appear to have learned anything from these greats but continue to bay for more local "talent" to institute changes and progress as the rest of the world keeps moving ahead.In Malaysia's case it is reflective of everything else in society,resisting change,preserving old comfort zones,taking the easy way out and earning easy money, keeping jobs and maintaining lifetime employment.Darren Liew and Chong Wei Feng have shown signs of coming through but it is alarming that they are only now coming through when it should have happened long ago.Even foreign coaches have made comments on Hafiz's physical limitations and limited skills but local players dont even have the vision  or guidance to see it and displace him.
  In short both Indonesia and Malaysia seem to have a common thread in their slide and only the blind can fail to see it. It is not only confined to a petty thing like badminton ,and all boils down to a primitive culture steeped in feudalism, politics in everything,poor values and lack of ethics and a very weak education system.The key words are  well forgotten words in the local vocabulary such as  "MERIT", "OBJECTIVITY"and "INTEGRITY" ,words which are part of everyday life elsewhere but are extinct in the local mentality and exemplified in the nature of the leadership.

2012 Yonex Badminton Racquet Chart

2012 Chart

2011 Chart