Shuttletalks - RCL Shuttlecocks Review

I was very excited when I was asked to review RCL’s shuttlecocks as this would be my first review on a badminton product on Shuttletalks. Before I start talking about my experience using RCL’s shuttles, let me just talk about shuttlecocks in general.

Firstly there at 16 feathers in the shuttlecock with each feather 70mm in length. Why is it not 18, 20 or 24 but 16? Honestly I dont have an answer but I think the size, weight of the shuttle and the racquet head size was taken into consideration when they developed a shuttle. A badminton shuttlecock weighs around 4.75 - 5.50 grams. The diameter of the cork is 25-28mm and the diameter of the circle that the feathers make is around 54mm.

The feathers from the shuttles come from Geese as their feathers are strong and are suited for durability. The top grade shuttles have their feathers selected from the right wing on the goose and I was told that only a few feathers from the wings have the natural shape to make top grade shuttles.

Ok now for the real stuff… I was given 3 types of shuttles from RCL which are RCL’s Professional, Titanium and No.1. Professional being their second grade shuttles with the flight speed of 77, while Titanium was their first grade - 76 speed and No.1 being their top grade with the flight speed of 77. To me what is important is the flight of the shuttle, how the flight is maintained throughout and of course the durability of the shuttles.

With the 3 criteria’s as above, I went to the courts on Sunday to try the shuttles out with my buddies who normally use RSL shuttles ( I don’t think they are brothers or family). We normally play doubles and what better way to put these shuttles to the test. We started off playing with the Professional grade - At the start of the game, the shuttle had a very nice flight speed. Since it was doubles, there were a lot of smashing and attacking plays. One thing I notice when I was playing was that after a while, the shuttle starts losing its rounded shape at the diameter which is quite common among mid range shuttles. With that the speed of the shuttle was faster which was still alright to play with. After close to 10 points in the doubles game, we had to change the shuttle as the flight of the shuttle was just getting way faster. We used the same shuttle again during the game to give it another shot, this time around, the shuttle kept its shape during the game and we played till it wore out in slightly more than 10 points. A change of shuttle was needed in this set. As you can see below, the shuttle still had its shape but I think the shuttle’s durability is something I would consider to enhance.

RCL Professional

We decided to give the Titanium a chance this time. The shuttle was slower that the professional in general but one thing we noticed was that the Titanium was slightly more durable than the Professional in general. I didn’t like the speed as I prefer the 77 speed compared to 76. With the Titanium, the shuttle speed maintained well during the game. The feathers were durable too which is related to the speed. The shuttle lasted longer compared to the Professional however our arms got tired of the speed of the shuttle and decided to give another titanium a go. The second shuttle maintained a consistent result with the first which was good. If you look closely, you would notice that the feathers were still looks in shape and strong.

RCL Titanium after the game

A couple of matches later I decided to give the No. 1 a shot. Before even hitting the shuttle, you could feel the difference by just holding the shuttle. The feathers were well shaped and it felts stronger than the rest but then again this is top grade right. Putting the top grade shuttle to the test, we continued playing some heavy doubles. The speed of the shuttle was lovely to play with and on top of that, we were smashing extra hard to test the shuttle durability. One thing which I liked was that the shuttle could last us quite a long while with the heavy hitting, the shuttle speed was still close to what it was when we started. We played again using another shuttle just to check its consistency and to me it lived up to it being a top grade shuttle.

RCL No.1 before & after the game


Overall I would say that I would go and buy myself the RCL No.1 compared to the rest as I think it is durable and I like the flight of the shuttle. The cost for the Professional is RM 40 while the Titanium is around RM50 and the No. 1 is RM60. I think I would save money using the No.1 compared to buying the Professional simply because with the professional, it wears out very fast and I think I'll end up buying 2 tubes of the Professional compared to spending a little more for the No.1.

My buddies have mentioned that the price of shuttles in Malaysia is going to go up by RM3-5 per tube.. I think that the hike is crazy as badminton is becoming a more and more expensive game to play due to the cost of shuttles. I really hope that manufacturers would make badminton a less expensive sport so that more and more children can have the opportunity to enjoy with wonderful sport.

Ciao da maoz

Excuse my French - Taufik Hidayat is Back!!!

Guess whose back on form? Just take a wild guess? Let me introduce you to the "Most natural and talented Badminton Player", Taufik Hidayat! Its a real pleasure to see this great man come back in form as the Badminton World has missed his world class play for more than 2 years now..

Coming into the Men's Singles French Open Semi's between Taufik and Lee Chong Wei, everyone would have thought that Lee Chong Wei would prove his World No.1 ranking by taking revenge from his defeat in the Macau Open against Taufik. Both players took a break from the Dutch Open to prepare themselves for this tournament.

Both players looked well prepared entering the competition and looking at the semi's match-up, it was an exciting match to watch. Some background lining up to the Semi's, Taufik has played 3 sets for all of his earlier rounds, and all of the matches were tough games for him. On the other side, Lee Chong Wei entered the Semi's by defeating all of his opponents in straight sets. This means in paper that Lee Chong Wei has a fresher legs coming to the Semis. On top of that, in recent years, Taufik is not known to have great stamina.

With all of these lined up for the Semi's most Malaysians were rooting for Chong Wei to take the Semis match. The game started well with Chong Wei taking the first game 21-16 as Chong Wei hit his form early in the match. Taufik knew he had to push the game to the next level by changing his style of play to a more aggressive style and he managed to do just that. He played some awesome sharp net plays and some really accurate smashes to catch Chong Wei off guard which led him to take the second set easily 21-14.

At this point, you can see two different class/standard of plays; the current World No. 1, Chong Wei and the former World No. 1, Taufik. Taufik showing to the world and the lucky French spectators that he's back in his Old Glory Playing days by playing one of his best badminton ever in the past 2 years. Each and every stroke of Taufiks had an intention/direction and he studied/anticipated every of Chong Wei strokes. Chong Wei had no answer to the mighty Taufik Hidayat! His smashes were easily returned, not just a normal return but there was one returned which STUNNED Chong Wei and MYSELF! In the 3rd and deciding set, Chong Wei had a 3/4 court opportunity to smash on the backhand side of the court which he did. Chong Wei smashed the shuttle as hard as he could cross court, to Taufik’s Backhand. As Chong Wei made the smash, he rushed forward like how anyone would anticipate a low return due to the speed of the smash. But to everyone amazement, Taufik moved his body to the backhand return and he pushed the shuttle right back to the baseline of Chong Wei's overhead and he caught Chong Wei as Chong Wei was moving to the front. As a badminton player, I have not seen such a return in ages as one need to be quick and one needs to have a strong wrist to make such a return and Taufik is the man!

On top of that there was another Taufik moment when he placed a net play for Chong Wei and Chong Wei anticipated the net play hence why he jumped forward to the net to push the shuttle to Taufik’s backhand while catching Taufik who was in the front of the net. Taufik being caught off position chased the shuttle with his back facing Chong Wei to retrieve the backhand shot which was already close to the floor. To everyone who plays badminton would only anticipate that the next shot Taufik would play would either go out, or be hanging at the front of the opponent’s court. Again, Taufik shows the world by actually driving the shuttle to Chong Wei's baseline forehand which caught Chong Wei by surprise.

Taufik took the 3rd game even easier than the 2nd by winning 21-12. There is a video download from simplybadminton's site to all those who have missed this great matchup [video 1; video 2]. This was a superb performance by Taufik and to me I think the only player who can take Lin Dan is the great Taufik Hidayat. You rarely see Taufik shows his emotions after winning but this time around, he was all smiles after beating Chong Wei. I was lucky to catch the game on Astro :) Hope you guys enjoy it too.. Taufik will be playing his old rival Peter Gade in the finals and this would be like an Old School Reunion for badminton!

Ciao da mao!

Badminton - the fastest racquet stroke in the world!

Did you know that Badminton is the fastest racquet stroke in the world? According to some stats which you can find in Wikipedia, Men's doubles player Fu Haifeng of China set the official world smash record of 332 km/h (206 mph) on June 3, 2005 in the Sudirman Cup. The fastest smash recorded in the singles competition is 305 km/h (189 mph) by Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. The fastest recorded tennis stroke is Andy Roddick's 153 mph (246 km/h) serve; the fastest recorded badminton stroke is Fu Haifeng's 206 mph (332 km/h) smash.

Do note that how they measure the speed is at the point of contact of the smash. Since the shuttle is lighter than a tennis ball, the speed of the shuttle will decelerate much faster than a tennis ball or a squash ball. I've tried playing tennis and it was so easy to serve a hard and power serve compared to badminton as the racquets are also heavier. It does take much more strength for a player to produce a hard and fast smash compared to other sports hence why I feel badminton is one of the most challenging games in the world.

Taufik's record of the fastest smash in a singles game:

Fu Haifeng's world record smash:

Have you tried capturing the speed of your smash? Well I plan to do so someday soon just for fun! If you have tested the speed of your smash, would be great if you would let me know your speed.

Ciao da mao

Mental trainer to accompany Chong Wei during tournaments

I'm glad that the NSC and Misbun share the same opinion as myself that Chong Wei needed a mental trainer. I think its a good move for them to have a mental trainer for our players as honestly I think most of our players lack that mental strength. However there are a few arguement points which I would like to state.

I spoke to a few people and what I've gathered is that bottom line is that our players had it easy for them hence why they are not mentally strong. Looking at countries like China and Indonesia, where the people are poor.. Parents send their kids to the academy in an early age and all of them are put thru a very difficult and long journey since they were young. There were thousands of talent to choose from and all of them are taught to endure and fight to have a chance to represent their countries. Since its so difficult to represent their country, they have been taught to survive at an early age. They are trained to battle and to accept challenges which comes their way hence why they have better mental strength. In Denmark, players are professionals and survive based on the sponsors they get and that comes with the number of tournaments you win. As the saying goes "The going get tough, the tough gets gets going".

Where else in Malaysia, we pay the players huge sums of money depending on their rankings and all of them mostly did not have a hard growing up badminton life. Well if you even look back at the times of

Tan Aik Huang, the Malaysian team then had to raise their own funds to buy their air tickets for the All England. They won many All Englands and trophies at that era as they knew how to work hard for success. Some people also have commented that our players are not serious at their training sessions and they fool around. These are the kind of attitude which wont get us anywhere and I think not only a mental trainer is required but someone to discipline them too.

Saying this, I think a mental trainer like Federik Tan may not even be a solution for the Malaysia team or will it? Lets not spoil our players much and let them earn their money based on how they perform or thru tournaments.

Ciao da mao

All Time Badminton Favourite Player...

Hi Guys..

Badminton has evolved thru the years from the racquets used, the points system and the style of play. Through out the years and changes, I've seen many players play the game and I've always had a favourite player who I looked up to or who I admire..

During my younger days.. hmmmm well when i was 12 :) My favourite player was Malaysia's singles Rashid Sidek. I'm not too sure if anyone of you heard of him.. Anyhow, he's Misbun Sidek's brother who was Malaysia's hope in Mens Singles Badminton in the early 90's. I knoww it's weird to have him as my favourite but I used to like his style of play. He favourite shots were the deceptive chops and net plays during his time.. One of my favourite games was when he beat Zhao Jian Hua and Ardy Wiranata in the Thomas Cup Finals rounds of 1992 for Malaysia to win the cup.. It was one of my best moments as a Malaysian fan and the whole country was celebrating that victory and the best part was we got a holiday after andddd the player received RM 1 Million in land.. That was the last time we won the Thomas Cup check out the video..






My favourite doubles players are Park Joo Bong and Kim-Moon Soo from South Korea. By far to me one of the most successful doubles badminton players of all time. The pair is known for being one of the smartest doubles pairs of all time. They are known to have good reflexes, good anticipation, speed and intelligence during a game. It lead them to 9 All England Doubles titles, 5 World Championships and 1 Olympic Gold. Reason I like them is that they could adapt to any style of play and secondly they change their style of play to their advantage during the game.



So tell me who are your badminton favourite players of all time? Looking forward to hear from you all and lets see who are the top all time favourites..

Macau Open Video - Kien Keat/Boon Heong - Chieh Min/Sheng Mu

We also have the men's doubles of the Macau Open between Kien Keat/Boon Heong (M'sia) vs Chieh Min/Sheng Mu (TPE). It's good to see the Malaysians win, however it was not one of the best performance but it was good enough for them to clinch their first title of the year.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5

Macau Open Video- Taufik Hidayat's best game of 2008

G'day badminton lovers!

Guess today must be my lucky day as I've managed to find a video of Macau Open's best final match! You guys who missed the match must watch the video as it's the best performance of Taufik this year and I have not seen him play this well before.. Did you know that Taufik holds the fastest smash for the Men's Singles? His fastest smash is 305 km/h (189 mph) which is much faster than a tennis player! Well today just shows you how fast his smashes are.. We also know that Chong Wei is one of the best retrievers and one of the fastest players in the court and yet he had no answers to Taufik's smashes..

On top of that, we also know that Chong Wei is a very tricky player and he's fast to the net, quick in tapping opponents net plays. Again, Taufik shows us how accurate his net plays are, which Chong Wei could not tap. Taufik had deceived Chong Wei many times with his trick shots, which I found amuzing.

Finally, Taufik made 2 killer finishings to the 2 sets!! Check out Taufik's last smash on the first set! That's what I call accuracy! :) Also his final return of Chong Wei's net shot.. WOW!

Lets let the badminton do the talking! Enjoy peeps! Do feel free to share what you think of the game..

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Ciao da mao!

Mark

Macau Open - Taufik Hidayat wins first title of the year!

Wow! What a fantastic performace by Taufik in the Macau Open finals 2008! Taufik Hidayat, played Lee Chong Wei in the finals and I predicted that he would lose to Chong Wei as I felt Chong Wei is a much faster and fit player. I was wrong and what an exciting finals it was..

Taufik looked like he was back to him glorious form as he played a brilliant game againts Chong Wei. Taufik knew he had a long task ahead as Chong Wei was fitter and faster than him. What Taufik did was he pulled Chong Wei to various corners of the court forcing Chong Wei to hit half court shots for Taufik's smashing winners. Taufik won the game 21-19 and 21-15.

It's been a while since I've seen Taufik play such an aggresive and attacking play. His trick shots were much more deceptive and his net shots were sharper than Chong Wei's. In all angles, Taufik looked to be the player he was 4 years back and Chong Wei had no reply to Taufik's game. With this form, I think if Taufik were fit for the Olympics, Chong Wei would have lost to him in the early stages.

"The key (for my victory) was to win the first game. Then in the second game, I felt less pressure to play my best," Taufik was quoted as saying by Antara.

“Chong Wei is known for his attacking, explosive and deceptive game. But he was extra cautious today and allowed Taufik to take total control,” Misbun said.

“Taufik is an intelligent player and he knows how to take advantage (of situations). Chong Wei will just have to continue with his efforts to justify his ranking as world number one. He has given his best and it will be more training for him after this,” said Misbun Sidek (Chong Wei's coach).

I am happy for Taufik as I think he is the only few players in the world who can take on Lin Dan and challenge for the world No. 1 spot. As for Chong Wei, he has to start winning tournaments to prove his world No. 1 Status..

Cant seem to find the finals video online.. if you manage to find it do let me know.. Also do share what you think of the mens singles finals!

Macau Open Video 2008

It seems to be very difficult to get my hands of some tournament pictures. I really wonder who does the updates for badminton tournament sites as its not done well enough like a tennis tournament site. I think for the game to pick up, these small things like a proper, relavent and updated website is needed.

WBF and BAM, I think you need to relook at your website strategy as a main channel to grow the sport. Millions and millions of people turn to the web to get updates of badminton as the game is not broadcasted in their countries. Since the internet is an open medium of communication, why do it up well with videos, interviews, blogs from players to increase the viewership. If you are reading this, do contact me and I would love to help ya out! :)

Here are some Macau Open video for badminton lovers around the world! Enjoy and I do hope that more and more people would be helping me find badminton videos for me to post up.

Ciao da mao

Macau Open - Koo Kien Keat, Tan Boon Heong vs Chieh Min Fang, Lee Sheng Mu Mens Doubles Finals

In the doubles, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong (M’sia) finally got their act together to reach the finals of the Macau Open. The top seeds defeated Fernando Kurniawan and Lingga Lie (Ind) 21-14 & 25-23.

In the other finals, my buddy Chan Chong Ming and Chew Choon Eng (M’sia) fell to second seeds Chieh Min Fang and Lee Sheng Mu (TPE) in three sets, 18-21, 21-14 & 11-21. I was really crossing my fingers to see Chong Ming and Chew Eng win the game as it would be an interesting to see two Malaysians play in the finals.

Oh well, that didn’t seem to happen and now it would be a different ball game for Kien Keat and Boon Heong as all of Malaysia will be looking at them to win. If they fail to win, somehow I feel that their time is running out as Rexy would be splitting the pair. Lets see what happens..

Ciao da mao..

Macau Open - Julia Wong vs Mi Zhou Womens Singles Finals

Julia Wong (M’sia) makes her first finals of the year by defeating fourth seed Pui Yin Yip (HK) 17-21, 23-21 & 21-17 in 60 minutes. Before this tournament, I would not have expected Julia to go this far if one would have asked me but her steady performance this tournament is a boost to her and Malaysia’s womens singles.

Mi Zhou (HK) is making her second finals in a row after taking the Chinese Masters last week. She had a difficult game againts Jinging Zhu (Chi) winning 20-22, 21-18 & 21-16 in 59 minutes.

Mi Zhou a former Chinese player will use her experience and her high morale from last weeks win to take Julia in the finals. I think Mi Zhou will take the game in three sets as Julia lacks the experience and it would be her first finals. What do you think? Mi Zhou will take it easily? or will there be an upset?

Ciao

Macau Open Taufik Hidayat vs Lee Chong Wei - Mens Singles Finals

Hi guys..

Its going to be an exciting finals in this Macau Open.. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Taufik Hidayat (Ind) play Lee Chong Wei (M’sia) and it would be a fun to watch match. Taufik defeated Kuan Beng Hong (M’sia) 21-11 & 21-12 in 29 minutes while Chong Wei defeated Yunus Alamsyah (Ind) 21-13 & 21-14 in 37 minutes.

Taufik is one of my favourite players in the world who is also one of the most talented however I think Chong Wei will take the game easily. For Taufik to win, he has to take the first game and push hard for the second. If the game goes to three sets, I think Taufik is not fully fit to win. Chong Wei is the top seed and should take the game in two sets.

What do you guys think? Taufik or Chong Wei? Straight games or three sets?

Ciao
Mark

Lee Chong Wei smashes into the finals

WEI TO GO - Our young “Skywalker” Lee Chong Wei brings smiles and hopes for all Malaysians as he carries our flag to the finals of the Men’s Singles in the Beijing Badminton Olympic Finals.

He marches on with a smashing win over Lee Hyunil 21-18, 13-21 and 21-13. Lee Chong Wei in on top form with that steady win in the Semi Finals. Overall you can see that Chong Wei has been preparing well for this tournament; you can see it from his fitness (how he is able to take every shot) and the confidence he has to play every stroke that comes to his mind. I think Chong Wei has a better chance of winning the finals compared to Lin Dan as Chong Wei looks to be in a better shape overall. To all those reading this, do post a comment on the finals and how do you think Chong Wei will do.





I’ve found a YouTube clip of Chong Wei’s Beijing Dream for you Badmiton and Chong Wei fans out there.. If you want to see him training, check out my earlier post…



No matter what happens, Chong Wei is bagging RM 300,000.00 from the government for a Silver and RM 1,000,000.00 for the Gold. That’s a lot of money and it would be a motivation for Chong Wei to win. However I know that Chong Wei wants to create Malaysian History as the first Malaysian Gold Medalist and the money reward is just a bonus to winning. I just hope he manages to take the pressure mentally and overcome the Chinese supporters in the finals!

C ya in the finals!

Badminton’s billionaire fan

This is quite suprising to me that this man knows and watches badminton? Have a read!

By the Associated Press
Posted Monday, August 11, 2008 1:27 PM ET

Getty Images
Bill Gates enjoying badminton and a badminton fan

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates took in a little badminton on Monday. Gates sat in the VIP seats at Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium with his wife, Melinda, and watched the second round of men’s singles when China’s Bao Chunlai defeated Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon 21-17, 21-16 in the second round of men’s singles.

“It was great, I was very impressed,” Gates told reporters afterward. Asked if he was a fan of the game, Gates said: “I am now.” During the match Gates wrote in the Badminton World Federation’s signature book: “Badminton is great.”

On Monday the Gates’ also attended the third day of swimming events at the National Aquatics Center on Monday, where they sat directly behind President George W. Bush. The President was there with his wife Laura, daughter Barbara and entourage of Secret Service agents posing as fans.

Sitting directly in front of the Bush family was Mitt Romney and his wife Ann. Before serving as Governor of Massachusetts , Romney ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Bao Chunlai and Gail EMMS / Nathan ROBERTSON journey in Beijing ends..

Being the 3rd seed in the Men's Singles, I expected Chunlai to take on Chong Wei in the Semi's. This will not happen as Bao Chunlai lost in the quarters to Lee Hyunil of Korea 23-21 and 21-11. Looks like there would only be 1 Chinese player who will make it to the Men's singles finals as Lee Hyunil will take on Lee Chong Wei in the other Semi's. Bao Chunlai again fails to impress me as his style of play seems to be very safe game play and it is less aggressive compared to Lin Dan and Chong Wei game play. I think with Chunlai out of the scene now, Chong Wei will have a easy passage to the Finals..



In the Mix Doubles, Great Britain’s hopes for a Gold vanished when Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson lost 21-19 21-12 to Lee Hyojung and Lee Yongdae of Korea in the quarters. Looks like the Koreans are going on strong this competitions with a couple of semifinals entries. The funny bit is that we have 4 Lee's in the Semis :) Lee Chong Wei, Lee Hyunil, Lee Hyojung and Lee Yongdae (Are they family or something??).

The semis will be an exciting one for sure. Do catch the semis via my links to live badminton streaming.

Adios dudes and dudettes!

Badminton Live Streaming - Olympics

Like any other Malaysian, I bet you're looking for a website to watch the badminton live feed while u're at work.. As they say, "All work and no Badminton makes Jack a Dull boy"..

Thanks to these sources: Simply Badminton, you can watch it on rtm.com.my (I hope it streams fast) and for p2p live streaming (TVAnts Sopcast TVU).

Hope you guys enjoy it and be smart while doing this at work :) If ya have more feedback or ideas on where to find badminton live streaming for the Olympics, do feel free to postit here. Sharing is caring.

Ciao da mao

Taufik fights back..

Taufik Hidayat: One of my all time favourite badminton singles players. This player is one of the most gifted players to have been in the circuit. Playing with a very natural style, Taufik the former Olympic and World champion is back in training to prepare himself for the Olympics..

From the Associated Press, Jakarta: "He's already back to training," Christian Hadinata said of the former world champion. "He will definitely go to the Olympics."

Fighting back is never easy.. Fighting dengue is worst than being 10-0 down because when you have been struck with dengue, all you can do is sit in the room and do nothing while but stare at the four walls but on the otherhand, if you are 10-0 down, you can push yourself to elimate your opponenet. I'm not too sure to what extend his dengue was.. however, I do know that once you're in the hospital for dengue treatment, you'll lose loads of energy and strength. In the past couple of years, Taufik has lost some kind of form due to his lack of training and conditioning. Even with the lack of conditioning, he still manages to play some decent games. However, he has yet to win a challenge against Lin Dan or even Chong Wei.

I do hope he gets back his form so that it would bring us one of the most exciting singles tournament to watch. Will it be a Tau-fufah-Fik or a Tau-Kay-Fik.. What do you think? Memories of the 2004 finals below peeps! Enjoys!





Ciao da mao..

*Source of Picture's above: Thank you thestar.com.my

Malaysia, Badminton and the Olympics

What's with Malaysians, Badminton and the Olympics?

The Olympic Dream = Badminton, badminton, badminton.. To the world, badminton may seem to be just another small time sport and many I bet do not know what badminton is... To us Malaysians, badminton is a game widely played and followed... It is like football to Brazilians and NBA to the Americans. To me, badminton is one of the most exciting sports in the world; I think it’s great as it involves mental and physical strength which has various elements such as smashes, drop shots, net plays, and trick shots. I love this game..

I grew up playing the game and when I was a kid. I had a dream - like any other kid, I wanted to represent Malaysia (well as I said I had a dream :P ). Growing up playing the game, I have learnt many things and had so many wonderful experiences (I grew up playing with some famous players you might know: Chan Chong Ming, Wong Mei Choo, Woon Sze Mei, Ong Soon Hock, Gnana Easwaran, Ho Sze Ken and many more). There were many parts in this journey which I will share and relate to in today's game.

What I'm looking forward is the badminton Beijing Olympics 2008 which would start on the 9th of Aug. This time around, Malaysia seems to be well prepared and it looks like there is hope for GOLD... Yes there is hope people!! I believe there is a strong chance for us to win Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. If not 2 medals the least. I believe it’s time we move from silver and bronze medal achievement of Razif and Jalani Sidek, Soon Kit and Kim Hock to the new heroes of Malaysia.

As my coach (CIKU as we all call him) would always say, “train hard, smart and train yourself for the most extreme situations you may or may not face for the tournament”. This is what the Malaysian team have been doing. In preparation for the Olympics, our Malaysian team had spent many weeks and months training to win the Gold in China... I've managed to find some clips of training done by our Malaysian players on you tube which I think may interest ya (some videos are from 07 and some from 08).. enjoys!

Wong Mew Choo – Defensive training drill against 2 players. A routine done whereby two opponents on the opposite site, drill down the shuttle (either a smash or a drop) to Mei Choo who then has to defend the smash/chop/drop and put the shuttle as close as possible to the net. She then practices her net shots which will help her change the defense to attack. Check it out... Some pretty good net shots and defense from her..

I think she stands a good chance for the Semi's and hopefully help Malaysia bring back the Bronze medal.

Tan Boon Heong-Koo Kien Keat - This is a 2007 video whereby you can catch the Malaysian team practicing their doubles play against 3 players. This routine is done with the objective of improving the pairs attack, defense and speed as the pair has to try to win as many rallies againts their opponents.

I think they stand a good chance to win the Gold if they play like how they played in the early 2007. However looking at their recent form, it has dipped due to lack of confidence or lack of mental strength. I would pick them for Silver this time around.

Lee Chong Wei - Our best bet for the Gold. He's in superb form these days with Misbun doing a great job in training him. He's mentally focused, physically fit, has accurate strokes, plays with loads of brains, great movement around the court and he has won Lin Dan in the past 2 outings. History in the making for Malaysia if he's on form. Check out his video to see how he pushes himself during training.

I will be posting more lining up to the Olympics and more insights on the Badminton Journey in China. So Stay Tuned peeps! Till then..

Ciao da mao

*Source of Picture's above: Thank you thestar.com.my