KEJOHANAN BADMINTON PIALA PUSINGAN HARI MERDEKA 2014



L to R : Aaron, Thaanesh & Jia Jie

This was PBVKL’s third tournament this year. After their disastrous first tournament, they had cleaned up their act in the second one. However, their poor organisation reared its ugly head once again here. Not only was the publicity poor, but they also failed to publish the draw on time. Therefore, we went into the tournament blindly unaware who the boys will be playing against.

Aaron had just recovered from a spell of bad cough and fever - no thanks to the dry spell the country is now experiencing. Furthermore, his mid-term school exam had just concluded the week before. Therefore, he was a little short in fitness coming into this tournament.

When we arrived at the Champions badminton hall in Kepong, Ryan immediately searched for the draw. He immediately reported to me in dismay that he was up against the defending champion, Lim Chun Yeh in the first round. I was disappointed with the draw but instead of brooding over the bad luck, I worked on Ryan’s mind in the hope that he will not be distracted by it. It didn’t work. He went down 22 – 30. This is the third time Ryan lost to Lim Chun Yeh this year.

Aaron’s was at the bottom half – thus avoiding both favourites Lim Chun Yeh and Tan Jia Jie. However, in his half, he will face with last year’s Piala Merdeka Champion, Thaanesh Devar whom Aaron lost to him by just 1 single point. Despite being a little lethargic, I told Aaron to put everything into the game. It was a tense game as Aaron took the first set. I knew he had a chance, so I advised him to play a patient game in the second set to force Thaanesh into making mistakes. It didn’t work. Thaanesh upped his game and won the second set. In the decider, we change tactics by pressing Thaanesh with smashes. The game went Aaron’s way and he finally won.

In the final against Tan Jia Jie, I felt it was a one sided game as Aaron committed mistakes after mistakes and made it difficult for himself to give a decent challenge. In the end he exited tamely in straight sets.    

In the U12 doubles, both brothers were out of sorts and were not at their best going down disappointingly in the first round to Lim Chun Yeh & Willi Wong. 

Despite Aaron’s lack of fitness, he was blessed with a favourable draw and made it to the final after all. Ryan on the other hand was not so lucky, as he bowed out in the first round both in the singles and doubles matches. He return home empty handed. Next week, both brothers will participate in the Flex Pro U12 Junior League and I hope Ryan can redeem himself what he failed to deliver here.

BOYS SINGLES U12

1^st Round - Ryan vs Lim Chun Yeh             22 – 30

 1^st Round – Aaron vs  Oon Zhi Yung         30 – 7

2^nd Round – Aaron vs Mohd Hafiz             30 – 28

Qtr Final – Aaron vs Ham Yet Joe               30 – 15

Semi-Final – Aaron vs Thaanesh Devar      22 – 20, 15 – 21, 21 - 17

Final-Aaron vs Tan Jia Jie                              12 – 21, 18 – 21

BOYS DOUBLES U12

1^st Round – Ryan/Aaron vs Lim Chun Yeh/Willi Wong                       22 - 30