& The Wait Goes On...

22 Years...& the wait goes on

May 25th 2014...the day all Malaysian
thought to be the end of the Thomas Cup drought

Malaysia as an nation has always struggles in term of sports

Beside squash, badminton is the only sport that always gave us those hope of

international success

But that doesn't seems to be the case lately...

We may have enjoy minor success in some competition in recent years

But ever since the 1992 triumph of Thomas Cup

we have been struggling to follow up ever since...

The pressure constantly was on Datuk Lee Chong Wei

The world no.1 badminton player...an international icon...

But even he have fail us many time..the 2008 Beijing Olympic

the 2012 London Olympic...& several times the Badminton World Championship...

The reason why he failed so miserably in those major competition?

Lin Dan...China's grand slam player...He was China's Chong Wei in the hearts of Chinese

If not greater...

So this year with China's shocking defeats to Japan in the semi-final of the Thomas Cup

For the first time in a long time...We as a nation are almost sure of getting our hands on

the grand trophy again after 22 years of wait...

But as usual...we enters the match with high hopes & expectation

As usual we seems to have the momentum on our side...

Sadly, we were left disappointed & heartbroken as usual...

& as the feeling of defeats slowly sinks in...we'll think to ourselves maybe next time...

Cold hard fact, the first time we have that thought...22 years has gone by

so maybe it's time to stop saying "next time" & start making our own time

Chong Wei isn't young anymore...our men's double? unsteady

Our future within the sport of badminton seems so dark & hopeless after this final

This were to be the match that we finally won & prove the critics wrong

But we didn't...so let's move on...find the positive within the negative

For me, that positive is one name: Daren Liew

Malaysia's no.3 badminton player...

For the first time in a long time, the hope & pressure of an nation were on him

rather than Chong Wei...

Yes, he may lose tonight, but this is the kind of match that either make or break a star

He needs to remember this feeling...this feeling of defeat

 & this feeling of letting a whole nation down

But most importantly, he must remember that feeling he had during the second set

When he went from 11-18 down to eventually winning it 21-18

That was the kind of play that remind me of the match Chong Wei had against Lin Dan

some years ago in the Malaysia Open final

Chong Wei was under the similar situation & he was able to turn it around

& eventually beat Super Dan for the crown.

Point is, this kid has serious potential of becoming the next Chong Wei

All he need now is more muscle & confidence...

he won the french open 2 years ago & tonight he played in one of the most

important match in badminton history...& he played well...

this shows he has the class to be the next breakout star in the sport of badminton

he maybe lack of big match experience before, but coming out of this match

he now knows how it feel to be playing in the main event

he now knows how it feel to have the whole nation's attention & pressure on him

So he should use it well & in due time, he WILL become one of the best if not THE Best

In the end,

For us, the wait for international success goes on...

But hopefully the wait for the next great badminton player will be ending soon

Have faith in our nation, have faith in our player

Because "Malaysia Boleh" isn't just a slogan it's a belief

P/S:

Congrats to Team Japan on winning their nation's first Thomas Cup

Upsetting China is no easy task

Let alone beating them 3-0

No one can say they don't deserve it

The fact that they are the nation that ended China's domination within the competition

Is enough reason to justify them being the new champion of the Thomas Cup