No Lee Yong Dae in action in Thomas Cup!!

Korea gave everyone surprise when they did not field Lee Yong Dae for the coming Thomas Cup in May as Korea is more focus on the Guangzhou Asian Games. However, Lee Yong Dae's regular partner, Jung Jae Sung will be featured in the Thomas Cup. With the absence of Yong Dae, Korea's men doubles strength is weakened. However, their men's singles is further strengthen by the inclusion of former international singles player, Lee Hyun Il.

Korea is not the only country that called back retired players as Denmark also named coach and former player, Kenneth Jonassen for Thomas Cup. Meanwhile, Indonesia has included scratch pair Nova Widianto and Muhammad Ahsan in their team. Added with these surprise entry, Thomas Cup promises an interesting battle between badminton powerhouses to fight for the prestigious trophy.

Young shuttlers create history

Congrats to Goh Liu Ying/Chan Peng Soon for being the first Malaysians to win an international mix doubles title in the senior level. The young duo defeated more experience Yoo Yeon-seong/Kim Min-jung in the Asian Badminton Championship on Sunday. With this win, we can hope for a better future for Malaysia's mix doubles as they are still very young. 

Kudos also to Woon Khe Wei/Vivian Hoo though they did not win but entering the finals can be consider a good achievement considering they beat Indonesia's Greysia Polii/Meliana Jauhari and the tournament's 4th seed, Savitree/Vacharaporn en route to the finals.

As expected, Lin Dan won and will regain his status as the China's number 1 and will lead China in the Thomas Cup challenge as the first single. 

Can Malaysia win Thomas Cup?

The Thomas and Uber Cup will be held in Bukit Jalil from 9 - 16 May 2010. Can Malaysia win Thomas Cup this year? Being group with Japan and Nigeria, i think Malaysia should top the group. The chance will depend on the 2nd stage draw which will be conducted after the group stage.  As usual, we will depend on Lee Chong Wei as the first singles and Koo/Tan as the first doubles. Will the home ground support be an advantage to Malaysia or put more pressure. Let's see and hope Malaysia Boleh !!

Save the earth. Turn off the lights!

Wanna do your part to save the earth. You can by turning off your lights on 27 March at 8.30pm for an hour. Support Earth Hour!!

Congrats to Nicol David, KL Open Champ

Congrats to Nicol David for becoming the Kuala Lumpur Open champion. In my opinion, she is the best Malaysian athlete. Perhaps also the most consistent squash player in the world. Respect her a lot as she is not only successful but also humble and very sporting.  Hope other athlete can emulate her success. 

Congrats to the 100th edition All England Champion, Lee Chong Wei

Finally, Lee Chong Wei was crowned as the All England champion, a title that every badminton player dream of. It was a very close game and praise should be given to Lee's opponent, Kenichi Tago who has high fighting spirit. In the end, it is the experience of Lee that cause him to win. Indeed Kenichi is a player to watch out in the future as this young player is talented, very determined and calm in his game. Now Lee can be proud of his 3 consecutive Super Series in 2010 beginnning with the Korean and Malaysia Super Series title and All England. May he continue to make Malaysia proud and do well in Swiss Open this week. This win also show a good sign for Lee to lead Malaysia in the Thomas Cup in May.

Unexpected men's singles finalist for All England

Most of the badminton fans are expecting  to watch Lee Chong Wei vs Lin Dan in the All England finals. However, the highly anticipated match didnt materialize as Lin Dan lost to his teammate Bao Chunlai in the quarter finals. Unexpectedly Bao Chunlai, lost to Japan's young rising star, Kenichi Tago in the semi finals yesterday. Kenichi Tago had beaten 3 seeded players including Nguyen Tien Minh, Chen Jin and Bao Chunlai to reach the final.  Will the unseeded Kenichi be able to beat the 1st seed, Lee Chong Wei or will Lee win the All England title which Malaysia had long hope for after Hafiz Hashim won it in 2003. With no Lin Dan and other China's great wall to break, perhaps this is the best chance for Lee to win the prestigious All England title. Malaysia boleh