Half Way Point

We have gone through half the year and where is Malaysian squash? I feel it's gone even worse due to some people and their crazy thinking.

Firstly, Jamsheed Gul is back in the national team fold as men's coach. And why is that bad? Well, for those who don't know, he was our national coach a few years back. He was then promoted to Head Coach and that process took a long time due to the negotiations of wages. Finally when he was appointed, he jump ship to become Pakistan's Head Coach 2 months into his tenure. Now once bitten, twice shy..... but noooo... SRAM still decided to get him back. Looks like lessons never learned.

Sukma 2008 is another issue. Apparently, SRAM had decided to give in to the host request, and I mean a few people and not the MC as the decision made was not even discussed at the MC meeting. After 3 editions where all host had to swallow the bitter pill of conforming to the U-18 ruling, SRAM has now agreed with the host to have it at U-23 all in the name of development.... What a load of bull! Let's see who can play.... Wan, Jam, Shahril, Delia, Yoke Wah, Siti... Hmm.. aren't this full time players on the pro circuit? So what development? Put it this way, just an excuse for the host to justify their spending on new infrastructure. Then what about the next one in 2010?

It was changed to U-18 in 2000 immediately after the Penang Games where all states complained that they are always guessing about the age group and how the host uses it as an advantage to gain most of the medals. As such an agreement was reached that it will be U-18 from then on. If it is to be U-23, then the eligibility ruling needs to come into play. Currently only Multi sport events like Olympics, Commonwealth and Asian Games athletes are barred from taking part. Sea Games medalist can take part but only to a limited number. But they left out World, Asian and Junior Championships. These are higher standard than the Asian Games to an extend. Show you how much thought was put in when making a decision.

The draw for the World Junior Women has come out and looks like Wee Wern's hopes of making past the quarters are almost nil as she has been drawn to play Raneem then. Wretched luck! Wee Nee has a change to move to the quarters if she can overcome Amanda Cranston in the 2nd round. Not sure about the rest of the girls. The team will do well if they finish in the top 6.

Nicol is still number 1 in the world for the 12th straight month and will continue for a long time, we pray so. Beng Hee and Azlan are at 18 and 19 respectively. Sharon and Tricia are at 19 and 26 pespectively. Wan has broken the top 100 and is at 93 while Delia is at 48. Now what is SRAM going to do now that Wan and Delia has broken the top 50? It was previously said that if any of the guys break top 100 and girls top 50, they will be sent overseas for an attachment. Delia has done it before and is still waiting for her chance. Is SRAM going back on their word?

I've been on the road as part of my capacity of Roving Coach and have visited Sabah, Sarawak, Johor, Melaka and Negri Sembilan so far. My findings are that they do find quite a number of squash players that are potentially good but lack the knowledge to develop them. I'm referring to the coaches here as most of them do not have the knowledge or cannot innovate. Either they believe that coaching is all about feeding or they are just reluctant to learn more and new things to improve their coaching skills. Gone are the days where a good feeder can be a good coach. It now includes man management, sports science, planning and many more. Got hell a lot of work to do still.

Till next time..... Cheers