Thomas Cup Fever

We used to huddle in front of the tv till midnight, cheering our shuttlers on, shouting on top of our voices, cheering for every point won and the opponents mistakes...

In the days of the yore, we have heroes like Cheah Soon Kit, Soo Beng Kiang, Rashid Sidek, the ever repressible Foo Kok Keong with his never say die antics on court, the Sidek brothers giving us the excitement, making your pulse race like there is no tomorrow till midnight..they toiled and sweat..making sure that the coveted Thomas Cup belongs to Malaysia again after the lapse of 35 years. At that time, it was in 1992.

I was virtually on the edge of my seat, holding my breath at the point when Cheah Soon Kit served at match point and finally Soo Beng Kiang sealing the deciding match with Rexy Mainaky-Ricky Subagja with a jumping smash..it was euphoric!!!


Fast forward 16 years later, I am not even in my 20s anymore, most of the players have developed a pot-belly and some well into their forties. Some have left the badminton fraternity altogether, some remained as coaches. Yap Kim Hock is the chief coach now, Cheah Soon Kit is in charge of the ladies doubles. How time have changed.

Now the Thomas Cup fever is coming back, this time Malaysia have the best chance of wresting the trophy back from China, given the promising current line-up. We have Lee Chong Wei, Wong Choong Hann, Muhd Hafiz, Chan Choong Ming-Koo Kien Keat, Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah. An impressive line-up indeed. A well-established and well-balanced squad with a number of international Open titles under their belts.

But the greatest satisfaction is not only about winning the cup..The greatest satisfaction would be to beat our old enemy Indonesia 5-0 and win the cup. Don't know why, but I feel other Malaysians would share my sentiment that beating Indonesia would be the best feeling one could get apart from winning. I'd just love it if we could kick the Indonesian asses.

Not even the thought of beating China, Denmark or South Korea would come close.
Maybe it is the animosity between the two countries in sports or is it the close ties that we have over the years or their players have beating ours for donkey years in many tournaments.

And it is up to the current batch to put them back in their own place. They used to be formidable, but not anymore now. Last time , they had Alan Budi Kusuma, Ardy Wiranata, Hermawan Susanto, Joko Suprianto, Edy Hartono & Gunawan, Rexy-Ricky and later on they had Hendrawan, Hariyanto Arbi..a team that would strike fear into any opponents.

Now, they still have Taufik Hidayat and the formidable double pairs of Sigit-Chandra Wijaya, Luluk-Alven, and new pair of Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan.

Trust me, these fellas can rise to the occasion.

Hopefully ours can too. I smell blood..

Guys,
Go and win the Cup. Bring it back to Malaysia after 16 years but don't forget to beat Indonesia along the way!!!!