Believe in Yourself !!!: Zhi Wei's hope dashed in Sunway Open

29 Feb to March 1

Youngster Tan Zhi Wei's hope dashed when he was eliminated from Sunway Badminton Open Tournament which is held on 29 february, 1st of March and 8th of March.

29th Feb 2008:

Zhi Wei was at Sunway Open ! His match today is 9:55pm, which is the last few matches of the day and an interview on Zhi Wei about the tournament.

This is a few things said by Zhi Wei:

" The hall was cold and many players were at the event ! Was glad to be there and saw some seeded players here....waiting for my doubles match, met some new frens, it's nice !"

Zhi Wei arrived at Sunway College at 4pm and he waited for his match to start. His partner, Philip Wong arrived here at 4:45pm. Both players went down to the cafeteria and have some drinks and dinner. The registration booth was open at 5:45pm and many players went over and register and the welcome of the VIP Guest of Honour, which is the Patron of the Badminton Club, Pn Seri Susan Cheah. The speech was long, practically long and after the speech, the tournament was started by a service by Pn Seri Susan Cheah to the court.

The doubles match between ZhiWei/Philip Wong against Larry Cheong/Nicholas Ho has finally come! Zhi Wei and Philip were doing some stretchings and warm up before the match starts. The opponent was easier than we expected and so Zhi Wei and Philip secured the match and advanced to the second round.

The score was 21-14, 21-8

After the match, it was 11:00pm and the players went back home for rest.

1st March 2008:

As can be seen, Zhi Wei opened the doors of the hall and stepped into the court. Manveen, a player, which is a friend of Zhi Wei was playing his first round singles. It was tough as Manveen was dragged by his opponent to rubber game and he could not make it to the second round. It was a tough match and he came back and pack his bag and was about to leave, but he went over and spoke to Zhi Wei and said he will watch the match.

After an hour, Zhi Wei's singles match starts. It was a smooth beginning for Zhi Wei when he secured the first game. But fate changed in the second game when Zhi Wei started making many errors and mistakes which he hardly do during game. He lost out in the second game and when he play the third game, he was not in the rhythm and finally he lost out to his opponent, Muhd Arif Mustafar.

The score for the match was 21-19, 7-21, 9-21.

An interview on Zhi Wei:

I was able to play the first game well and was quite alright and i could keep him low...but the second game was a shock as i felt the pressure and he managed to get the easy points by my mistakes. The third game was a havoc where i could not even get a chance to get through him...well it was a lesson to me and will improve further.

Meanwhile,Zhi Wei sat down and thought strategies for his doubles game. His partner, Philip Wong was waiting for his singles match but his opponent was not here and Philip received a walkover. It was then the doubles match but Philip could not play properly and Zhi Wei tried his best to bring the momentum back but it failed. Finally, Zhi Wei and Philip lost out to the unherald pair Justin Foo and Frederik Chin.

The score was 21-17, 21-14.

" We were supposed able to win that round but the our mistakes were too many and Philip wasn't at his best, but when i ask him why he could not play properly, he told me that he did not have the 'mood' to play which made me think that this match was a waste...."

After that, Zhi Wei went back and watch the matches played by those players. A lot of the players were good, especially Darma Sucipto, a friend of Zhi Wei, which advance to the Quarter Finals.....

That's all for the news report from Sunway Badminton Open Tournament and some pictures attached.