Contributed by reader Zhang Quan
Tampines Sports Hall, April 2, 2009 – A C Division Badminton Championship match between Maris Stella High and Anglican High was ruined by an unreasonable ‘Mr. Umpire’. A shot that was ruled in by the SJI linesman was ruled out by the umpire 10 minutes after the game ended.
With the overall score at 2-2, I was standing right behind the court cheering on our Marist, Daryl Ho, as he gave all his best fighting for every point till the score came to 29-29. Daryl made a dive for the shuttle after his opponent Wong Jia Ren did a drop shot. Daryl’s return saw the shuttle bounce off the net, go over, and fall 20cm inside the singles line.
Without hesitation, Daryl and his opponent approached each other for a handshake and we all went to celebrate his win with him. Disappointment could be seen on the faces of the players of Anglican High and it was a sign they accepted the defeat.
However, when we then walked towards our belongings preparing to go back to school, ‘Mr. Umpire’ came and told us that he saw the shuttle was out and we had lost. We were shocked because it was obviously in. Then he cowardly walked away without saying a word and a lady from the annoucement table came up to us and said, “You all should respect the umpire’s decision”.
But he had made the wrong decision and how are we going to respect that?
There are so many unanswered questions.
Why was he with the Anglican high coach and players right after a match?
Why did he change his decision and told us 10 minutes after the match ended?
Why did he say the shuttle was out when everyone around the court
including the SJI linesman said it was in?
Is this what SBA trained the umpires to do?
Is this why the standard of Singapore sports can’t go far?
We know we won and ‘Mr Umpire’ himself knows it too. We want our honour and victory back because we deserve it.
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the last game should be played again .
it should be more fair in this way .
if not , the umpire should stand out and explain why he gave the game to anglican high and not maris stella high school !
and furthermore, since the marist team has wrote in already, surely the umpire who judged the match himself would have been notified. So, if he truly clearly did nothing wrong, why not let him face the crowd and explain himself?
So,sack the umpire,and it resolves everything doesnt it? since many say that he cant wait till 10 minutes and then make the decision. and people saying he hanged out with the anglican coach and stuff. if thats what everyone says too.
A professional appeal should be lodged. Whatever the outcome, the umpire should also be stripped of his/her refereeing certification. In most cases, 10 minute lapse is too long for the umpire to change his/her decision. This makes the situation open to a lot of questioning – which might of course implicate the intergrity of the umpire himself/herself.
Agree with marvin about this issue.
Can someone from Anglican write about what they saw and their perspective as well? I think we would all like to know what exactly happened. Right now, we can see and feel what Marists are going through but what about the Anglicans? Especially the player embroiled in this, can he play on in the next round with pride now? Is it really true what Marist supporters have said, that they accepted defeat?
This is a most unfortunate incident and definitely a bitter pill to swallow for any side. It is indeed dubious why the referee changed his call after 10 minutes. I would want to hear his explanation. IF he indeed ruled it out in an instant but the Marists and all the spectators did not see or hear it due to their celebration, why didn’t he stop them from celebrating then?
Also, if there’s any updates on the appeal, please let us know.
This is always happening in our sports scene. The umpire somehow will know the coaches and many coaches are also umpire. When it is at crucial stage, they will help one another to play other teams out. It should not be happening and it is unfair to the players but sad to say, it has happened too many times to many teams. I am sure many convenor are aware about it too but due to the small circles of coaches and umpires where one know another, nothing much is done to rectify the situation. Moreover, the convenor could be good friends with these ‘unfair’ umpires too.
too bad no video footage
lol respect the umpire decision lar AAPPEAL APPEAL APPEAL no use 1 lar.the umpire had made a decision and everyone had to except it……AGREE?
Whatever, this is so stupid. So what if they got into top 8, they didn’t win with pride anyway. If that’s the sportmanship they have, then Singapore will NEVER go far in the aspects of sports.
If they’ve even accepted the ‘win’, then they are going against their own moral? Is there no moral education in Singapore?
How can the umpire do something like that.
Even the members of anglican high have already admitted defeat.
Outrageous… In all fairness, I think the umpire should have signalled that the shuttle was out directly after the play.. Not 10 mins after.. Definitely something amiss.. And even the linesmen have seen that the point definitely was in, proves a point.. I know that we should all respect the umpire’s decision. However, we should also have the discretion to dispute any dubious call and appeal to relevant authorities.. Errant umpires should be dismissed and stripped off their authority.. Everyone makes mistakes.. But, one should take responsibility for mistakes and correct it if necessary.. Not just asserting themselves and claiming that the decision is final and that it should be duly respected.. IMHO, no one holds the ultimate authority.. ( Even teachers who run foul of conduct ethics, or marked wrongly on exam papers can be appealed against).. That is why you always have few parties in charge of double checking, and ensuring the fairness of each call to the best of the situation. In this case, since the linesmen have signalled that the shot was good, I think the umpire should really think twice, and does not have valid reason to discredit the linesmen (Those who are closest to the scene of action) Even the judge takes into serious consideration to the views of the jury… I am saddened and disappointed by such a misfortune.. Go Maris Go..
this story is written frm maris stella’s point of view. thus, i will not say it is very fair. it may be a bias judgement or sth. also, anglican high did not cheat in anyways. as you said, they admitted their defeat. but somehow, the umpire told them they won. so i think it’s the umpire’s fault. but still well done to both schools. it was a tough fight. 😀
i think the main mistake by the umpire is making the call way after the game is over. I understand that refs can make bad calls and wrong calls(even EPL refs also make mistakes) but i thought for each point the umpire is supposed to signal the winner of the point, is that so for badminton (i’m not too sure abt this)?
To ekiboi, I agree that everyone makes mistakes. But making such a mistake at a crucial point in the game, with so many questions about his decision left unanswered.
You cannot fault the maris-stella people and the neutrals who were there for being so angry, this is not a lame report it high-lighted the doubts and hopefully the ssc will give everyone a satisfied answer after conducting the necessary investigations.
even if AHS won the championship, Maris is still the no 1.
Let have a fair game and call for a rematch again…………
go maris! fight for your rightful place!
i feel that this story is lame report as what the use when they are the umpire what the vote for the umpire will not change just by voting on redsports? everyone will have mistake please accpet it
if this is how SBA trains their umpire, SG sldnt host the YOG to prevent such case happening in 2010 and affect the reputation of SG. MSHS SHOULD BE IN THE TOP 8 and nt AHS(no offense to AHS)
lol go all the way. we should always rally against bad umpiring, and lousy calls. if we cannot even establish good umpiring, how far can singpore sports go?? hci used to have an umpiring error too, robbing them of a top 8 spots in the Cdiv nationals. go all the way against lousy umpiring, all the way.