Youth Olympic Badminton: Mental chaos denies Huang Chao

By Jan Lin/Red Sports

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Tuesday, August 17, 2010 — Singapore’s lone representative in badminton, Huang Chao, was a face of chaos in his quarter-final duel and went down 21-18, 21-16 to Malaysia’s 2010 Asian Junior runners-up Loh Wei Sheng.

A calm and collected Wei Sheng drew first blood in this 34-minute match and remained cool to hold the lead throughout the opening game. And even as Huang Chao saved two match points in the opener, the Malaysian rode on the impatience of the host to seal the first game 21-18.

After a much needed half-time break to refocus, Huang Chao returned to the court more vigilant and was able to have a tighter execution of the game plan, pushing the shuttle low to the back court as he overcame the eagerness of going for the kill and engaged in defensive rallies instead.

This kept Huang Chao hot on Wei Sheng’s heels and he eventually stole the lead after squaring things up at 12-12 and then pulled away to lead 14-12. The hope of a tiebreaker was but short-lived as Huang Chao soon came unbuckled while a confident Wei Sheng marched on to win 21-16.

Huang Chao’s coach, Jeffer Rosobin, was quick to point out three areas – mental toughness, fundamental skills, and fitness – his young charge will need to work on in order to stay competitive in this sport. Though of the three, it was his inability to stay mentally tough that cost him this game.

“I think he was very nervous and so couldn’t control the game nor followed the strategy and was impatient, perhaps it’s because this is the first time he had to play in front of such a big crowd,” said Rosobin who is himself a retired Indonesian shuttler before suiting up as Singapore’s coach.

“Though Huang Chao has more power compared to our local boys like Derek and Ashton, his basic skills still needs a lot of working on. Another area to work on is his fitness and endurance, which he has to improve on in order to play at a high level for the entire match,” concluded Rosobin.

A visibly disappointed Huang Chao was, however, unabashed to reveal his struggle in containing his nerves. He said: “I’m very grateful that the home crowd was so passionate in their support towards me, but I was unable to ride on their support and instead allowed myself to feel very burdened.”

“I guess it’s because this is the quarter-finals and both of us want to win this badly,” Huang Chao added, “but I’m still pleased with my performance at this Games and it’s a positive to discover various weaknesses and work on them in training. I definitely intend to continue playing for Singapore.”