Almost is not good enough

World number one, Lee Chong Wei came within a whisker of lifting the world title for the first time but his arch nemesis Lin Dan stood in the way...again.

The top seed Malaysian, who won the All England title, lost to the player known as "Super Dan" in 22-20, 14-21 and 21-23 in what many say an epic final that lasted an hour and 22 minutes at the Wembley Indoor Arena in London Sunday night.

There were many reactions towards this result, mostly dismay because many were expecting LCW to win. However, one fan had a strange reaction. This is what he had to say: "Well, now we know he will win the Olympics."

Don't know what that means but for me, I rarely write on badminton because I was not keen to write about a sport that was not interested in training, equipping and producing coaches. They wanted ready made coaches and did not have a clue about coach qualifications.

I just hope things have changed, for the sake of the sport. Anyway, congrats to Chong Wei, you are now world number one ranked player and number two in the world.  

SEA Games football back to Jakarta

The Indonesian FA confirmed that the SEA Games football competition would not be held in Palembang as the venue will not be ready in time for the biennially held multi-sports extravaganza later this year.

“The stadium in will not be ready for the SEA Games so the football tournament will now be held entirely in Jakarta,” newly elected Deputy President, Farid Rahman, informed the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Council in Kuala Lumpur, Sunday.

As a result of the Jakabaring Stadium being ruled out, the AFF Under-23 Football Championship, which was to serve as a pre-SEA Games warm-up event, has been rescheduled. Originally slated for 16-26 July, the AFF is now trying to identify suitable replacement dates.

Some dates have been proposed, either in late September or mid-October, however there are issues with the availability of the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium where the football competition will be held. According to Farid, the stadium will be undergoing renovation work and will only be ready in late October.

The football competition for the SEA Games is scheduled to start on 7 Nov 2011. The Indonesian FA have been asked to look into the various dates and availability of the stadium and subsequently advise the AFF.