A voice of hope needed for athletes in tough situations

THE voice of commentator Gillian Clark is sweet music for all badminton fans.

Her comments on the game are spot on, entertaining and one can only admire her natural ability to bring life to the game.

Having been a top class player in her youth before becoming a pundit, the Englishwoman has been involved in badminton for more than a decade but one statement she made in the recent Indian Open certainly won her brownie points.

Being a true ambassador of the sport, Clark highlighted the value of sportsmanship by assessing the actions of young South Korean hotshot An Se-young.

In the women’s singles semi-finals, the 20-year-old Se-young dashed out of court and hugged her coach in sheer jubilation - without shaking hands with opponent He Bingjiao of China.

Her wild celebration was understandable as it was her first win against Bingjiao and naturally, the young talent was over the moon.

In the final, she shook hands with Akane Yamaguchi first before letting out her pent-up emotion. It was also her first win over the Japanese after losing in their earlier four meetings.

Clark quickly applauded Se-young’s attitude.

“This is the right way of doing it,” she said.

Clark obviously felt that a player should show his or her respect to the opponent first by shaking hands before enjoying their success.

I couldn’t agree more. The handshake is not just about respect for the opponent but also for the game.

Every defeat or disappointment or heartbreak is hard to swallow, especially if one has worked really hard and sacrificed much.

Some players do celebrate but most of the time, they make their way back to court later to acknowledge the opponent.

In fact, a post-game handshake is important, even if the opponent had displayed unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Losing is part of the game but one should never feel like they are losers in life.

Losing is never the end. It could mark the beginning of something better.

Take our own Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani too. After eight years together, the duo have finally conceded defeat.

Unable to produce consistent results for the last year, they have announced their decision to split.

I remember watching them explode onto the senior scene by reaching the final of their first Open tournament, the Malaysian Masters in Sibu, Sarawak, in 2017.

They showed massive potential. They were humble and hungry to play for the country. But their first big win only came at the German Open last year.

They know now they have no chance of making it to the Paris Olympic Games, thus the decision to try out new partners.

Thank you guys for the years of hard work and service for the country. I really hope they have a better future.

Then, there is world No. 2 Lee Zii Jia. He’s been beaten again in an early round in the ongoing Indonesian Masters. He was also left disappointed in the Malaysian Open and Indian Open.

The 24-year-old All-England champ is in a dark place right now. He needs a helping hand, not constant battering and berating.

Hopefully, he will find his way back with some soul searching and a change in his training set-up.

It was also a tough week for the national hockey team led by A. Arulselvaraj.

They did very well in the early matches of the World Cup, securing wins over Chile and the fancied New Zealand but still missed the target of reaching the quarter-finals when they lost to Spain.

Morale is low after they also missed an opportunity to fight for the ninth spot.

But let’s give them a pat on their back for giving their heart and soul, at least against New Zealand and Spain, whom they held to a 2-2 draw before losing on penalties.

It’s obvious the Europeans led by Holland are a class above and the Speedy Tigers will just have to raise their level even higher.

All these guys need right now are positive voices like Clark around them to turn their agony in defeat to glory and triumph.