Badminton Entertainer…. Mohd Hafiz Hashim

Watching Hafiz play really amusing and fun, with his skills, unpredictable movement and no emotional expression, he has become Ronaldinho of badminton. Sadly to say those entertainment attractions only apply to neutral viewers. Bagi kita rakyat Malaysia atau penyokong pihak lawan it just nerve wrecking experience.

Pergelangan tangan beliau boleh menukar haluan bulu tangkis withtin fraction of the second. His returns and drop shots are eye catching. Many world class players actually have that ability but not everyone brave enough to use it especially untuk game-game penting. Tapi untuk Hafiz he just look do not really care, dia berani mencuba walaupun risikonya amat tinggi. Nobody, I believe even Lin Dan prefer lawan Hafiz on his good day. He just pulls all kind of shot that pushing his opponent all over the place. But the bravery also pays heavy price sometimes. Dengan wajah tidak berperasaan, Hafiz berani membalas pukulan lawan dengan pelbagai experimental but mesmerize shot yang membuatkan penyokong beliau dan penyokong pihak lawan terpukau. If he manage to get it right, kita akan mengkagumi beliau and tentunya akan menggangu emosi pihak lawan dan penyokong mereka. Tapi jika gagal, it will look silly and foolish dan kita akan rasa nak patahkan tangan dia dengan racket kayu peninggalan ayah kita.

Where he learns those skills and more importantly where he got the courage to use it all the time? The only coach that train him beside his father and maybe his school teachers are Misbun Sidek. Misbun famous for his patient, rally gameplan and also his killer jumping drop slicing shot that he inherited to Roslin some time ago. Although Misbun and his brother Rashid can be consider as Malaysia answer to younger version of Andrea Aggassi during their heyday. Since both of them wear funky shirt and trendy hairstyle but both not daring enough like Hafiz in their approach of the badminton game. So, I believe Hafiz just develops his own style of playing and that shows how good Misbun is as a trainer.

Most top single players now and before applies power and speed policy. Lin Dan and Taufik contoh player sekarang yang menggunakan taktik ini. Most Chinese player sekarang dan dulu juga terkenal for their jumping smashes. Xia Xuanxe, Sun Jun, Yang Yang, Xia Go Bao just to name a few. Indons juga ada melahirkan player yang terkenal dengan speed and power, Harianto Arbi, Ardi Wiranata, Joko Supirianto, Icuk Sugiarto. Players I mentioned above all got one thing in common, they all pernah jadi pemain nombor satu dunia or at least among the top 3. Memang ada pemain yang menggunakan taktik patient and control and ranked top of the ranking. Mostly Malaysian like Rashid, Roslin, Choong Han and most recently Chong Wei. European also always produces numbers of ‘soft’ player like Morten Frost Hensen and Peter Gade. But, majority player who dominate badminton scene nowadays always practice speed and power. Buktinya, player single sekarang tidak lagi memulakan permainan dengan traditional baseline serve. They prefer shot serve just like double players.

I do believe Hafiz need to polish his smash and added more speed into his game to catch up with emerging Chinese contingent and also Taufik and his friends. Just spend more time dalam gym la. Build up those biceps muscle; just try comparing his arm and legendary Foo Kok Keong, laughable. History proves that speed and power are the key element to success in single badminton arena. I not sure he intentionally wish to entertain or just his bravery and fancy play coincidently amuse badminton lovers, but he must realize, he already in the ‘hot prospect’ zone long enough and now is the best time to forget about the lucky All England title and move forward (yup…lucky, just review all his opponent from qualifying round till final match, you will understand what I mean by lucky)

p/s:

Last weekend, one Mangkukers call me and bagitahu Mangkuk beat Boro and eventually they end their jinx. The way he told me like it’s a sin to not knowing Boro are Mangkuk’s jinx for recent years. Haiya…stupid or what.