Beng Hong has no fear of the juniors

Sunday January 7, 2007
PETALING JAYA: National men's singles shuttler Kuan Beng Hong is in no rush to be among the world's best. In fact, he's not even thinking about being the country's best.
He knows that none of the back-up players are even close to his standard.
National singles coach Li Mao has targeted Beng Hong to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games but the 24-year-old player is not too worried about missing out. He knows his place in the national team will not be jeopardised.
“My coach (Li Mao) has high hopes. But it is a tall order for me, especially now that I am not very confident about my game,” said Beng Hong.
“But I’m working hard in training. Hopefully, I will be able to achieve a breakthrough in one of three tournaments – the Malaysian Open (Jan 16-21), Korean Open (Jan 23-28) and the All-England (March 6-11). That would help me enter the Olympic qualifying period with more confidence.”
The Olympic qualifying season begins in May.
While Beng Hong is hard-pressed to psyche himself up, the absence of juniors and peers to keep him on his toes is fast becoming another problem.
“I will be back to training even if I do not make the cut for the Olympics. I will be concentrating on other tournaments,” he said.
“It is just unfortunate that there is no pressure from the juniors right now. For the time being, my place in the national team is safe.”
Beng Hong, who is ranked 31st in the world, said there was a big gap in standards between the seniors and the second team.
“It was different when I was in the back-up team. We trained with the seniors and had match practice every week.
“Our back-up players now train on their own. They only get a chance to rub shoulders with the seniors during the local circuit. And last year, we had only two legs of the circuit!
“I’m not looking down on them but their standard is low now,” added Beng Hong.
The back-up singles players under the Project 2010-12 are Chong Wei Feng, Tan Chun Seang, Azrihanif Azahar, Lim Kenn, Mohd Syafiq Jamaluddin, Liew Daren, Chong Li Qun and Beryno Wong.
The seniors train in Bukit Jalil while the back-up players are based at the Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara.