Andrain, thanks and I now have your eddy. Just watch out for an alphaduck guy (he is a little f#*^ tup, unlike us, he has nothing better to do and with his one dimentional rude calling names on players, joke about women's looks and physical appearance etc. I am from Malaysia but in Melbourne most of the time. I retired from badminton 5 years ago and I now play tennis and squash reasonably ok too. Back to financial rewards, read below news articles

THERE are no national sports associations (NSAs) which can rival the BA of Malaysia’s monetary security to its players.

BAM has efficient incentives, world ranking and match bonuses as well as allowances which promises all players a comfortable life as long as they work hard and be successful in the international arena.

The world ranking bonus is the most attractive as players ranked from World No 32 to World No 1 get a quarterly payment ranging from RM4,500 to RM45,000.

The women’s singles players enjoy between RM4,500 to RM36,000 in the same ranking bracket.

The men’s doubles are restricted to the top 16 where the highest payout per quarter is RM80,000 if they rank No 1 or No 2, while the pairs ranked from ninth to 16th get RM24,000.
The women’s doubles receive between RM12,000 and RM60,000.

The lack of success and focus in the mixed doubles means only the top eight benefit but an amount of RM40,000 for a top or second ranked pair quarterly is a substantial amount (for full list refer to graphics).

A successful player or pair can earn from the match bonus scheme RM10,000 for a Super Series title and RM5,000 for a grand prix win, and there is another attractive sum in the form of a presidential bonus which guarantees an additional 25 per cent of the winning purse.

BAM has also not neglected incentives for winning major events as an Olympic gold is worth RM100,000 while at a lower level, a player can earn RM10,000 if he wins a Sea Games individual or team gold.

Monthly salary, or allowance as it is called, ranges from RM500 to RM3,000 based on the achievement of players.

Although BAM has not made it too difficult for the national shuttlers to earn a decent living, it remains a mystery why they are struggling to make the grade.

The exceptional players like World No 1 Lee Chong Wei, men’s doubles Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Zakry Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari, and women’s doubles Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui have been reaping the benefits consistently.

For example, if Chong Wei wins five Super Series (offering US$200,000 or RM720,000 in total prize money) titles and maintains his World No 1 status this year, he will earn about RM297,000 on BAM ranking, match and presidential bonuses alone. This does not include the total prize money he earns from these events.

Likewise, Kien Keat-Boon Heong and Pei Tty-Eei Hui are set to earn about RM202,000 each for similar achievements.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but strangely the incentives doesn’t seem to encourage the majority of the national shuttlers.

The least BAM can offer a national senior who has not been involved in tournaments due to injury or poor form, is RM3,000, while a back-up player gets RM500 a month even if he fails to show progress.

SMASHING MONEY

A successful player or pair can earn from the match bonus scheme RM10,000 for a Super Series title and RM5,000 for a grand prix win
Article source:

The New Straits Times

Kim Chua,

Thanks for sharing, i believe only certain limited shuttlers get about RM3,000 a month and i dont believe even players like Hafiz or Kuan Beng receive monthly allowance close to that.
From your input, i believe you are a good badminton players too, mind to exchange our email adds, perhaps we can have a game or too.
Mine is andrian_lee2000@yahoo.com

Andrain,

The financial reward is just one of the incentives. Anyone in Malaysia will be rewarded RM$1 million for winning an Olympic Gold. Regular National players are paid something like RM$3,000 a month with back up players about half of that. On top of that, these players get support left, right and centre. Psychologist, food nutritionist, personal trainer, doctors etc. In addition to monthly allowance, you get bonuses like being WC, world rnked No. 1. I was under this training regime for 2 weeks to have a taste of what a national player has to go thru daily. Yes, their job is to play badminton well and the training is very tough, probably more so in China.

If I am correct, non professional athletes were prohibited from receiving compensation during that time. Olympians, at that time were considered non professional and weren't allowed compensation. However, some of the countries, such as the Soviet Union, were secretly funding their athletes and this unbalanced treatment finally let to the elimination of this rule. I wonder if Eddy Chong and the like fell into that category.
Are the badminton training facilities in Malaysia air-cond? If it isn't, I think the hot and humid weather probably would take a toll on a player.

Thanks Kim CHua & David for agreeing with my point. Anyway, sad to say that being a Badminton Hero doesn;t really pay off! Look at our past history, the former badminton great Eddy Chong, Ong Peng Soon and the rest, after winning the Thomas Cup for Malaysia and All England, these people don;t get paid as much as LCW does now! Some who passed away didn;t even have enough money for their funeral.
So in realizing this, LCW will definitely capitalize on the rewards scheme by National SPorts Council (NSC) and BAM to make as much money as possible for being world no.1.
(though i know he really works hard for it)

In conclusion, the BAM and NSC have to revamp, they have to decide, can they still pay so much for someone with World No.1 ranking and not winning World Titles ?

Perhaps, Until the BAM and NSC do something about paying shuttlers something for winning world titles and winning a min of 10 titles a year to maintain an earning of RM40k a month, Malaysia look no way of having a world champion.

For all the fans out there, being a world champion does not carry any monetery reward, it's just a title! Winning a super series worth much much more! Historically, our shutters win so much more super series! don't you think so ?

Wow, an American making badminton history is rather unimaginable as badminton is generally regarded as a backyard sport here in the US. Thanks for this tidbit and I'm sure it will stump many folks if it appears in trivial questions.

David, no worries mate as we like to say that from Australia (pronounce Ostraitlia with aussie accent), did you know that the only player who had never lost an international match was actually an american named Dave Freeman, a doctor. I think that was in the 50s or 60s.

rom early in 1939, at the age of eighteen, through his final tournament match fourteen years later, Freeman was undefeated in singles competition[1]. Displaying his characteristic quickness, agility, and shot-making precision, Freeman won the prestigious All-England Championship on his only try (1949) and remains the sole American to win the men's singles there[2]. In this one-time-only badminton stint in Europe he also won Thomas Cup singles matches against eventual champion Malaya, and captured the Danish Open. In all, he won three matches each against Ooi Teik Hock and the very formidable Wong Peng Soon. After apparently retiring from badminton in 1950 to concentrate on a career in neurosurgery, Freeman made a brief comeback in 1953. He won the four tournaments that he entered which concluded with the U.S. National Championships in Boston, and a victory in the very same hall where he had last lost a singles match fourteen years earlier.[3]. He is the only American born male to be inducted into both the U.S. and World Badminton Halls of Fame[4].

Andrian-I tend to agree with you. Let me ask a couple of my badminton buddies from China to see if they know the payout to a good player by the Chinese government. I'm sure Lin Dan has done quite well for himself.

kim chua-thanks for the explanation and I'd buy it. I guess the key is the breaking point, i.e, a player needs to know at what point it will yield him a negative return. When not competing in a tournament, a player would still need to practice but the intensity would be very different. Michael Phelps swims 20 miles daily but I'm sure that he is a lot more relaxed when practicing. You are definitely correct about the speed of play by good players. I played with a couple of former youth national players (for the United States) a couple of months ago and I could hardly keep up with them and they were just taking it easy on me. I learned to respect the speed of the birdie a lot more now, LOL.

Intelligent analysis Andrian, LCW got $400k for Olympic silver and LD got a free meal of Peking duck from LYB winning the Gold. An Olympic Gold is worth a Million ringgit bonus in Malaysia.The Viet Champ, NTM, is on a government payroll of $110 pm, not enough to fill up the tank of LCW's 5 series. Yes, bt being world np. 1, he gets another bonus. He has lots of fans in China. LD is a touch more successful at the moment with already some hardware all Malaysians wish LCW should have one by now. I tried to make my point a month ago but nobody understands. If you earn a million bucks a year, losing in an AE or WC Final ain't so bad, you still have your BMW and like Boris Becker once said "No body died"
Susan,
The time for LCW will come, 2010. Don't you trust or believe this humble prophet...o-mi-to-fut

Kim Chua,

I would love to see LCW wins the prestigious tournaments in 2010 if he can. He should stop giving excuses and walk the talk.

How well will he perform? We'll just wait and see.......

I agree LD lost to a lower rank player but that does happen sometimes to any great champion in any sports. But at least he has already grabbed many prestigious tournaments consistently and still counting.

You were saying that LCW for once will not lose to a player rank 717 like LD did and I believe you treasure it as an amazing feat. But statistics shows that LCW frequently lost to LD (LD wins more!!). Does that make the player rank 717 better than LCW simply because the player rank 717 once beat LD who has a proven superior record against LCW?

Can someone help me to solve the puzzle? Please...

This is my humble opinion.....

Dear all,

i think everyone is rather foolish about comparing LCW and LD in terms of their performance and technical skills here. 1st of all, if you know both of them well enough, both have a different agenda and we can;t blame them. Each has very different preference!

LCW: If u ever see him, just look at what car he drives, 6 series, 5 series and etc. How will he afford that? simple, for being world no1, the national sports council and BAM rewards them handsomely!! Min RM40k
That excludes sponsorship from Yonex and 100Plus and etc.
So he has to play as many tournament as possible to maintain as world No.1
LD: He only targets world championship, olympic and asian games (major events), to attract sponsors to make a living. In China, they don;t pay for being world no.1, in addition to that, they need to return their prize money should they win any open, SO IT CLEARLY EXPLAIN why LD compete only 8 instead of 18!

Both players are exercising the best opportunity for themselves. To all the fans, if you really want to know who;s the best, rest all the 4 players (LD, LCW, Peter & Taufik for a year) and get them to play against each other in Asia, Antartic & Africa. (independent ground)
Then you should know who should come up top! Judging by this comparison, on age Peter and Taufik will lose out. It shoud be LD or LCW. I should think the outcome should be LD 51, LCW 49!

Anyone agrees ?

Susan
Can agree with you 90%. You cannot play in WC, Olympic or AE whenever you like especially the first two, you have to qualify and of course for great players like LD and LCW, this is only academic. LD is obviously a great singles player, probably one of the best in history alongside Dave Freeman (who?), Wong Peng Soon, Rudy Hartono, Tang Xianhu,Yang Yang, Liem Swie King, Erland kops, just to name a few. LCW however on the other hand, is a great player who has yet to land a big price his skills so deservingly justified. LCW is just like Ron Clarke of Australia. He was the world record holders in 5,000 and 10,000M running. He won almost every race he entered, holds the world record but has never won an Olympic medal. If LCW is “only” a good player, then players like BCL, CJ, PG might as well retire cos these players get beaten by LCW on a regular basis, month in month out. Only LCW can beat BCL 21-12, 21-12 (fairly one sided) twice in a month, nobody including LD can do that. LD beat BCL 21-3, 21-17 at the Chinese Nationals and BCL practises with him regularly so they know each other’s play. Be patient with me, the Year 2010 will treat LCW well. SS is only for players in the top 24 with the other 8 spots for people to qualify. The great Korean player Lee Hung Il had to do that in 2007 and he has a good record against LD or Cheng Hong. In fact, Lee Hung Il makes LYB sick by winning Sudirman Cup from Chinese grasp once. There are lots of good and great players and LCW for once will not lose to a player ranked 717 to whom LD did. Nevertheless, it’s a one off upset of the century and LD in my opinion is still one of the greatest in spite of that loss.

David,

Your comment is fair and I won’t use the words “you are wrong” but I can say you are not quite right. A recreational player plays to entertain and for exercise to shake off a beer or two but a pro like LCW plays to win. I used to play competitively and it does take its toll on your body. You see how players dive to retrieve a shot, how they scoop the shuttle two inches from the ground, its all so fascinating for the audience to see but at night after our showers and before we go to sleep, you will feel all the aches and pains. Boris Becker once said “Every morning when I wake up, somewhere else hurts..” In doubles especially, the team you always eat for breakfast suddenly beat you in an important tournament, sometimes after 10 matches in 5 days, the unforced errors creep in your 11th and most important match. Your data loses its range and the net (5 foot 1 inch) at the centre suddenly becomes higher on your end. Our smashes might not be 356 kph like TBH’s world record but they are consistently in the mid to high 200 kph or our opponents would crucify us in your return. Badminton is the fastest racket sport. Once after a practice session at Birmingham Uni, a recreation player came up and asked me this “how did you guys return some of the smashes? and when we play 3 rallies, you guys have exchanged about 6!”
The smashes need explosive power and pro players in doubles don’t take shots on the backhand, usually. In Grand Slam tennis, it goes for two weeks but tennis is not the fastest racket spot and already make Boris Becker aching all over.

I'm just a recreational badminton player and I can't help but wonder about the comments of how LCW is of disadvantage when comparing to LD since he participates in more tournaments. The risk of getting injured in a badminton game is quite minimal and therefore, up to a certain point, the more tournaments a player participates in, the more he/she can sharpen the skills. Am I wrong?

Guys, all world class badminton players participate in AE, WC and Olympic. However, not all players and sometimes very few world class players join SS. This is because they value the AE, WC and Olympics as major tournaments and winning these tournaments is considered as top priority, pride and ultimate satisfaction.

It is not a question about quantity or how many SS won by a player but a question of how many tournaments with possess quality, pride and tradition won by him.

Being a great champion is a matter of people perception. What people perceived with AE, WC and Olympic is quality, pride, honour, majestic and tradition. It is a tradition of a great champion to win major tournaments.

Only by winning major tournaments LCW will be a great champion. Until that time comes he is only a good player. So far LD has done it consistently and as such a great champion LD is...

This is my humble opinion....

Dear HXHong, Ni-hao...of course LCW wanted the Olympic gold, everybody wants that glittering and ultimate price. During a match, is not just a war between LCW/LD, the coaches as well. They gave instructions to their respective pupils, occupy the net, smash to the backhand etc. LD has done wonders and he executed his instructions well. LCW has not landed a big price yet but that's not to say LD will win anything if he just turns up, that's what some of LD's fans think and that's what I am a bit cross as a fan of LCW. To be world no. 1, you have to, and the word is , EARN it!! and LCW has done that but unfortunately has not landed the big one. Yes, Malaysian camp has learned, 2010 will see LCW plays less tourneys, peak at AE, WC etc

There is no doubt that LD and LCW are the two best players in the world now. Others are some distance from the two. However, Kim, what do you think lcw wants, silver medals of AE, WC and Olympics and many more SS winners or winners of AE, WC and olympics? If the former, congratulations, he is now as successful as one can be. If the latter, there is still some road to go, and he needs to adjust, skip some ss, and focus on his goal. attending 18 tournament is great. but is that what lcw or his fans want?

hxhong, LCW has both quality and qantity. At AE and WC, he was the losing finalist to LD, at many SS which LCW won, LD was not even there. 2008 Olympics is history. LCW still brings fear in your Chinese camp, who else can beat BCL 21-10, 21-12 week after week? BCL is a world class player but LCW/LD are twin peaks of which the rest of the world will try to beat.

badmintonxpert, you yourself made the comparison already (# of tournaments attended). why cannot people compare the two? I see it is quantity vs. quality. Do LCW and Malaysia care about AE, WC and Olympic? Would LCW win one of the three make a great contribution to badminton? If so, one should admit that it is hard to do so while attending every tournament. LCW has great potential to win any of the three. Then why not adjust yourself (including attending fewer SS), and achieve it?

im just tired of ppl comparing lcw and ld!!!it just doesnt make any senses...how can you compare someone who,s been participating in 18 tournaments vs the other who only made 8 tournaments!!if ld is so great why he only choose tournament that he wants to participate..why cant he be more like lcw who,s supporting badminton in every aspect!!please people, before you compare them, take time to think a little!18 tournaments its alot of pain on the body!!!anyways, ld is just star (in his head) but sure,i think he,s a great player but when you dont play often, how can people compare you?lcw thanks for being there for the fans and supporte the game in that recession!!

Love you Kim ;) hahaha.

You provide some good insights into the professional badminton circuit :p.

Thanks mate!

Great game!

I think that overall Gade shows that´s he´s still capable threatening, beating the best players.

A copule of bad calls, poor judgement and unforced errors from Gade is all that differs.

Really hope that Gade will be around at least untill the olympic games.

Thank you all for your support. It was very unfair when Akira said "LCW will not stand a ghost of a chance against LD, Barry said "LCW always look so good when LD is not around" and alpha, beta etc said "LCW is not world No. 1.... These people are now so ssssssssssshhhhhhhh quiet.

Btw, Choi to whom LD lost to is world ranked 727, or No. 6 in Korea. Having said that, LD is a great fighter and sportman, he will bounce back, so will LCW in 2010 to improve his HTH score with LD.

kim chua..well said~~=D

To Kim Chua: You stupid low life peasant. Such an ignorant peasant you are. When LCW lost to Simon he did mention that his knee was injured but later he said that is not an excuse. If he is really sincere he didn't have to say that his knee is injured and just accept the defeat. Take that....

So when LCW won a tournament without LD participation, people (ok armchair critics from all over the world) wonder whether he could still win if LD were there. But if LD won something without LCW participation, nobody (not even Kim or kim chua) wonders what if LCW were there. So admit it or not, unless this phenomenon changes, the tide does not change.

BTW, kim and kum chua, are you the same person?

kim chua has a point there, and a really good one btw. really good match in my opinion, i like both players very very much. about gade, he's really really geat player - from europe and really old and competing at such tournaments and doing pretty awesome aswell.

its amazing how gade keeps up with the best at age 33

LD lost, LD lost but he said
"I hope my superiors can be more strategic in entering me in competitions. I played in so many tournaments in the second half of the year ... I was in France, I was in China," said Lin, who nonetheless praised Choi for playing well.

Mr. Lin, LCW is every where, NOT YOU. LCW won in Taufik's Indon Open, he went to Lee Hung Il's Korean Open, he won both Macau and HK open in your backyard, he beat you in Swiss but your victory at AE and the world Chanmpionship made lots of naive badminton fans to think all you have to do is "to turn up" and the Grand Prix Final is yours. LCW injured his knee losing to Simon but he never made excuses. He played in 18 tournaments compared to your eight, take that!!

By the way, that rally at 19-16 in the 2nd game is amazing!!

Gade struggling with defence, but great match!!

So frustrated to see Peter Gade like this.. those 3 unforced errors in the last game were so disappointed... I felt he had so much more potential, played great badminton..

Not to take away from LCW's victory of course, but I'm sad to see Peter Gade be defeated like that.

a fantastic match very nice lcw play very well agants the most experienced player peter gade hope that he will play in final as well

Go tell Li Yongbo that. Tell me to play LD in Malaysia and Indonesia more often. Don't chicken out on some tournaments.

good match :) still wanna see more lin dan action. thanks for the vids and effort :)