Red Sports

Controversial umpiring call robs Maris Stella High of place in last 8 of National C Division Badminton Championship

Contributed by reader Zhang Quan

Tampines Sports Hall, April 2, 2009 - A C Division Badminton Championship match between Maris Stella High and Anglican High was ruined by an unreasonable ‘Mr. Umpire’. A shot that was ruled in by the SJI linesman was ruled out by the umpire 10 minutes after the game ended.

I was standing right behind the court cheering on our Marist, Daryl Ho,
as he gave all his best fighting for every point till the score came to 29-29. Daryl made a dive for the shuttle after his opponent Wong Jia Ren did a drop shot. Daryl’s return saw the shuttle bounce off the net, go over, and fall 20cm inside the singles line.

Without hesitation Daryl and his opponent approached each other for a handshake and we all went to celebrate his win with him. Disappointment could be seen on the faces of the players of Anglican High and it was a sign they accepted the defeat.

However, when we then walked towards our belongings preparing to go back to school, ‘Mr. Umpire’ came and told us that he saw the shuttle was out and we had lost. We were shocked because it was obviously in. Then he cowardly walked away without saying a word and a lady from the annoucement table came up to us and said, “You all should respect the umpire’s decision”.

But he had made the wrong decision and how are we going to respect that?

There are so many unanswered questions.

Why was he with the Anglican high coach and players right after a match?

Why did he change his decision and told us 10 minutes after the match ended?

Why did he say the shuttle was out when everyone around the court
including the SJI linesman said it was in?

Is this what SBA trained the umpires to do?

Is this why the standard of Singapore sports can’t go far?

We know we won and ‘Mr Umpire’ himself knows it too. We want our honour and victory back because we deserve it.

Source: http://redsports.sg/2009/04/12/maris-stella-anglican-high-badminton/

Newspaper info

海星中学抗议下　校际羽球男丙复赛展延举行

海星中学因为不满上周四C组赛主裁判的判决而提出抗议，迫使原定今天开打的全国校际羽毛球赛男丙复赛圈展延举行，直到另行通知为止。

　　据了解，海星上星期四在淡滨尼体育场举行的小组赛中，与圣公会中学展开激烈的争夺战，双方战至2比2，必须由决定性的第三个单打分出胜负。海星原本已拿下这致胜的一分，没想到主裁判却在赛后10分钟判定圣公会获胜，引起海星的强烈不满。

　　海星在前天向主办当局提出抗议，并已在昨天接获当局维持原判的通知。这场比赛关乎海星能否晋级复赛圈，维持原判意味着圣公会将取得复赛资格。海星已决定再提出上诉，但最迟必须在明天之前向当局表示这个意愿。

This is the newspaper article on the incident.
Source: http://www.zaobao.com/ty/ty090408_503.shtml

How can i be treated this way it is not FAIR

I am Daryl Ho from Maris Stella High School
I was the player of the last match as the overall score was 2-2 . I was playing the final set and the score was 29-29 .After I serve the ball my opponent did a drop shot and I was almost unable to take it but still, i dive towards the shutter and hit it trying to get the shutter over the net.At first, the ball hit the net. The opponent thought that he had already won but the ball unexpectedly cross over. The opponent was surprised and tried to reach it but gave up as he was unable to reach it .I became excited and go to the net to shake hands with the opponent.
My friends rushed to me and hug me then we started to cheer. Soon, we were about to leave to
collect our bags when Anglican High started cheering. I was puzzled as to why will they cheer if they lost to our school? We walk towards them and ask them what had happened then the Umpire told us that the shuttle that I hit was out. I was very shocked! Soon after we got out of the hall, I felt upset and cried as I have been training and fought very hard till the end .I can't accept the fact that I lost .I hope I will have my justice back!

Speak what you see, mr. umpire

Hi I'm Joshua Song from Maris Stella High School, and I don't think anyone expected this thing to happen.

We were playing against Anglican High, and it was the final and deciding point, the score was 29-29, Daryl Ho, our third Singles player, was playing his best, trying all he could, to help the team win this, and get into the next round.(top 8)
Then, the opponent did a drop shot, a sharp one, but Daryl dived for it, and managed to save it, just hitting it pass the net. The opponent thought he had won, but when he saw Daryl's return, he just stood there, stunned, at a loss of words, slowly trying to accept his defeat. We jumped for joy, and rushed forward to hug Daryl, and till then, the umpire did not announce the victor and the loser. After celebrating, we went back to collect our bags, when we saw and heard Anglican High shouting for joy, just like we did 10minutes back. For a moment, i thought they were challenging us, trying to tell us that they could shout louder although they lost. Then Mr. Umpire walked up to us and told us we lost, the shuttlecock landed outside. Mr Umpire, are you mad?

You knew what you saw, I'm very sure, but you definitely didn't tell us what you saw,and made something up, which is one of the most childish acts I've seen in history.

Wait, Mr. Umpire, are you kidding me? After all the joy after seeing our teammate win the deciding match, you tell us that we lost? Do you even have a conscience? I'm 99.9% sure that you knew that the shuttlecock landed in the court, that we were so eager to get into top 8, yet you still wanted to "joke" around. This ain't a laughing matter, get that in your mind, Mr. Umpire. Are you guilty? If you aren't, why did you disappear for the seen so quickly eh?
P.S sorry Anglican if we offended you in any way, but it was just because we were fuming mad. With the umpire. When victory belongs to us, no one else will get it. READERS, please support us.

Why are we so sad and why did i cry?

I am Leon Tay from Maris Stella High School. What happened on 2 April 2009 really make my teammates and i felt very sad.

As some of my teammates have told you all what had happened on that day, i would not talk about it. I would tell you all how we feel and why we are so angry. As a player of Maris Stella High School i felt very disappointed as we have trained hard and played and fought hard in every competition. Even if we tried our best and we are not qualified into the Top 8, i would know that we have to train harder and try again next year. But now this is not the situation. We all tried our very best and by right we should have won the match against Anglican High School which would qualify us into Top 8. But never did we know that the umpire would say that the last shot was out, when the shuttle was about 20CM away from the singles line. We were very angry that day as the shot was clearly IN and even the linesman show the sign that the ball was IN. The umpire did not say that the ball was out thus this shows that he agreed with the linesman. When we were walking back to collect our bags, the Anglican players suddenly cheered loudly and we were all very surprised. After that, the umpire walked to us and announce to us that the shot was out and he also said that we have lost the match. We were all shocked. But what he did was wrong as he should have announce to both the schools when he was still sitting on his Umpire's chair.

Now, we are furious as the umpire is supposed to maintain a FAIR game but what he did was totally UNFAIR... The linesman came to prove that the shot was IN, however a lady at the announce table told him to get lost. WHAT THE HELL is this?? WHAT IS LINESMAN FOR?? LINESMAN are to judge if every shot is IN or OUT. Now when the linesman stand forward to prove that the shot was clearly IN, he wasn't even given a chance to speak. But now, they ask the linesman to get lost!!! WHAT IS THIS?? Now, the umpire gave just a reason that he was sitting closest to the shuttle that landed so he judged that the shot was OUT. But since he was the closest, he would have seen the clearest that it was IN. How could he gave such a reason??There were also many other players from both our school and SJI who had seen that shot was an in.

I always thought that sport teaches us to be a FAIR, RESPONSIBLE and SPORTSMANSHIP. But now, the umpire are showing us the wrong way(DISHONESTY).

I think that the VICTORY should seriously goes to US. I hope that something would be done about this.

To readers, support Maris Stella High

To 'Mr 10cm thick specs Umpire'

Integrity and Fairness

I am Nicholas Chua from maris Stella High School. What had happen on 2nd of April was what i had least expected...

I was standing behind the court supporting and cheering for my junior. This is a very important match to us, everyone was there was very focused on the game. However, after the we had won, we were elated and we were full of emotions. All of us rushed over to our star of the day and celebrated our victory. We then went to get our bags and were ready to leave.

However, we heard a sudden cheer from Anglican High and we were shock and confused. Why had cheered when they had lost to us, they should be very dissapointed and sad. We went back to the battleground and the umpire came to us. Then he told us that the shutter was out. We were all flabbergasted by the sudden, ridiculous announcement by the umpire, saying that the ball was out when just now, which is ten minutes ago, the shutter was so clearly an IN. THE LINESMAN said the ball was IN. He had put out two parallel hands at the point when the shuttle landed, AND THE UMPIRE DID NOT EVEN SAY THAT THE LINESMAN WAS WRONG OR ANYTHING. HE DID NOT EVEN DO ANYTHING LIKE GATHERING THE TEACHERS-IN-CHARGE OF BOTH SIDES TOGETHER AND SAY HIS DECISION IN FRONT OF ALL.

10 minutes later, he then told us that we lost because the shuttle was out, All Marist were very angry.The things in my mind lead to thinking that the Singapore umpires are not professional at all. Aren't they supposed to be fair, honest and righteous in their every decision made. After that day, I lost my total trust and respect for the umpires, if this could happen in this competition, what else would happen in bigger competition or games such as the Youth Olympics being held next year in Singapore? Are we ready for the Youth Olympics next year?

I thought sports was about sportmanship. If sports was like this, the example of this game, I cannot see anything like good sportsmanship, integrity and honesty of the game at all. I could only see unfairness and dishonesty. This wil big a joke when it travels to other countries and does not reflect well on the standard of our umpires. And with the incoming Youth Olympics, it is not good to us at all. And I don't think we can go far in sports with all these happening...

I know that it is our team that has truely won, we hope justice will be done. Sorry to Anglican for the rude remarks, we are too agitated that day.

Disgrace to the sport

I am Zhang Quan from Maris Stella High. Because of these people and the standard of Singapore sports cant go far...

2/4/09 was another day at Tampines Sports Hall for our Inter-school badminton competition. It was a match our C'Division Marist vs Anglican High and we would be in the top 8 if we won. This crucial match was ruined by an unreasonable 'Mr. Umpire' from SBA. The details are found in Joshua's post.

I was standing right behind the court cheering on our Marist, Daryl, as he gave all his best fighting for every point till the score came to 29-29. Daryl made a dive for the shuttle after his opponent did drop shot and the shuttle bounced off the net, went over, and was IN about 20cm away from the singles line. Without hesitation Daryl and he opponent approach each other for a handshake and we all went forth to celebrate his win with him. Faces of disappointment can be seen from the faces of the players of Anglican High and it was a sign they accepted the defeat. HOWEVER, when we then walked towards our belongings preparing to go back to school, 'Mr. Umpire' came and told us that he saw the shuttle was OUT and we had lost. We were shocked because it was obviously IN and i could even see it with my eyes CLOSED... Then he cowardly walked away without saying a word and a lady from the annoucement table came up to us and said, "You all should respect the umpire's decision". But he had made the wrong decision and how are we going to respect that?

A professional umpire would stop the players from shaking hands if he had disagreed with the linesman BUT 'Mr. Umpire' did not. A professional umpire would go to straight to the announcement table after the match is over BUT 'Mr. Umpire' did not.
1001 questions had been asked about the actions that 'Mr. Umpire' made.

• Why did he announce to us that we had lost AFTER the match ended 10mins ago?
• Why did he said the shuttle was out when everyone around the court including the linesman said it was IN?
• Is this what SBA trained the umpires to do?
• Is this why the standard of Singapore sports CANT go FAR?

We have these meaningful CCAs in our education to teach us sportsmanship, to be honest, to not use dirty tactics to gain victory. However after this incident happened we would think, "What are these people trying to tell us? Fairness in sports depends on the umpires?"

The Youth Olympics would be organised here next year and these umpires would be representing Singapore. If this incident would happen in just a National Inter-school competition then who would know what would happen at this global event? If people from other countries knew about this incident, it would be a disgrace to the sport and the country. We want to make the Youth Olympics a meaningful and memorable event but having these people won't do us any good. Individuals like this are only out there to discriminate Singapore's sporting spirit and cause trouble.

We know we won and 'Mr.Umpire' himself knows it too. We want our honour and victory back because we deserve IT.

To readers, support Maris Stella and eliminate UNFAIRNESS

2 April 2009

A memorial event to start of this month. Written by Joshua Chan of Maris Stella High
IF its an April Fool Joke, it ain't funny..

It happened at the National Inter-School Pilot Pen Badminton Competition 2009. Our Marists have trained hard for that day, especially the C'Division. However, our hopes were dramatically shattered by an unreasonable act of foolishness...

I was at the far end of another court watching our last singles, Daryl Ho, battle it out for the deciding game of that match between my school Maris Stella vs Anglican High. The overall score now was 2 - 2, and this game was our only hope of entering the Top 8. The game began to heat up as the game entered the 3rd and final set. As both players attained a score of 29 - 29, it was certainly nerve-racking.

I did not see what had happened at the last and final shot, BUT I KNEW WE WON by the joyous laughters and hugs made by our Marist Team. Darrell shook hands with his strong opponent, who was from Anglican High. That i saw vividly. IT WAS A SIGN THAT HE KNEW HE HAD LOST, AND HAD NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT.

As the team approached back to collect our belongings, we heard screaming and shouts from Anglican Team. we were wondering what happened. As we approached them they claimed they had win as THE UMPIRE said that the last ball, made by Daryl, was out. WHAT A JOKE!!!. We were shocked! Firstly, the game has already ended AT LEAST 10min ago since this 'joker' said those things. Secondly, according to witnesses as well as the line judge said it was a clear in. At that point of time, SJI , Victoria and RI players were at the scene too. They saw it was a clear in, at least 1/2 of a 20cm ruler away from the out line. Lastly, even if he was certain that it was out(WHICH IT WASN'T), WHY DIDN'T HE SAY IT EARLIER?!

There is obviously something going on. We were stripped from our dignity and honour, and we want it back! NOW. If that Umpire thinks that we are just Sec. school kids, he is wrong. We are just as human , or rather more humane than him. Thus, we fell into a hard, furious rage. Yes, we apologise to those individuals we showed our angry moods, but definitely not to "Mr. Prejudiced Umpire".

We are sorry Anglican High for all the hurting remarks, especially to your coach. You are winners as well. We are all winners, but can you live knowing that you guys entered the Top 8 not by Winning Maris Stella High, but by a cheap, unreasonable, foolish, pure bullshit "judgement" by a unfair umpire? (BY ALL MARISTS)

Honestly, we would congratulate you guys if you had entered Top 8 by winning us. However it ain't the case now.

Truth. We are very disappointed with the SBA umpires. We are frustrated. We want this badly.
To Readers, please support us Marist Stella High Badmiton Team.