By Rashid Yusof

At 1.11am, Feb 18, 2023,  ApaKhabar sent a screenshot of Darence Chan’s YouTube channel to Norza Zakaria, president of Badminton Association of Malaysia.

“Darence,” came the reply. Darence Chan is developing into a brand.

The quarter-final encounter  between Malaysia and China in the Asia  Mixed Team Badminton Championship in Dubai, did not end till 2am.

Malaysia had been beaten 1 – 4 by India at the group stage, plunging into the slaughterhouse.

The rankings of China’s badminton players are deceptive. Darence Chan said so! 

LIVE screening on television and YouTube centred on one court – and, on Friday night that was the India vs Hong Kong tie.

 So? WATCHALONG.

This is Darence Chan’s YouTube channel. It will not disappoint.

LIVE score updates are there on the screen. And, from the top right-hand corner, the man with the Malaysian flag draped over his shoulders, provides his take.

It is not exactly a running commentary of power play, nuances and  mind games on court.

He is properly equipped to describe those.

What is his DNA, then? Darence Chan is a celebrated fan. A mover. A pundit. A learned commentator.

A bonding is nurtured.

His viewers discern the pattern of play by his energy, his gestures and yes, screeches.

Yet for spells he would go “motionless” glued to his screen. Fans like this ApaKhabar reporter try to figure out the pair or single player dominating the  sequence of play.

The update of the latest score on screen is not as instant and passionate as Darence Chan’s personalised indicators.

You would know instantly the winner of the latest point by his reactions.

In past Live matches, he assured his viewers he was tracking and watching those badminton matches LIVE. 

This quote came in the deciding match in the Malaysia – China encounter: “The difficulty of watching this game ….we will remember this,” before launching into his trademark, Malaysia Boleh!

Our mixed doubles pair,  Tan Kian Meng – Lai Pei Jing were locked in an hour-long battle against Feng Yan Zhe – Huang Dong Pin of China. Earlier, Pearly Tan – M Thinaah won in  women’s doubles.

Darence Chan had gone Pearly! Pearly!!… proclaiming his admiration of the Kedah-born shuttler.

The tie was on 2 – 2 when Apa Khabar decided that  we should feature Darence Chan. Never mind the outcome of this Malaysia – China match. Plain-speaking Darence Chan has done his research. He scans the big picture. He is into details.

“They (China) have this league system … a Super League”. Don’t be deceived by the ranking.

This reporter has been tracking Ng Tze Yong’s progress on the ranking- front for about a year now.

A screenshot of Darence in action

‘You clearly don’t know badminton,’ came the advice from  Darence Chan in his narrative.

The Chinese pair were up 18 – 17 when the moppers marched into the court. We didn’t see this. Darence Chan did. “You could have mopped the floor five minutes ago.”

He was prodding on the Malaysian pair. “We may not have the chance to beat China again.”

The second game entered the deuce quagmire; China had won the first game.   “We have got to do it now. Take your chance.”

So many permutations. That was Darence Chan’s assessment,   verbatim. “No one has ever won this tournament apart from China.”

Darence Chan went on to thank his followers for their own endurance. “It is almost 2am”.

“I think that’s it. ” His screen informs viewers the China pair were leading 24 – 23 and went on to win the tie.

I checked Norza Zakaria’s whatsApp. It had stayed active.

Malaysia 2

China      3