‘One point, one point, one point’: Jason Teh’s 40-month struggle to find victory

Jason Teh, who won his first badminton title on February 2, has the word "Perseverance" inked onto his body. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

SINGAPORE – On the cement stands of a 73-year-old badminton hall on Guillemard Road, where a banner of Wong Peng Soon flutters in the rafters and The Rolling Stones once rocked in 1965, sits a young man, intense and honest, contemplating the twisting, arduous road he’s travelled.

Part of who Jason Teh is, and what he holds precious, is written on his body. On his arm, the word “Family” is tattooed and a shuttlecock, things he prizes most and must be faithful to. On the rest of his body are inked notes to himself.

On his torso, “Perseverance”.

On his forearm, “Believe”.

On his chest, clouds in the background, “Be Fearless, Be Brave”.

Why?

“All these things,” he says, “are something that I lacked last time, so I want to put it on to remind myself.”

In Thailand on February 2 it’s as if those messages finally penetrate his being. He wins his first tournament, 21-18, 15-21, 21-19 over China’s Wang Zhengxing, and it’s act of skill but also of overcoming. Man versus himself. In the record books it states it took 63 minutes, but in truth victory has taken 40 months.

In September 2021 in Poland, Teh reaches his first international final and loses. Then he loses finals again, in Bahrain, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, India, Poland (2024), seven in total, so much losing that it leaves him confused and stressed and so when victory finally happens in Thailand he’s in a daze.

This writer shows Teh a photo of himself, shirtless after the win, eyes wide, like a man unsure if he’s awake. “After I lost so many finals,” he says, “I had dreams that I won finals. But when I wake up, it’s fake. It’s just a dream.” And so when he actually wins in Thailand, he’s “a bit scared” and chuckles as he remembers.

“OK, is this a fake one or a real one?”

Singapore’s Jason Teh celebrating his first international men’s singles title by beating China’s Wang Zhengxing in the Thailand Masters on Feb 2. PHOTO: BADMINTONPHOTO

Struggle is a sporting hymn. It’s an ongoing conflict where the athlete tries to free himself of the restraints of doubt and fear. And only when we scrutinise struggle, like Teh’s, do we appreciate character, loneliness, desperation and the shining spirit of obstinacy.

When Teh loses his first final, he thinks, “what can I do better?” When he loses again, doubt comes to stay. “The more finals I lose, the more doubt I give myself. I don’t know which is the right way. I will be confused.”

He reflects, he plans, nothing works. “There are days when I lose crucial points... Is it that I hesitated? Or I’m not brave enough? Or I’m too brave and I didn’t play safe enough?”

All these voices invading his head, it sounds crazy.

“Super crazy,” he replies.

He needs to win a final yet he can’t think too much about winning a final. “Because this thing will make me kan cheong. Because if... all I think is winning the final, I will forget about how to win points.”

Struggle promises nothing. Julien Benneteau, a tennis player fine enough to beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, lost all his 10 finals. And yet struggle is all an athlete can do. So Teh loses, chases, fails, tries, till he comes to Thailand on February 2 and the voices in his head won’t be quiet.

National badminton player Jason Teh, 24, with his winner’s medal from the Thailand Masters, at Singapore Badminton Stadium on Feb 5. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

He’s ahead 17-14 in the final game and thinks, “Maybe this time I can really win.” Hope flares. But Wang catches up, leads 18-17 and now Teh considers, “If I lose again, then the next time (to a final) will be another super long way again.”

The match is taut, he’s tense. Trying to dominate the present while ignoring the past. Winning – to use his words – requires “faith”, “(being) daring”, “trust”, but in this emotional bedlam how do you find it?

“I think,” he says “that’s why it’s not easy to be an athlete.”

Down 17-18 he tells himself that if he loses, fine, he’s lost before, but he’s not going to make it comfortable for his rival. “I need to win at least one or two more points. At least make him nervous.”

So he focuses.

“One point, one point, one point.”

In Singapore, even at the WTA tennis, people are following the scores of the badminton final. So far he’s come, so much he’s endured, it’s hard not to get enmeshed in his quest.

Singapore badminton player Jason Teh (right) hugging Indonesian badminton player Vega Vio Nirwanda at Changi Airport on Feb 3. PHOTO: ST FILE

Later, asked what he learnt, Teh reiterates a simple truth.

“If you give up right, confirm lose. If you don’t give up, also not confirm win, but at least there’s a chance of winning... Because there are times when I feel like giving up for sure, but then I just tell myself, maybe just a bit more, just a bit more. And also my family because they always support me. I always have this thought of not letting them down.”

Teh now wants to move on, restart, reflect on his errors in Thailand, aim higher. His feat is worn unassumingly but it echoes across the Singapore sporting landscape. Defeat stalks all athletes and so Teh’s victory will empower his peers. Hope is contagious.

One last question. A new tattoo?

Probably.

He wants a word which reflects a quality he doesn’t have enough of but has worked hard on. A quality whose absence cost him in 2022 when he refused to rest his body because he was in a rush to compete and chase rankings but only got injured. A quality he found in some measure in Thailand but he’s not satisfied.

“Patience,” he says.

But there’s only one problem. Looking down at his arms and legs, he grins.

“I don’t know where to put it.”

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