For the brilliant golfer Tan, there's always next time

“Next time.”

- Rohit Brijnath Assistant Sports Editor

Sitting, brooding, tired, frustrated, furious, broken, in the quiet of dressing rooms after a chance slips away, everyone knows this feeling.The schoolboy who misses a last-minute goal, Rafael Nadal weeping after losing the 2007 Wimbledon final, the swimmer who comes fourth at the SEA Games, the tennis player who plays 11 Grand Slam qualifiers but can’t squeeze into the main draw.

Wait and watch, they say.

Wait till “next time”.

They swear by it, mutter it to themselves, write it in journals, tell their coaches. “Next time” is a task and a test, a promise and a prayer. “Next time” is an oath which turns into commitment and a fury, which becomes fuel.

Shannon Tan, who came T-45 in qualifying for the elite LPGA Tour (the top 25 qualified) will have a “next time”, you can bet on it. She'll be back, she'll get another try, she’s that good.

Everyone slips, this is what makes sport a fraught, fragile, fascinating human business.

Everyone misses, but it’s what they do after that we come to see.

Michael Jordan, bruised by early defeat, brought a ferocity of work ethic, installing The Breakfast Club in his home, where he and some of the guys trained before official practice. “We wanted,” he said, “to be more prepared than anyone else.”