Saturday, October 4, 2008

NATIONAL SPORT AWARDS

According to Malaysia's The Star Online - Apr 10 4:46 PM:By LIM TEIK HUATKUALA LUMPUR: The selection panel for the National Sports Awards have deemed bodybuilder Sazali Samad as the better choice over the badminton pair of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong for the 2006 Sportsman of the Year award.World champion and world number one squash player Nicol David claimed the Sportswoman of the Year award for the fourth time.Among the 11 nominees for the men?s award, Kien Keat-Boon Heong were arguably good bets to win it.They beat higher-ranked world-class opponents, including world No 1 Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun of China, to win the Asian Games gold medal in Doha last December. It was the first gold medal for Malaysia in 36 years in Asiad badminton.However, Sazali rode on his achievement in winning the world title for the third time to take the award.He won the bantamweight (65kg) competition in the World Amateur Bodybuilding Championships in the Czech Republic last October. But in the Asian Games two months later, Sazali only took silver amidst claims of unfair judging.Sazali also bagged the award in 2000, the year in which he won the world title for the first time.He was a nominee for the 2004 award after claiming his second world title but track cyclist Josiah Ng, who reached the Athens Olympic final in keirin, was named the winner.?I had some hope that I could win it because I was the only one among the nominees to win a world title,? said the 40-year-old policeman from Batu Pahat. ?It?s still a pleasant surprise for me to win it. I felt that the badminton doubles pairs were strong candidates.?Winning the award for the second time also made up for the disappointment of not winning the Asian Games gold. I have to thank the National Sports Council (NSC), my employers and my family for all the support that they had given to me.?In the women?s category, among those Nicol came up against was bowler Esther Cheah, who won three gold and two silver medals in the Doha Asiad.Nicol has the distinction of having retained the world and prestigious British Open titles. She also took gold in the Asian Championships and Asiad and emerged victorious in eight international events.The 23-year-old also played a pivotal role in helping Malaysia to finish third in the World Team Championships in Canada last year, the best achievement by the women?s squash team.Sazali and Nicol each received RM10,000 and a trophy.Nicol was not present to receive the award because she is competing in the Kuwait Open. Her father, Desmond, took it on her behalf from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the presentation ceremony at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara here last night

TENNIS COURT & SK KAMPONG BAHAGIA

Tennis Game at My School

Explore this section for various tennis articles which deal with the technical, tactical and mental part of the tennis game. Sometimes you'll need only one article to change your perspective or to show you another way of looking at the game of tennis.
You'll find articles that deal with the mental part of the game. They may show you a different way of thinking and can actually reframe your thinking, if you are familiar with this term from NLP and other fields.
A tennis article dealing with the tactical part of the game is actually the most common type of tennis information on the web. Many players have learned good tennis tips and ideas through their experience and are happy to publish them on various sites.
And then there are instructional articles which in my opinion are the next large group of articles related to tennis. It is also the part of the game that is in the most demand. Most people are looking for a good instruction article on tennis technique.
Most of the articles here will be about tennis strategy and mental approach since that is the main theme of this site. You'll learn how to control your mind, tennis secrets and how to actually apply various tennis instruction that you have learned in a slightly different way.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

BADMINTON JAPAN OPEN 2008


WORLD No 1 Lee Chong Wei cleared any doubts about his form in the ongoing Japan Open by storming into the final with a brilliant performance in Tokyo yesterday.
Chong Wei, the defending champion, gave Joachim Persson a lesson in badminton as he trounced the Dane 21-6, 21-4 in a match that lasted just 20 minutes. The day turned out to be even better for Malaysia as Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui reached the final of a Super Series event for the first time after an upset 21-11, 18-21, 21-18 win over second seeds Vita Marissa-Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia in the women's doubles. However, Chong Wei's total domination was the highlight as he toyed with Persson from the start. Chong Wei cleverly varied the pace to unsettle Persson and the Dane looked lost as he trailed 9-0 and 13-1 before conceding the first game 21-6. It got worse for the Dane in the second game as Chong Wei raced to a 16-1 lead and conceded just three more points to secure one of the easiest wins of his career.
Chong Wei will meet second seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, who defeated Japan's Kenichi Tago 21-15, 21-16, in the final today. Chong Wei, in a telephone interview from Tokyo, said he was happy to rediscover his form after struggling in the earlier rounds but expects a tougher fight from Sony. The Malaysian, in order to avoid injuries, has withdrawn from the China Masters in Changzhou beginning on Tuesday after admitting he is not fit enough to survive another tough week. "The win looked easy as I opted for the right strategy. What is important is that I have overcome my below par performances at the right time," said Chong Wei. "The biggest difference today (yesterday) is that I cut down on unforced errors and I must perform the same way against Sony. "He is the underdog and will battle hard. Although I beat him convincingly in the Beijing Olympics, it is not the same here. "My fitness level is not good and I have withdrawn from the China Masters although I may drop to second in the world rankings. I may suffer an injury if I carry on and it is better to return and focus on training." Pei Tty-Eei Hui's efforts were also timely as their performance has dipped drastically this year. They have a good chance of nailing their first Super Series crown as they will meet unranked juniors Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei of China, who beat Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna of Japan 21-15, 21-16, in the final today. Results -- (All S-Finals) Men's singles: Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Joachim Persson (Den) 21-6, 21-4; Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) bt Kenichi Tago (Jpn) 21-15, 21-16. Doubles: Muhammad Ahsan-Bona Septano (Ina) bt Yonatan Suryatama Dasuki-Rian Sukmawan (Ina) 21-16, 21-19; Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen (Den) bt Keita Masuda-Tadashi Ohtsuka (Jpn) 21-17, 21-16.Women's Singles: Zhou Mi (HK) bt Lu Lan (Chn) 9-21, 21-13, 21-13; Wang Yihan (Chn) bt Tine Rasmussen (Den) 21-15, 21-18.Doubles: Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna (Jpn) 21-15, 21-16; Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui (Mas) bt Vita Marissa-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) 21-11, 18-21, 21-18. Mixed Doubles: Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) bt Yoo Yeon Seong-Kim Min Jung (Kor) 19-21, 21-17, 21-18; Muhammad Rijal-Vita Marissa (Ina) bt Songphon Anugritayawon-Kunchala Voravichitchaikul (Tha) 22-20, 21-18.
Courtesy of New Straits Times
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Saturday, September 13, 2008

To Win First Olympic Gold Medal

Malaysia Stand A Good Chance To Win First Olympic Gold Medal
By Farhanah AzmiPETALING JAYA, July 5 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian contingent to the Beijing Olympics next month stand a good chance to clinch the country's first Olympic gold medal, Chef-de-Mission Datuk Ho Koh Chye said.Overall, 33 athletes from 10 sports qualified for the 29th Summer Olympics to be held in the Chinese capital in August."The contingent certainly stand a good chance to win the Olympic gold medal based on the athletes current performance. For example in badminton, our players are as competitive as the other participating countries."They are capable of grabbing the first gold medal for Malaysia," Ho told Bernama.Earlier Ho attended the "Seeing Victory: Towards the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games" programme held by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Malaysia at Ikano Power Centre, here Saturday.The programme, which involved vision screening of Olympic-bound athletes and provides them with necessary vision correction and eye healthcare advice, was officiated by Olympic Council Malaysia (OCM) honorary secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi.Among Olympic-bound athletes who turned up to have their eyes checked were Daniel Bego (swimming) and Hasli Izwan Amir Hassan (shooting)."At the Athens Olympics, Malaysia did not win any medal but our neighbours Thailand managed to bring home three gold medals and Indonesia grabbed one," he said.Malaysia participated in the Olympics for the first time in Melbourne in 1956.In 1996, at the Atlanta Games, Malaysia won a silver and a bronze through Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock and Rashid Sidek in badminton.Meanwhile, Sieh said the vision screening programme for the Olympic-bound athletes was timely."But I am not satisfied with the athletes' commitment towards this programme... only a few turned up. It is important to get their eye check in order for them to perform better in Beijing.The athletes involved in the vision screening programme are Cheng Chu Sian, Muhammad Marbawi Sulaiman, Wan Mohd Khalmizan Wan Abd Aziz (archery); Leong Mun Yee (diving); Hasli Izwan Amir Hassan (shooting); Daniel Bego (swimming) and Che Chew Chan and Elaine Teo (taekwondo).Meanwhile, Hasli Izwan has set his eyes on finishing among the world top 10 shooters in the 25m rapid fire pistol at the Olympics.Describing the aim as realistic, the sole national shooter to the games told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, "As this is my first olympics, I dare not say whether I can win any medal but I resolve to better my record."Hasli Izwan, who would begin the Olympics training at the Langkawi International Shooting Range (Lisram) on Monday, said Lisram was suitable for him as it was an electronic shooting range like the one at the Beijing Olympics.The shooter booked his berth to the Olympics by virtue of him being seeded 11th in the world ranking when he collected 581 points at the Asia-Kuwait championship in December last year.

Monday, September 1, 2008

USAIN BOLT

Bolt strikes twice, with a second WR
DQs move Americans into silver, bronze positions
By The Associated Press
Posted Wednesday, August 20, 2008 5:26 AM ET
BEIJING (AP) -- Arms churning high, face twisted in pain as he sprinted toward the finish line, Usain Bolt kept glancing at the clock.
The win in the Olympic 200 meters was a given, his second gold medal of the Beijing Games assured.
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Usain Bolt sets another world record in the 200m final. Americans Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix get silver and bronze, respectively.
This was now about a world record. About racing against history.
Showing just what he can do when he goes all out start to finish, Bolt forged the greatest race ever run Wednesday night under the hazy lights at the Bird's Nest, heaving his chest toward the finish line -- not simply to beat someone for the gold, but to become a part of track's glorious, and sometimes troubled, lore.
He finished in 19.30 seconds to break Michael Johnson's 12-year-old world record, one of the most venerable in the books.
"I just blew my mind and blew the world's mind," Bolt said.
Insane, Usain.
Officially, he won by an astounding 0.66 second over American Shawn Crawford, the defending Olympic champion. Crawford won the silver medal when Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles, who had finished 0.52 behind Bolt, was disqualified after a U.S. protest for running out of his lane. "It feels like a charity case," Crawford said.
Either way, it was about four body lengths, the biggest margin in an Olympic 200.
American Walter Dix was awarded the bronze medal when the third man across the line, teammate Wallace Spearmon, also was DQ'd for leaving his lane. (Official results)
Footnotes to history.
Bolt added the 19.30 -- 0.02 better than Johnson's old mark -- to the 9.69 he ran the 100 four nights before when he hot-dogged the final 20 meters to set the world record.
Everyone thought he could've done better in the 100 had he run hard the whole way, but the 200 has always been Bolt's favorite, the one he spent his life on, and this time he saved the showboating for after the race.
"I've been dreaming of this since I was yea high," Bolt said. "So it means a lot more to me actually than the 100 means."
After the unrelenting effort with a slight headwind in his face, Bolt sprawled out on the ground, arms and legs outstretched, basking in the roar of the Bird's Nest crowd and the glow of becoming, quite possibly, the greatest sprinter ever.
Bolt's name now goes above, or at least beside, every great sprinter to ever put on spikes.
He became the first man to win the 100-200 double at the Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984.
He gets mentioned in the same breath with Johnson, as well as Jesse Owens and any of the other six men to complete the Olympic 100-200 double. Nobody other than Johnson had ever run a 200 in under 19.6 and nobody had broken 9.7 in the 100 before Beijing.
Bolt has done both, the only man ever to break the world record in both sprints in the same Olympics.
Bolt is simply a different kind of runner -- coiled power in his 6-foot-5 frame, supposedly too big for success in the 100, but certainly built to run the 200.
"It's his anatomy," said Renaldo Nehemiah, the former world record-holder in the 110-meter hurdles. "He's just blessed with an uncanny frame, an uncanny quickness, a huge competitive heart. And he is having a good time, which I think our sport sorely needs to see."
Indeed, track and field could use a breath of fresh air after years of bad news, bad characters and failed drug tests that have come close to turning the sport into second-tier Olympic viewing.

ATLET KENA CABUL

ARKIB : 27/08/2008
Atlet kena cabul
KUALA LUMPUR – Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) semalam mengesahkan terdapat beberapa atlet wanita negara turut menjadi mangsa cabul seorang pegawai Kesatuan Olahraga Amatur Malaysia (KOAM) yang dituduh cuba mencabul seorang pegawai perhubungan (LO) penganjur Kejohanan Terbuka Taiwan Mei lalu.
Ketua Pengarah Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN), Datuk Zolkples Embong (gambar) mendedahkan, pihaknya juga ada menerima laporan pegawai yang disyaki itu pernah melakukan perkara yang tidak senonoh tersebut kepada atlet-atlet negara.
“Selepas menerima laporan mengenai kes pencabulan pegawai KOAM itu, siasatan awal MSN juga mendapati pegawai ini pernah melakukan kes pencabulan terhadap atlet negara sebelum ini.
“Malah, ada seorang atlet telah mengesahkan dia turut dicabul oleh pegawai itu dan akan berjumpa dengan saya.
“Sehubungan itu, saya berharap agar atlet lain yang pernah dianiayai oleh pegawai itu supaya membuat laporan segera kepada MSN.
“Jika mereka takut untuk tampil membuat laporan, dia boleh berjumpa dengan saya secara terus,” katanya ketika dihubungi Utusan Malaysia, di sini semalam.
Semalam, sebuah akhbar berbahasa Inggeris melaporkan enam atlet olahraga kebangsaan negara telah membuat aduan kepada MSN mengenai sikap tidak bermoral seorang pegawai KOAM yang didakwa cuba mencabul seorang LO di Kejohanan Terbuka Taiwan, Mei lalu.
Surat aduan yang ditandatangani oleh Roslinda Samsu, Norjannah Hafiszah Jamaluddin, Tan Song Hwa, Yap Jen Tzan, Nurul Sarah Abdul Kadir dan Siti Fatimah Mohamad itu mendakwa pegawai KOAM itu memanggil LO tersebut ke biliknya untuk membincangkan berkaitan tugasan, namun pegawai itu didakwa cuba melakukan perkara yang tidak bermoral terhadap LO tersebut.
Sebelum ini komuniti sukan negara pernah digemparkan oleh kes pencabulan dua atlet bawah umur yang dilakukan oleh bekas jurulatih olahraga negara, C. Ramanathan pada 1992.
Ekoran kes itu, 11 Julai lalu, Ramanathan, 72, mula menjalani hukuman penjara empat tahun yang dikenakan terhadapnya selepas Mahkamah Rayuan mengetepikan keputusan yang melepaskannya daripada tuduhan mencabul kehormatan dua atlet remaja wanita berusia 15 dan 16 tahun.
Ramanathan didapati bersalah oleh Mahkamah Seksyen pada 8 November 1996 dan dipenjarakan kerana didapati bersalah kerana mencabul atlet remaja di bangunan Persatuan Bola Keranjang Amatur Malaysia (MABA) Oktober 1992. Kedua-dua hukuman diperintah dijalankan serentak.
Atlet berkenaan, berumur 15 dan 16 tahun, ketika itu sedang menjalani latihan berpusat bagi Kejohanan Olahraga Remaja Asia di New Delhi.
Mengulas lanjut, Zolkples berkata, MSN hanya mengetahui pegawai terbabit pernah melakukan perbuatan terkutuk terhadap atlet setelah pihaknya menerima keterangan daripada KOAM.
“Selepas menerima penjelasan KOAM, MSN mendapati pegawai itu juga pernah mencabul beberapa atlet negara sebelum ini,” katanya.
Beliau berkata, pihaknya memandang serius perkara tersebut dan tidak akan bertoleransi dengan mana-mana pihak yang mengambil kesempatan terhadap atlet wanita.
Dalam perkembangan berkaitan, Zolkples juga meminta KOAM memberi penjelasan lanjut mengenai kejadian LO yang dilaporkan cuba dicabul oleh pegawai KOAM berkenaan.
Tambah Zolkples, dia juga berharap KOAM dapat menjalankan siasatan dengan seberapa segera dan mengambil tindakan tegas terhadap pegawai tersebut jika didapati bersalah.
Ditanya adakah seseorang pegawai yang dipilih mengikuti kontinjen atlet negara di satu-satu kejohanan dipilih oleh MSN, beliau berkata, pihaknya tidak terlibat dalam pemilihan pegawai, sebaliknya, ia dipilih sendiri oleh persatuan yang mengikuti kejohanan tersebut.
Sementara itu, Pengurus Besar KOAM, Aminuddin Mohd. Nasir berkata, pihaknya telah melakukan siasatan segera dan satu jawatankuasa hal ehwal wanita KOAM yang diketuai oleh Datuk Paduka Dr. Mumtaz Jaafar akan menyiasat perkara tersebut dengan kadar segera.
“Jawatankuasa ini akan memanggil pihak yang terlibat untuk memberi kenyataan. Selepas itu, laporan itu akan diserahkan kepada Menteri (Belia dan Sukan) dan Presiden KOAM, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim,” katanya.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

GYMNASTICS

BEIJING (AP) -- No runner-up finish to her friend and rival this time. Nastia Liukin won the biggest prize of all.
Liukin edged teammate Shawn Johnson for the all-around gold in women's gymnastics Friday in an intense matchup that lived up to its billing at the Beijing Games. Liukin finished with 63.325 points, a mere six-tenths ahead of Johnson, the reigning world champion who beat Liukin at the U.S. championships and Olympic trials only a few weeks ago.
Yang Yilin of China won the bronze.
"I don't think it's really set in, but I feel like this journey has been so long," Liukin said.
Made even longer by having to wait for Johnson to follow her on the floor exercise.
Liukin paced back and forth while Johnson, the final competitor, completed her performance, clapping as her teammate floated high in the air. In the end, it was Liukin who soared. When Johnson's score was posted and Liukin realized she won, tears filled her eyes. Her father and coach Valeri grabbed her in a bearhug, squeezing her tight for several minutes.
Valeri Liukin was a double gold medalist for the Soviet Union 20 years ago, but came up achingly short in a rivalry with his own teammate in the all-around.
There would be no such disappointment for his only child.
"It's not possible to describe how proud I am," he said afterward.
Liukin wore a smile that lit up her face as she climbed atop the medals podium and waved to the crowd. She blinked back tears as the gold medal was placed around her neck, but let them flow when the U.S. anthem began to play.
"Standing on the podium and hearing `Olympic champion' next to my name was a dream come true," Liukin said. "Everything pays off at this very moment."
For China, it was the first view from anywhere but the gold-medal step. The Chinese won both the men's and women's team titles, and Yang Wei ran away with the men's all-around gold on Thursday.
But this was no surprise. Johnson and Liukin have been the world's two best gymnasts for two years now, and most expected the teammates would be each other's biggest competition. Johnson came in with all the momentum, winning every matchup with Liukin but one in the last few years.
It was Liukin's grace under pressure, though, that made the difference. It had to, with everything coming down to the very last event, and the last two performers.
"I gave my heart and soul out there today," Johnson said. "Nastia deserved the gold."
Long and lean, Liukin has the elegance and classic lines of her mother, a former world champion in rhythmic gymnastics. While other gymnasts tumble on the floor, their music little more than background noise, Liukin puts on a polished performance. Every wave of her arm and brush of her fingertips oozes emotion, making it easy to forget how tough those tricks in her program really are.
Valeri Liukin stood on the sidelines, pacing back and forth, barely able to watch his daughter, who flashed a big smile for the cameras after her final tumbling run.
Her score of 15.525 put her in first place, and left Johnson with a huge gap to close. It was possible she could do it. Johnson is the reigning world champion on floor, a bundle of perkiness and power. She managed such great height on her opening pass she could have dusted off a light fixture or two, yet she landed as easily and confidently as if she was stepping off a curb. Her smile grew brighter with each second, and even Liukin was anxiously clapping as she watched. Johnson was thrilled when she finished, almost running off the podium.
It was a great routine, no question. It just wasn't good enough for gold.
"I just knew that I had to give the routine of my life," Johnson said. "I was pretty far behind, but I couldn't control that. I gave a great meet today. That was probably my favorite moment, finishing on floor, because I knew I had given it my all and I couldn't change anything."
When the final mark flashed, Johnson smiled and immediately went to congratulate her teammate. Much has been made of their rivalry, with most people assuming there's no way they can be friends. But they truly are, even rooming together at these games.
Liukin is the second straight American to win the all-around crown, succeeding training partner Carly Patterson as gymnastics' greatest champion.
Liukin is the closest thing gymnastics has to royalty, her genes practically guaranteed to produce gold. If her parents had their way, she would be a pianist or anything but a gymnast. But Liukin had her own ideas, and her parents eventually relented.
"It's a feeling I don't think any father can describe," Valeri Liukin said. "I'm very proud of my baby."
"Just to know that he was so close to (the all-around gold) and didn't quite achieve it," his daughter said. "And I hope, you know, I cleared away any of those bad little memories for him. I hope that this definitely tops it. I have a few more to go, but it is an amazing accomplishment just to be here with him, out on the floor 20 years after he competed. I think it just means so much more to both of us. I don't know, just all the hard work paying off. All the injuries, tears, blood, rips -- everything."