The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Traisy draws inspiration from Pandelela to achieve her dream
- Vettel grabs fourth win in Spain
- Low-key return for champion Schiavone
| Traisy draws inspiration from Pandelela to achieve her dream Posted: 22 May 2011 05:33 PM PDT PAROI: The biggest stars in her sport are in attendance but diver Traisy Vivien does not need a bigger inspiration than her own team-mate Pandelela Rinong as she bids to achieve a childhood dream to qualify for the London Olympics next year. Traisy will make an early bid alongside Pandelela to qualify for the Games at the world championships in Shanghai in July in the individual 10m platform discipline. And the 17-year-old Sarawakian gave herself a timely boost to her efforts to impress at the world meet with a steady performance en route to winning the girls' Group A 10m platform title at the national age-group championships at the Paroi Aquatic Centre in Seremban yesterday. Traisy amassed 396 points after the fifth and final dive to clinch the gold for Sarawak ahead of two Perak divers, Jasmine Lai and Kam Ling Kar. National back-up divers Jasmine and Ling Kar garnered 378.25 and 333.75 respectively. Traisy is considered the second best Malaysian female diver for the platform discipline after Pandelela and is hopeful of making a stronger effort to qualify for the Olympics in her second appearance at the world championships. "I'm happy to get a personal best score here and it is a good sign for my preparations for the world meet," she said. "I have definitely improved a lot compared to my first outing in the world championships in Rome two years ago. "Then, I was a bundle of nerves and finished second last in the preliminaries. "It will be great if Pandelela and I can make the top 12 final to qualify for the London Olympics. But she is the stronger favourite after her achievement of winning the gold medal in the Delhi Commonwealth Games last year and the silver at the World Series in Moscow earlier this year. "She is now one of the best platform divers in the world and I definitely look up to her." Traisy took silver behind Pandelela in the 10m platform at the last SEA Games in Laos two years ago. Another diver from the national elite group who competed in the two-day national age-group meet, Wendy Ng, was also a winner in girls' Group B category. Wendy amassed 434.90 points to claim the 3m springboard gold medal. The meet saw Australian divers emerging overall winners with a total tally of 7-6-2. The Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia secretary, Edwin Chong, said that they opened up the national championships to foreign participation on the requests from several countries. "They are aware that the standard of Malaysian diving is now quite good. It is also good for our divers to have stiffer competition in the company of divers from five foreign countries." RESULTS ■ BOYS GROUP A 1m springboard: 1. Chew Yi Wei (Sel) 436.55, 2. Darcy Taylor (Aus) 412.65, 3. Luthfi Niko (Ina) 402.10. 3m springboard: 1. Darcy Taylor (Aus) 509.70, 2. Chew Yi Wei (Sel) 457.40, 3. Luthfi Niko (Ina) 452.00. 10m platform: 1. Adrian Chan (Prk) 432.44, 2. Luthfi Niko (Ina) 383.85, 3. Andriyan (Ina) 336.45. GROUP B 1m springboard: 1. Carlysle Chan (Swk) 351.05, 2. Joshua Kehagias (Aus) 349.75, 3. Muhammad Danial (Kul) 328.95. 3m springboard: 1. Joshua Kehagias (Aus) 380.35, 2. Mohd Nazreen (Kul) 372.75, 3. Carlysle Chan (Swk) 369.65. 10m platform: 1. Liam Dummer (Aus) 350.10, 2. Muhd Nazreen (Kul) 318.60, 3. Kua Chee Yeap (Prk) 316.10. GROUP C 1m springboard: 1. D. Botrov (Uzb) 278.80, 2. Muhd Amin (Nse) 272.80, 3. Awang Sharuddin (Sab) 262.40. 3m springboard: 1. Ng Zheng Hao (Sel) 294.15, 2. Muhd Amin (Nse) 286.65, 3. D. Botrov (Uzb) 270.50. 10m platform: 1. Ng Zheng Hao (Sel) 264.95, 2. Awang Sharuddin (Sab) 257.00, 3. Muhd Amin (Nse) 233.90. OPEN 3m synchro: 1. Muhd Danial-Muhd Nazreen (Kul) 232.02. 2. Andriyan-Luthfi Niko (Ina) 229.44, 3. Muhd Syafiq-Adzhar Imran (Nse) 222.78. ■ GIRLS GROUP A 1m springboard: 1. Kahlia Warner (Aus) 341.30, 2. A. Khomenkova (Uzb) 299.90, 3. Myra Lee (Sin) 290.25. 3m springboard: 1. Wendy Ng (Kul) 434.90, 2. Jasmine Lai (Prk) 419.15, 3. Kam Ling Kar (Prk) 411.90. 10m platform: 1. Traisy Vivien (Swk) 396.00, 2. Jasmine Lai (Prk) 378.25, 3. Kam Ling Kar (Prk) 333.75. GROUP B 1m springboard: Nancy Wang (Aus) 274.55, 2. Chan Pui Man (Mac) 254.65, 3. Leong Sut Chan (Mac) 238.40. 3m springboard: 1. Nancy Wang (Aus) 335.90, 2. Wong Kay Yian (Sin) 286.25, 3. K. Amiraslanova (Uzb) 284.15. 10m platform: 1. Joey Loh (Kul) 289.40, 2. Nancy Wang (Aus) 259.20, 3. Foo En Yun (Sin) 192.30. GROUP C 1m springboard: 1. Anna Irene (Aus) 272.70, 2. Georgia Sheehan (Aus) 270.35, 3. Nur Dhabitah (Kul) 270.20. 3m springboard: 1. Nur Dhabitah (Kul) 266.45, 2. Adeline Chin (Sel) 265.40, 3. Georgia Sheehan (Aus) 261.25. 10m platform: 1. Nur Dhabitah (Kul) 227.30, 2. Anna Irene (Aus) 227.10, 2. Georgia Sheehan (Aus) 213.90. OPEN 3m synchro: 1. Jasmine Lai-Kam Ling Kar (Prk) 240.26, 2. Sally Hackett-Kahlia Warner (Aus) 220.92, 3. K. Amiraslanova-A. Khomenkova (Uzb) 202.85. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Vettel grabs fourth win in Spain Posted: 22 May 2011 05:31 PM PDT SPANISH GRAND PRIX RED Bull's Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel took his fourth win in five races yesterday in a Spanish Grand Prix that shed its reputation for predictable processions. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished second, just 0.6 seconds behind, after harrying the 23-year-old German over the closing laps in a far closer finale to a race many had forecast would be a duel between the dominant Red Bulls. "That was crazy, crazy man, you were coming, coming, coming," Vettel told Hamilton before the podium champagne celebrations. Hamilton's team-mate and fellow-Briton Jenson Button was third, beating Red Bull's Australian Mark Webber for the final place on the podium and helped by a three-stop strategy to the others' four. However the stewards announced some 19 minutes after the end of the race that Hamilton, Button and Webber were all under investigation for failing to slow for yellow flags. The rest of the field, including Ferrari's fifth placed local hero Fernando Alonso and sixth placed Michael Schumacher, were lapped. Vettel stretched his championship lead over Hamilton, the 2008 champion and only man to have beaten him so far this year, to 41 points. Even if Vettel's 14th career victory came as no surprise it still marked the first time since 2000, when Finland's Mika Hakkinen beat Michael Schumacher to the chequered flag, that the race was won by someone other than the driver starting on pole. At a circuit previously renowed for scant overtaking or excitement, with just 10 moves in last year's race, the new driver operated rear wings (DRS) and KERS systems transformed the landscape. "It was pretty tough, obviously," said Vettel, whose KERS system giving a brief power boost at the push of a button was working only intermittently. "Going into the last 10 laps it felt a bit like China, with the tyres going away," he said of a race in which he finished second after Hamilton reeled him in with better strategy. "McLaren and Lewis especially gave us a very, very hard time." Webber had taken his first pole of the season on Saturday, with Vettel alongside on the front row, but paid the price for a poor start with Alonso sending the 78,000 strong Circuit de Catalunya crowd into raptures by seizing the early lead. The joy did not last however, with Alonso making his fourth pitstop with 26 laps still to go and having to finish the race on the slower, hard tyres. His Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa was one of three retirements. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Low-key return for champion Schiavone Posted: 22 May 2011 05:30 PM PDT FRENCH OPEN FRANCESCA Schiavone made a low-key return to Roland Garros yesterday where, 12 months ago, she became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam title. Unlike men's champion Rafael Nadal, or fellow men's heavyweights Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, the 30-year-old Italian's opening press conference only detained the English-speaking press for two questions. "Some of the fans said to me: 'Give us another trophy'," said Schiavone, who is getting used to making her Grand Slam mark, having also played out the longest singles match at a major at January's Australian Open. There it took her 4 hours and 44 minutes to see off Svetlana Kuznetsova, coming through 16-14 in the final set. Schiavone hinted that she has yet to be convinced by the French Open's policy of starting on a Sunday; the only one of the three majors not to begin on a Monday. "There is no choice from the players. It's business or some decision from higher than us." — AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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