The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Kleybanova diagnosed with cancer
- Let’s focus on development to arrest decline in athletics
- Big Dolphin aiming to come good at Selangor Masters
| Kleybanova diagnosed with cancer Posted: 16 Jul 2011 07:09 PM PDT PARIS: Russian tennis player Alisa Kleybanova (pic), who celebrated her 22nd birthday on Friday, has been diagnosed with cancer. Kleybanova, the world num-ber 28, is suffering from Hodgkin's Lymphoma. "It's my birthday today and I want to thank all of you for the wonderful messages. I haven't written anything for a long time about why I haven't been on tour, so that's why I'm writing this today," she said in a statement. "It's not an easy time for me right now. I've been a bit unlucky with my health. I have Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a form of cancer. "I've been having treatment in Italy and it has been going well, but it takes lots of patience and I've had to be really strong to get through this. The good news is after I do treatment for a few more months, if I feel well, there's a chance I'll be able to play tennis again." She reached a career high of 20 after the Dubai tournament in Feb-ruary, but illness forced her to pull out of the French Open and Wimble-don. Kleybanova has collected two WTA titles – at Kuala Lumpur in 2010 and in Seoul in 2008. — AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Let’s focus on development to arrest decline in athletics Posted: 16 Jul 2011 07:09 PM PDT To say that athletics in Malaysia is in a deplorable state is an understatement. Based on their age of 116, the Malaysian Amateur Athletics (MAAU) would have been considered a wise "man". The MAAU were established in 1895, making them the oldest sports association in the country. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, we were able to produce top athletes like Datuk M. Jegathesan and Ishtiaq Mubarak and they competed in the Olympics. Malaysia also produced top Asian class athletes like Saik Oik Cum, Rabuan Pit, V. Angamah, Mumtaz Jaafar, Zaiton Othman, Datuk M. Rajamani and a few others. Now, take a look at our results in recent international competitions. In the Guangzhou Asian Games last December, Malaysia sent 10 athletes and they all returned home empty handed. To add insult to injury, they all failed to come close to their personal bests. In the Asian Track and Field (ATF) Championships in Kobe, Japan, earlier this month, eight Malaysians took part. Again, they failed to win a single medal and no personal bests. Women hammer thrower Tan Song Hwa managed 54.44m, 4m short of her personal best of 58.71m. Veteran Norasheela Khalid has a personal best of 56.02 but she clocked 58.53 in the women's 400m hurdles to finish seventh. In the women's 3,000m steeplechase, Melinder Kaur clocked 11:20.13 to finish last in a field of seven runners. Her time – almost 25 seconds slower than her national record of 10:55.31. It was the same with the other athletes – 110m hurdler Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian, P. Yuvaraaj (400m), Jackie Wong (hammer), Mohd Hakimi Ismail (triple jump) and Noor Amira Nafiah (triple jump). They all failed to justify the trip to Kobe. At least at the 2007 ATF meet in Amman, Jordan, Malaysia managed to win two gold medals through Lee Hup Wei in the men's high jump and Roslinda in the women's pole vault. Why is our standard down in the doldrums these days? The answer is simply – MAAU have not been focusing on the grassroots. They are still relying on the same old runners – like 31-year-old Norasheela – for glory. The other South-East Asian countries like Thailand and Vietnam did quite well in Kobe, each winning one gold, one silver and one bronze. To make matters worse, MAAU were not even aware that six national sprinters, who were asked to provide urine samples for dope tests at the National Sports Institute (NSI), had gone missing. Five of them – Norjannah Hafiszah Jamaluddin, Nurul Sarah Abdul Kadir, Yee Yi Ling, Siti Zubaidah Adabi and Siti Fatimah Mohamed – are members of the women's relay team. The other is male sprinter Mohd Noor Imran. Siti Zubaidah, Siti Fatimah and Yi Ying took the test a week later while the other three left for Bulgaria for a training stint. Malaysia were once a force in the middle and long distance events at SEA Games level. The SEA Games will be held in Indonesia in November. Can we count on our athletes to bring glory to the country? Don't bet your money on it. It is time for the MAAU to wake up from their slumber. Otherwise, the tag of "senile" old man would be more appropriate. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Big Dolphin aiming to come good at Selangor Masters Posted: 16 Jul 2011 07:08 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Renaissance man Prom Meesawat (pic) will be aiming for victory at next week's Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters to complete his return to top form. The burly Thai, nicknamed the Big Dolphin due to his physique and the fact that he comes for a coastal town, will be one of the star attractions in the RM1.2mil Asian Tour event at the Kota Permai Golf and Country Club from July 20-23. The tournament will give Prom, who turns 27 next week, a perfect opportunity to return to the winner's circle as he is riding a hot streak of form following four straight top 10s on the Asian Tour. He also enjoys competing in Malaysia, with his record of two top 10s in the Malaysian Open and was tied 22nd at Kota Permai when the course hosted the Volvo Masters of Asia in 2004. "The only two times I played at the Selangor Masters was at the Seri Selangor Golf Club and I missed the cut both times. I'm looking forward to returning to Kota Permai which is a good new-styled golf course. "I'll be looking for another top 10 …. or maybe even a win! I'm going to try my best," he said. "I've played well in the Malaysian Open in the past. I always seem to do well in events in Malaysia and Singapore. It's close to home and it's easy to get good food. I always feel comfortable here," he added. Prom burst on to the professional scene in 2004 after a strong amateur career where he won the world junior amateur championship twice. In 2006, he won the SK Telecom Open in South Korea for his first Asian Tour victory. But in the past few years, his form dipped following a series of injuries which took its toll on his confidence. His management team hooked him up with a sports psychologist from Thailand's world famous boxing team to straighten out his head and it has done him a world of good in the past eight months. Prom made his major debut at this week's British Open but he failed to advance into the weekend rounds. At the inaugural Panasonic Open (India) in March Prom finiashed fourth, was ninth in the inaugural Indonesian Masters, eighth at the Philippine Open in May and fifth at the Queen's Cup on home soil last month. "I'm very happy with my game. Things are getting better. I'm still working with my coach and sports psychologist to keep up my form," said Prom. "Whenever I wasn't in good form previously, I kept saying I needed to play good. But now, I am just thinking about my plan to play the golf course. "This is part of the things I've learnt from the psychologist. I've learnt to cut the negative thoughts out from my head. I just stick to a good routine and concentrate on my game." Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan