The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Malaysia set a top eight target for world team squash tourney
- National side to bank on Faizal and Izwan for goals in China
- Diver Jun Hoong misses out on a surprise bronze after finishing fourth
| Malaysia set a top eight target for world team squash tourney Posted: 16 Aug 2011 05:29 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Malaysia have only targeted a top eight finish in the upcoming Men's World Team Squash Championship from August 21-27 in Paderborn, Germany. The Malaysian team of Mohd Azlan Iskandar, Ong Beng Hee, Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan and debutant Kamran Khan (pic) are seeded fifth for the tournament and are drawn in Pool E together with 12th seeds Pakistan, Denmark and Austria. At the last world team meet in Odense, Denmark in 2009, Malaysia finished a disastrous ninth and this time around the team will be out to make amends. "Our target is obviously to avoid finishing ninth again and a top eight finish will be a good result," said national coach Allan Soyza. "But we still need to be cautious and take it one match at a time, especially against Pakistan who have the potential to cause upsets." Pakistan are represented by Malaysian Open runner–up Aamir Atlas Khan, Yasir Butt, Waqar Mehboob and Danish Atlas Khan. The last time Malaysia met Pakistan was during the final of the Guangzhou Asian Games last year when Pakistan won 2-0 as Beng Hee was suffering from food poisoning. "Although we are seeded fifth, it all depends on the performance on the day as Azlan is still short of match fitness while their No. 2 player, Yasir has the potential to trouble Beng Hee," said Allan. Meanwhile, debutant Kamran Khan, who is now the national No. 4, may see precious court time against the likes of Denmark or Austria. "We chose Kamran for the world team meet because he has proven his worth by training hard to climb to No. 69 in the world and becoming the fourth ranked player in the country is testimonial of that," said Squash Racquets Association Malaysia secretary general and general manager Christopher Brodie. "He made an impression during the World Cup earlier in January and he has shown that he can be a good team player, which was why we picked him," added Christopher. England, the 2009 runners-up are the top seeds for the championship while defending champions Egypt led by world No. 2 Ramy Ashour are seeded second. England have picked a strong squad, with world No.1 Nick Matthew leading the team together with James Wilstrop (No. 4), Peter Barker (No. 7) and Darryl Selby (No. 11) and are looking good to reclaim the title they last won in 2007. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| National side to bank on Faizal and Izwan for goals in China Posted: 16 Aug 2011 05:29 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Faizal Saari (pic) and Izwan Firdaus will be the lethal weapons up front for Malaysia in the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy at the Ordos Hockey Stadium in China from Sept 3-11. Experienced forward Tengku Ahmad Taijuddin did not feature in the five friendly matches against Japan in Bukit Jalil because of a hamstring injury he suffered in the Razak Cup tournament in Malacca on July 28. However, the pint-sized Faizal of Terengganu and Penang's lanky Izwan have combined well and each scored four goals in the five friendlies. Izwan was the top scorer in Division One of the Razak Cup tournament with seven goals. Malaysia ended the five-match friendly with two wins, a draw and two defeats. They scored 11 goals and conceded nine in the five matches. The 20-year-old Faizal, who played for Southern Hotshots in the Australian Hockey League (AHL) last month, said that he was satisfied with his scoring percentage in the friendlies. "Although Tengku Ahmad did not play in the friendlies because of his injury, I combined well with Izwan to score eight field goals, especially as it is the fasting month," said Faizal. "We did not have the energy because we were fasting, otherwise we could have scored more field goals. "But what is important is that we have improved our scoring prowess and that is a good sign in our preparation for the Champions Trophy," said Faizal, who came down with cramps during the last and fifth friendly on Sunday which ended 2-2. Faizal said that the cramps were just a minor setback and a few days rest will do for him to get back to training by Friday. "My mission in China is to give my best and score in almost every match," said Faizal, who has 58 international caps to his credit. Six teams will feature in the Champions Trophy and Malaysia will open their campaign against Asian Games champions Pakistan on Sept 3. Their other matches are against South Korea (Sept 4), China (Sept 6), India (Sept 7) before wrapping up their round-robin fixtures against Japan on Sept 9. The final, third-fourth placing and fifth-sixth placing matches will be played on Sept 11. Faizal's younger brother Fitri, a Project 2013 midfielder, was called up to join the national senior team Aug 5 and he scored a field goal on his debut during the fourth match against Japan. Faizal, however, said that his brother Fitri would face a tough fight to win a place in the national team. There are 25 players in the training squad and national coach Tai Beng Hai is expected to finalise the 18-player squad on Aug 26. The players will take a break to celebrate Hari Raya on Aug 30 and 31 and then leave for China on Sept 1. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Diver Jun Hoong misses out on a surprise bronze after finishing fourth Posted: 16 Aug 2011 05:29 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Malaysian woman diver Cheong Jun Hoong just missed out on nicking a surprise medal for Malaysia in the 1m springboard event on the opening day of the World University Games (Universiade) diving competitions at Shenzhen Notatorium yesterday. The 20-year-old pulled off the unexpected by making it to the top-eight final by topping her semi-final heat with 268.35 points. In the final held in the evening, Jun Hoong gave her best shot to deliver the first medal for the Malaysian contingent as she stayed inside the top three after the first two attempts. However, she slipped to fifth after only scoring 42.55 with her third dive. Jun Hoong eventually settled for fourth with a total of 281.35 points, just slightly behind China's Chen Ye who claimed bronze with 283.30 points. American diver Bryant Kelci snatched the silver with 304.00 points as Shi Tingmao, the world champion in the 1m springboard at the recent World Championships in Shanghai, claimed the gold with 320.65 points. Jun Hoong had completed the preliminaries with the fourth highest marks of 257.90 points behind Kelci (259.80), Chen Ye (272.45) and Tingmao (317.90). The American and the Chinese duo were placed in the stronger semi-final heat together with another Malaysian diver Leong Mun Yee, who also made the cut. But Mun Yee later pulled out on the instructions of the coach, leaving Jun Hoong to fight it out alone. Jun Hoong, the bronze medallist in the discipline at the Guangzhou Asian Games last year, was happy to put up a good performance. "I came here not targeting a medal as I knew the standards of competition were almost the same as that of the world championships. "Most of the divers who competed at the world meet in Shanghai stayed back to train in China as they were also involved in the Universiade. "I just give my best in the final," said Jun Hoong, who still have the women's 3m springboard individual event to look forward to. London Olympic-bound diver Bryan Nickson Lomas and Fakhrul Izzat will be the Malaysians in action in the men's 3m springboard individual today with reigning world and Olympic champion He Chong hotly favoured to take the gold. Fakhrul partnered Ahmad Amsyar to finish 10th (300.03) in the men's springboard synchro final earlier. Malaysia are still looking for their first medal after four days of competition with the divers and shooters, who will be starting their campaign tomorrow, seeming to be the best hopes. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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