The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- BAM need to prove they are still relevant, says minister
- MHF confident of a good show in Asian Champs Trophy
- Zulfahmi will skip Hari Raya celebrations for the third time
| BAM need to prove they are still relevant, says minister Posted: 21 Aug 2011 06:01 PM PDT KEMAMAN: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have to prove that they are still a relevant body to ensure continuing excellence in national badminton, said Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek. He said if more players decided to follow the footsteps of Zakry Abdul Latif and Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari (pic), who left the national elite squad, it could be construed that the association was no longer relevant. Expressing his shock over the departure of the duo, Ahmad Shabery said the development would tarnish BAM's integrity as it was not able to retain players under its ambit. "BAM had been given the mandate to develop players, and if more players decided to leave, we are worried old wounds will bleed again as in the departures of Muhammad Hafiz Hashim and Misbun (Datuk Misbun Sidek), much to the detriment of all quarters," he said before presenting aid to the needy from the Ayer Puteh state constituency here yesterday. BAM president Datuk Seri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh told a news conference on Saturday that BAM had accepted the resignation of Zakry and Fairuzizuan after 15 years of service without any conditions. Ahmad Shabery said the National Sports Council (NSC) would get to the bottom of the matter as the ministry was concern on the backlash if more players decided to leave BAM or whether the incident was merely an isolated case. Zakry, 29, and Fairuzizuan, 28, sent their resignation letters to BAM on Aug 17 stating their intention to become independent players. They were former second-ranked pair before coach Rexy Mainaky decided to split them and pair them up with Hoon Thien How and Ong Soon Hock respectively. – Bernama |
| MHF confident of a good show in Asian Champs Trophy Posted: 21 Aug 2011 06:00 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) have set a top-four target for the national team in the inaugural six-nation Asian Champions Trophy in Ordos, China from Sept 3-11. Besides Malaysia and hosts China the other teams in the fray are Pakistan, India, South Korea and Japan. Malaysia, who are ranked 15th in the world, played well to finish a creditable second to Pakistan in the Guangzhou Asian Games last November. MHF president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said that the national team should finish among the top four in Asia. Korea are the highest ranked team in the world at sixth followed by Pakistan (eighth), India (ninth), China (14th) and Japan (16th). There are 25 players in the training squad and national coach Tai Beng Hai is expected to name the final squad of 18 players on Aug 26. The players will take a few days break to celebrate Hari Raya before the national team leave for China on Sept 1. Malaysia, who are the fifth ranked team in Asia, will open their campaign against Pakistan who are coached by Dutch coach Michel Van Den Heuval on Sept 3. The final and third-fourth and fifth-sixth matches will be played on Sept 11. After the tournament the national players will be release to play in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL), which begins on Sept 17. And after the final of the MHL on Oct 23, the 25 national trainees will prepare for the Champions Challenge 1 in Johannesburg, South Africa from Nov 26 to Dec 3. Eight teams divided into two groups will feature in the tournament. Malaysia are drawn in Group B with Argentina, Canada and Japan. South Africa, Belgium, New Zealand and Japan. Tengku Abdullah added that they have set a top-five finish for the Malaysian team. "It's important tournament for the national team in preparation for the Olympic qualifiers next year. It's also important for the national team to finish fifth to improve their world rankings," said Tengku Abdullah. Meanwhile, Tengku Abdullah said that International Hockey Federation (FIH) want MHF and the MWHA (Malaysian Women's Hockey Association) to merge before the end of this year. "They (FIH) have given us deadline before end of the year to merge and the new association will be known as the MHC (Malaysian Hockey Confederation)," said Tengku Abdullah. |
| Zulfahmi will skip Hari Raya celebrations for the third time Posted: 21 Aug 2011 06:00 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Malaysian MotoGP 125cc rider Mohd Zulfahmi Khairuddin will be giving the Hari Raya celebration a miss for the third time as he prepares for the Indianapolis Grand Prix this weekend and the San Marino GP the following week. The 20-year-old rider from Banting, has not been able to celebrate Hari Raya with his family since 2009. But despite the setback, Zulfahmi is all focused on achieving his target of finishing in 15th spot overall with seven more races to go until the end of the season. "I hope I can maintain or even improve my performance for the upcoming races. During the fasting month, I have not been idle, but I have been busy maintaining my fitness at the gym," said the AirAsia-SIC-Ajo rider. Reminiscing his first Hari Raya far away from friends and family, Zulfahmi said he would go out riding his mountain bike to kill time. "I will really miss my family. Hari Raya is a joyous celebration in my kampong and the most meaningful as all my family and relatives will converge at my house since my grandmother is staying with my parents. "I really miss spending time with them but what I really miss most is the food, especially the ketupat and the rendang," said Zulfahmi. After 10 starts for the season, Zulfahmi currently sits 16th in the standings on 20 points, a major improvement to his meagre four points collected in his first season last year. His best finish this season was in the Czech GP where he finished in ninth spot. |
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