The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- National coach Allan expects Nicol to make winning debut in US Open
- Hockey: Malaysia to take on Japan again after narrow win
- Coach Jae-hyung’s move puts Malaysia in recurve final in Shanghai
| National coach Allan expects Nicol to make winning debut in US Open Posted: 09 Sep 2011 06:26 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 1 Nicol David has lost to England's Laura Massaro twice this year. So, all eyes will be on the duo when the US$60,000 United States Open in Philadelphia is held from Sept 30-Oct 6. Massaro beat five-time world champion Nicol in the final of the Cleveland Racquet Classics in February and in the semi-final of the Singapore Masters in July. The 28-year-old Nicol has yet to lose to any other player in the Women's International Squash Players Association (Wispa) tournaments so far this year. For the US Open, Nicol, who has won 53 Wispa titles since turning pro, will face Joelle King of New Zealand in the first round. In her top half of the draw are world No. 6 Kasey Brown of Australia and world No. 4 Madeline Perry of Ireland. Nicol is expected to face world No. 2 Jenny Duncalf of England in the final. World No. 5 Massaro will take on a qualifier in the first round and she is expected to meet Rachael Grinham of Australia in the quarter-finals. National chief coach Allan Soyza said that Nicol has become a wiser player since her second defeat to Massaro in the Singapore Masters. "Nicol has been training hard (in Amsterdam under former world champion Liz Irving) and will be leaving no stone unturned to win more titles. "I am confident Nicol will go on to win the US Open," said Allan. He added that although Nicol had played in many tournaments in the US – the Texas Open, Carol Weymuller Open, Seattle Open and Las Vegas Open – she would be making her debut in the US Open. "Nicol has never played in the US Open as it was just a small event then ... but now it's the golden event with a bigger prize money," he said. "Nicol is in good form after wining the Australian Open last month and I believe that she will create history in Rotterdam by winning a record sixth world title in November." National men's No. 1 Mohd Azlan Iskandar will also feature in the US Open, which offers total prize money of US$115,000. However, world No. 13 Azlan faces a tough opening match against world No. 3 Karim Darwish of Egypt. National No. 2 and world No. 27 Ong Beng Hee and youngster Kamran Khan will feature in the qualifying rounds. |
| Hockey: Malaysia to take on Japan again after narrow win Posted: 09 Sep 2011 06:17 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Debutant Amir Farid Ahmad Fuzi and youngster Faisal Saari inspired Malaysia to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Japan in their last preliminary round match at the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy in Ordos, China, yesterday. Japan, who needed a clear two-goal win over Malaysia to make the final, led 2-0 at half-time – courtesy of a penalty stroke by Koji Kayjawa in the 23rd minute and a field goal by Shinji Kawauchi in the 35th minute. The second half saw an improved Malaysian side launching their fightback, with Amir finding the target in the 46th and 55th minutes before Faisal netted the winning goal in the 66th minute. Malaysia and Japan will now square off again in the bronze medal playoff. Pakistan and India, who drew 2-2 yesterday, will meet again in tomorrow's final while South Korea and China will meet in the fifth-sixth classification match. National coach Tai Beng Hai attributed his team's first-half capitulation to "pressure and the cold weather". "It was very windy and cold. But the players managed to stay calm and stage a recovery in the second half. We have played Japan before and we know their game well. But the two first-half goals were a setback and added more pressure on the team," he said. "But it was quite a turnaround in the second-half. It showed that we can play good hockey too. We have reached our target of a top-four finish ... but we do not aim to stop there." |
| Coach Jae-hyung’s move puts Malaysia in recurve final in Shanghai Posted: 09 Sep 2011 06:16 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: National archery coach Lee Jae-hyung took a gamble by putting rookies Haziq Kamaruddin and Khairul Anuar Mohamad with national No. 1 Cheng Chu Sian in the men's recurve event at the World Cup leg in Shanghai yesterday. And his gamble paid handsome dividends when Malaysia stormed into the final. Jae-hyung opted to field the same team that earned Malaysia the maximum of three Olympic quota spots at the World Championships in Italy in July – leaving out Wan Khalmizam Wan Abdul Aziz. Khalmizam, who featured at the last Olympics in Beijing three years ago, also qualified for the elimination rounds but failed to clear the first round on Thursday. Jae-hyung's decision to leave out Khalmizam proved to be spot-on as the 10th-seeded Malaysia, inspired by the outstanding run of Khairul in advancing to the men's individual recurve final the previous day, started on the right note by taking out seventh seeds Britain 221-218. Malaysia then continued their strong run by edging out second seeds and hosts China 222-219 to enter the last four. The Malaysians maintained their momentum to secure a place in the final with a 222-215 win over surprise semi-finalists Finland. Finland had stunned third seeds Mexico in their opening tie 219-214 before beating Mongolia 213-210 to reach the semi-finals. It was Malaysia's first appearance in the final at the World Cup in three years and they will meet top seeds the United States tomorrow. The US, winners of two previous legs so far this year, enjoyed a first round bye before chalking up impressive wins over Holland (226-219) and France (226-215) to enter the final. All eyes will be on the Malaysian archers as they seek to make history today. And it's not just the men's team who will be in action today as Khairul will also be taking on American Joe Fanchin in the individual recurve final. Jae-hyung hopes that Malaysia can win the men's team competition for the first time after two runners-up finishes back in 2008. "The United States are stronger, on paper, as they have been very consistent this year, especially their main archer Brady Ellison," said the South Korean. "He won all the three previous legs before losing for the first time this year to Khairul in the last 16. "It will be difficult unless our archers raise their game tomorrow. "It is important for our archers not to be intimidated." |
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