The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Setting the track ablaze at the Malaysian Grand Prix
- Deedat excited about Malaysian Open debut
- Italy keep quarter-final hopes alive by hammering Russia in their biggest win
| Setting the track ablaze at the Malaysian Grand Prix Posted: 20 Sep 2011 06:23 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: The penultimate round of the MotoGP world championships at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) from Oct 21-23 is set to become a tantalising affair. The Shell Advance Malaysian MotoGP will see title favourite Casey Stoner, who currently holds a 44-point lead over defending champion Jorge Lorenzo, battle for the crown he once had in 2007. With two more rounds in Japan and Australia – before the bikes come to the Sepang International Circuit, hope is still alive for Lorenzo, making it a potential thriller for racing fans in Sepang. While the main draw of MotoGP challenge is certain to set the tracks ablaze, it will be a huge day for Malaysian fans as they will see four local riders on the starting grid this year. Besides Mohd Zulfahmi Khairuddin, who has performed beyong expectations in the 125cc class with 20 points to sit 16th in the standings under the Air Aisa-SIC-Ajo banner, there will be another youngster riding under the same category at Sepang under the wild card entry. Eighteen-year-old Muhammad Farid Badrul Hisham has been selected to ride in the 125cc class after his fine achievement in the Malaysian Super Series (MSS) SuperSports junior category last year. "We have chosen Farid because he has been continuously racing throughout the year, especially in the British Superbike Championships," said SIC chief executive officer Datuk Razlan Razali. "We choose to put Farid in the 125cc class because we want the rider we picked to start at the lower tier of this world class competition. "Although everybody knows that the 125cc class will be replaced with the Moto3 which uses a different bike and engine capacity, it would be pointless if the rider can't prove himself by racing in the lowest tier." Another two Malaysian riders will race in the Moto2 class with selection to be held next week. Last year, Mohd Zamri Baba was the sole Malaysian rider in the Moto2 race. Last year, a record attendance of 105,000 flocked to the circuit and SIC chairman Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir expects the number to increase this year. "This is the 21st edition of the race in Malaysia and we expect more fans this year. With ticket prices as low as RM15 for a day, Malaysian fans would not want to miss the excitement, especially when they get to see four Malaysian riders in action," he said. Tickets can be purchased at Lot 10 shopping centre or log on to |
| Deedat excited about Malaysian Open debut Posted: 20 Sep 2011 06:21 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: With the Malaysian Open ATP 250 tennis championship set to begin this weekend, Malaysian youngster Ahmed Deedat Abdul Razak can hardly contain his excitement as he will be making his debut in one of the biggest tennis competition in Asia. The 16-year-old Deedat is one of three Malaysian players who have been given the local wildcard entry for the qualifying round of the singles event, the others being national No. 1 Si Yew Ming and Ariez Elyaas Deen Heshaam. For the little known Deedat, the chance to play in the Malaysian Open may come as a pleasant surprise to him but in truth his inclusion in the tournament is just reward for his hard work and good performance. The lanky Deedat dished out stellar performances for Malaysia in the junior and men's Davis Cup tournaments and has been touted as the rising star of Malaysian tennis. He was also once ranked as high as third in the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) Under-14 circuit. "I am really excited at the chance to play because this is my first time participating in an ATP event," said Deedat who idolised former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero while growing up. "I picked up tennis when I was just eight years old, playing for fun with my dad and I've found it to be very interesting indeed." "After that I slowly got more serious in the sport and I hope to continue playing tennis for a long time to come." "There isn't really a target for me in the Malaysian Open as I'm just happy to play." "Hopefully I'll be able to hold my serve against my opponent as that should be the easiest thing to do and play well," added Deedat. The Malaysian Open is one of only five World Tour stops in Asia and carries a total prize money of US$947,750 (RM2.9 mil). It will feature a 28-player singles main draw and 16 doubles pairs with the qualifying round for singles starting this Saturday. Defending champion Mikhail Youzhny of Russia will be back in action and the other top stars include world No. 9 Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic, world No. 12 Nicolas Almagro of Spain and Serbians Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki. Tickets are on sale for as low as RM10 with an Ipad 2 to be given out every day for lucky fans in the catch-the-ball promotion. |
| Italy keep quarter-final hopes alive by hammering Russia in their biggest win Posted: 20 Sep 2011 06:19 PM PDT RUGBY WORLD CUP ITALY hammered debutants Russia 53-17 yesterday to keep their World Cup hopes alive with their biggest ever win in the tournament. The Six Nations team raced out of the blocks with six tries in the first half before Russia, who celebrated their historic first ever World Cup tries, recovered with a vastly improved second period. The bonus–point win keeps Italy in the running for the quarter–finals despite their opening loss to Australia, with a crunch encounter with Ireland looming on Oct 2. "We started the game very well, the first half I was very happy with," said Italy's South African coach, Nick Mallet. "And then we got a bit loose and I made a lot of changes. But give them credit, they played some very nice, attacking rugby, held on to the ball and ran at us. "So I was very relieved that we dominated the first phases as much as we did because if they had too much more ball it might have been a bit more difficult for us." Italy's scrum savaged the Russian forwards in the first half and they capitalised on a host of errors as captain Sergio Parisse surged through a gap in the defence to open the scoring on six minutes. Winger Giulio Toniolatti then scored twice in 10 minutes either side of a try by Tommaso Benvenuti, who pounced when a loose ball slid under the diving body of the last Russian defender. Italy were awarded a penalty try when their forwards crushed the Russian scrum but they suffered a blow when Fabio Ongaro was sin–binned for a thumping, shoulder–first collision which laid out fullback Igor Klyuchnikov. And Russia took full advantage when replacement scrum–half Alexander Yanyushkin darted through for an unorthodox, over–the–head score after landing on his back in the tackle – the country's first ever try at the World Cup. Gori crossed just before half–time to make it 38-7 at the break and Benvenuti grabbed his second eight minutes into the second period, but Russia were not done and Vladimir Ostroushko motored over on the right to keep the scores at 43-12. Australian–born Luke McLean got Italy's eighth try on 64 minutes but Alexey Makovetskiy received a looping cut–out pass in acres of space on the right to raise Russian hopes of a bonus–point fourth try. However, it were Italy who would have the final say when flanker Alessandro Zanni flattened two defenders to score in the 75th minute. "Our play wasn't so good tonight but I'm glad that we had some tries," said Russian captain Vladislav Korshunov. "These are the first tries by the Russian team in this tournament." Italy have never reached the World Cup quarter–finals in six previous attempts. Their largest victory before Tuesday had been their 31-5 win over Portugal in 2007. Italy now play the United States next week while Russia face Ireland on Sunday. – AFP |
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