The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Aaron overcomes fever and chicken pox to book Games ticket
- Shooter Nur Suryani is our flag-bearer at the SEA Games
- Malaysia may not send their best taekwondo exponents
| Aaron overcomes fever and chicken pox to book Games ticket Posted: 29 Oct 2011 04:46 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: National bowler Aaron Kong does not give up easily when the chips are down. And the anchor of the team displayed his never-say-die attitude when he overcame a bout of fever and chicken pox to win a ticket to represent the country at the SEA Games for the third consecutive time. The competition will be held at Bowling Jaya Ancol in Jakarta, from Nov 14-20. Now that he is in the team, the 26-year-old Penangite is determined to help the team reclaim their status as the best men's outfit in the region. "I was quite worried when I was down with chicken pox just a week before the selection trials. I missed out on training sessions but I still took part in the trials and managed to secure a place," said Aaron. "So far, it has not been a great year for me. I have not won any titles this year but I am determined to end my medal drought at the Jakarta Games. "I was tinkering with my approach in bowling this year. I dropped my wrist guard but it did not help much. But I continued to work on my game and now I feel more confident with my swing," added the 2006 Doha Asian Games gold medallist. Aaron was a member of Malaysia's gold medal winning team at the 2007 Korat SEA Games but he failed to help them retain the team title at the last Games in Laos two years ago. Aaron said that the men were all driven to do well – especially after the demise of Asian youth champion Khoo Beng Khai. "Beng Khai was one of the bowlers during our selection trials. It is hard to believe that he has gone but the men bowlers will not forget him. In fact, we are bent on winning a gold medal in the team event for him. It is time to bring back the team gold," said Aaron. The others in the men's team are Adrian Ang, Alex Liew, Mohd Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek, Zulmazran Zulkifli and Mohd Nur Aiman Khairuddin. The notable absentee is seasoned campaigner Daniel Lim, who did not make the cut. "We have a strong team. Our main challengers will be hosts Indonesia. We also cannot undermine our rivals from Thailand, the Philippines and, of course, Singapore. The coaches are pushing us in training to prepare us for a challenging time." National chief coach Holloway Cheah has set a three-gold medal target for both the men's and women's teams although the lanes in Jakarta will be quite tricky for the Malaysians. The Malaysians will be in Jakarta a week earlier to fine-tune and familiarise themselves with the lane conditions. The women named for the SEA Games are World Championships singles gold medallist Jacqueline Jenelee Sijore, Esther Cheah, Sharon Koh, Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani, Zandra Aziela Ibrahim Hakimi, Sin Li Jane and Dayang Khairuniza Dhiyana. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Shooter Nur Suryani is our flag-bearer at the SEA Games Posted: 29 Oct 2011 04:46 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Shooter Nur Suryani Taibi has been given the honour of being the flag-bearer for the Malaysian contingent at the SEA Games in Indonesia from Nov 11-22. Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi confirmed the appointment of Suryani as the first woman shooter to lead the Malaysian challenge at the biennial Games. The 28-year-old Suryani won the spot ahead of many others because of her exceptionally good form last year. Suryani partnered Nur Ayuni Farhana to bag the gold in the 10m air rifle pairs at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games last October. She was also a silver medallist in the 10m air rifle at the Sydney leg of the World Cup series last year and the first Malaysian shooter to win an Asian Games medal – bagging the bronze in the same discipline in Guangzhou last November. Suryani is under the Road to London programme and has been earmarked to peak at the Asian Shooting Championships in Doha in February. Hopes are high that she will be the first woman shooter to compete in the Olympic Games. She is expected to be one of Malaysia's gold medal contributors at the SEA Games. Malaysia's chef-de-mission Datuk Mohd Naim has targeted a total of 60 gold medals. Said Kok Chi: "The NSC (National Sports Council) proposed Suryani's name and we (the OCM) have no objections. The shooter has achieved some good results," said Kok Chi. The appointment of Suryani is also because the opening ceremony will be held in Palembang on Nov 11. Shooting is one of the 22 sports contested in Palembang while the remaining 24 will be held in Jakarta. Meanwhile, the NSC will hold a five-day centralised training for all the SEA Games-bound shuttlers at Putrajaya, beginning tomorrow. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Malaysia may not send their best taekwondo exponents Posted: 29 Oct 2011 04:46 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: A change of dates for the Asian taekwondo qualifiers for the Olympics could result in Malaysia not having their best fighters for the Indonesia SEA Games. Thailand were scheduled to host the Asian continental qualifying tournament for the Olympics in Bangkok from Nov 4-6 but it has now been postponed indefinitely due to massive flooding in the country. National coach R. Dhanaraj, who returned home with the squad after a three-week stint in South Korea, said the latest development could result in the best fighters opting out of the SEA Games competition in Jakarta. "We've just been told that the Asian qualifiers have been postponed to a later date," he said. "The actual dates have not been fixed but it looks likely to be after the SEA Games competition, which will be from Nov 12-15. "If this is the case, we will not be sending the four exponents gearing up for the Olympic qualifiers to the SEA Games. Their priority is not the SEA Games but to do well at the Asian zone Olympic qualifiers. "They could get injured at the SEA Games and it could jeorpardise their plans for the Olympic qualifiers." The top two finishers in the four respective weight classes will qualify for London from the Asian zone. The two men picked for the Olympic qualifiers in Bangkok are Ryan Chong (flyweight) and Afifuddin Sidek (lightweight). Elaine Teo will take a shot at earning a third consecutive Olym-pic appearance in the women's lightweight division while Nurul Ashfalina will go in for the flyweight. "We hope at least one will make it to the Olympics. I am hoping Ryan or Afifuddin will make it to the Olympics as none of the men have every made it," he said. "They did well in training and enjoyed the benefits of sparring with the Korean Olympic team and also exponents from the army side." Taekwondo was accepted as a medal sport in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and Malaysia have never failed to be represented by at least one representative so far. Lee Wan Yuen was the first Malaysian to qualify for Sydney in 2000 while Elaine made it to Athens four years later. Elaine and Che Chew Chan made the grade in Beijing three years ago. Che Chew, who delivered the only Malaysian gold medal in taekwondo at the last SEA Games in Laos, has since quit the sport. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| 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