The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Back-up riders to strut their stuff in Track Asia Cup
- Lin Dan calls for hawk’s eye on line calls in Korea
- Chong Wei turns on the heat to overcome Japan’s Sho
| Back-up riders to strut their stuff in Track Asia Cup Posted: 14 Dec 2011 05:24 PM PST PETALING JAYA: The new breed of cyclists vying for places in the 2016 Olympic programme will get a chance to strut their stuff in the Track Asia Cup second leg in Kuala Lumpur this weekend. In the absence of the Melbourne–based elite track cyclists, riders from the back–up and Pelapis squads have the opportunity to bask in the limelight at the Cheras Velodrome. Back-up riders Arfy Qhairant Amran and Mohd Fattah Amri Zaid, who returned to train in Melbourne after competing in the SEA Games last month, are expected to lead Malaysia's charge for medals in the sprint disciplines. Arfy is the reigning Asian junior sprint champion while Fattah did well in his maiden SEA Games to take the individual sprint silver behind senior rider Mohd Edrus Yunus. There is also hope that women cyclists like Ju Pha Somnet, Lauretta Eva Adrian and Ummi Hamimah will seize the chance to shine on home turf. Youngster Ju Pha made a golden SEA Games debut when she partnered elite rider Fatehah Mustapa to win the team sprint event. Ju Pha delivered four gold medals for her home state Perlis when the Malaysia Games (Sukma) track cycling competition took place at the same venue in June and will be looking to cap a memorable year with another winning performance. Lauretta and Ummi are also potential medallists in the junior ranks and capable of nicking a medal or two if they crank up the power on competition day. Azrain Mohd Yusof, the National Sports Council's Pelapis programme co–ordinator, is hopeful that the juniors will repeat last year's fine achievement where they bagged three gold medals in Kuala Lumpur. Fattah and Arfy won gold in the sprint and keirin respectively before combining to deliver victory in the team sprint. "The top riders like Azizulhasni Awang, Fatehah and Josiah (Ng) are not competing this weekend because they are focused on the London Olympics qualification campaign," said Azrain. "Instead, Malaysia will be represented by juniors from the back-up squad and another two riders from the Pelapis regional programmes in Ipoh and Penang. "It will be tougher this year with the Japanese riders in the fray, but this is the chance for the riders to show they can step up to meet the challenges. We intend to identify and nurture the riders from this group in a special programme to help them qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro." Besides Malaysia and Japan, the other countries competing in the Track Asia Cup second leg are Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Singapore, Iran, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Lin Dan calls for hawk’s eye on line calls in Korea Posted: 14 Dec 2011 03:02 PM PST SUPER SERIES MASTERS FINALS CHINA'S Lin Dan has urged the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to keep a hawk's eye on the standard line calls in South Korea when the 2012 Super Series season begins in Seoul on Jan 3–8. Lin Dan, 28, says the South Korean linesmen's decisions were the worst compared to the other hosts of the Super Series. "A new season will start in South Korea but I hope the old issue of dubious calls will not happen again. The line judges were favouring the local players too much at this year's Korea Open. "There have been disputed calls at other venues but it was very obvious in South Korea." If there is one positive change that Lin Dan is hoping for in the new season, it is for BWF to introduce the Hawk Eye technology, which has now become an integral part of tennis. The ball–tracking system, which is proven to be accurate, reliable and practical, has allowed tennis players to challenge the umpire 's calls. "I am puzzled why BWF are not catching on to this technology. "They should have implemented it years ago to ensure fair judging," he said. In Liuzhou, though, all eyes were on Lin Dan as he made his grand start in his first Super Series Masters Finals by beating compatriot Chen Long 21-15, 19-21, 21-17 in the opening Group B match. On paper, Lin Dan should also beat Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and Japan's Kenichi Tago to reach the semi–finals as the group champion. Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei had bagged a hat–trick of titles in Lin Dan's absence in the last three Masters Finals. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Chong Wei turns on the heat to overcome Japan’s Sho Posted: 14 Dec 2011 05:26 PM PST SUPER SERIES MASTERS FINALS LIUZHOU: Cold winter winds were blowing outside, but inside the Li Ning Gymnasium yesterday, World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei turned on the heat on the opening day of the Super Series Masters Finals to win his Group A match in style. Top seed Chong Wei overcame Japan's Sho Sasaki, who was blowing hot and cold, 21-11, 18-21, 21-12 to signal a clear warning of his intention to capture the Masters Finals for the fourth time in a row. He will take on Indonesia's Simon Santoso in his second group match and a win will guarantee him a place in the semi-finals. Yesterday, the Malaysian got off to a rousing start when he wrapped up the first game in quick fashion with his slicing chops and tantalising net play to break Sho's rhythm. The clever play immediately won the admiration of the local fans here. The tempo changed in the second game with Sho tailgating the Malaysian all the way until 8-9 before he took over for an 11-9 lead. Playing with more confidence, Sho managed to steal the second game. But it was all Chong Wei in the rubber as he wrapped up the win. "I started well but committed quite a number of errors in the second game and paid for it. I got into the groove again and Sho was too tired to strike back," said Chong Wei. He was also all smiles for another reason yesterday – the overwhelming support of the Chinese crowd. "I seem to have a large following here and that feels good," said Chong Wei. On his match against Simon today, the Malaysian said: "It has been a year since I last played him. I am sure it will be a tricky one." Yesterday, Simon, who only arrived at midnight on the eve of the tournament, could not give his best and went down tamely 13-21, 9-21 to Peter-Gade Christensen of Denmark. "It is not an excuse but I did not play my best. It was too short a time to get ready for a big match against Peter. I will be in better condition tomorrow," said Simon. There was one upset in Group B action when Japan's Kenichi Tago managed to pull the rug from under Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia with a 19-21, 21-19, 21-7 win after a one-hour battle. There were also surprises in the women's singles when Sung Ji-hyun defeated China's Wang Yihan in Group A while India's Saina Nehwal also played one of her best matches to beat South Korea's Bae Youn-joo to keep her semi-final hopes alive. Meanwhile, Malaysia's top pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong played one of their best matches in recent times but still went down to South Koreans Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung 21-18, 15-21, 18-21 in 61 minutes in their Group B opener. Said Kien Keat: "It is sad to lose this way but we played a good game. I trust Boon Heong better now and there is much improvement. "For now, what is more important is to get that feeling and confidence back in our game. "Our campaign is still not over yet and we will go all out. Winning is a bonus but the ultimate goal is to end the year feeling satisfied about ourselves and our game." Boon Heong, who almost caused panic when he sought medical treatment for his back problem in the decider, said: "I picked it up during the China Open but it is nothing to be worried about. "We will be ready for the Danish pair next (Carsten Mogensen-Mathias Boe)." RESULTS Men's singles Group A: Peter-Gade Christensen (Den) bt Simon Santoso (Ina) 21-13, 21-9; Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Sho Sasaki (Jpn) 21-11, 18-21, 21-12. Group B: Lin Dan (Chn) bt Chen Long (Chn) 21-15, 19-21, 21-17; Kenichi Tago (Jpn) bt Taufik Hidayat (Ina) 19-21, 21-19, 21-7. Men's doubles Group A: Chai Biao-Guo Zhengdong (Chn) bt Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng (Chn) 21-15, 14-21, 21-19; Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata (Jpn) bt Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) 21-19, 18-21, 21-9. Group B: Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae (Kor) bt Koo Kien Keat- Tan Boon Heong (Mas) 18-21, 21-15, 21-18; Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den) bt Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano (Ina) 21-16, 18-21, 21-19. Women's singles Group A: Tine Baun (Den) bt Juliane Schenk (Ger) 21-12, 21-11; Sung Ji-hyun (Kor) bt Wang Yihan (Chn) 13-21, 21-16, 21-19. Group B: Wang Xin (Chn) bt Sayaka Sato (Jpn) 21-7, 21-9; Saina Nehwal (Ind) bt Bae Youn-joo (Kor) 21-14, 17-21, 21-14. Women's doubles Group A: Ha Jung-eun-Kim Min-jung (Kor) bt Cheng Wen-hsing- Chien Yu-chin (Tpe) 21-18, 21-18; Wang Xiaoli-Yu Yang (Chn) bt Lok Yan Poon-Ying Suet Tse (Hkg) 21-9, 21-11. Group B: Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Christinna Pedersen- Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Den) 21-10, 20-22, 21-14; Mizuki Fujii-Reika Kakiiwa (Jpn) bt Shizuka Matsuo-Mami Naito (Jpn) 11-21, 21-17, 21-10. Mixed doubles Group A: Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Xu Chen-Ma Jin (Chn) 21-18, 19-21, 21-18; Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir (Ina) bt Robert Blair-Gabrielle White (Sco-Eng) 21-10, 21-12. Group B: Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinna Pedersen (Den) bt Sudket Prapakamol-T. Saralee (Tha) 21-15, 21-17; Chen Hung-ling- Cheng Wen-hsing (Tpe) bt Ikeda Shintaro-Shiota Reiko (Jpn) 19-21, 21-16, 21-17. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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