The Star Online: Sports
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- Corretja named as Spain's Davis Cup captain
- Lee keeps up hectic schedule to stay tops for London
- Olympic qualifiers squad to be named after China friendlies
| Corretja named as Spain's Davis Cup captain Posted: 27 Dec 2011 04:07 PM PST MADRID (Reuters) - Alex Corretja will be Spain's new Davis Cup team captain for the next two years, the country's tennis federation (RFET) said in a statement on Tuesday. The former world number two and twice French Open finalist replaces Albert Costa who stepped up into a director's role at the federation after leading Spain to Davis Cup final victories over Czech Republic in 2009 and Argentina in 2011. "I am absolutely convinced that today we have reached a great agreement for Spanish tennis," RFET president Jose Luis Escanuela said. "To unite his technical and human qualities with that of our players is without doubt a step forward for the success of the team." The 37-year-old Corretja added: "It's a privilege to be able to captain the best team of players in the world." He will be presented to the media on Wednesday. Corretja, who helped Spain win the first of their five Davis Cups in 2000, starts the defence of their title with a world group first round tie at home to Kazakhstan on Feb. 10-12. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Lee keeps up hectic schedule to stay tops for London Posted: 27 Dec 2011 04:09 PM PST PETALING JAYA: There will be no letup for world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei as he works to maintain his top spot for the London Olympics next year with yet another busy schedule – starting with the Korean Open Super Series Premier tournament in Seoul from Jan 3-8. The 29-year-old had a hectic 2011, in which he competed in 15 tournaments, winning seven of them. But Chong Wei was clearly exhausted towards the end of the year, resulting in three consecutive semi-final defeats at the hands of China's Lin Dan and Chen Long in the Hong Kong Open, China Open and World Super Series Finals. But instead of taking a break, he is already back in training and his coach, Tey Seu Bock, believes Chong Wei has no plans to cut down on the number of tournaments before the London Olympics in August. Besides the Korean Open, Chong Wei is also down to compete in the Malaysian Open in January, and will feature in the Thomas Cup qualifiers in February, the All-England in March and the India Open in April. Assuming Malaysia qualify for the Thomas Cup Finals, Chong Wei will feature in the tournament in May and the Indonesia Open in June, which will be the final competition before the Olympics. "Although rest is important, Chong Wei cannot afford to slacken because he has to maintain the top spot in the rankings in order to get the best seeding in the Olympics," said Seu Bock. "Even when he is tired, Chong Wei is capable of reaching the semi-finals or final without too much effort. I just want him to compete at his own pace. "It is vital that we don't heap extra pressure on him and, hopefully, he'll stay injury–free till July. "We are also discussing whether it is a good idea to let him compete in the Swiss Open in March and the Malaysia Open GP Gold in May," added Seu Bock. Chong Wei, who is the top seed for the Korean Open, will have a relatively easy path to the final. He faces India's P. Kashyap in the first round and a win should pit him against Korean Shon Wan-ho in the next round. Awaiting Chong Wei in the quarter-finals should be seventh seed Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam while veteran Dane Peter Gade Christensen could be a semi-final hurdle. China's Lin Dan, Chen Long and Chen Jin have been drawn in the bottom half of the draw and one of them should make it to the final. Besides Chong Wei, the other Malaysian singles shuttlers in the fray are Liew Daren and KLRC's Mohd Hafiz Hashim, but both will have to start from the qualifying rounds. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Olympic qualifiers squad to be named after China friendlies Posted: 27 Dec 2011 02:51 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: The friendly matches against China next month will offer the final chance for the 25 players in the national hockey squad to secure their place in the the Olympic qualifiers in Dublin in March. Although Malaysia have lined up friendlies against India and another team in February, there is a good chance that the squad will be trimmed to 20 by the end of January. National coach Tai Beng Hai admitted that the China fixtures will be the last chance to experiment with the players and also give those who did not feature in the Champions Challenge I last month a chance to prove their worth. "We are in the final phase of training and are getting closer to our final selection. By the time we travel to India in February, we will be down to 20 or even the final 18 players. "We are allowed to make changes until just before leaving for the qualifiers but we should have our final team list ready well before that. "I want to see the players push themselves hard in the coming month and show that they deserve a place in the team," said Beng Hai. In the past three weeks, the players have been put through physical workouts aimed at increasing their fitness level. Beng Hai said they will only tone down the emphasis on fitness when the friendly matches start. "When the friendlies gets underway, we will concentrate on improving combination play and set–piece moves. I am happy with the commitment of the players and feel they are on the same wavelength as the coaches in wanting to do well in Dublin." Malaysia are allowed to bring along 18 players for the qualifiers. But each team can only register 16 players for the Olympics hockey competition in London. Beng Hai said Malaysia are still waiting for India to confirm the dates for the friendly matches in New Delhi. The matches against China, who will arrive on Jan 10, will be held at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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