The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Muizz lands rookie crown in Italian go-kart
- BAM to appoint supremo to oversee their new 12-year plan
- MAU finally gets greenlight from Sports Council
| Muizz lands rookie crown in Italian go-kart Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:59 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's 10-year-old Muizzuddin Musyaffa Abdul Gafar, who races in Italy, made the country proud by winning the rookie crown at Italy's prestigious go-kart competition at the 2012 ROK Cup Italia Finals. Finishing third overall in a field of 43 competitors in the Mini 60 category last weekend at the di Siena International Circuit in Siena was enough to give Muizzuddin the Rookie Cup title as well as free entry and sponsorship of racing tyres in the competition next year. The young Malaysian stunned his rivals, who included some 13-year-olds, as he led the field for the first eight laps of the 12-lap contest but had to be content with third placing in the end after making a minor mistake. While other competitors earned their places at the ROK Cup Italia Finals through qualifying from their regional races, Muizzuddin was given a wildcard entry to the competition via his rookie status and commendable performance in the Italian Karting Championship this season where he currently sits 10th overall with 39 championship points in the Mini 60 category. "This is definitely a fantastic achievement by Muizz. "He was actually P1 in the pre-final and that gave him pole position for the final race. "With that rookie title, he has now also qualified for the ROK Cup World Finals where top karters using Vortex ROK engines from all over the world will be coming to Italy," said Muizzuddin's manager Zainuddin Radzi. The ROK Cup World Finals will be held on Oct 13-14 at Lonato near Milan and Zainuddin is hoping to see another strong outing from Muizzuddin. "However, we are not setting specific targets for Muizz at that Rok Cup World Finals. "It's a huge competition with the world's best karters and most of them will be much older than him. We just want him to get as much track time as possible and improve his skills," he added. After a commendable performance in some selected races around Europe last year, Muizzuddin's parents decided to support their son's dreams of becoming a Formula 1 driver by putting him on a three-year racing programme that was worked out with a top Italian racing outfit Gamoto Racing. Currently staying in a rented apartment in Sicily with his mother Siti Rohanah Hussein and attending a local school, Muizz had made breakthroughs in the sport, including becoming Malaysia's first go-kart winner in Europe. Though he has yet to win any of the races at the CSAI Italian Karting Championship, Muizz had been victorious twice at state championships in Italy – one at the Puglia Regional Championship on May 27 and the other at the Sicily Champion Cup on June 10. |
| BAM to appoint supremo to oversee their new 12-year plan Posted: 19 Sep 2012 04:59 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: One head is better. This is the conclusion reached by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) when the exco, headed by Datuk Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, created an important post – a project manager – to oversee their new 12-year plan for the future. And the good news is that the project manager, aka supremo, will be given the full authority to run the programmes. The BAM have not decided on the candidate for the job but it will not be a foreigner thus hiring South Korean Park Joo-bong is out of the question. Those in the running are Kwan Yoke Meng and Wong Ah Jit and they may even look for others to take up the job. The project manager will oversee the country's three new squads – elite and 2016, 2020 and 2024 – spanning three Olympic cycles. The 2020 squad will comprise the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) players while the 2024 squad will consist of players from 9-14 years old from the states. The BAM have appointed Rashid Sidek and Tan Kim Her as the singles and doubles chief coaches for the elite and 2016 squads and both will be answerable to the project manager. The project manager will also be given the task to appoint the chief coaches for the 2020 and 2024 squads. BAM president Nadzmi said that the role of the project manager would be clearly defined. "We need a really good manager – one who can organise and strategise. "He must have strong managerial skills and the ability to work well with others. He also needs the technical expertise," said Nadzmi. "There are three basic elements. The project manager will be given clear responsibilities of his job scope so that he will not have to change the goal posts all the time. And he will be given the authority to fulfil his responsibilities. He, however, will have to be accountable for all his actions. "The way he manages should ensure that all the squads will be inter-related and linked. He will have to ensure that all analyses and coaching programmes will be documented so that it could be passed on. "We did not have competent people to fulfil those responsibilities in the past. "We did not have a perfect fit but with the appointment of a project manager, we hope our programme will be executed well." Malaysia had a similar set-up before when Morten Frost Hansen was appointed the national coaching director and Yap Kim Hock the chief coach but both did not have full say in running the programmes. Yesterday, Nadzmi, however, reiterated that coaches had always been given the power to decide in BAM. When pointed out that there had been several decisions on players which was made by the management and not the coaches, the exco admitted that it was a mistake and promised to go through the right processes this time around. |
| MAU finally gets greenlight from Sports Council Posted: 19 Sep 2012 05:00 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Sports Commissioner Datuk Mohd Yassin Mohd Salleh has given the greenlight to the Malaysian Athletic Union (MAU) to go to hold their long delayed elections on Sunday. MAU have rectified the mistakes in the 15-page constitution and also removed the article 8.4.4, which called for staggered yearly elections. They also removed article 8.7.2, which said elections should be held triennially. MAU president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said that Sports Commissioner was satisfied with the amendments and has approved the MAU constitution. "We are relieved that the elections and annual general meeting (AGM) will be held as schedule on Sunday," said Shahidan. Last Saturday, officer in charge T. Kumar, who did not want to open the envelopes containing the nominations forms from the 15 affiliates until the errant provisions were removed or amended, finally unveil the nominations yesterday. Incumbent MAU president Shahidan received four nominations from Perlis, Perak, Kuala Lumpur and Perak and he faces a three-corner fight from Negri Sembilan AA president Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad and former deputy president Datuk Danyal Balagopal, who each received one nomination. Incumbent deputy president Datuk Karim Ibrahim received two nominations and he will be up against Terengganu AA president Datuk Wan Hisyam Wan Salleh and Selangor AA secretary K. Yogasveran. The 55-year-old Karim, who has been the deputy president since 2008, is facing an inquiry committee headed by retired judge Tan Sri V. C. George over his alleged involvement in two doping cases. Army Brig-Gen Yusri Anuar, who received two nominations for vice-president post has withdrawn. Incumbent vice-presidents Datuk R. Annamalai and Datuk Paduka Mumtaz Jaafar, will face six others – Mohamed Awang of Kelantan, K. Yogasveran of Selangor, Datuk Paiman Abdul Karim of Sabah, Rajemah Ahmad of Terengganu, P. Solomon of Kedah and S. Rajasegran of Johor – for the post. Four vice-presidents will be elected and one must be a woman. Shahidan said that he wants a fair elections with the best candidates winning their posts. "Those who win the elections must work hard to improve the standard of athletics, which have dropped drastically. My focus, if elected as the president, is that we must win nine gold medals in next year's SEA Games in Myanmar and if we failed to achieve that then I will considered it as a failure and will step down as the president," said Shahidan, who is seeking the fourth term as the president. Shahidan became the MAU president in 2006 and in the last three SEA Games, Malaysia have won six golds in Korat 2007 and Laos 2009 but in Palembang last year, they only won five. |
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