The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Esther fails to strike home
- Ying Ting and Clement win gold in World Junior Wushu Championships
- Rise of the young brigade pushes Nicol to raise her game
| Posted: 25 Sep 2012 06:12 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: National bowler Esther Cheah ended her campaign in the inaugural World Singles Championships at the Galactica Bowling Centre in Limassol, Cyprus, with a bronze medal after being edged by eventual gold medallist Kelly Kulick of the United States in the semi-finals. Esther, the only national bowler left in the mix after the others fell by the wayside, lost 212-207 to Kulick. Her failure to connect strikes in the opening frames led to her downfall as she needed a strike in the final frame to win. However, a stubborn pin refused to fall for Esther while Kulick struck home for the win. "It was a close one all the way with Kulick. I think the spare in the third frame cost me a bit because I could have gone further ahead," said Esther from Limassol yesterday. "But I never gave up until the last frame, when both of us needed to strike home to win. I could have won if I didn't miss in the last frame." Kulick went on to win the title after defeating Diana Zavjalova of Latvia 228-226 in the final. In the second elimination round earlier, Esther overcame Venezuela's Karen Marcano 3-1 to book a spot in the quarter-final against Shannon O'Keefe of the US. Esther took the fight to her American opponent to win 3-2. Malaysia's challenge in the men's competition ended in the quarter-finals when Mohd Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek lost to Colombia's Andres Gomez 1-3. Mohd Syafiq, who topped the qualifying on Sunday, had earlier beaten Tore Torgersen of Norway 3-2 in the second round. Zulmazran Zulkifli, meanwhile, lost 3-2 to American Chris Barnes in the second round. In an all-American men's final, Barnes beat Tommy Jones 212-198 to emerge champion. MEN Elimination 2: Mohd Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek (Mas) bt Tore Torgersen (Nor) 3-2; Andres Gomez (Col) bt Mohd Kamel (Kuw) 3-0; Chris Barnes (US) bt Zulmazran Zulkifli (Mas) 3-2; Khaled Al Dossari (Brn) bt Mat Miller (Eng) 3-0; Martin Paulsson (Swe) bt Thomas Gross (Aut) 3-2; Osku Palermaa (Fin) bt Oliver Leroy (Bel) 3-0; Stuart Williams (Eng) bt Mak Cheuk Yin (Hkg) 3-0; Tommy Jones (US) bt Thomas Larsen (Den) 3-0. Quarter-finals: Gomez bt Syafiq 3-1; Barnes bt Khaled 3-0; Palermaa bt Paulsson 3-0; Jones bt Williams 3-1. Semi-finals: Barnes bt Gomez 246-244; Jones bt Palermaa 259-199. Final: Barnes bt Jones 212-198. n WOMEN Elimination 2: Kelly Kulick (US) bt Wendy Kok (Ned) 3-0; Joline Persson-Planefors (Swe) bt Sue Abela (Mlt) 3-2; Esther Cheah (Mas) bt Karen Marcano (Ven) 3-1; Shannon O'Keefe (US) bt Isabelle Rioux (Can) 3-2; Diana Zavjalova (Lat) bt Rebecka Larsen (Swe) 3-1; Clara Juliana Guerrero (Col) bt Luminita Farkas (Rou) 3-1; Aseret Zetter (Mex) bt Britt Brondsted (Den) 3-0; Krista Pollanen (Fin) bt Alena Korobkova (Rus) 3-2. Quarter-finals: Kulick bt Persson-Planefors 3-2; Esther bt O'Keefe 3-2; Zavjalova bt Guerrero 3-2; Zetter bt Pollanen 3-2. Semi-finals: Kelly bt Esther 212-207; Zavjalova bt Zetter 237-212. Final: Kulick bt Zavjalova 228-226. |
| Ying Ting and Clement win gold in World Junior Wushu Championships Posted: 25 Sep 2012 07:31 PM PDT SEPANG: Malacca already boasts one of the best wushu exponents in the world in Chai Fong Ying, who has won the world title three times and the Asian Games gold medal twice. Should the taiji exponent decide to retire, Malacca need not fret as Loh Ying Ting will be ready to step up. Ying Ting and Clement Thian flew the flag high with golden acts as the Malaysian wushu team returned with a 2-6-5 medal haul from the World Junior Wushu Championships, which concluded in Macau on Monday. The 15-year-old Ying Ting took gold in the girls' Group B changquan (barehands northern style) while 13-year-old Clement of Sarawak came out tops in the boys' Group B nanquan (barehands southern style) events. Ying Ting continued Malaysia's proud tradition of winning at the world and Asian juniors. She was a double gold medallist for Malaysia at the Asian junior championships in Singapore last year in gunshu (stick) and daoshu (broadsword). Ying Ting was delighted to have pulled it off in her second attempt at the world junior meet. There are three age groups in the world junior meet – A (16-18), B (13-15) and C (10-12). Each exponent is allowed to compete in three disciplines. "I got one silver in daoshu and one bronze in gunshu at the last world junior meet two years ago. I finished fourth in daoshu and gunshu this time but I got a gold in changquan, which is perfect as I have to move up to the A category if I go for the next championships," said Ying Ting, who credited her win to the dedicated coaching of Chinese coach Mao Yaji and former SEA Games champion Lim Yew Fai. "I was selected for the back-up squad to train full-time at Bukit Jalil early this year and I've improved a lot. Fong Ying is an inspiration to everyone who follows wushu and I hope to be able to match her achievements one day, although our events are not the same," said Ying Ting. Clement, who is not from the Bukit Jalil programme, was a double medal winner as he also bagged a silver in nandao (swordplay). "I did not expect to win the gold as this was my first world junior championships," said Clement, who is from Kuching. Yew Fai, who has been coaching the juniors for the last two years, was happy with the overall performance, considering half the 12-member squad were first-timers. "We hauled in 2-1-2 at the last world junior meet in Singapore. We got more silvers and bronzes although there is only one exponent who is under our back-up programme at Bukit Jalil. This shows our juniors have the potential to go up although the standards have risen," he said. |
| Rise of the young brigade pushes Nicol to raise her game Posted: 25 Sep 2012 04:34 PM PDT LAST week was not the best for Malaysian athletes as far as results were concerned. In badminton, the senior shuttlers were all wiped out at the semi-final stage in the China Masters while the youngsters also failed to achieve success at the Malaysian Junior Open. In motor racing, Moto3 rider Mohd Zulfahmi Khairudin got off to a bad start at the San Marino GP and could only manage 11th placing. But the biggest shock of all was when squash queen Nicol David suffered an uncharacteristic defeat in the final of the Malaysian Open last Saturday. The only silver lining of a dismal week was national No. 2 Low Wee Wern's amazing run to the semi-finals, which saw her beat two of the top five players in the world. But it's still early days in Wee Wern's career. Although it was great to see her do so well, especially in the glass court in front of so many home fans, she still has a lot of work ahead of her. Wee Wern has to keep her head down and work harder to ensure that her semi-final achievement is not a fluke. There will surely be higher expectations and more pressure on her now, but this is something she will have to learn to deal with as a top player. But Wee Wern is not the only youngster who stole the limelight at The Curve last week. Egypt's 23-year-old Raneem El Weleily too made heads turn when she handed Nicol her first loss for this year. The defeat also came at a time when Nicol is pushing hard for squash to be included in the 2020 Olympics. Weleily was simply dominant against Nicol, brutally chopping the Malaysian down and making her run around in circles. Nicol even lost her composure on court and resorted to going for the early kills in the fourth set. Her move backfired and the world No. 2 Weleily needed no second invitation to send the six-time world champion packing. So, are we witnessing the changing of the guards here? Besides Weleily, there is also two-time world junior champion Nour El Sherbini, who is only just 16 and already ranked No. 7 in the world. Another 23-year-old, Hong Kong's Annie Au has also been making great strides since last year and is now ranked sixth in the world. Annie arrived at the Malaysian Open looking fitter and sharper, especially with her lobs from back court, and came close to upsetting Nicol in the quarter-finals. "Just a little bit more," was what the cheerful left-hander said after the match. Annie has a point there. All the youngsters seem to have raised their game and questions will be asked of Nicol's ability to compete at such a high level in eight years' time – presuming squash makes it to the Olympics then. To be fair to Nicol, despite looking off her usual pace from the first round, she still has most of her weapons intact – her drops, drives and ability to read the game and anticipation. At 29 years old, some may argue that she is getting on a little for a sport that is so physical and aggressive. But just take a look at some 30-somethings – like the Grinham sisters of Rachael and Natalie as well as Madeline Perry. They are still formidable opponents despite their age. Despite her loss, Nicol seems bent on carrying on playing until 2020. She admitted that there are a lot of areas for her to improve on and even vowed to come back stronger. So Malaysians need not worry about Nicol's form. The loss only proved that she is only human afterall. If anything, the emergence of young players like Weleily, Sherbini, Annie and perhaps even Wee Wern will only push Nicol to up her game so that she can still be competitive come the Olympics in 2020. |
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