The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Thai veteran is the best on Tour with 14th title
- Nicholas is Malaysia’s pride at Masters
- No decisions after high-powered six-hour CNT panel meeting
| Thai veteran is the best on Tour with 14th title Posted: 08 Sep 2012 07:04 PM PDT SHAH ALAM: Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant became the most successful golfer in the Asian Tour when he claimed his 14th title after winning the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters by three strokes at the Kota Permai Golf and Country Club. The Thai led from the first day and shot a three-under 69 in yesterday's final round for a winning total of 16-under 272. He overtakes countryman Thongchai Jaidee, who has 13 titles to his name in the Asian Tour. Malaysia has been a good hunting ground for Thaworn as he won his first Asian Tour title in 1996 at the Sabah Masters. He is also the first golfer to have won twice in the Tour this year, with his other victory coming at the Queens Cup in Thailand in June. Thaworn was more than happy with the win as "it gives me the confidence to aim for more titles". "I have no reason to think that I can win more titles at my age but my aim in every golf tournament is to win. I am happy to have set the record 14th win but that is not something I think about. But, of course, I want to win more titles," said the 45-year-old veteran, who took home US$60,900.25. He is already third on the all-time money list in the Asian Tour (since 1995) with a total earning of US$3.2mil and 339 tournaments under his belt. India's rising star Ganganjeet Bhullar settled for second place in the RM1.2mil event after signing off with a 66 while Vietnam's Michael Tran carded a 68 to cap a memorable week by finishing joint third with Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman and Spaniard Javi Colomo. Siddukur also scored a 66 in the final round while Colomo had a 67. Holding a three-shot overnight lead, Thaworn put some distance between him and the chasing pack with four birdies in his opening seven holes. But bogeys on holes nine and 10 saw Bhullar closing the gap to three. Thaworn responded with birdies on the 12th and 13th to eventually win despite a bogey on the 18th. Bhullar, searching for his third Asian Tour win, tried to apply some pressure on the leader with an outward 31 but a bogey on the 11th put paid to his hopes. "Thaworn was too far ahead. If we had played in the same group it may have made a difference. But congratulations to him," said the 24-year-old Bhullar. Surprise package Tran produced a superb inward 31 after going through his opening nine with two double bogeys and three birdies. He was pleased with his achievement. "The two doubles really hurt me. It should not have been doubles. When I made the turn, I knew I had no chance of winning. I just said to myself 'enjoy the last nine holes' and that's what I did. I stopped trying to force things to happen," said the 22-year-old Vietnamese. For their efforts, Ganganjeet won US$41,688.81 while the three third-placed golfers took home US$19,377.93 each. |
| Nicholas is Malaysia’s pride at Masters Posted: 08 Sep 2012 04:00 PM PDT SHAH ALAM: Nicholas Fung carded a one-under-71 in the final round to end up as the best Malaysian finisher in the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters with a three-under 285 total. He started off in 37th position and ended up in 29th place with nine others. Nicholas had a good start, scoring two birdies in the first nine and closing off with another in the 8th hole. But bogeys in the ninth and 12th holes saw him finishing with a one-under for the round. Nicholas, who won US$3,061 for his efforts, said that the only way he could improve further is to become a regular on the Asian Tour. He currently depends on local exemptions when the Asian Tour is held in Malaysia but hopes to take part in the Qualifying School next year to gain a place on the Tour. "I have to improve on my iron and overall play. It's difficult when you are not a regular on the Tour and the lack of experience is telling," he said. "I hope to go through the Q-school next year to gain a regular place on the Tour." The next best Malaysians were Danny Chia and Lim Eng Seng, who had similar four-day totals of 288. Danny scored a two-over 74 and Eng Seng finished with a one-over 73 yesterday. One stroke behind them was Shaaban Hussin and Airil Rizman Zahari, both on 289. The Malaysians will play in the Sapura national qualifier tomorrow, the PGM Penang Masters the following weekend and then the Taiwan Mercury Open on Sept 27-30. |
| No decisions after high-powered six-hour CNT panel meeting Posted: 08 Sep 2012 07:06 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching and training (CNT) committee chairman Ng Chin Chai had claimed that it was time for "facta, non verba (deeds, not words). But as it turned out, yesterday's CNT meeting ended with neither. No head coach. No final decision on the top men's pairing of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong. No firm decisions. Basically, nothing. That was the anti-climatic outcome of a six-hour meeting of the CNT committee that discussed about the future of Malaysian badminton. After all the hoopla over the last few days, one would have expected BAM to come out with specific plans for the future, especially since they had more than one month after the London Olympic Games to conduct post-mortem. But again they have come up short of expectations, deciding instead to wait until the BAM's exco meeting in middle of this month to finalise matters. All Chin Chai would say yesterday was that they will name one head each for their short, medium and long term plans and not have one man oversee the whole programme. "We will form an elite squad that will serve our short-term targets. The players under this programme will be Lee Chong Wei and Kien Keat-Boon Heong," he said. "Our medium-term programme will focus on the younger group of players – aged 21 and below – to excel in 2016. And we will look into players aged 17 and below for our long-term programme – 2020. "Finance is a major issue and we will wait until the exco meeting to approve our structure. "Each squad will be handled by a head coach. The 2016 squad may even have a project manager to oversee their programme." The BAM will also focus on the 9-14 year olds to peak at the 2024 Olympic Games "but that will come under the development committee." On Kien Keat-Boon Heong, Chin Chai said that they will speak to the players first before deciding whether to split them up or not. "We find that their level of commitment has improved since last year's World Championships (in Wembley)," said Chin Chai. "It's sad that they missed out on a medal at the London Olympic Games but they did well as the top four pair." BAM general manager Kenny Goh, who is not a member of the CNT committee but present at the press conference, chipped in: "Kien Keat-Boon Heong can still contribute to the nation for the next three to four years. It is best that we find out what they want before making a decision. For now, we still want them." Chin Chai also said that they will decide on the reshuffling of the coaches "once the structure has been put in place". "We will decide later on the coaches for the different squads," he said. It is learnt that Wong Tat Meng, Yap Kim Hock and Cheah Soon Kit are interested in becoming head coaches. The only change, if you can call it that, is the dissolution of the High Performance Team (HPT), which comprises Datuk James Selvaraj, Wong Ah Jit, Mohd Ariffin Ghani and Chin Chai. Except for Ariffin, the others will continue to be member of the CNT committee. Does that constitute change? |
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