The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Arif overcomes Tommy for the first time in sixth attempt
- Alex hopes to play patient game on tough lane conditions
- Birmingham to stay
| Arif overcomes Tommy for the first time in sixth attempt Posted: 04 Oct 2012 06:54 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: First, it was on Chong Wei Feng. Now another back-up shuttler, Mohd Arif Abdul Latif, has stolen the thunder with a stunning win over his nemesis Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia to reach the men's singles quarter-finals of the Taiwan Open Grand Prix Gold. The 22-year-old Arif had lost all his five previous matches to Tommy over the last five years but yesterday he turned on the power to beat Tommy, the son of the former world champion Icuk, 21-16, 21-10. Arif, who trains under Hendrawan, faces Wei Feng today to assure Malaysia of a place in the men's singles semi-finals. World No. 30 Wei Feng continued his fine form when he disposed of Lin Yu-hsien of Taiwan 21-16, 20-22, 21-19. He had packed off seventh seed Alamsyah Yunus of Indonesia on the opening day. However, two other aspiring players – Liew Daren and Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin – bit the dust. Daren lost 11-21, 21-16, 14-21 to Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan while Iskandar went down fighting 17-21, 17-21 to Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Minh. Arif, ranked 47th – his best-ever position in the world – was thrilled with his second big scalp, having beaten world No. 31 Hsu Jen-hao of Taiwan in the opening round. "I am enjoying a great run. I beat Jen-hao on Wednesday and I finally beat Tommy (world No. 24) today. This is the first time that I have beaten two higher ranked players in one tournament," said Arif. This is Arif's second quarter-final appearance in a Grand Prix Gold after reaching the same stage in Indonesia last week. His best was reaching the semi-finals of the South Korean GP Gold last year. The other quarter-finals will be between Indonesian Wisnu Yuli Prasetyo and Hu Yun of Hong Kong; Taiwan's Hsueh Hsuan-yi and Tien-chen; and Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong and Tien Minh. Malaysia's hopes in the men's doubles will rest on the shoulders of former world junior champions Chooi Kah Ming-Ow Yao Han and former internationals Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari. Kah Ming-Yao Han have a good chance to reach the semis when they take on Taiwan's Chen Chung-jen-Lin Yen-jui while Zakry-Fairuzizuan of KLRC face Hong Kong's Chan Tsz Kit-Lo Lok Kei. It was also a good day for Malaysia in the mixed doubles, with two pairs in the quarter-finals. Mohd Lutfi Zaim Abdul Khalid-Vivian Hoo and Ong Jian Guo-Woon Khe Wei will come up against top seeds Mohd Rijal-Debby Susanto of Indonesia and second seeds Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Vanessa Neo Yu Yan of Singapore respectively. Khe Wei-Vivian are Malaysia's sole hopes in the women's doubles and they'll meet Huang Mei-ching-Wen Kuo-yu of Taiwan. |
| Alex hopes to play patient game on tough lane conditions Posted: 04 Oct 2012 07:08 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: National bowler Alex Liew is hoping that the tougher lane conditions will not derail his plans of bagging a fourth Indonesian Open title at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre in Jakarta. Alex, who won the tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2008, admitted that he will have to quickly adapt to the tricky lane conditions before the Masters first round roll off tomorrow. Alex last bowled at the venue during the SEA Games last year, when the national bowlers brought back five gold medals. Alex played a part in three of the gold medals by winning the doubles (with Adrian Ang), trios (with Adrian and Zulmazran Zulkifli) and team events. "The lane conditions are slightly tougher this year and it's apparent from the average scores of other bowlers here," said Alex from Jakarta yesterday. "I've changed my style of bowling a bit before coming here and all I need to do now is get used to it." Alex, who won the Euro-Med Storm International Masters in the Philippines in May, is hoping to add more feathers to his cap by winning in Indonesia. Thirty bowlers will compete in the men's Masters first round, where they will play 10 games. "Winning a couple of tournaments a year is just nice. But I'm in no rush for it and I have to keep it cool. Everybody here has a chance of winning ... so I have to be patient," said the 36-year-old veteran. The other national bowlers in the fray are Zulmazran, Chong Jun Foo, Isaac Russel Paul, Mohd Haziq Sahli and Aris Ardila Santosoh. The women bowlers vying for spots in the Masters are Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman, Hee Kar Yen, Zandra Aziela Ibrahim Hakimi, Dayang Khairuniza Dhiyana Abang Jamalidon, Sharon Koh, Shalin Zulkifli, Victoria Chin and Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi. Twenty-four bowlers will compete in the women's Masters first round tomorrow. |
| Posted: 04 Oct 2012 07:03 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: National swimming coach Paul Birmingham (pic) will stay put in Malaysia but expects a change of guard in the squad as the country looks at ways to make a bigger splash in the international arena. At the London Olympic Games in August, Malaysian swimmers were overshadowed by the divers. Malaysia had only two qualifiers in swimming – Khoo Cai Lin and Heidi Gan – while the diving squad showed their depth by parading nine qualifiers, led by Pandelela Rinong. Cai Lin did not go beyond the heats in the 800m freestyle while Heidi put up a commendable showing en route to finishing 16th in the 10km marathon. But it was Pandelela who stole the show with her historic bronze medal effort in the 10m individual platform event to become Malaysia's first woman Olympic medallist and put diving in the same elite league as badminton. This has led to Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) secretary Edwin Chong telling critics to watch out for new faces in the national team. "Paul will continue to lead the national swimming team but we need to make some changes in the training programme. New faces will be identified at the end of this year," said Edwin. Australian Paul, who has been in Malaysia since 2007, has done well to improve the standard of the swimmers. He led Malaysia to a big success at the Laos SEA Games in 2009 and guided several swimmers to qualify for the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games on merit. "Paul has earmarked some new talents ... their names will be revealed later. Asum have no problems over the small participation of swimmers at the London Olympics but we know that we need to bring in new faces and give them the correct exposure if we are to move forward," said Edwin. Malaysia lost several good swimmers at the start of the year, including Siow Yi Ting, Leung Chii Lin and Chui Lai Kwan. Besides Olympian Cai Lin, some of the more prominent members of the swim team are Daniel Bego, Kevin Yeap, Christina Loh, Vernon Lee, Lim Ching Hwang, Yap See Tuan, Ian James Barr, Erika Kong, Hii Siew Siew and Marellyn Liew. Daniel, the top male athlete at the Laos SEA Games, may not last long in the team as he is battling injuries. Edwin said that although the swimmers are training diligently under Paul's watchful eyes daily, there will be no major tournaments for them until the end of the year. "This is the examination period for many of the national swimmers and we want them to concentrate on their studies. Most of the major tournaments are over anyway," he said. |
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