The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Thumb injury fails to stop Rafiq from winning first medal
- Coquard conquers Stage Eight for LTdL triumph
- Azizul to use ACC to gauge his form
| Thumb injury fails to stop Rafiq from winning first medal Posted: 28 Feb 2013 03:01 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Not even a thumb injury could stop young hotshot Mohd Rafiq Ismail from winning his first medal – a silver – in the Commonwealth Tenpin Bowling Championships at the Pins Lincoln Bowl in Auckland, New Zealand. After lying low for the last two days, the 16-year-old Rafiq rose to the occasion when he combined superbly with the onform Siti Shazwani Ahmad Suhaimi to nail a silver medal in the mixed doubles event yesterday – Malaysia's third in the competition. Rafiq-Shazwani amassed a total of 2,552 pinfalls to finish just 34 pins behind favourites Brendan Meads-Ann Maree Putney of Australia. England's John Wells-Kirsten Penny came in third with 2,520 pins. For Shazwani, it was her third silver medal in the tournament after finishing second in the singles and girls' doubles with Dayang Khairuniza Dhiyana Abang Jamalidon respectively. But it was Rafiq who stole the show yesterday. His six-game total of 1309 (177-197-185-234-258-258) was the highest of the day. The 25-year-old Shazwani, who had lines of 248-201-180-181-231-202, was happy that her younger partner finally got into the groove, despite the swollen thumb. "Rafiq's performance was really amazing today. It's really great to see his strong comeback after a slow start to the tournament. He showed great fighting spirit and I'm proud of him," said Shazwani, who had mixed feelings about her third silver medal. "I feel happy and sad. Happy to have delivered the country's third medal but sad to have missed out on winning the country's first gold." Shazwani, Rafiq, Isaac Russell Paul and Khairuniza will be competing in the team event today and Shazwani believes that they have what it takes to bag the gold, although Australia, England and Singapore are being represented by their seniors. "Our goal is to bowl well and convert every spare. The key is good team work. Believing in each other's game is important ... if one slips up, the others must rise and cover for one another," said Shazwani. National chief coach Holloway Cheah was happy with their achievement despite their lack of experience and injury scare. "Rafiq was quite nervous in the first two days but today he really got a hang of it. He had hurt his thumb quite badly and I didn't even know about it until much later. The flesh (on his thumb) came off," said Holloway. "We treated it and made some adjustments so that he could have a good grip of the ball. After struggling in the first three games, he bounced back strongly. He did not let it affect his morale at all." |
| Coquard conquers Stage Eight for LTdL triumph Posted: 28 Feb 2013 02:57 PM PST TANAH MERAH: Young French sprinter Bryan Coquard grabbed an important win in Stage Eight of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from Kuala Terengganu to Tanah Merah yesterday. The Europcar sprinter beat Andrew Fenn of OmegaPharma-QuickStep to the finish line in 3'36:47 to take the 164.5km stage. Veteran Italian sprinter Francesco Chicchi of Vini Fantini completed the podium in third spot. Julian Arredondo kept the yellow jersey for another day after finishing safely in the leading bunch. Coquard already has two stage wins under his belt on top of two second-placed finishes this year. Last month, the 20-year-old Coquard showed glimpses of his ability when he won two stages (Two and Four) and finished second in Stage Five of the Etoile de Besseges in France. In the opening stage of LTdL, from Kangar to Kulim, Coquard finished second behind Dutchman Theo Bos of Blanco. "I'm happy with the win ... to get a win in a field packed with strong sprinters is always special," said Coquard, who was the silver medallist in the omnium event of the London Olympics last year. There were no big breaks in the race yesterday, with Low Ji Wen of OCBC Singapore and Liu Jianpeng of Hengxiang Cycling making the only succcesful break at the 47km mark. A crash early in the race put paid to Aidis Kruopis' (Orica GreenEdge) hopes of a stage win after three third placings as he pulled out from the race. Team Nippo were never worried about the break, leaving the duo to build up a comfortable lead of up to 10:48 after 81km of racing. But as the sprinters' teams – like Astana, Garmin-Sharp and Vini Fantini – combined at the head of the peloton to set up a bunch sprint, the break finally dissolved about 10km to the finish line. "It's an important win for me because the team worked hard to give me my first win since the start of the race," said Coquard. "Although I beat the likes of Chicchi and Guardini today, I don't want to compare myself with them yet." STAGE EIGHT RESULTS Kuala Terengganu-Tanah Merah (164.5km): 1. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Europcar 3'36:47, 2. Andrew Fenn (Bri) OmegaPharma-QuickStep, 3. Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Vini Fantini, 4. Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana, 5. Rico Rogers (Nzl) Synergy Baku, 6. Omar Bertazzo (Ita) Androni Venezuela, 7. Raymond Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp, 8. Hossein Nateghi (Iri) Tabriz Petrochemical, 9. Anuar Manan (Mas) Synergy Baku, 10. Jani Tewelde (Eri) MTN Qhubeka all same time. Leading overall standings: 1. Julian Arredondo (Col) Team Nippo 29'31:52, 2. Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreedEdge 1:15 behind, 3. Sergio Pardilla (Spa) MTN Qhubeka 2:10, 4. Peter Stetina (US) Garmin-Sharp 2:32, 5. Wang Meiyin (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling 2:40. Points competition Blue jersey: 1. Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana 84pts, 2. Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Vini Fantini 60, 3. Anuar Manan (Mas) Synergy Baku 57. King of the Mountain (red jersey): 1. Wang Meiyin (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling 48pts, 2. Julian Arredondo (Col) Team Nippo 45, 3. Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge 32. Best Asian rider (white jersey): 1. Wang Meiyin (Chn) Hengxiang Cycling 29'34:32, 2. Amir Kolahdozhagh (Iri) Tabriz Petrochemical 18secs behind, 3. Mizbani Ghader (Iri) Tabriz Petrochemical 58. |
| Azizul to use ACC to gauge his form Posted: 28 Feb 2013 02:16 PM PST PETALING JAYA: Olympic cyclist Azizulhasni Awang plans to gauge his form at the Asian Cycling Championships (ACC) in New Delhi from March 7-17. Azizul could only have a short preparation for the ACC due to a visa snag which delayed his return to rejoin national coach John Beasley at the national training camp in Melbourne. The 26-year-old also skipped the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Minsk from Feb 20-24. The ACC will also be the first proper international competition for Azizul since he competed in the London Olympics last August. The Dungun rider finished sixth in the keirin final in London. "The ACC marks my return to competition after the London Olympics ... I had a long break and also welcomed my daughter Amna Maryam last November," said Azizul, who'll leave for India this weekend. "Then my training programme suffered because of the visa snag ... so, I'm taking the ACC this time as more of a training session. "It will also be a good stage for me to gauge where I stand. It'll give me an idea of what and where I need to improve when I return to training." |
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