The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Fatehah out to claim her first World Cup gold medal
- Speedy Arif stuns sixth seed Daren in second round
- Hamilton the wildcard as Vettel seeks fourth world title
| Fatehah out to claim her first World Cup gold medal Posted: 13 Mar 2013 05:27 PM PDT SEPANG: Having won at the Asian level twice, Fatehah Mustapa is setting her sights on bigger goals. Fatehah is hoping to claim her first World Cup gold medal as the Olympic qualifying period kicks into second gear later this year. Fatehah returned home yesterday for a well deserved break after bagging her first career Asian Cycling Championships sprint gold medal in New Delhi on Monday. It was the second year she made it to the top of the podium as she took silver in keirin behind reigning London Olympic bronze medallist Lee Wai Sze of Hong Kong and bronze with a new national record in the 500m time trial. Fatehah said the success in the sprint discipline made up for losing the keirin title which she won in Kuala Lumpur last year. "I did not expect this and I am surprised actually. It is a blessing for me as I was not fully fit. I injured my lower back just before the world meet and I am still bothered by it," said Fatehah, who celebrated her 23rd birthday on Tuesday. Fatehah added she intends to race in the local and international Grand Prixs as the Olympic qualifying period for Brazil in 2016 has already started. "We need to collect points to qualify for another Olympics. The World Cup legs will be important for us and I hope to win one. I have made it to the final before but never won," said Fatehah, who made the World Championships final for keirin in Holland in 2011. Fatehah, who was also the first Malaysian woman cyclist to ride at the Olympics in London last year, will return home to Melbourne by the end of this month. Malaysia have collected seven golds, three silvers and seven bronzes to currently lie second to South Korea (12-7-7) in the medal standings at the end of track competitions. The other gold medals came from Josiah Ng (men's elite keirin and sprint), Muhd Firdaus Mohd Zonis (men's junior sprint, keirin and 1km time trial) and Irwandie Lakasek (men's junior 1km time trial). |
| Speedy Arif stuns sixth seed Daren in second round Posted: 13 Mar 2013 05:27 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's Mohd Arif Abdul Latif (pic) pulled off a stunning win over compatriot Liew Daren 21-15, 21-17 in the second round of the Swiss Open in Basel yesterday. Sixth seeded Daren, who broke into the top 10 of the badminton world rankings last week, was given a rude shock by the speedy Arif who won in 36 minutes. "I just didn't play well and Arif was the better player during the match. "It was great to break into the top 10 but this result shows that I still have a lot of catching up to do and I need to become more consistent," said Daren. It was Daren's second loss to Arif who also beat the former in the quarter-finals of the 2011 Korea Grand Prix. The 36th ranked Arif is unseeded in the Swiss Open but he got his campaign off to a great start by ousting Germany's Yoga Pratama 21-17, 21-16 on Tuesday to set up the second round clash with Daren. The Negri Sembilan shuttler will now face Japan's Takuma Ueda in the third round. If he overcomes the 13th seeded Japanese, Arif is likely to meet either Dane Viktor Axelsen or Hong Kong's Hu Yun in the quarter-finals. And if the 24-year-old Arif gets past the last eight, his semi-final opponent should be top seed Du Pengyu of China. In other matches, national champion Misbun Ramdan Misbun fell 18-21, 16-21 in the second round to Taiwan's Hsu Jen Hao. Malaysia's ninth seeded Chong Wei Feng and Zulfadli Zulkifli booked places in the second round by beating Taiwan's Wang Tzu Wei 21-19, 21-13 and Switzerland's Anthony Dumartheray 21-11, 21-7 respectively. Wei Feng will meet Germany's Marcel Reuter next, while Zulfadli faces a tough second round match against fourth seed Jan O Jorgensen. In men's doubles, Hoon Thien How and Tan Wee Kiong shrugged off their disappointing quarter-final exit at last week's All-England with a convincing 21-19, 21-17 win over Scottish-Malaysian pair Robert Blair-Tan Bin Shen. The third seeded pair should face Dutch pair Jacco Arends and Jelle Maas next. In women's singles, Tee Jing Yi crashed out in the first round to Hong Kong's Chan Tsz Ka 21-17, 21-17. |
| Hamilton the wildcard as Vettel seeks fourth world title Posted: 13 Mar 2013 04:41 PM PDT MELBOURNE: Lewis Hamilton is shaping as a wildcard challenger to Sebastian Vettel as the German embarks on his bid for a historic fourth straight Formula One title at this week's Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, and new Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg were the best performers in winter testing, giving the German marque hope as it bids to gatecrash the F1 cartel of Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren. The ultra-fast Briton, who quit his long-term employer McLaren for Mercedes last season, is attempting to succeed where seven-time champion Michael Schumacher failed in leading the Silver Arrows back to success. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who missed out on his third title by just three points last season, and McLaren's Jenson Button, the 2009 champion who finished a disappointing fifth in 2012, are Vettel's other main challengers. "The teams don't know how they compare in terms of performance and with big changes to the tyres again this year, we just don't know what will happen in the race," Hamilton said. "We had a good, reliable car during winter testing so that's the positive we can take with us into this weekend but we know that in terms of performance, everything begins again from zero in opening practice." After the intrigue of testing, the game of cat and mouse will be over when the cars take to the Albert Park street circuit in tomorrow's opening practice for the first of three Asia-Pacific races ahead of Malaysia and China. Red Bull's Vettel, 25, is bidding to become the youngest driver to win four world titles in a row, a feat only achieved by Formula One legends Juan Manuel Fangio and Schumacher. The young German was only eighth fastest in testing at Barcelona this month, but despite the inconclusive session and the performance of the new Pirelli tyres, he was upbeat about the season ahead. "We learned a lot over the winter tests and we'll be bringing that new knowledge with us to Australia. I am already really looking forward to it," he said. Australian team-mate Webber, who will be competing in his 12th home Grand Prix, agreed it was difficult to judge which team had the quickest car ahead of the opening race. "It's difficult to read, and in general we do have some quick teams, there's no question about it," Webber said. "Mercedes can certainly pull a single lap out that's pretty strong. Ferrari will definitely be there and they'll be challenging for victories, as will Red Bull, as will Lotus, as will McLaren. "But as the season goes on I think that will close down a little bit and the teams that are more organised and develop well will be stronger." Alonso brilliantly mastered performance problems with his Ferrari to take last year's title down to the last race, after leading by 34 points at the halfway point of the season. The Spaniard has a consistent record in Melbourne, finishing in the top five placings in the last nine years. McLaren, which has won the Australian Grand Prix 11 times, will be pinning their race hopes on Britain's Button, a three-time winner in Melbourne, who is now partnered by former Sauber ace Sergio Perez. "This year I don't think any team really knows or understands the competitive order," said Button. "It's been an extremely hard-to-read winter: varying fuel-loads and levels of tyre degradation mean that it's hard to accurately predict who'll arrive in Australia with the best-sorted car. But that's part of the game." — AFP |
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