The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Dhabitah gives a sterling performance in Fort Lauderdale
- Afiq gets off to a flying start in Formula China Series
- KLHC reserve defender Kaza surprised to get national call-up
| Dhabitah gives a sterling performance in Fort Lauderdale Posted: 14 May 2013 06:09 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Malaysia may have bagged two medals at the just-concluded FINA United States Grand Prix but it was the performance of young diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri that was the talking point at Fort Lauderdale. Though Nur Dhabitah did not win any medal, she still managed to make an impression in her first major international outing – thus raising hope that she can be the next Pandelela Rinong. At 13, Dhabitah just missed out on making the women's 10m platform semi-finals after finishing 14th in the preliminaries. London Olympic bronze medallist Pandelela skipped the individual event and partnered Leong Mun Yee to a silver in the platform synchro. Traisy Vivien Tukiet, who featured in the World Championships in Shanghai in 2011, did reach the semi-finals in 12th place but had a dismal performance in the preliminaries – failing to even breach 300 points (294.00). Traisy fared even worse in the semi-finals, scoring lowest with 223.70 points. Dhabitah garnered 264.70 points in the preliminaries but she could have earned more if not for a disastrous final attempt. What makes Dhabitah's efforts more compelling is that coach Yang Zhuliang had made her dive with a higher level of difficulty compared to Traisy and Pandelela. It was also the first time that Dhabitah was diving from the 10m height. Previously, she had the option of performing her routine from either the 5m or 7m height at the junior level. Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) secretary Edwin Chong said there were no plans to drop Traisy from the world meet in Barcelona in July just because of one bad performance. "With the exception of those who took part in the Diving World Series, the rest of our divers have not gone for any competition so far," said Edwin. "We have to be fair to them. Likewise, Dhabitah has done well for someone who has not competed at the Grand Prix meet before. "We want to start her on a higher level of difficulty so that she can challenge strongly in a few years' time. "The competition is not getting any easier ... we want her to be ready when the time comes. "We will consider taking her to the SEA Games in Myanmar at the end of this year." Dhabitah was promoted to the elite diving squad this year after shining in her first senior international competition by bagging a double at the South-East Asia (SEA) Swimming Championships in Singapore last June. She went on to win two gold medals at the Kuantan Sukma a month later. |
| Afiq gets off to a flying start in Formula China Series Posted: 14 May 2013 04:17 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Afiq Ikhwan Yazid of Team Meritus GP made a perfect start to his Formula Masters China Series campaign when he won the first race in Zhuhai yesterday. After a good start from sixth position, he quickly made up the ranks by overtaking Chinese driver Yuan Bo at the first turn. Afiq, the 2011 JK Racing Asia runner-up, was charging for third when the safety car was deployed. The race re-started on lap 10 and, with six laps remaining, Afiq piled on the pressure to force both Aidan Wright and Ren Nagabuchi to move into the inside line. Afiq took advantage after team-mate Wright, who led from the start, and Nagabuchi made unforced errors and spun off the track to clinch his first win of the season with a time of 1:38.741. Afiq was primed to take his second win in Race 2 after starting from second position. However, his hopes were dashed when he was hit from behind by Nagabuchi in the second lap. Afiq finished the race in fifth position. In Race 3, Afiq again found himself in the lead, with almost a one-second gap, before the safety car was deployed. However, his car got stuck in the gravel and he was forced to retire. "I want to thank my team for my first win of the season. Unfortunately, things didn't go so well in Race 2 and Race 3 – but that's racing ... anything can happen," said Afiq. "Hopefully, we will fare better in the second round of the championship in two weeks' time." |
| KLHC reserve defender Kaza surprised to get national call-up Posted: 14 May 2013 07:35 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: When Ahmad Kazamirul Nasruddin opted out of the national hockey team in 2010, to pursue a degree in Human Resource from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), he thought that was the end of his international career. So, the 25-year-old KL Hockey Club (KLHC) defender was pleasantly surprised when he was recalled to the national team by new coach Paul Revington on Monday. The Kuantan-born player, who will be graduating from UPM next month, admitted to being frustrated when he wasn't recalled last year. "I played well for my club KLHC in the MHL (Malaysia Hockey League) and I was expecting a call-up. But it never came," said the player fondly known as Kaza. "I didn't expect to be recalled this time either because KLHC had two experienced defenders in Mohd Razie (Abdul Rahim) and Pakistan's Muhammad Imran. "I was more off a reserve defender and did not score a single goal from penalty corner drag flicks. "But it's not going to be easy for me to find a place in the final squad as there are other experienced defenders in the training squad, like Razie, Mohd Amin Rahim, Azlan Misron, Faiz Helmi Jali and Baljit Singh. "I really want to thank national coach Paul (Revington) for having faith in me." Kazamirul made his international debut for Malaysia in the World Cup qualifier in Invercargill, New Zealand, in 2009 and has nine international caps thus far. Kazamirul, who also featured in the 2009 Junior World Cup in Johor Baru, is also delighted to be playing in his third consecutive MHL final. "Being recalled to national training has motivated me to give my best in the final (against Tenaga Nasional) and win a third straight overall title," he said. Kazamirul said that his focus now was to help KLHC beat Tenaga and retain the overall title. He admitted that it won't be a walk in the park against Tenaga, who held them to a 3-3 draw in a Charity Shield match in March. "They also gave us a good fight in the second round match before losing 4-2. So, we are expecting another tough time in the final on Sunday," said Kazamirul. |
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