The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Jazeman attributes Monaco success to experience
- Squash optimistic of making the Olympic cut
- Keep calm, it’s just a temporary blip from Nicol
| Jazeman attributes Monaco success to experience Posted: 27 May 2013 04:13 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Jazeman Jaafar has attributed his podium finish in the Formula Renault 3.5 World Series in Monaco on Sunday to his previous experience racing in Pau and Macau. Jazeman learnt his race craft tackling the street circuits in Pau, Belgium in three seasons of the British Formula 3 Championship and also at the iconic Macau Grand Prix last year. Jazeman raced to a superb third place finish on his debut at the Monaco race track, taking his first career podium finish in the third round of the series. What made it more memorable was it being a support race for the most famous event on the motorsport calendar – the Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco. It will be a day Jazeman will remember in his racing career as it started with the Malaysian being the pace setter at the start of practice and qualifying, where he earned his first front row start after clocking the second fastest time. "Wow, what a weekend. It has been one of the most mentally and physically challenging races. It is such a tough track, with so little room for mistakes, yet it's also very fast in sections and you have to have total concentration all the time. "It feels good to have had such a strong weekend and really get to grips with getting the best from the car and myself. I'm sure my experience on the street circuits of Pau and Macau has helped but Monaco is unique too. "Taking my first World Series podium in front of the celebrity-laden crowd in Monaco is very special and it is a day I'll remember for a long time. "It was great Nico (Rosberg) won the race as well and to share the joy with the Mercedes AMG Petronas team," he said from Monaco. Jazeman will have little time to enjoy his success as he will be heading to Spa in Belgium for the fourth round next weekend. |
| Squash optimistic of making the Olympic cut Posted: 27 May 2013 04:15 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: Squash will know it's Olympic fate in a few days time but the World Squash Federation (WSF) presentation team are not losing too much sleep over it. The International Olympic Commit-tee (IOC) executive board will meet in St Petersburg, Russia tomorrow to decide which two or three sports – wrestling, karate, wushu, baseball-softball, wakeboarding, roller sport, sport climbing and squash – will make the final shortlist. One sport will be chosen in Septem-ber during the full IOC session in Buenos Aires, Argentina. WSF president N. Ramachandran, who will head the presentation team alongside WSF chief executive officer Andrew Shelley and two of the world's best players – recently crowned British Open champion Ramy Ashour of Egypt and seven-time women's world champion Nicol David of Malaysia, believes that squash has done everything right to merit a spot in the 2020 Olympics. "Squash is played in 185 countries by millions across the world and is constantly gaining popularity in Paraguay, India, Egypt and the United States," said Ramachandran. "Besides, squash also offers genuine medal opportunities to a growing number of countries and has the prospect of new nations on the podium. "Just look at the women's top 20 ... which features 11 countries and the fact that all five continental confederations have produced male and female world champions," he added. Meanwhile, Shelley said squash has made several improvements in terms of broadcast and innovation to show how far the sport has progressed. "The case that we present are the values that we could bring to the Games in terms of our universality, fine athletes, promotion of women's competition, flexibility of staging and ability to showcase the host city and we remain hopeful of getting selected," said Shelley. "The main changes that we have made this time, compare to the previous bids for 2012 and 2016 is that we have heeded advice from the IOC and have moved forward in terms of broadcasts and innovations. "Through SquashTV, we now have a quality and consistent international broadcast with our own production team and equipment in major events around the world. "Staging and presentation has also evolved too with new generation glass courts with side door entry, along with video review for referees which has all taken the sport forward," added Shelley. |
| Keep calm, it’s just a temporary blip from Nicol Posted: 27 May 2013 03:55 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: So how do we describe Nicol David's shocking loss in the British Open final to Laura Massaro on Sunday? Is she on the decline? It's just too early to tell, to be honest. The Penangite, who turns 30 in August, has been on top of the women's game for so long ... since 2006, so it's natural to press the panic button when she loses. The defeat was her most disappointing result in a major event in recent years. The last time she fell at such a big tournament was in 2009, coincidentally the British Open as well, in which she lost in the quarter-finals to Ireland's Madeline Perry. The easy explanation is to say that Nicol is getting old and is on a downward spiral, unable to keep up with the high expectations and the fast pace of the game. But in all honesty, that is just being unfair, not only to Nicol, but to Massaro as well. Massaro, who also turns 30 in November, is ranked No. 2 in the world and her win over Nicol was certainly no fluke. On Sunday, Massaro could have easily been buried when Nicol held a 10-7 lead in the third set. But the Englishwoman showed more desire, hunger and determination to claw back that deficit before taking just one opportunity to steal that set. It proved, to be a massive psychological blow for Nicol. Furthermore, Massaro was tactically astute that day as she played her cards right, waited for the right moment to make the right shots and chose the best opportunities to call for a video review. All which worked in her favour. Sure, Massaro who stood almost a head taller than Nicol was also more physical as well, often using her size to good advantage. But that's all part of the game and it showed just how badly she wanted to win that title in front of her home crowd. Most importantly, what makes Massaro different from the rest of Nicol's rivals, is that she has the self belief that she can beat the world No. 1. She showed that in March during the KL Open, and she showed it again last Sunday. But although squash is a physically demanding sport, being super fit and young sometimes do not win you tournaments ... or matches. A good example of some players who defy age is our men's national No. 1 Ong Beng Hee, who at 33-years-old showed just how to overcome a younger and fitter player by brilliantly outplaying Egypt's Omar Mosaad – 10 years his junior, at the KL Open in March. Another good example would be France's Theirry Lincou who remained in the world's top 10 well until he was 36-years-old before calling it a day last year. Thus, Nicol, at 29 going 30, should still be years before entering a decline phase. In fact, she played excellent squash all week at the British Open and only a more determined Massaro and a slight lack of focus, which she admitted, caused her defeat in the final. We should also not rule out the fact that Nicol, being at the top for so long, has only served to motivate other players to keep improving themselves, which is good for the sport as it becomes more competitive. At least Nicol herself is aware of it, as she said after her defeat to Massaro: "I know my game is good but there are things that can go wrong and these girls are coming up very strongly. They find a weakness and they keep working on it and it worked for Laura." Having watched Nicol in action so many times, and spoken to her on numerous occasions, I know she is a model professional who takes very good care of her physical condition. Defeats like this are rare and her current form might be a cause for concern for some but I know that Nicol always comes back stronger and hungrier after a tough loss. It's just in her character. Please keep faith and continue supporting squash, especially with the Olympic decision looming, as Nicol's form is but a temporary blip. She will definitely make a strong comeback in the second half of the year. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan