The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Hasli aims to excel in Munich and get ISSF world rankings
- Maybank skipper Hairul eyes first title before he quits
- Former Malaysia right-half Johari passes away
| Hasli aims to excel in Munich and get ISSF world rankings Posted: 07 May 2013 04:39 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: A year-long absence from international competitions has seen Hasli Izwan Amir Hasan drop out of the International Shooting Sport Federation's (ISSF) world rankings. The Malaysian has only competed in one international event – the H.H The Amir of Kuwait Grand Prix in March this year. Last year, he only featured in the Asian Shooting Championships in January. Then, he was ranked 35th in the world. Hasli is now all pumped up to get himself back up there by accumulating valuable world ranking points at the ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany, from May 23-30. "I'm not chasing to be a winner... the most important thing right now is to get back in the rankings. I'm looking to shoot cleanly and consistently and be close to my personal best (548). Hopefully that can get me into the finals and I'll take it from there," said Hasli, who won a silver in the 25m rapid fire pistol in Kuwait. "It was refreshing to compete in Kuwait and getting a taste of top class competition after a year's absence. I missed it so much ... I'm really looking forward to Munich." The 36-year-old likened the international experience as next to none and is happy to be back competing overseas again after Malaysia gave the first two World Cup legs – Changwon, South Korea (April) and Georgia, the United States (May) – a miss. With the 25m rapid fire pistol not included in this year's Myanmar SEA Games in December, Hasli is on a mission to make the most of the international tournaments this year. He has set his sights on competing in next year's Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. "When we compete locally and win, you feel that you are good. But the real test is out there and competing with the best shooters from around the world," said Hasli. "That's the motivating factor that really drives me, to be able to prove myself against my rivals on the biggest stage," he added. |
| Maybank skipper Hairul eyes first title before he quits Posted: 07 May 2013 04:40 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Maybank skipper Hairul Nizam Abdul Rani has one last mission before he calls it quits. The 33-year-old Perak-born has played for the Tigers for 12 years but has never won a single title in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL). And Hairul plans to end that spell this season. Maybank are through to the semi-finals where they face Tenaga Nasional. The first leg is on Friday with the return leg on Sunday. "It has been my dream to help Maybank win titles in the MHL. Unfortunately, we failed to do well in the knockout stage in all my years playing for them," said Hairul, who joined Maybank in 2001. "This season could be my last in the MHL. And before I quit, I want to help Maybank reach the final and win the overall Cup," added Hairul. For the record, Maybank's last success was the league title title in 1995. The last time Maybank won the overall crown was in 1994. To add to Hairul's pain, he has yet to feature in the overall final. Maybank were ousted in the semi-finals on three occasions – 2004, 2011 and 2012. "This will be my fourth appearance in the semi-finals. I dearly hope to clear this hurdle," said Hairul, who played football for Perak in the President's Cup and FAM Cup in 1999 before switching to hockey two years later. In the league, Maybank finished second while Tenaga were placed third. The Tigers were thrashed 5-1 by Tenaga in the first round but they bounced back to win 4-3 in the second round. "Tenaga are an experienced team. They also have skilful forward Faizal (Saari). He has scored 16 goals so far and is deadly with his penalty-corner flicks. "He is the dangerman and we have to mark him closely. "We also cannot afford to give away penalty corners cheaply," said Hairul. |
| Former Malaysia right-half Johari passes away Posted: 07 May 2013 04:40 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's hockey fraternity lost another member, Johari Chua, who passed away due to blood cancer on Monday. Johari, born as Chua Eng Wah, was 76. He came from a family of hockey players. Two of his brothers – defender Eng Cheng and forward Eng Kim – played for Malaysia at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. He also had another brother Eng Chye, who played for Malaya against Pakistan and India in the mid 1950s. Johari, a right-half, was best remembered for helping Malaysia win the bronze medal for the first time in the 1962 Asian Games. He later went on to coach the Malaysian women's team. Under him, Malaysia won the SEA Games gold medal in Jakarta in 1987 and in Kuala Lumpur in 1989. Former international Datuk R. Yogeswaran said he was sad to learn of Johari's demise. "I played alongside him in the Asian Games in 1962 and he was close to his team-mates. He always took care of his team-mates," recalled Yogeswaran, a former national coach and team manager. Yogeswaran also revealed that Johari became a grandfather on Monday but passed away later in the day. Lau Sau Foong, a former skipper of the national women's team, also paid tribute to Johari. "He coached the national women's team from 1987-89. He was soft spoken but strict. And we used to call him coach Jo. To him, fitness was vital in sports and we were successful at the SEA Games," said Sau Foong. |
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