The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Ong refuses to use his medical condition as an excuse
- World’s fastest man attracts the crowds and draws the sponsors
- Yi Ting aims to make record fourth Olympic appearance
| Ong refuses to use his medical condition as an excuse Posted: 02 Aug 2011 07:15 PM PDT BATH: Mixed doubles shuttler Ong Jian Guo (pic) has a medical condition that causes him to tire easily. But that has not dampened his spirits ahead of the World Championships. In fact, the 180cm-tall Jian Guo intends to take his partnership with Sabrina Chong to greater heights. Jian Guo, who has been diagnosed with leukopenia — lack of white cells in the blood — will be making his second appearance at the World Championships with Sabrina when they begin their challenge at Wembley on Aug 8. "I found out about my condition five years ago but I have never used it as an excuse to avoid training. I still go the full distance although I tend to tire easily," said Jian Guo after a hard day's work here. "I just make sure that I take proper care of myself because the lack of white blood cells tend to make me more prone to infections." On his career, Jian Guo admitted that things have not been than rosy since his impressive semi-final finish with Sabrina at the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold last year. "Sabrina had to take care of her foot injury while I had to iron out some weaknesses in my game. We are getting better as a pair," said the 22-year-old Jian Guo. "We lost to China's He Hanbin-Yu Yang (second round). This time, we hope to score at least one big upset. "This world meet will be a good platform to see where we stand since breaking into the senior team two years ago. We are the country's second pair and we hope to make our way to the top." Jian Guo-Sabrina are in the same quarter as four seeded pairs — second seeds Tantowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir of Indonesia, fifth seeds Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinna Pedersen of Denmark, 11th seeds Lee Sheng-mu-Chien Yu-chin of Taiwan and 16th seeds V. Diju-Jwala Gutta of India. Malaysia's top pair of Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying are in the top half with two Chinese pairs –top seeds Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei and sixth seeds Xu Chen-Ma Jin. Related Stories: |
| World’s fastest man attracts the crowds and draws the sponsors Posted: 02 Aug 2011 07:11 PM PDT STOCKHOLM: The fastest man in the world stares at a blank piece of paper for a few seconds and, finding no inspiration, turns to his manager. "Rick, what should I write?" Ricky Simms, the director of PACE Sports Management who manages Usain Bolt, gives a look of mock disdain. Bolt had been asked to write a greeting to the people of South Korea ahead of the Daegu world championships starting this month. Finding the right words is apparently not covered in Simms' contract. It is one of the few details not looked after by Simms, his coaches and his staff, who choose which events Bolt attends to maximise his success on the track and his outside earnings. Smiling as he surveyed the media scrum surrounding his client on the eve of last Friday's Stockholm Diamond League meeting, Simms explained how he helped plan Bolt's season. He said although he offered suggestions, it was Bolt's coaches who ultimately decided where and when the 24-year-old Jamaican ran. "We work together on it in November of each year and present it to him in January or February. He trusts his coaches to make those decisions, he's an easy guy to work with," said Simms, who is a qualified coach and a former middle distance runner. As soon as Bolt's participation in Stockholm was announced, local media began speculating wildly about his purse. Simms, though, will give no financial details about the man who was the sensation of the 2008 Beijing Olympics when he won three gold medals in world record times. "I see a lot of figures quoted, but what he makes at each meeting is confidential," Simms said. "He's the biggest athlete ever. "What he brings to a meet in terms of media attention? I think in Rome there were 20,000 more fans in the stadium because he was there. It's hard to put a value on it - maybe he's worth double what he gets paid." In 2010, the year after Bolt shattered his own 100m and 200m records at the Berlin world championships, he pulled out of the Diamond League meeting at Crystal Palace due to British tax laws. Bolt would have had to pay 50% of his appearance fee in tax, plus further tax on a portion of his global sponsorship income. Stockholm tournament director Rajne Soderberg said Bolt would pay only 15% of his purse in a so-called "artist tax" for his appearance in Sweden, even though the Scandinavian country has a reputation for crippling taxes. Like Simms, Soderberg also declined to discuss what Bolt was to be paid. "He is the big seller of athletics, there is no one who comes close in terms of the interest he generates," he said. "We saw a clear difference in ticket sales when we announced that he would be taking part. Soderberg does not just measure Bolt's value in ticket sales. The annual DN Galan is hugely popular in Sweden and sells out regularly but, Soderburg said, Bolt's presence brought an extra dimension for sponsors. "The value comes next year and the year after, the meet he is at creates a certain level, and then everyone else feels that they have to be there too," he said. Perhaps mindful of how much it costs to bring Bolt to Stockholm, Soderberg makes sure to get maximum exposure from his participation for both the tournament and the sponsors. A news release about hiring a Jamaican cook to cater for Bolt generated huge coverage locally and, when Bolt arrived at the airport, there was no limousine waiting. Instead, Bolt told the waiting reporters he would take the Arlanda Express train, one of the tournament sponsors, to the city like any other regular traveller. But even though he brokers deals like the one agreed with Soderberg to bring Bolt to Sweden for a third time and makes sure his client is well briefed, Simms does not see himself as a wheeler-dealing sports agent in the traditional sense. "In athletics, an agent is more like a management company. "I use Manchester United as an example, I do what Alex Ferguson does for the players. It's different to football agents, which is more doing deals. We do all the concierge-type stuff. We do everything." — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Yi Ting aims to make record fourth Olympic appearance Posted: 02 Aug 2011 07:10 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Top Malaysian breaststroke swimmer Siow Yi Ting may be a graduate now but swimming is still very much in her blood and she intends to make a record fourth Olympic appearance in London next year. Yi Ting has been off the swimming radar since her triple gold exploits at the Laos SEA Games two years ago, taking time off to complete her studies at the University of Arkansas in the United States. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Arts and Sculpture before returning home recently to train at Bukit Jalil under national coach Paul Birmingham. It will be nothing but swimming from now until the Indonesia SEA Games in November as Yi Ting works on getting back to where she was in the sport. "I'm back home and training full-time for now. I have not swam for the country since the Laos SEA Games," said Yi Ting, who set new SEA Games records in all the three events she won in Laos two years ago. "I took a complete break to finish my studies as it has always been delayed because of my previous commitments. "It's been so long since I raced and I realised I still missed training and stuff like that. "Now I'm trying to focus on my training and improve my techniques. "I still need to build up my endurance but I'm looking to try and qualify for the Olympics at the SEA Games." Yi Ting won the 100m and 200m breaststroke races as well as the 200m individual medley to repeat her best performance at the 2003 SEA Games in Hanoi. It was also at the 2007 SEA Games in Korat where Yi Ting earned qualification for the Beijing Olympics. Yi Ting also made the cut for the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 and 2004. The Negri Sembilan-born lass, who will be 26 in December, is excited at the thought of earning a fourth Olympic appearance. "It will be something good to cap my career as I've been swimming for the country and this is going to be my 12th year now. But I try not to think too much and just take things one step at a time," she said. "It's important to enjoy swimming again." Yi Ting will be competing in the Hong Kong Open next month as part of her build-up to the SEA Games. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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