Thursday, March 31, 2011

Pengiktirafan ISN

Institut Sukan Negara (ISN) yang ditubuhkan pada 1992 kini dalam rangka persiapan untuk muncul sebagai sebuah institusi sains sukan yang tersendiri pada akhir tahun ini.

Pada masa sekarang, ISN berfungsi sebagai satu entiti di bawah Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) dengan aktiviti utamanya berkaitan penyelidikan, rawatan dan konsultasi yang merangkumi semua aspek kesukanan.

Menurut Ketua Pengarah ISN Datuk Dr Ramlan Abd Aziz, hasrat institut untuk menjadi entiti tersendiri direalisasikan melalui bacaan kali pertama Rang Undang-Undang Akta Institut Sukan Negara di Parlimen pada dua minggu lepas dan dijangka diluluskan akhir tahun ini.

Bermula sebagai Bahagian Sains Sukan (BSS) di bawah Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) pada 1983, ISN beroperasi di Stadium Jalan Raja Muda atau lebih dikenali sebagai Stadium TPCA sebelum berpindah ke Kompleks Sukan Negara Bukit Jalil pada April 1996.

Kini selepas genap 15 tahun badan itu beroperasi di Bukit Jalil, ISN meraih pengiktirafan besar dalam usahanya menyalur bantuan kepada atlet dan orang awam dalam sukan dan latihan.



KHIDMAT KEPADA AWAM DAN AHLI SUKAN

Klinik harian ISN turut dibuka kepada kakitangan Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS), Kompleks Sukan Negara (KSN), Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) dan kakitangannya sendiri.

Selain itu, klinik ISN memberi rawatan kepada orang kenamaan dan orang ramai.

Pegawai perubatan ISN Dr Jasmiza Khuzairi Jasme berkata rawatan yang diberikan bukan sahaja kepada melibatkan kecederaan akibat bersukan tetapi juga rawatan kepada pesakit luar seperti demam dan selesema.

Bagaimanapun, klinik bagi kepakaran khusus perubatan sains sukan dibuka pada hari Selasa, Khamis dan Jumaat dan dikendalikan oleh doktor pelawat pakar perubatan sukan seperti Prof Dr Lim Wai Kong (Universiti Putra Malaysia), Dr Mohd Shariff A Hamid (Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya) dan Dr Abd Halim Mokhtar (Dekan Fakulti Sains Sukan UM).

Klinik ISN itu diketuai oleh Pengarah Perubatannya Dr Victor Feizal Abdul Shatar Knight dan dibantu oleh Dr Kamarul Hashimy Husain dan Dr Jasmiza.

Pegawai perubatan berkenaan dibantu oleh tujuh penolong pegawai perubatan, enam jururawat, dua juru X-ray, dua juruteknologi makmal perubatan, 12 fisioterafis dan 14 juru-urut perubatan dan kakitangan pentadbiran.

KLINIK ISN JADI TUMPUAN ATLET

Sejak BSS beroperasi di Stadium Jalan Raja Muda, antara atlet terkemuka yang mendapatkan rawatan ialah jaguh olahraga Nur Herman Majid, pemain-pemain badminton negara seperti Razif dan Jalani Sidek, Yap Kim Hock/Cheah Soon Kit, Rashid Sidek, pemain boling kebangsaan Shalin Zulkifli dan skuad hoki kebangsaan.

Dan kini, antara atlet elit negara yang mendapatkan rawatan di ISN di Bukit Jalil ialah pemain badminton perseorangan lelaki dunia, Datuk Lee Chong Wei, pemain skuasy wanita nombor satu dunia, Datuk Nicol Ann David dan pelumba berbasikal trek dunia, Mohd Azizulhasni Awang.

Ramai daripada mereka mendapat rawatan akibat kecederaan ketika berlatih atau ketika kejohanan seperti sakit tulang belakang, terseliuh atau patah.

Malah Mohd Azizulhasni yang berpangkalan di Melbourne, Australia dan mendapat kecederaan selepas betis kirinya tertusuk serpihan kayu ketika kejohanan di Manchester, turut mendapatkan rawatan lanjutan di ISN bila kembali ke Malaysia dua minggu lepas.

Pada tahun lepas, seramai 5,953 pesakit mendapat rawatan di ISN dan daripada jumlah tersebut 67 orang ialah pesakit luar dan 16 kes melibatkan orang kenamaan.

Pada 2009 pula, 8,600 pesakit mendapat rawatan dan pada 2008, seramai 7,536.

Dr Jasmiza berkata daripada keseluruhan jumlah pesakit yang mendapat rawatan di ISN, hampir setengah daripada mereka adalah kecederaan ketika bersukan dan selebihnya hanya kes pesakit luar.

Katanya kecederaan serius yang pernah ditangani ISN, yang melibatkan atlet ialah kegagalan jantung dan patah tulang belakang termasuk bersalin.

Majoriti daripada orang ramai yang mendapatkan rawatan di ISN akibat kecederaan ketika bersukan, mengalami kecederaan di lutut.

Menurut Dr Jasmiza, walaupun terdapat banyak pusat perubatan swasta di negara ini turut menawarkan kepakaran rawatan sains sukan namun klinik ISN tetap menjadi pilihan terutama yang mengalami kecederaan di lutut.

"Ini kerana kos rawatan di ISN lebih berpatutan berbanding rawatan di pusat rawatan swasta," katanya.

KHIDMAT KEPADA ATLET BERAKSI DI LUAR NEGARA

Selain memberikan rawatan kepada atlet dalam negara, pasukan perubatan ISN juga memberikan khidmat kepada atlet yang beraksi di kejohanan luar.

Contohnya, tujuh sukan yang berada dalam program 'Road to London 2012' (RTL) mendapat khidmat kepakaran sains sukan daripada ISN melalui pasukan khusus yang akan mengikuti perkembangan pasukan tersebut sama ada dalam atau luar negara.

Seramai 46 pakar sains sukan ISN yang terdiri daripada pakar psikologi, pakar pemakanan, pakar bio mekanik, pakar konditioning dan penganalisis perlawanan ditempatkan kepada pasukan berbasikal, badminton, terjun, menembak, memanah, bola sepak dan hoki.

Ketujuh-tujuh pasukan tersebut mendapat pasukan khusus yang terdiri daripada lima hingga enam pakar ISN, dalam usaha Malaysia mencari emas pertama dari Sukan Olimpik di London pada 2012 menerusi program RTL.

Bagi pasukan yang berpangkalan di luar negara seperti pasukan berbasikal trek di Melbourne, Australia, ISN turut menghantar pasukannya ke sana.

Kecanggihan teknologi membolehkan laporan kecederaan atlet yang berlatih atau menyertai kejohanan di luar negara, disalurkan terus ke Bukit Jalil untuk dinilai sendiri oleh pakar ISN.

-- BERNAMA

Inter City Gymnastics Championship

The Federal Territory Gymnastics Association will be hosting the Inter City Gymnastics Championship as follows:-

Date : 2-3 April 2011
Place : Gimnasium 1, Majlis Sukan Negara, Kuala Lumpur
Events : Rhythmic Gymnatics Individual Event
Rhythmic Gymnastics Group Exercise

About 200 participants from 7 foreign cities such as Moscow, Magadan (Russia), St. Petersburg, Tokyo, Melbourne, Christchurch and Taskent including state and national gymnasts from Kuala Lumpur will be taking part in this event. Local gymnasts from Melaka, Perak and Selangor will also be participating.

This competition also serves as one of the trial selection of rhythmic gymnasts who will be representing FT Kuala Lumpur in SUKMA 2012.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

PSSI lied

The World’s football governing body FIFA rejected allegations that it had forced the abandonment of the embattled Indonesian Football Association’s general assembly in Pekanbaru, Riau, over the weekend.

In a strongly worded e-mail to the Jakarta Globe, a FIFA spokesman said claims by PSSI secretary general Nugraha Besoes that representative Frank van Hattum decided to cancel the meeting when he saw a commotion outside the assembly venue in Pekanbaru on Saturday were “completely false.”

The spokesperson said van Hattum — accompanied by Asian Football Confederation secretary general Alex Soosay — “was prevented in being able to observe the PSSI General Assembly in Pekanbaru on 26 March by the PSSI leadership.”

“The claim from the PSSI secretary general that it was FIFA who decided to cancel the PSSI Congress for alleged security reasons is completely false. On the contrary, the FIFA observer repeatedly requested to go to the Congress venue and was prevented in doing so by the PSSI leadership.”

The comments are a slap in the face to the already critically damaged integrity of the PSSI.

Nugraha had claimed that it was van Hattum and Soosay who had called off the meeting when they saw the commotion involving the pro-reform faction of the PSSI.

“When they saw the situation in front of the hotel, they said that we couldn’t hold the meeting under these conditions. We had to cancel it,” Nugraha claimed. “That’s when we decided to turn back and return to the airport and hold a meeting there.”

PSSI chairman Nurdin Halid presided over the emergency meeting at the Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport.

Van Hattum and Soosay are understood to be in Singapore.

Van Hattum said he was not authorized to make any comments on the PSSI assembly.

He said that he had "made absolutely no statement to the media and as such any statements attributed to me are false."

Monday, March 28, 2011

SMK Seksyen 11 gain respect

FORMER champions SMK Seksyen 11 of Selangor gained some measure of respect in the Under-14 Minister of Education League Cup (MELC) 2011 this week when they edged SMK Putera 1-0 in a clash of former champions.

SMK Seksyen 11 were the inaugural winners of the MELC in 2008 but last week in their first game of the new season, they were humiliated 2-0 by SMK Seri Kota of Melaka.

But this time round, playing against SMK Putera – the 2009 champions – it gave them the impetus to be cagier at the back to score the only goal of the game from Muhammad Afiq Muhammad Azam in the 53th minute.

“We played our real game today although the finishing was not that good where we missed a few good chances. We did have much of a pre-season, so that means we still have to work a lo harder,” said Mat Dinos Talib, the chief coach of SMK Seksyen 11.

“I think that we are playing at around 80% of what we are capable of considering that we are playing with the majority of players coming from Form 1.”

SMK Putera, who had picked up their first full points in their first game of the season against SMK Za’aba of Negeri Sembilan the previous week, felt that playing away twice in their first two games of the season was the cause of their downfall.

“We played two away games already and next week, we will also be travelling to Penang. The players are tired travelling back to back although we won against Negeri Sembilan last week,” added Mohd Hanapiah Awang, the chief coach of SMK Putera.

“With lack of rest, it brings our performance down. But this is no excuse as we will try to play at our best in the next match away although this time round, Selangor deserved to win.”

In the meantime, SMK Tabuan Jaya of Sarawak have emerged as the surprise leaders in Group A with four points from two games where they followed up their away win over SMK Mutiara Impian from Pulau Pinang last week with a 1-1 draw against SMK Za’aba of Negeri Sembilan.

Mohd Ariff Sazwan Razali’s early goal for the homesters in the 13th minute was erased by Sarawak’s Abang Nur’Afirman Abang Norazman in the second half.

In Group B, SMK Syed Hassan of Perlis lead the group – also with four points from two matches.

After beating SMK Peter Monjuntin of Sabah 3-1 at home last week, the side from the north held Bandar Penawar Sports School to a scoreless draw this time round.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

World Cup qualifiers: Malaysia seeded 28th

AFC announced the qualification format for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers on Wednesday.

Forty-three teams have entered the fray to grab four automatic and an inter-continental playoff berths.

In the first round, the 16 lowest ranked teams will be divided into eight groups for home-and-away matches on June 29 and July 3, 2011.

Eight winners from the first round will join 22 higher ranked teams in the second round where the teams will be divided into 15 groups for home-and-away matches on July 23 and 28.

The 15 winners from the second round will join top five direct entrants in the third round where they will be divided into five groups of four teams each.

The top two teams from each group will make it to Round 4. The third round will be played from September 2, 2011, to February 29, 2012.

The 10 qualified teams in the fourth round will be divided into two groups of five teams each and top two teams from each group will gain automatic berths in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

If Japan make it to the fourth round, they will be placed on Position 5 in their group in order not to play on June 18, 2013, to felicitate their participation in the FIFA Confederations Cup to be held from June 16 to 30, 2013.

Two third-placed teams will play in Round 5 to determine Asia’s representative in the inter-continental playoff.

The fourth round will be played from June 3, 2012, to June 18, 2013, while the playoff between the third-placed teams will be played on September 6 and 10, 2013.

The inter-continental playoff will be played on October 15 and November 19, 2013.

The seeding for the draw, to be held on March 30, will be based on the rankings from 2010 FIFA World Cup and its Asian qualifiers.

Teams ranked from 1-5 will participate in the qualifiers from Round 3, teams ranked 6-27 (22 teams) will participate from Round 2 and the teams ranked 28-43 (16) will play the first round.

THE SEEDINGS
1. Japan, 2. Korea Republic, 3. Australia, 4. DPR Korea, 5. Bahrain, 6. Saudi Arabia, 7. Iran, 8. Qatar, 9. Uzbekistan, 10. UAE, 11. Syria, 12. Oman, 13. Jordan, 14. Iraq, 15. Singapore, 16. China, 17. Kuwait, 18. Thailand, 19. Turkmenistan, 20. Lebanon, 21. Yemen, 22. Tajikistan, 23. Hong Kong, 24. Indonesia, 25. Kyrgyzstan, 26. Maldives, 27. India, 28. Malaysia, 29. Afghanistan, Cambodia, 31. Nepal, 32. Bangladesh, 33. Sri Lanka, Vietnam, 35. Mongolia, 36. Pakistan, 37. Palestine, 38. Timor Leste, 39. Macau, 40. Chinese Taipei, Myanmar, 42. Laos, Philippines.

THE SCHEDULE

Round 1: June 29 and July 3, 2011
Round 2: July 23 and July 28, 2011
Round 3: September 2, September 6, October 11, November 11, November 15, 2011 and February 29, 2012
Round 4: June 3, June 8, June 12, September 11, October 16, November 14, 2012, March 26, June 4, June 11, June 18, 2013
Round 5: September 6 and September 10, 2013
Round 6 (inter-continental playoff):October 15 and November 19, 2013.

Sultan Ahmad Shah visit Cambodia

His Royal Highness Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, the President of Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) will visit the Kingdom of Cambodia from 24 to 26 March 2011.

During the visit, His Royal Highness will pay a courtesy call to the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) in Phnom Penh and have discussions with FFC President, General Sokha Sao and other senior leaders of the federation on areas in which the two national associations can work together.

His Royal Highness delegation includes FAM Deputy President, His Royal Highness Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and General Secretary, Dato Azzuddin Ahmad.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Hammam's manifesto

AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam announced his candidature for the position of FIFA President at a packed press conference on Friday.

Elections for the President of world football's governing body will be held in Zurich on June 1, 2011.

“Today, after careful study, consultation and consideration, armed with my love and passion for football and believing that football is about fair competition, I have decided to contest the upcoming FIFA Presidency election, scheduled on June 1, 2011,” he announced at AFC House.

“I am glad to say that the AFC Executive Committee encouraged me and supported me in my candidacy and I am inviting the member associations, football communities and media to be part of my humble endeavour to make the change that is necessary and needed in FIFA.”

The 61-year-old Qatari, who is into his third term as AFC President, revealed his vision for the world game.

“I will be looking to develop the game to its best in both professional and amateur levels, on and off the field and make it accessible to each and every level of our global community.”

Outlining his election manifesto he said: “I will always put in mind and consider among other things the diversity of the interests and the views of different football stake holders; member associations, clubs, leagues, players and officials; the demands from the public to keep FIFA and football organisations above accusations and suspicion of negative practice; the demands of the public to create an absolute, ethical, democratic and transparent environment within FIFA; the necessity for strong unity and solidarity among member associations; the need for fair distribution of World Cup revenues between the different stake holders, taking into consideration that FIFA must build sufficient reserves to help it through difficult times and the principal of solidarity must pervade for all of our stakeholders.

"I will always put into consideration the need and the requirement of economically underprivileged member associations to have more technical and financial support to enable them to close the gap between their nations and those of the advanced football nations.”

He also proposed to form a FIFA Board in place of the existing FIFA Executive Committee, if elected, and increase the number of seats for all the confederations.

“I propose UEFA gets four more seats, CAF four more seats, Asia four more seats, CONCACAF three more seats, CONMEBOL one more seat and OFC one more seat,” he said.

“A new executive committee will be coming, 40 members plus the president is 41 and it will avoid as much as possible for the privilege of the casting vote going to the president.”

“I will rename the Executive Committee the FIFA Board and will transfer all the duties and the responsibilities of the Executive Committee as it is today to the FIFA Board. I will establish an Executive Office. The President of FIFA will be the Chairman and the six presidents of the six confederations will be the members of this office. This office will be responsible to execute the decision of the Board. Collectively and jointly, the President of FIFA and the Presidents of the confederations will be responsible for executing the decisions of the FIFA Board.”

“Secondly, I will decentralise the activities of the FIFA administration. The legal matters, like the statutes and international transfers, and statutory issues can be handled directly by the confederations under the supervision of their executive bodies.”

“I will establish a Transparency Committee. FIFA has an Ethical Committee checking acts after they happen. The Transparency Committee is going to be sure that all the acts of FIFA are sufficiently transparent to the public before they take place.

He also proposed to increase the financial assistance to the member associations from US$250,000 to US$500,000 per year.

“I also propose to increase the financial assistance to the member associations from US$250,000 to US$500,000 per year and I also propose that the budget of the Goal Project, for each project, to be increased up to US$1 million per project." - AFC.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Peter Yap's Memorial Cup

SARAWAK the rising force in bowling sounded an early warning for the Astro 24th Interstate Bowling Championship which began Wednesday at the Sunway Mega Lanes, when Christopher Tiong won the Peter Yap’s Memorial Cup after winning the boys division and overall division on Tuesday night.

The 14th edition of the Peter Memorial Cup for Under-14 bowlers was held as the curtain raiser for the Interstate championship after the opening ceremony on Tuesday night.

The 13 year-old Christopher who hails from Sibu had a total of 845 from four games with lines of 238, 181, 224 and 202 for high 211 average.

Selangor's Muhammad Nur Hazarizq and Ahmad Nabil took second and third spots with their totals of 815 and 813 respectively.

Christopher, a Form 2 student of SMK Sacred Heart, who is also competing in the Interstate championship in the Youth boys category, has been bowling
for four years.

He was the Under-12 champion in the Sabah Leg of SportExcel -NSC-Milo National Junior Circuit in 2009 and 2010, and also champion in Sarawak Leg in 2009.

"I hope to get into the National Pelapis program in the near future and
represent Malaysia in junior event" said Christopher after winning effort.


The Peter Memorial Cup has seen many winners go on to become national players which includes Zulmazran Zulkifli was the inaugural winner in 1997, Adrian Ang who won the title twice – 1998 and 2001 – and other national youth bowlers like Rodson Tong (2003).

The late Peter Yap who passed away in 1997 was a respected figure in the bowling fraternity who was known for his passion for development programmes and a no nonsense person when it came to discipline and dedication of young bowlers.

Selangor's Nurain Izzati won the Girls division with a total of 783
averaging 195. She posted lines of 204, 259, 153 &167.

The Form 2 student of SMK Alam Megah 3, started bowling when she was 9 years old.She is hoping to become another Shalin Zulkifli.

Siti Nurzulaika of Kuala Lumpur finished second with 727 while her
team-mate Ayra Nur Jehan finished third with 698.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Disability Futsal Tournament

K. Rajagobal (right) with one of the winners.

The Individually Mentally Challenged Pan-Disability Football Malaysia organized a Disability Futsal International Friendly Tournament at the Sports Planet Futsal Arena in Subang Jaya on 26 Feb.

The participants were 30 cerebral palsy players and 30 intellectually disabled players from Malaysia and Singapore. 25 volunteers from MAHSA College and UNITAR College were present to assist the organizers.

30 officials from various organizations were also assisting. These officials were from:- Singapore Disability Sports Council, Malaysian Paralympic Council, Spastic Children’s Centre Petaling Jaya, Bethany Home, Teluk Intan, Kids Inclusive Sports Club, Singapore and IMC Pan-Disability Football, Subang Jaya.

Teams were divided into two categories as follows:
Cerebral Palsy Category (CP)
KISC Singapore A
KISC Singapore B
Spastic Centre PJ, Malaysia

Intellectual Disability Category (ID)
IMC Pan Disability Football, Malaysia
Bethany Home, Perak, Malaysia

Individual Mentally Challenged (IMC) Training Centre for Children with Special Needs, a training centre  located at USJ 4 Subang Jaya, providing educational, vocational and sports training to individuals with multiple disability, such as Down’s syndrome, Autistics, Asperger Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Epileptic, ADD & ADHD (Hyperactivity Disorder).

The objective of this event was to encourage participation among multi disabled individuals and to foster greater cooperation in the development of disability football between both nations and to reinforce the need to develop high performance disabled footballers.

Long term development plans are to establish a National Football League for the disabled of various categories, and to mould players to represent specific international tournaments within the region.

This event was witnessed by National Team Manager Dato’ Subahan Mohd Kamal and national Head Coach, K. Rajagobal from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

Both Dato’ Subahan and Rajagobal acknowledged that they were amazed with what they saw and pledged to bring up this development to the management of FAM. They praised the organizing committee lead for taking the initiative to stage this event.

Both gave a very inspiring speech about the turnaround of Malaysian Football and were seen mingling freely with the disabled footballers from Singapore and Malaysia.

Results of the tournament:
Cerebral Palsy

Champion : KISC Team B from Singapore Disability Sports Council
Runner-up : Kids Inclusive Sports Club Team A from Singapore Disability Sports Council
Third : Spastic Children’s Association from PJ, Malaysia
Most Valuable Player : No 77, Khairul Azman from KISC Team B from Singapore

Intellectually Disabled
Champion : Kids Inclusive Sports Club from Singapore Disability Sports Council
Runner-up : Bethany Home, Simpang Empat, Perak
Third : IMC Pan Disability Football Malaysia

Most Valuable Player : No 28, Md. Nasuha from IMC Pan Disability Football from Malaysia.

For further information on this tournament and IMC please contact Mr. Sunny Shalesh, Pan Disability Football Malaysia - Instructor / Tournament Coordinator
(012 282 6067 / 017 884 8943).

Teachers introduced to Olympism

Some of the participants.
A total of 137 teachers from six Wesley Methodist Schools (Five secondary and one
primary school) were introduced to Olympism and Olympic Education.

The teachers, who gathered in Bukit Gambang Resort City for the annual Wesley Methodist School
Teachers’ Conference organized by the Methodist Education Council, were receptive to the
information presented to them by the Pierre de Coubertin Society of Malaysia (PCSM) entitled
“Olympism and Character Building”.

The three hour session on March 12th was divided into two parts; the first part was the introduction
to Olympism and the second part, a group discussion using the Open Space Technology on how to
implement Olympic Education in their schools.

For the first part, the teachers watched videos and were informed about the founder, principles and
values of Olympism by speaker, Nicholas Chan who is also the Vice-President of PCSM.

After imparting them with the basic grounds of Olympism, the teachers were then triggered to initiate a
group discussion using the Open Space Technology method. Topics like “Religion and Olympism”,
“Physical Education and Olympism” and “ICT and Olympism” were sparked and the teachers
brainstormed on how to get the message of Olympism through to their students. Each group
subsequently presented the outcome of their discussion.


At the end of the session, a survey was distributed and one of the questions asked was “Do you think
that Olympism can be integrated into the school syllabus?”. 97% of the teachers answered “Yes”.

When asked how would they describe the relevance of Olympism in a child’s upbringing, Cik Nur
Natasha Bt Muhamad Rani, a Mathematics teacher from the Wesley Methodist School in Seremban
wrote “It teaches the child to recognize the values of life through sports.” while Mr. Au Yong San
from the Wesley Methodist School in Melaka who teaches Geography and Art commented, “It would
inculcate the spirit of perseverance, tolerance, patience, competitiveness, cooperation and
comradeship.”.

Group discussions using the Open Space Technology Method.

This was the first time that PCSM was approaching teachers about Olympism and it proved to be a success as the teachers found Olympic Education to be relevant in the promotion of a balanced and holistic development of a child.

Out of the six schools that participated, two principals have already expressed their interest to organize an Olympism Outreach Program in their schools.

Monday, March 14, 2011

4 golds in London 2012

The Youth and Sport Ministry are eyeing four gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics although the nation has yet to win a first gold medal in the Olympics history.

Youth and Sport minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the country's medal hopes would hinge on badminton (2) from Datuk Lee Chong Wei (men's singles); Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (men's doubles); Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (men's track cycling) and Pandelela Rinong (women's diving).

"If we try hard and with a stroke of luck, I feel we can are not looking at one but four gold medals because our 'Road To London 2012' programme is geared towards that goal," he said after signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Sports Council (NSC) and 100PLUS and launching the 500 days countdown for the Road To London programme, Monday.

Ahmad Shabery said Chong Wei had gained a physiological advantage by demolishing his nemesis Lin Dan, referred to as the Great Wall of China in the badminton circle, to win the All England title Sunday night.

Chong Wei who was in superb form, beat Lin Dan 21-17, 21-17 to defend the title he had won last year, enroute to denying Lin Dan's fifth All England title.

"Koo and Tan always displayed courage with their spirited performances and Azizulhasni remains the number one track cyclist, especially in the keirin event.

"Pandelela has won the silver medal in the World Junior Diving Championships and Asian Games and is now ranked one place behind China's world number one," he said.

The 'Road To London' programme comprises 77 athletes from seven sports, namely badminton, archery, cycling, diving, shooting, hockey and football.

-- BERNAMA

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Nurdin barred

Nurdin
FIFA has banned Nurdin Halid from running as a candidate in the Indonesia Football Association’s (PSSI) upcoming elections, says the Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland.

Nurdin, the PSSI’s current chairman, is unable to run for reelection for the 2011-2015 term because it goes against FIFA statutes on convicts, said Ambassador Joko Susilo on Tuesday night.

According to Joko, FIFA president Sepp Blatter made the ruling during a meeting in Zurich on Tuesday.

“Sepp Blatter said FIFA upholds the statutes that states a convict cannot lead a football organization,” Joko said, adding that he had explained the situation to Blatter.He said Blatter was well aware of the crisis that embroiled the PSSI.

“If Nurdin is reelected, FIFA won’t legitimize the election result. They want Indonesian football to be much better,” Joko said. FIFA is slated to send a team to Jakarta to monitor the election.

Last week, FIFA ordered the PSSI organize a general assembly for March 26 in order to designate an electoral committee, which would have until April 30 to organize an election.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Talented players carry Malaysia's hopes

A bunch of “very talented” individual polo players carry Malaysia’s hopes and aspirations for a historic place in the FIP Polo World Cup Finals scheduled to be held in San Luis, Argentina in October.
 
 Malaysia, despite being one of Asia’s most established polo nations, has never made it to the FIP World Cup Finals. And as recently as two months ago the national polo team assembled to carry the country’s challenge looked “lost and chaotic”.
 
But all that has changed and today Malaysia look positive for a top three finish in the eight-team FIP Polo World Cup Zone D qualifier that will be played at three historic polo clubs – the Royal Pahang Polo Club (established in 1926), the Royal Selangor Polo Club (1902) and the Putrajaya Equestrian Park (2005) from June 11-26.
 
National polo skipper Shaik Reismann, the only Malaysian player with World Cup experience, having played for Singapore in India in 2000, summed it up all when he said “today we (Malaysia) are a strong unit with lots of confidence” that is capable of  finishing in the top three for a place in the Finals.
 
Apart from Malaysia, the other teams vying for a ticket to Argentina are Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Nigeria and Singapore.
 
 “I do admit that with the likes of Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa and even Pakistan - all strong polo playing nations, - we are in a very tough zone (Qualifier). This makes us nervous but the only way to overcome this is to be positive.
 
“It was haywire when we got together as a team. As recently as two months ago we were still chaotic. But all that has changed now. We have talented individual polo players who have moulded well into a strong unit with lots of confidence,” said Shaik

“Right now you can see a lot of chemistry between the players. This is certainly a plus point for the team. From March onwards we will increase our training tempo as the tournament draws nearer.
 
“Every player has a role to play. On top of that we need to be very disciplined and fully focused. And we are not lacking in this field. I am pleased and happy with the way everyone is carrying out his duties.”
 
Shaik picked Australia South Africa and New Zealand as the front runners in the Qualifier but in the same breath pointed out that every team, including Malaysia, is good as any other. In short, we cannot underrate our rivals.
 
“It is going to be a very tough and physical tournament. We are also keeping our fingers crossed that the weather will hold out. The weather is the worst nightmare in polo. If it rains, it will be hard on the teams,” added Shaik, who plays with a +3 Handicap.
 
Shaik, who has worked as a racehorse trainer, is also a horse dentist and has been a professional polo player since 2006. A three-time winner of the Thai Polo Open, apart from winning the SEA Games gold medal in polo in 2007 in Korat, Shaik has also won many medium and high goal tournaments in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.
 
As hosts, the Royal Malaysian Polo Association wants to ensure that Malaysia stages an outstanding (Qualifier) tournament that FIP can be proud of to enhance Malaysia’s hopes as serious contender to host the 2014 FIP World Cup Finals.
 

Saturday, March 5, 2011

4.5 slots for Asia in 2014 FIFA World Cup

Asia will continue to have the 4.5 berths reserved for the continent in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Brazil.The decision was confirmed by the FIFA Executive Committee which met in Zurich, Thursday. The 4.5 places or berths is the same distribution of slots as for the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.

For the play-offs relating to the half slots, a draw will determine how the four confederations involved (AFC, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL and OFC) will pair off. Sufficient time will be allowed between the home and away legs of these play-offs.

The play-off team from Asia had played against an Oceania team for a slot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The slots available for the 2014 FIFA World Cup are: AFC 4.5, CAF 5.0, CONCACAF 3.5, CONMEBOL 4.5, OFC 0.5, UEFA 13.0 and one slot the host Brazil.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

30th March....important date

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will conduct four official draws on 30th March 2011 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.

The draws are for:
1. Qualifiers for the AFC U-16 Championship 2012
2. Qualifiers for the AFC U-19 Championship 2012
3. Round 2 Asian Qualifiers for Olympic 2012 Football Tournament
4. Asian Qualifiers Round 1 for 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Well, I am sure the coaches will be interested and excited to know that the draws are going to be made soon.