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New striker confident of Crocs’ foray in Super League BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sports - New 2 Borneo

New striker confident of Crocs’ foray in Super League

Posted: 29 Nov 2013 11:35 AM PST

KUCHING: Sarawak new striker, Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli had expressed his confidence in the Crocs' foray in next year's Super League and reiterated that he made the right decision in moving here.

"I am also confident that Sarawak can challenge for the Super League crown with teams like Johor (JDT), Kelantan and Selangor next season," said the former national striker. He added "They (Sarawak) possess a complete package such as a quality coach and players who are experienced."

The 31-year-old said his move to join the Crocs was due to the job well done by the team's head coach, Robert Alberts. He was impressed with the Dutchman's success in leading Kedah to the 1992 Premier League title and this year for Sarawak.

"I am very impressed with Albert's integrity and that had spurred my move to Sarawak," the former national striker said after the recent training session at State Stadium in Petra Jaya.

"Alberts is a highly respected coach and I feel lucky to be able to play under him. And I am very sure that he can help me to rebuild my confidence and regain my former touch," he added.

According to him, Sarawak fans must have high hopes for him to fit in the shoes of former striker Bobby Gonzales but quick to point out that he did not want to be compared with the Sabahan striker.

"Bobby is a very good striker and I admire him greatly. Nevertheless, I am here to help Sarawak earn more glory and I do hope that the fans will give me strong morale support," he said.

Akmal scored five goals to help Kedah lift last year Premier League crown.

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Badminton World C’ships return to Indonesia

Posted: 29 Nov 2013 09:37 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Jakarta will host the 2015 Badminton World Championships, the sport's governing body said yesterday, more than two decades after the premier event was last played in Indonesia.

The Indonesian capital beat Kunshan, a city in China, which hosted this year's edition, said the Kuala Lumpur-based Badminton World Federation (BWF) in a statement.

"There is clearly significant experience among you in hosting events and in certain instances, specifically badminton events," BWF President Poul-Erik H yer said during the announcement in Greece.

Jakarta's two-member delegation to Athens promised that the city's Istora Senayan Stadium will offer its famed charged atmosphere come 2015, when the World Championships return to Asia from Denmark.

"It is going to be even better than the Indonesia Open and everybody knows how exciting that is," declared Bambang Roedyanto, International Relations Manager for the Badminton Association of Indonesia.

The tournament regularly sees about 400 players from across the globe compete for the title of world champion in five categories: men's and women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles.

The BWF also announced that the southern Chinese city of Dongguan will host the 2015 Sudirman Cup, the mixed team world championships.

The last time the world championships were played in Indonesia was in 1989. — AFP

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Biggest inter-club swim meet on today

Posted: 29 Nov 2013 09:35 AM PST

by Ting Tieng Hee, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on November 30, 2013, Saturday

KUCHING: The stage is all set for the Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Wong Soon Kai Inter-Club Swimming Championship – the biggest in Kuching to be held at the Aquatics Centre, Youth and Sports Complex starting today.

According to organising chairman Dr Alexander Likow Giap, his committee is fully prepared for the two-day event where 15 clubs are taking part.

"This is the first time that we are organising such a big meet and this is a very big challenge to us and also for me because it is also the first time I was appointed to head the organising committee," he said yesterday.

The committee faced the problem of space constraint because the pool was mainly for training purposes and not fully equipped or suited to host big swimming competitions.

As such, the competition is limited to sprints with 84 events that include freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly for 50m and 100m as well as boys/girls relays and mixed relays.

Alexander said for the first time in the championships, a Group 5 category was introduced for swimmers aged eight and below with participants coming from outside Sarawak.

He added "We have 10 participants who are autistic from Special Olympics Sarawak, and swimmers from Melaka (2 teams), Sabah (two teams), Johor (1 team) and Brunei (1 team)."

"I am expecting congestion at the venue for the next two days because we have more than 260 participants and we are looking at 300-400 people including team officials, meet officials, parents, supporters and spectators," he said.

The doctor said it would be nice if there was an electronic scoreboard system to make registration of swim times easier.

"However, we have to resort to hand-timed results for this championships and we have enlisted 37 boy and girl scouts from SMK Kuching High and SMK Green Road for time-keeping and other tasks," he added.

Two hundred and sixty-four swimmers from 15 swimming clubs/associations from Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei and the Peninsula will take part in the event aimed at unearthing new talents especially from Group 3-5.

The teams are Kasa 2010, Kotas, SASA, MASA, BASA, Kapit Amateur Swimming Association, Blue Marlin (Sabah), Sea Dragon (Sabah), Gymkhana Club Miri, Special Olympics Sarawak, Royal Brunei Recreation Club, Kelab Renang Pujut Miri, Rakan Akuatik Remaja, Banang Swim Club, Kelab Renang MSSC.

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Sarawak into finals of 13th junior volleyball tournament

Posted: 29 Nov 2013 09:34 AM PST

KUCHING: Sarawak stormed into the finals of 13th Milo-Malaysia Junior (Under 14) Volleyball Championship in Kuala Selangor, Selangor after beating Pahang's boys and girls in the semi-finals on Thursday.

The boys' team had earlier on beat Negeri Sembilan 3-0, Kuala Lumpur 3-2 and Penang 3-0, booked their final ticket after defeating Pahang 3-0.

After finishing runners-up in Group A, they went on to beat Melaka also by 3-0 in the last eight.

By making into the final, the boys have made a breakthrough in this year's championship after finishing in third spot last year and they will meet either Selangor or Perak in the final.

Sarawak girls are the defending champions and had scored three wins in Group A to lead in their group.

They beat Selangor 3-0, Melaka 3-0 and Kuala Lumpur 3-0 in the earlier group matches.

Aiming for their fourth consecutive championship title in this meet, Sarawak thumped Perak 3-0 in the quarter-finals and overcome a tough Pahang 3-0 in the last four to set up a final clash with Johor.

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Two charged in English fixing probe

Posted: 29 Nov 2013 09:34 AM PST

LONDON: Two men with Singaporean nationality suspected of fixing matches in lower-league English football will appear before magistrates Friday, a day after they were charged with conspiracy to defraud, prosecutors said.

The men, alleged to be members of a Singapore-based illegal betting syndicate, were among six people arrested this week in an investigation by the recently-formed National Crime Agency (NCA).

Chann Sankaran, a 33-year-old Singapore national, and Krishna Sanjey Ganeshan, a 43-year-old with dual British and Singapore nationality, will appear in court in Cannock, central England.

A seventh man has been arrested and he and the four other men were bailed on Thursday, the NCA said in a statement.

Sankaran and Ganeshan have been accused of conspiring to defraud bookmakers by influencing the course of football matches and placing bets on them between November 1 and November 26 this year.

The maximum sentence for this offence is 10 years' imprisonment.

The NCA added their investigation was ongoing.

Earlier, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said an undercover investigation by its reporters had triggered the probe by the NCA, Britain's answer to the FBI.

No teams in England's lucrative Premier League are believed to be involved in the probe.

A spokesman for the Football Association, the sport's governing body in England, said: "We have worked closely with the authorities in relation to these allegations. The FA will make no further comment at this time due to ongoing investigations."

The Football League, which runs the three professional divisions below the Premier League, said they had not been contacted by the police.

"The threat of corruption is something that the Football League and the other football authorities treat with the utmost seriousness," said chief executive Shaun Harvey.

"The integrity of our matches and our competitions is the bedrock of the domestic game."

A notorious Singaporean football match-fixer meanwhile denied any links to the alleged plot in England after a suspect named him as his "boss", a report said Friday.

Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted fixer who is under police protection in Hungary, told Singapore's New Paper that he played no part in the scam — although he admitted he had full knowledge of it.

In the videotaped Daily Telegraph sting a Singaporean suspect says he is working for Perumal. — AFP

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Myanmar ‘100 pct’ ready for Games

Posted: 29 Nov 2013 09:32 AM PST

YANGON: Myanmar is "100 per cent" ready for the Southeast Asian Games, a senior official said yesterday, as the clock ticked down to the biggest sports event in the nation's troubled history.

In a major test of Myanmar's infrastructure and organisation, thousands of athletes, officials, media and visitors will descend for the 22-day multi-sport event starting on Sunday.

"We are 100 per cent ready to hold the SEA Games," sports ministry director Htay Aung told AFP.

"We are ready now. We held the final rehearsal of opening ceremony on Thursday," he added.

Htay Aung said 6,000 athletes and 3,000 journalists are due for the Games, which begin in low-key fashion with football preliminaries and floorball demonstration events on Sunday.

The event comes just two years after the former pariah state started making wide-ranging reforms in a sudden and unexpected opening-up to the outside world.

It does not formally get underway until the opening ceremony on Dec 11 at the 30,000-seat Wunna Theikdi Stadium in the newly built capital, Naypyidaw.

Nine thousand athletes and journalists alone are expected and "hundreds of thousands" of local fans will attend, Htay Aung said.

Vice President Nyan Tun has urged athletes to "strive for a golden age of Myanmar sports… improving the reputation of the country and making history to be regarded as sporting heroes", according to a government release.

However, privately some officials are concerned about the preparations and potential problems, especially the number of hotel rooms to accommodate all the visitors.

"There are many things to be done even though many ministries are involved. Hotel rooms cannot be enough because many foreigners and many visitors will come," a government official, who did not want to be named, told AFP.

"Ten of thousands of people will join the events. Hopefully everything can be done smoothly. Cooperation between ministries is very weak," he confided.

A senior police official admitted: "Thousands of athletes and officials and also thousands of fans will come. Although we tried our best for security with enough numbers, I'm a little bit nervous."

The SEA Games are not unfamiliar with problems. The last edition in Indonesia was hit by corruption and delays in construction, and a deadly stadium stampede at the men's football final.

Myanmar is currently battling religious and ethnic tensions with unrest and bomb blasts in parts of the country in recent weeks.

Some 1,380 medals will be handed out in events ranging from mainstream sports such as athletics to the traditional but obscure Myanmar pursuit of chinlone. — AFP

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