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200 paddlers vie for state c’ship BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sports - New 2 Borneo

200 paddlers vie for state c’ship

Posted: 16 Dec 2013 09:23 AM PST

SIBU: Sporting bodies, being mostly voluntary organizations, face many challenges such as funding.

This point was highlighted by Sibu Table Tennis Association president Vincent Lau Lee Ming when he officiated at the opening ceremony of the 53rd Sarawak gree Table Tennis Championship at Sibu Table Tennis Stadium last Sunday.

"In particular, we do not receive grants from the government. We depend on public donation to fund our activities. We need dedicated people to lead the organization," he explained.

The championship, which will end on Dec 19, has attracted 200 paddlers from Kuching, Miri, Sibu, Bintulu, Sarikei, Samarahan and Mukah. Lau lamented there was no public facility in Sibu comparable to the Sibu Table Tennis Stadium which was been built through private initiative and fund solicited from the public.

"Time passes very fast, it has been quite a few years now since the authority announced the construction of an indoor stadium for Sibu. We heard the fund has been made available and the site has been identified.

We do hope that construction of the much needed indoor stadium will commence very soon, without further delay," he stated.

Lau also spoke on the key attributes and attitude required for table tennis players to succeed.

"Very often we find players once they have a little bit of achievement they started to feel proud and indiscipline which is very sad.

"It is this kind of attitude that hindered the progress and make it very difficult to raise our standard," he added.

Meanwhile, Lau thanked Sarawak Table Tennis Association for entrusting the responsibility of organizing this year's championship to Sibu Table Tennis Association.

He also expressed his gratitude to the organizing committee headed by Dr Clement Chen for the hard work put in to prepare and organise this state-wide event.

"Though in sport and tournaments like this we always say `Friendships First', I still hope that everyone play hard and give your best to win the championships title," Lau advised.

President of Sarawak Table Tennis Association Michael Teo Kim Huat was among those present.

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`Serious review needed to lift Malaysia’s volleyball standard’

Posted: 16 Dec 2013 09:23 AM PST

KUCHING: It is high time that the Malaysian Volleyball Association (Mava) make a serious effort to develop volleyball in the country to put its standard on par with other countries in South-east Asia.

Former national player SC Pang said the disparity in the standard was very obvious as the national men's and women's teams have suffered two consecutive defeats in their SEA Games campaign in Myanmar last week.

Pang, who made his SEA Games debut in 1991 as a 19-year-old, had also played in the 1993, 1995 and 1997 SEA Games.

Pang observed that Thailand has now become a powerhouse while countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and even Myanmar are now better than Malaysia.

"Since my playing career and until now as a coach, I have seen the standard in SEA Games grown by leaps and bounds. Thailand is now very strong, Indonesia is not bad while previously Vietnam and Myanmar were on the same standard as Malaysia," said Pang.

He felt that the Malaysian volleyballers lack international exposure.

"The Thailand women's team reached world standard as they have played in many major international competitions whereas our chances of playing overseas is very slim," he said.

He hoped that Mava could make arrangements to send the national men's and women's team to compete in international competitions.

There should also be a good long-term development and training programmes to groom potential players.

"There are not too many competitions organised locally. We only have the national championship and the national volleyball league whereas the other competition is the inter-university championship,"he added.

"No matter whether it is local or international competition, the players need to play in competitions to meet certain targets, otherwise they will gradually lose interest if they only engage in training all the time."

Pang also said Malaysia will be looking to put up a formidable challenge in 2017 where Malaysia will play host as volleyball might not be competed as one of the events in SEA Games 2015 in Singapore.

"Our players now are still very young. The average age of the women players is 19 while it is 22 for the men's team. If we can keep them together until 2017, I believe they will be mature players able to pose strong challenges."

Pang said the coaches panel have also come up with a plan and it needed Mava's support and coordination.

He said Mava should look for major corporate bodies to "adopt" the national teams so the welfare of the players could be looked after during their training programmes and while competing in international competitions.

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Rodgers hails ‘best yet’ Liverpool, cools title talk

Posted: 16 Dec 2013 09:22 AM PST

LONDON: Brendan Rodgers hailed Liverpool's 5-0 humiliation of Tottenham as his side's best performance since he took charge of the Anfield club 18 months ago.

But the manager refused to talk up his side credentials as Premier League title challengers despite moving second, two points behind leaders Arsenal.

First half goals from Luis Suarez and Jordan Henderson followed by second half strikes from Jon Flanagan, Suarez again and Raheem Sterling completed an emphatic victory over a Tottenham side reduced to ten men by the 62nd minute dismissal of Paulinho.

"It was probably the most complete performance. To come here and get a victory like that. But more importantly, the performance. The model of our game was outstanding," said Rodgers.

"We were like animals without the ball. Our hunger to get it back was great. It was a complete performance and a good victory for us."

But when asked about his side's title aspirations, he added: "I'm not even thinking about that. My job was to develop the style of football while moving the club forward, and that's what we've tried to do.

"Obviously you dream. That was my dream. I didn't come here to be fourth, third or second. Eventually you want to win. But you have to be realistic as well.

"We were eighth. Last year we were seventh. If we can stay clear of injury and continue to improve our football, let's see where it takes us."

Rodgers installed Suarez as captain in the absence of Steven Gerrard who is sidelined with hamstring problem and the Uruguay forward responded impressively.

The manager said: "He's captained one of the most iconic clubs in European football in Ajax. It's not new to him.

"I wanted someone who could represent me and the club in that tunnel before we step on the pitch.

"If Luis Suarez is standing with the armband on, everyone knows this is a team who's ready to go out and fight.

"I spoke to him a few days ago and told him it was an honour for him to do, and he's really enjoyed it. He's relentless in his work, his quality and goals were fantastic."

Suarez's efforts were matched by Henderson and Rodgers believes the England midfielder is starting to demonstrate his full potential after a slow start to his career at Liverpool following his 16 million transfer from Sunderland in 2011.

"It's all down to him. I saw him play for England against France a few years ago and I felt sorry for him: he was a big talent but the game just passed him by, tactically," said the manager.

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Limbang, Kuching lead the way in Isuzu Cup

Posted: 16 Dec 2013 09:22 AM PST

by Saiful Bahari & Matthew T. Umpang, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 17, 2013, Tuesday

KUCHING: Kuching continued their winning streak after registering a comfortable 3-0 win over Bintulu in the Isuzu Cup Under-19 Football Tournament group stage yesterday.

Last Sunday, Kuching had edged Miri 1-0 in a tough opener. Congratulating the Miri team's resilience, Kuching coach Idris Untong admitted luck was not with their opponents who actually had more chances on target.

"They hit the woodwork several times and had a penalty saved but we were the slightly better team as we were able to capitalize on our chances better," said the former state player.

In their second match yesterday, played again on a soggy pitch, Kuching managed to control possession against Bintulu.

Julaihi Azid capped an excellent performance scoring the first two goals in the 24th and 50th minute.

Mohd Alfif Jenal completed the 3-0 win with a third goal following a miscommunication between Bintulu's defenders.

Limbang also showed their consistency by winning their second match 2-1 against SFDP-Young Crocs.

SFDP Young Crocs had netted a goal in the 1st minute of play through Tommy Mawat before Eric Lanjap equalized for Limbang in the 19th minute.

M.Hairie Asli assured a full three points for Limbang when he scored the winning goal in the 75th minute.

The Young Crocs had opened their campaign in style last Sunday after thrashing Sibu 6-0.

Coach Safri Amit attributed that opening victory to his players following their game plan but conceded, "My team players are relatively young and with less experience compared to the other teams." That inexperience was exposed in the latest loss to Bintulu.

Meanwhile, host Samarahan revived their chances following last Sunday's defeat to Limbang with a 2-0 win over Sibu yesterday.

Alexs Walson and Saifudin Setu scored in the 24th and 49th minute respectively to keep their team's hopes alive.

Bintulu will face Miri in their third match today while SFDP-Young Crocs will be up against Samarahan. Limbang will expect their unbeaten run as they take on Sibu.

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Sam upset with unprofessional behaviour of team manager who tried to assault journalist

Posted: 16 Dec 2013 09:21 AM PST

NAYPYITAW: The Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) are upset and concerned with the behaviour of a team manager who had allegedly tried to assault a journalist who was covering the 27th Myanmar SEA Games, here.

SAM President Ahmad Khawari Isa said the official involved in the incident must be responsive towards the duties of journalist and act in a more professional manner.

"If the incident was true as alleged, I am certainly disappointed with the action of the official. We (SAM) view the incident very seriously because such an incident has never happened before (involving a team manager threatening to harm a journalist).

"He (team manager) has other more important matters to attend to in (Myanmar) and at the same time he must respect the duties of the media personnel," he said here, yesterday.

Khawari said he would seek clarification from the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) with regard to the incident. The incident had allegedly taken place at the Malaysian sepak takraw team's area after the men's sepak takraw regu final against Thailand which Malaysia eventually lost.

Prior to the incident, journalists from Malaysia who were covering the match had approached national sepak takraw coach Jamaluddin Hassan for comments when the team manager tried to assault a journalist from the print media, allegedly over the journalist's report which the team manager alleged was malicious.

The team manager had allegedly tried to assault the journalist twice during the incident but a coach managed to restrain him. — Bernama

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Mindy sparks optimism for local squash challenge

Posted: 16 Dec 2013 09:20 AM PST

by Matthew Umpang, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 17, 2013, Tuesday

KUCHNG: A 16 year-old girl has raised some hope for Sarawak's bid for a gold medal in squash in next year's Sukma in Perlis.

Unseeded Mindy Lee, fresh from competing at the Redtone KL Junior Open, went all the way to the final of the Under-15 category only to lose to top seeded Nazihah Hanis Abdul Razak of Kedah.

The five-day Redtone tournament, organised by the Squash Racquet Association of The Federal Territory (SRAF), is a event sanctioned by the Asian Squash Federation (ASF).

Mindy's remarkable run has made local squash officials excited about how the youngster can help Sarawak mount a serious challenge in Sukma 2014.

She was at the Sarawak Club with Squash Asoociation of Kuching (SAK) president Connie Yeo to meet up with reporters yesterday.

"On behalf of SAK, I am proud that our local Kuching player did well against the other junior players of her age from all over the country in the tournament which was classified as a Gold event," Connie announced.

She revealed that Mindy created upsets such as beating renowned Malaysian players like Sara Chew and fellow Sarawakian Jean Wong en route to the final.

"She (Mindy) will be competing in her third Sukma next year although she is only 16 years-old. She is getting better every year and hopefully she can help contribute to the medal tally when we compete in Perlis," Yeo added.

In the squash competition at the 2012 Sukma, the state men's team captured the gold in the team event but the women's team came home empty-handed.

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