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SDBSA aims to elevate status of snooker BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sports - New 2 Borneo

SDBSA aims to elevate status of snooker

Posted: 18 Jan 2014 09:20 AM PST

by Philip Wong. Posted on January 19, 2014, Sunday

SIBU: Sibu Division Billiards and Snooker Association (SDBSA) is working hard to boost and upgrade the status of the sport which has hit a low patch in recent years.

Its deputy president Mark Yeo said they were trying to organise major tournaments to attract more players so as to revitalise and increase its popularity.

"This is not easy, especially when our association is facing a serious cash flow problem. Nevertheless, we will find the sponsors and come up with major tournaments so that snooker enthusiasts will have something to cheer," he added.

Yeo has called for concrete support from snooker supporters, both local and state wide, to render their help whenever necessary.

"Without your support, the snooker popularity will drop and at the end of the day, we will not be able to make any headway."

Yeo said SDBSA was planning to organise Sibu Open Snooker Championship for this year's calendar of events.

"We have yet to come up with the date and the venue. Once we can get the necessary sponsors, then we will decide on the date, the venue and we will start calling for entries."

'If the prize money is not attractive enough, it will not be able to lure the players to come here to play. That is why we need to put strong emphasis on the prize money when organising tournaments."

Yeo, himself a stylish and well known player in Sibu, had long being an advocate to push snooker towards greater heights.

'It is a nice game, a game that not only helps dictate the heart and mind of the player but also helps to build discipline, patience and shape the mental character of a player."

Since he took over the deputy presidential post in 2012, Yeo said he had been working closely with his president Joe Ting to help build a new image for the game.

This had included investing heavily in the sport such as when the Executive 3 Snooker Centre at Medan Mall was started in Sept 2013. This resulted in more young players taking up the game.

"Indeed, someone ought to give a push to the sport which had hit the doldrums in recent years. Membership was dwindling and the popularity of the game here had also dropped.

Fortunately, there are still some die-hard snooker lovers who would go to the extent to promote the sport. Hopefully, SDBSA will continue to play an effective role to promote the game among the local enthusiasts."

Meanwhile, Yeo himself is preparing to take part in the annual Selangor Open Invitational Snooker Championship to be held in Kuala Lumpur in June.

Last year, he returned with a respectable top 16 finish.

Yeo also invited outstanding players here to take part in the tournamentl but they would have to go on their own expenses.

"SDBSA is helpless when it comes to sending playing for the Selangor trip. Hopefully, Sarawak Billiards and Snooker Sports Federation (SBSSF) will step in to lend a hand, that is, if there are qualified players for the trip," he added.

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Chong Wei on course for M’sian Open victory

Posted: 18 Jan 2014 09:19 AM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: World number one Datuk Lee Chong Wei was a match away from the men's singles crown at the Malaysia Open after Jan O Jorgensen pulled out of the semi-finals with an injury yesterday.

The Danish shuttler suffered a muscle injury midway through the first game, aggravating an earlier injury sustained last month after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Superseries Finals.

He called for the on-court doctor at the end of the game and tried to continue playing, but was forced to retire when 3-0 down in the second due to the pain.

"I only had 14 days of training before flying off to the Korea Open last week. It's a muscle injury and it has been acting up the last couple of days," said the world number three.

"I tried to carry on, but the pain was too much."

Chong Wei said he initially thought Jorgensen was pulling a fast one when he called for the doctor.

"I didn't expect him to retire and thought he was trying to play mind tricks," said the Malaysian ace, who will meet Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto in today's final in front of his home crowd.

"I don't feel any extra pressure going for my 10th title. I will not underestimate Tommy even though I have never lost to him."

The final will be a rematch of the BWF World Superseries Finals men's singles gold medal match which Lee won 21-12, 21-10.

Tommy had a surprisingly easy victory over Japan's Kenichi Tago, winning 21-13, 21-18.

The turning point came when Tommy's return at the net hit Tago in the face and the fifth seed took offence, even though Tommy immediately apologised.

"I don't know why he reacted the way he did. We are good friends off the court and I didn't mean to hit him. He lost his cool and I took advantage to win," explained Tommy.

Meanwhile, China are assured of winning the women's singles crown and are also in with the chance to win three other crowns.

Olympic champion Li Xuerui will take on former world champion Wang Shixian for the women's singles title after brushing aide teammate Yao Xue 21-17, 21-8. Wang Shixian, the winner in Malaysia two years ago, crushed South Korean Bae Yeon-Ju 21-9, 21-16.

The other Chinese shuttlers in the finals are Chai Biao-Hong Wei (men's doubles), Bao Yixin-Tang Jinhua (women's doubles) and Xu Chen-Ma Jin (mixed doubles). — AFP

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Federer revival underway as Sharapova struggles

Posted: 18 Jan 2014 09:17 AM PST

MELBOURNE: Roger Federer said his Grand Slam revival was well underway yesterday as he smoothly reached week two at the Australian Open, but Maria Sharapova admitted she had to improve or go out.

As cooler temperatures consigned this week's heatwave to memory, Federer swept past Russia's world number 79 Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in what is his record 57th consecutive major tournament.

Federer, with an unsurpassed 17 Grand Slam titles but now aged 32, last year lost in Wimbledon's second round and in the last 16 at the US Open, raising doubt about his ability to win more major titles.  But the Swiss, who said he was comfortable with his new, bigger racquet and with Swedish great Stefan Edberg in his corner, hoped his 2013 difficulties were now behind him.

"It was a tough year last year and it took some time to figure out what I needed to do to feel better and to get my confidence back, because that's what I thought it was mostly," said Federer, seeded six.

"For the last four to five months I feel that I'm back to normal again and at least I feel I've done the work to catch up and haven't had any setbacks, so it's very positive."

Federer, who now faces either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon, said he was happy with his first week's work in dismissing James Duckworth, Blaz Kavcic and now Gabashvili without losing a set.

"I didn't have the best of Wimbledon and US Opens last year, and I didn't want to get ahead of myself," the four-time champion said.

"Now the draw is getting extremely difficult, regardless of whether it is Jo-Wilfried or Gilles, but I'm looking forward to it… I've done the work and haven't lost a set so far."

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray continued his recovery from back surgery with another fluent win, downing Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.

Russia's Sharapova was less impressive and she struggled for a second successive match before ousting France's Alize Cornet.

The third seed, on her way back after a shoulder injury, was made to work for the win before coming through 6-1, 7-6 (8/6). She also had trouble putting away Italy's Karin Knapp in the second round.

"There are definitely things I'm going to have to improve and do better moving forward, because it only is going to get tougher," she said.  Sharapova will next play Slovakian seed Dominika Cibulkova, who beat Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro. Serb Jelena Jankovic won against Kurumi Nara, her third successive Japanese opponent, to set up a meeting with Romanian Simona Halep.

America's Sloane Stephens, a semi-finalist last year, beat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina and will next face either defending champion Victoria Azarenka or Yvonne Meusberger, who play later.

France's Stephane Robert became the first "lucky loser" to reach the Australian Open fourth round when he beat Slovakia's Martin Klizan. It was the first match between two lucky losers at this stage of a Grand Slam since 1973. Robert, 33, will now play Scotland's Murray.  And in the men's doubles, Indian-Pakistani pair Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi ended the Grand Slam comeback of British cancer survivor Ross Hutchins and his partner, Colin Fleming. — AFP

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Man United in search of old fire at Stamford Bridge

Posted: 18 Jan 2014 09:15 AM PST

LONDON: Manchester United's trip to Chelsea today represents another opportunity for the woebegone English champions to prove that they still deserve to be considered among the Premier League's leading lights.

With six defeats to their name already this season and leaders Arsenal 11 points above them, United's title defence seems all but over and they face a battle just to secure Champions League qualification.

David Moyes' men trailed fourth-place Liverpool by five points ahead of the weekend and another setback at Stamford Bridge would further compromise their chances of fulfilling the minimum requirement of a top-four finish. Their form against supposed title rivals does not augur well, as they have amassed only five points from a possible 21 in the seven games that they have played against the six teams above them in the table.

Injuries to strike pair Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie have only compounded matters, but for all United's misfortune, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes it is still too soon to write them off.

"We don't play a team that is 11 points behind the leaders. We play the champions, we play against Manchester United," Mourinho said.

"This is the way I feel. I've been too long in the game, I've played dozens and dozens of derbies and classic matches. This is what experience says.

"On many occasions the team that looks to be in the most difficult situation is the team that appears stronger in that match. That's why I view this game as especially dangerous. I've not written United off."

United can at least draw solace from a run of five wins in six league games, but Chelsea's recent form has been even more impressive.

They have climbed to third place in the table, nine points above United, by winning eight of their last 10 matches and will be bidding for a fifth consecutive victory today.

The teams played out a terse 0-0 at Old Trafford when they last met in August, but Moyes says it is hard to draw conclusions from that encounter.

"That was a difficult game for both of us that probably came a bit too early in the season," said the United manager. "We know this is going to be hard because Chelsea are very strong at home. As you would expect, they have made a strong start to the season.

"We are a little bit disappointed at not being in closer contention with the teams at the top, but we are hoping that between now and the end of the season we can do that. We want to hang in there and if we could win this game it would make people think we are not that far away."

Victory for United would certainly have a transformative effect on perceptions of Moyes's side – Mourinho has never lost a home league game with Chelsea and Moyes has never come out on top against the Portuguese.

In the continued absence of Rooney and Van Persie, United will once again turn to Danny Welbeck, who has scored six goals in his last six games, to lead the line.

Chelsea hope that Frank Lampard will recover from a calf injury in time for today's game but right-back Branislav Ivanovic only returned to training on Friday following a knee problem and is unlikely to feature.

Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic could make his second Chelsea debut, having returned to the club from Benfica this week, but Mourinho has already confirmed that he will not start the game.

"The coach has to decide, but I am ready," said the 25-year-old.

"I'm in training, I played (for Benfica) on Sunday against Porto, so I don't have any problems."

United made three visits to Stamford Bridge last season, winning 3-2 in the league in September but going down 5-4 in the League Cup fourth round and 1-0 in an FA Cup quarter-final replay. — AFP

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