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One more on the road for high flying Crocs BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sports - New 2 Borneo

One more on the road for high flying Crocs

Posted: 08 Feb 2014 08:35 AM PST

by Saiful Bahari. Posted on February 9, 2014, Sunday

KUCHING: Things are certainly looking up for the Crocs. The team moved to the top of the Super League (six points from four matches) after their convincing 2-0 win against PKNS FC at Stadium Selayang on Friday night.

This is the first time Sarawak have led teams in the nation's top tier in the league's 11-year history. The team proved their worth both in attack and defence last Friday.

The two goals came in the first half.

Milorad Janjus (9th minute) tapped in the ball following Ronny Harun's throw-in.

Seven minutes later, another throw by Ronny found Gabor Geypes who used his height to head home the second goal.

PKNS FC responded vigorously as expected.

But Sarawak's defence thwarted all attempts including several dangerous runs by Karlo Primorac and Patrick Ronaldinho to the final whistle.

When contacted by thesundaypost yesterday, coach Robert Alberts was full of praise for several players who were key to this victory.

Ronny Harun was influential for his input in set pieces while both Milorad and Gabor's selection for the team were paying off.

"Both Gabor and Ronny were outstanding especially in stopping the attacks from PKNS and killed off various opportunities from the opponent to score.

"We defended deep in the game as we realised that the players were tired due to the match schedule being close between each game," said Alberts.

Stand-in goalkeeper Mohd Fadzley Abdul Rahman has also coped well in Sani Anuar Kamsani's absence due to a red card and subsequent suspension.

The coach added that team members were also showing improved blending in and cooperation.

On preparation for next Tuesday's first leg of the FA Cup quarter finals against Felda United, Alberts said, "We will assess the players on Monday before deciding who will be starting on Tuesday's match."

The match will be the third away assignment for the team since they travelled to Peninsula Malaysia just before the FA Cup clash with Selangor on Feb 4.

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Effort to revive water polo takes shape

Posted: 08 Feb 2014 08:33 AM PST

by Ting Tieng Hee. Posted on February 9, 2014, Sunday

KUCHING: A group of water polo enthusiasts have taken the initiative to revive the sport in the state which enjoyed its glory days in the 1980s and 1990s.

Sarawak were the 17-time national water polo champions from 1982 to 1997.

The three prime movers in this initiative are former state players Chin Khoon Siang and Voon Yong Hui, and Heath Cahalan.

Chin was the state coach in the early 1980s while Voon took over from Chin until the early 1990s.

Voon was also a member of the national team from 1985 to 1987, national coach from 1985 to 1995 and a former national team manager.

Cahalan is a 22-year-old Australian from Wagga Wagga, Sydney who is attached with a private school as a teacher.

"We have been talking about reviving the sport for quite some time and were in the planning stage to get it going when we met Cahalan who was working out in a local gym," Chin recalled.

The trio sat down to discuss how to work things out and the first thing on their minds was to get a place to start their training programme.

"We managed to contact the Sarawak Golf Club who were very kind to allow us to use their swimming pool starting next Monday (Feb 10)," he said.

Training will be every day from 7pm to 9pm.

Chin is inviting all former water polo players and all those who are interested in playing the game to turn up on Monday at 7pm.

"We do appreciate people coming in to contribute to get the sport back to its glory days and we are also planning to set up teams to compete in national championships and Sukma," he added.

Meanwhile, Cahalan said he noticed that there are a number of swimming pools in Kuching and thought it would be good to promote water polo here.

"Water polo is very popular in Australia. It is good for health and one's well-being. Playing the game is also a good way to keep fit. In Australia, it is used as a rehabilitation and a sport in the off-season."

"In summer we play rugby and cricket but when winter comes, we turn to playing water polo."

Cahalan also noticed that football, futsal, badminton and basketball are very popular in Kuching, and he hoped that one day, water polo would enjoy the same status among the sports-loving people here.

He played water polo for seven years for Wagga Wagga and toured around New South Wales to play in competitions.

He also plays rugby for Kuching Rugby Football Club in the weekends.

"A student from that school is willing to contribute to junior development and we have the support of a few former players and swimmers.

"We hope to get at least 20 people turning up for the first training on Monday. We welcome anyone who can swim and wants to play water polo. Anyone can play and you don't know how well you play until you starting playing it.

"Even if you are unsure, come and train once and there is no pressure. It is a fast and entertaining game to play and watch and you also get to socialise where friends and family members can all come and watch the game," he added.

Those interested in the training can contact Cahalan at 010-5662109, Chin (016-8886640) or Voon (019-8886622).

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China keen to restore former glory

Posted: 08 Feb 2014 08:32 AM PST

ITEN, Kenya: It is over 20 years since Chinese women athletes took the world by storm, dominating the middle and long distance races at the 1993 world athletics championships in Stuttgart.

But as the world's most populous nation prepares to welcome the world back to its capital, Beijing, for the 2015 world championships, China is keen to restore its former glory.

A team of 16 young women athletes have set up camp in Kenya's northwestern highland town of Iten to train in ideal high-altitude climatic conditions in their rebuilding process.

After finishing seventh at the 2011 world championships in Daegu, China plummeted way down the medals table to the 22nd position at the last world championships in Moscow in 2013.

China's gruelling state training system has long been blamed for retarding development of the sport in the country, but current team leader Wang Bin believes things are changing for the better for the current generation of athletes.

"Since the reform in both economy, politics and sports, China is becoming more and more open to the world," Wang told AFP in Iten. "The reason why we come here in Iten is because the town is famous for a lot of elite athletes who are born here, and many who have come to train here including foreigners, who have gone on to register impressive results. So we have come to the most advanced place in athletics."

The Chinese Athletic Association has tapped veteran Italian coach Renato Canova, who has coached some of Kenya's greatest marathon runners and track stars, to become their national coach in the run up to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"I took the job because I am interested in understanding why the biggest country in the world was no more able to produce good results," said Canova.

But the 68-year-old Italian, who has trained athletes in Italy, Qatar and Kenya, is wary that it would not be easy to change the training system and create athletics interest in the world's biggest country, which unlike Kenya has few role models.

"It is going to be difficult to recruit new athletes because there are not so many talented athletes in China," said Canova.

"It is very rare to see children in China running from a tender age like in Kenya. Next year we have the world cross country championships in Guiyang and yet right now there is no activity of cross country in China. It is not easy. But in any case they can grow," he said.

Canova says hope may lie in the northeast province of Liaoning, which produced China's best athletes, including coach Ma Junren's 'Ma family army' who dominated the track in the 1990s. Three members of the current team are also from the Liaoning area. Canova, however, declined to speculate on whether the great results of the past were the result of doping, as many suspect.

"In the past there were suspicions about some form of doping – not only duing the period of Ma Junren – but I can say now the most clean country in the world is China because they have invested a lot of money in domestic anti-doping," he asserted.

The Chinese team includes Bai Xue, the 2009 women's world marathon champion, who is also in a rebuilding process after suffering a long injury to her tendon. — AFP

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Russian press gush with pride over ‘fairy tale’ ceremony

Posted: 08 Feb 2014 08:30 AM PST

SOCHI, Russia: Russia's press on Saturday gushed with pride over a "fairy tale" Olympic opening ceremony in Sochi, saying it restored pride to the former superpower that had been lacking for too long.

Aside from an early glitch when a giant snowflake failed to morph into one of the Olympic rings, Friday's ceremony thrilled with its feast of music and dance — taking viewers on a breathless ride through Russian history.

"A ceremony of pride for Russia," read the headline in the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily.

"We missed this for so many years… a pride for our country, a feeling for her power, unity and greatness. We missed this feeling, to be great people of a great power. Yesterday, we felt it," it said.

"Ours. Cool. A Fairy Tale," said the Sport Express daily, playing on the official slogan of the Games "Hot. Cool. Yours."

"Many of us feared that the ceremony would turn into a demonstration of might and power. This did not happen. It was humane and not just for export — it was addressed at Russians as much as foreigners," it said.

The Sovietsky Sport sports daily hailed the event. "Cool. Hot. Ours!" it said in a headline.

"40,000 lucky people (in the stadium) and billions of television viewers saw the grandiose show, the very best in the history of the Games."

"Forwards Sochi!" said the daily Kommersant. "For the country, the Games will be not so much a celebration, as a genuine experience about how to turn huge resources into future successes."

"Yesterday at 2254 (1854 GMT when the Olympic cauldron was lit) the moment came when Russia was finally at the centre of the world's attention.

"A moment of some kind of truth for Russia."

Pro-opposition business daily Vedomosti was one of few media outlets striking a more cynical note.

"The last 20 years of Olympic opening ceremonies have developed into a big industry of mass show blockbusters," it wrote.

"The Sochi ceremony was just another franchise in this series. It did not fail but did not surprise. In half a year hardly anyone will remember it but also no one will be ashamed of it." — AFP

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Chelsea relying on rival failings, says Mourinho

Posted: 08 Feb 2014 08:28 AM PST

COBHAM, United Kingdom: Jose Mourinho insists Chelsea's Premier League title prospects rest in the hands of rivals Arsenal and Manchester City.

Mourinho's side boosted their chances with Monday's impressive 1-0 victory over Manuel Pellegrini's City side at the Etihad Stadium.

But the manager maintains his team remains the weakest of the three main contenders for the championship because they are still a work in progress during the Portuguese's first season back at the club.

And Mourinho claims Chelsea remain in contention largely because of the failings of the top two.

He said: "I'm not saying we're not going to win. I'm saying we're not candidates. We're outsiders.

"We're playing in our own league, to try and improve, against ourselves. To try and get the best result against our opponents.

"We're not a squad like City's, where players are in the best moment of their careers, an age of stability between 24, 25, 26 and their 30s, all of them working together for quite a long time, a manager who arrived and the team was ready for him.

"Arsenal are the biggest example of stability, the biggest example of a manager working with players year after year, working with these guys since they were really young players: Aaron Ramsey, Bacary Sagna, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere. All working with the manager for a long time.

"We are different. We are beginning. On the first day of the next pre-season, I will say yes we are there, and we accept that people consider Chelsea as candidates. Today, no.

"We are there because we're doing very well, or because Man City or Arsenal are not doing as well as they should with the condition they have.

"We don't put ourselves at the same level as them.

"Do we dream about winning the Premier League? Of course. If not, we wouldn't play. Do we want to be there and win the next game against Newcastle? Of course.

"But we have not the same responsibilities (as City and Arsenal), that's for sure."

Mourinho, meanwhile, insists Ashley Cole has a future at Chelsea but admitted that he might be tempted to respond positively to Thierry Henry's attempt to convince the out-of-favour left-back to join him at New York Red Bulls.

Cole, 33, is out of contract in the summer and has been forced to play understudy to Cesar Azpilicueta this season.

Mourinho said: "Maybe Thierry is doing with Red Bulls the same as David (Beckham) is doing in Miami. Maybe he's buying Red Bulls.

"Yes, he has (got a future at Chelsea), but maybe Thierry has a better proposal." — AFP

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