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Archery coach looks far but aims low BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sports - New 2 Borneo

Archery coach looks far but aims low

Posted: 28 Apr 2014 11:57 AM PDT

by Matthew Umpang, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on April 29, 2014, Tuesday

KUCHING: The state's archery coach Abdul Razak Yaacob has set a modest target of a single medal of any colour in Sukma XVII to be held in Perlis from May 25 to June 4.

His expectation came as a surprise as in the last Sukma in Pahang the state's archery team finished among the top with three gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

Abdul Razak explained to The Borneo Post yesterday the team he was preparing for the coming games was one for the future as none of the archers who competed in Pahang had been retained.

He added the present state team members were young enough to be eligible for the 2016 Sukma which would be hosted by Sarawak as they would be still under the age limit of 21 then.

"Sarawak must continue to search for new talents as the state's achievement in Kuantan in 2012 is now history. We cannot rely on the archers who competed for the state two years ago forever," he said.

The coach added that placing too much pressure on the young inexperienced archers to deliver the medals against a field seasoned archers from other states might affect their performance.

"I dare not place such high hopes on this new batch of archers as they need more time to develop. For me, just one medal of any colour, be it gold, silver and bronze will do for me.

"All of the state's archers are also aware that they are up against the top archers this year, especially those from Negeri Sembilan who in my opinion are masters of the recurve events."

Abdul Razak disclosed that least four archers competing in the 16th Sarawak Outdoor Archery Championship organised by SMK Tabuan Jaya from April 23 – 27 would be called up to join the state Sukma team.

"I have yet to finalise the list as I am still reviewing their performances (during the tournament). I however have identified a few of them so far," he added.

The selected archers are required to report themselves for training in Miri as soon as possible where the state archers are undergoing centralised training.

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SLTA eyes record number of tournaments this year

Posted: 28 Apr 2014 10:12 AM PDT

KUCHING: Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) president Dato Patrick Liew is grateful that all tournaments organised by the association so far this year have been a success.

According to him, it had been a very busy year for SLTA so far and the association still had nine tournaments more to go for the rest of the year.

Liew said if SLTA managed to hold all the tournaments in its schedule this year it would be a record for the association.

"We have never organised more than six tournaments before, but we are going for it this year. I believe that the association and all its committee members have enough firepower to oversee all these challenges," he added.

The association had been one of the most active sports associations in the state having organised international tennis tournaments in the state every year since Liew took over as SLTA president in 1998.

Liew too admitted that it was not easy to organise an international tournament as there were standards and requirements that the association had to comply with.

"As for SLTA, there is no problem for us so far. We have enough experience to cope with the pressures of organising an international tournament," he said.

He was speaking to The Borneo Post during the opening ceremony of the ITF Asia/ Oceania Zone Junior Davis Cup Grand Finals Qualifiers tournament yesterday at the SLTA Headquarters tennis courts.

During the ceremony, Liew in his speech hoped international players and officials taking part in the tournament would enjoy their time here in Sarawak and that they would take the time to get to know the state better apart from competing in a tournament.

The opening ceremony was also attended by representatives from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and SLTA officials.

Meanwhile 16 teams from 16 countries will battle it out at the SLTA Headquarters tennis courts starting from yesterday to May 3 for the four slots to represent the Asia/ Oceania region at this year's Junior Davis Cup grand finals in September.

The Junior Davis Cup Grand Finals will be held in Mexico this year.

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SS fighters dominate the ring at muaythai tourney

Posted: 28 Apr 2014 10:11 AM PDT

KUCHING: Team SS Fighters dominated the Sarawak State Level 1Malaysia Youth Carnival Muaythai Tournament at the Sarawak Youth and Sports Complex last Sunday, winning nine out of 15 bouts of the tournament.

SS Fighters team manager Sulaiman Salleh said he was satisfied with the performances of his boxers even those who lost their fights.

"They have shown good improvement and I am glad they applied whatever they have learned during training," he added.

He added that team SS Fighters had been training under experienced coaches at the their SS Fighter Muaythai Club gym.

"We have trainers imported from Thailand who are specialised in training muaythai fighters. They have done a great job with (to train) our local fighters," said Sulaiman.

Sulaiman said several outstanding boxers from the club would be sent to Thailand for further training.

Kuching Muaythai Association (PMK) Jumaat Ibrahim was also at the Sarawak Youth and Sports Complex to witness all the bouts in the tournament.

"Most of the fighters who are competing today are new fighters. I hope some of them, if not all, would be good enough to represent the state one day," he said.

Those who won their bouts during the Sarawak State Level 1Malaysia Youth Carnival Muaythai Tournament were: Dolphina Walter Tony (SS Fighters), Mohd Danyal Mohd Iqmal (SS Fighters), Ayu Azrynna Azmi (Kenyalang Muaythai Club), Amos Winter (SS Fighters), Ayu Azizzy Azmi (Kenyalang Muaythai Club), Padrick Obrian (Lundu Muaythai Club), Mustaza Sidi (TMG Bintawa Muaythai Club), Oilver McAdam (Lundu Muaythai Club), Fais Rabiee (Kenyalang Muaythai Club), Mohammad Khairuddin Hasbi (SS Fighters), Khairul Akmal Khan (SS Fighters), Andi Hian (SS Fighters), Muhd Fakhri Nasrullah (SS Fighters), Mohd Wazirul Naziman (SS Fighters) and Shafilaluddin Nordin (SS Fighters).

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Pandelela bags bronze medal in third leg of World Series

Posted: 28 Apr 2014 10:10 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: National diving queen Pandelela Rinong claimed a bronze medal in the third leg of the 2014 FINA Diving World Series held at the London Aquatics Centre in the United Kingdom, early yesterday.

According to the FINA website, www.fina.org, the 21-year-old Sarawakian accumulated 380.70 points in the women's 10m individual platform to bag the bronze medal.

She however failed to emulate the silver medal feat that she had achieved in the previous two legs held in China from March 14-16 and UAE (March 20-22), respectively.

Winner of two gold medals in the 2012 London Olympics Games, China's Chen Ruolin continued her splashing performance by accumulating 400.55 points to win the event, followed by Canadian diver, Meaghan Benfeito with 394.75 points to settle for the silver.

The meet will continue with the fourth leg in Moscow, Russia from May 2-4 followed by Windsor, Canada (May 30-June 1) before concluding in Monterrey, Mexico (June 6-8).— Bernama

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Sukma bowlers rule the lanes at King’s Centre

Posted: 28 Apr 2014 10:09 AM PDT

by Ting Tieng Hee, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on April 29, 2014, Tuesday

KUCHING: Sukma bowlers Daniel Tan Han Yan and Nerosha Keligit ruled the lanes at Megalanes Adventure World, King's Centre last Sunday when they captured the Open and Ladies titles of the Sarawak Closed Bowling Championships.

Daniel, who finished third in the qualifying with 3,441 pins, moved into the final after knocking down 222 pins in the semi-finals against Nazrin Wagiman's 203 pins and Nerosha's 186 pins.

Another Sukma bowler Chong Jun Foo, the winner of the Youth Boys title last weekend, was denied landing his second title in the championship by Daniel.

Jun Foo, the top seed, made the final on the merit of being the top qualifier with 3,613 pins but he lost 169-195 to Daniel in the first game of the final.

In the sudden-death game, he could not lift his game to concede the title to Daniel 170-191.

The champion was rewarded with RM2,500 and a trophy while Jun Foo received RM1,200 and a trophy.

Meanwhile, Sukma kegler Nerosha Keligit was crowned the champion in the Ladies Division when she downed 3,441 pins to finish 10 pins ahead of Youth Girls champion Jackelyn Ng Shuk Chuen.

Caroline Chien was third on 3,429 pins and the top three finishers all received a hamper, trophy and bowling ball.

In fourth and fifth positions were Jocelyna Judith Jonathan (2,886) and Nur Syafiqah Sajeli (2,825) respectively and they both received a plaque.

Amateur Tenpin Bowling Association of Sarawak president Sunny Si closed the event and gave away the main prizes.

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Three-in-a-row for Sharapova in Stuttgart

Posted: 28 Apr 2014 10:08 AM PDT

STUTTGART, Germany: Maria Sharapova claimed a hat-trick of Stuttgart titles on Sunday after coming from behind to win a three-set battle royal with Ana Ivanovic in Sunday's final.

Having won the 2012 and 2013 titles here, the 27-year-old Sharapova was made to work hard for her 13th consecutive win on Stuttgart's clay-courts for the 30th final win of her career before over-powering Ivanovic to claim a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory in just over two hours.

"That was a tough bit of work," said Sharapova, who has won all four Grand Slam titles.

"I have always believed in my chances and the fighting spirit is something that comes from within me."

This was the first time Sharapova has claimed a third title at an individual tournament and comes on the back of last year's shoulder injury.

"This time around it's been extremely tough, that's why this win is so special," admitted Sharapova.

The Russian collects the winners cheque of 96,774 euros (US$133,896) and a brand-new sports car.

"I will need to build a new garage to get all the cars in," she joked as she collected her third Porsche sports car in as many years from the tournament director.

It is the Russian's first clay-court tournament in her build-up to the French Open, having lost to Serena Williams in last year's final.

"We have seen what a great player Maria is," admitted Ivanovic.

Having been taken to three sets by the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova in her first-round match, Russia's Sharapova had swept into the final with straight set wins over compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, top-seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, then Italian clay-court specialist Sara Errani in the semi-finals.

But Ivanovic, the ninth seed, made the statuesque Russian dig deep and the 26-year-old wasted no time asserting herself over Sharapova, racing into a a 5-0 lead in the first set before the defending champion responded, but the Serbian held her serve to take the first set.

Having won her previous tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, last month, Ivanovic went 3-1 up in the second but the match's momentum turned against her when Sharapova broke her, then fought her way back to take the set.

Ivanovic had been chasing her first win over the Russian since the 2007 French Open semi-final, when Ivanovic went onto lose to Justine Henin in the final, but the Serbian ran out of steam and sixth seed Sharapova showed her experience to win 11 of the last 13 games. — AFP

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