Day: May 6, 2024

IPOH, The national men’s hockey team have been advised to be more clinical in their finishing when they play top-ranked New Zealand in the 30th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (SASC) here tomorrow.

The Speedy Tigers, the defending champions and ranked world number 13, rebounded from a 4-5 loss to Pakistan in the opening match on Saturday to tame Canada 6-2 last night. Malaysia edged New Zealand 3-2 in a friendly on Wednesday (May 1).

Six players – Mohammad Fitri Saari (13th minute), Muhammad Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal (14), Azimuddin Syakir Kamaruddin (19), Nik Muhammad Aiman Nik Rozemi (31), Syed Syafiq Syed Cholan (48) and Faizal Saari (49) – scored against Canada.

However, head coach Sarjit Singh is not impressed by the scoreline, saying his charges missed many opportunities and made mistakes which caused them to concede two goals.

Sarjit hopes they will learn from their mistakes and up the ante against the world number 10 and Olympics-bound Black Sticks, who will be seeking redemption for their 1-4 defeat to Japan
yesterday.

‘New Zealand is a very good and complete side. When they put pressure on you, it will be very difficult. But it is good for our players to play this kind of matches because it is a learning process. Hopefully, we will get better and better (for the 2026 Asian Games),’ he told reporters here.

Sarjit said he did not have much time to prepare the new-look team since taking charge of the Speedy Tigers in March as they have to play in back-to-back tournaments.

After the SASC, the Speedy Tigers will be heading to the Nations Cup in Poland from May 31 to June 9 and the Asian Champions Trophy in China from Sept 8-17.

Meanwhile, New Zealand head coach Greg Nicol hopes his charges will quickly adapt to the tropical heat and be creative in their play after scoring only once from 37 circle (penalty box) entries against Japan.

‘We got to go back to the drawing board and try to beat Malaysia in front of the home crowd. All we want is a competitive tournament.

‘Against Japan, we managed to find the space bu
t couldn’t do things right in the final third. That’s something we need to improve on,’ he said, adding that the Kiwis are using the invitational tournament to prepare for the summer heat of the Olympics, scheduled for July 23 to Aug 11.

Pakistan are leading the table standings on goal advantage despite sharing six points with Japan after two matches, followed by Malaysia and New Zealand with three points each. South Korea and Canada remain at the bottom without any points.

The top two teams after the round-robin play will challenge for the title, while the third- and fourth-placed teams will play in the bronze medal playoff.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PETALING JAYA, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin has hinted at wanting to continue leading the governing body as there are missions that still need to be accomplished under his leadership.

Speaking to Bernama, the 58-year-old figure said that among the things still in focus were the construction of the National Training Centre (NTC) and the new FAM headquarters in Putrajaya.

He said he also wanted to see the Harimau Malaya squad create history by advancing to the third round of the World Cup Qualifying campaign for the first time.

“People are asking me to step down, they don’t know the real situation, so I am not influenced by that. My interest in football is what keeps me here.

“So let the matter (regarding the position) follow the procedures according to the existing rules, next year there will be elections, I’m okay, whoever wants to compete can compete,” he said during a special interview session with Bernama at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya here, today.

At the same
time, Hamidin, who has been FAM president since 2018, said his decision to continue leading the parent body also depended on the requests from affiliate members.

Meanwhile, he denied that he would only step down after seeing all his legacy plans come to fruition.

“Not necessarily, I will leave when the time comes,” he said.

There have been recent calls for Hamidin to step down due to alleged dissatisfaction with his performance as president following the emergence of a poison pen letter denigrating FAM’s leadership and management at the end of March.

The local media has linked several names with the position of late, including Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz and former youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin, both of whom have experience in FAM.

Also linked to the top position at FAM are two individuals from the corporate world, namely Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din and Malaysia Aviation Gr
oup Bhd (MAG) group managing director Datuk Captain Izham Ismail.

Khairy and Tengku Zafrul have both dismissed their interest in the position due to their current commitments while Mohamad Salim declined to comment on the matter.

The FAM Election Congress for the 2025-2029 term is scheduled for next year.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PETALING JAYA, The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) will take additional security measures to ensure the safety of players in the National team (Harimau Malaya) during centralised training and representing the country.

FAM president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin said the additional security measures would include the safety of players when attending centralised training, during match day and when they are overseas on official duty.

The measures taken is to ensure safety of players remain at the optimum level, especially after the recent attack by unknown assailants on two national players, namely Muhammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid and Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim.

‘We have notified the police officer responsible for security during national team assignment to be alert of players’ movement. Does not matter whether here or overseas, safety and security of players must be priority.

‘The same security and safety procedures will have to be adhered during centralised training camp. We do have a police officer who look
s after the safety and security of the players in the team. Maybe we need to add on,’ he said during a special interview with Bernama at Wisma FAM, Kelana Jaya, here today.

Hamidin urged everyone to remain calm and not speculate by linking the two attacks involving Muhammad Akhyar and Mohamad Faisal to bookies or syndicates involved in football betting.

‘I am not certain if the attacks were planned or otherwise. The matter is beyond my knowledge. I am concerned with what has happened,’ said the 58-year-old Hamidin who is also a FIFA Council member.

Meanwhile, Hamidin did not rule out the possibility that Mohamad Faisal or better known as Mickey would miss the remaining two Group D matches in the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asia Cup Qualifiers against Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan next month.

‘Based on my visit and info received yesterday, he (Mohamad Faisal) may require at least two to three months to recover fully,’ he said.

Yesterday, the local football fraternity was shocked by news that Selangor FC player Mohamad Fa
isal was a victim of an acid attack at a shopping mall in the Klang Valley and believed to have suffered burns on the neck, shoulder, hands and chest.

It was the second incident involving a National player after Muhammad Akhyar who has since joined Terengganu FC on loan from Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) was attacked and robbed by two assailants on Thursday.

The 25-year-old player suffered injuries to his head that needed stitches after he was hit with a blunt object by the assailants who managed to escape.

Mohamad Faisal and Muhammad Akhyar have been instrumental in Harimau Malaya’s build up to the Qualifiers scheduled at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil next month.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, National women’s squash ace S. Sivasangari has been honoured as the Athlete of the Month for April by The World Games in recognition of her remarkable achievement at the inaugural London Classic where she emerged champion by defeating top-ranked players, last month.

According to The World Games Facebook post tonight, the recognition stemmed from her inspirational journey of overcoming adversity to achieve remarkable success after a challenging incident.

‘World Number 13, Sivasangari Subramaniam won the prestigious GillenMarkets London Squash Classic, beating world number one Nour El Sherbini in the quarter-final, world number four Nele Gilis in the semi-final and world number two Hania El Hammamy in the final.

‘And all these only two years after she was in a life-threatening car crash, where her head, spine and neck were badly injured and doctors feared she might never walk again. Well, she walks – and she wins,’ according to the statement.

As The World Games Athlete of the Month, Sivasanga
ri will receive a diploma and a branded gift.

Last Saturday, PSA World Tour named Sivasangari as the PSA World Tour Players of the Month for April.

In 2022, Sivasangari suffered life-threatening injuries in a traffic accident here which kept her out of the Commonwealth Games and caused mobility issues in her neck.

The national number one now looks back to her best, with her London Classic title, the first Gold-level event won by a Malaysian since the great Datuk Nicol Ann David in 2015.

Last year, Sivasangari also won two gold medals at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in October as well as the PSA World Tour Bronze-level Hong Kong Football Club Open crown in November.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency