Day: June 16, 2024

KUANTAN, National sprinter Muhammad Azeem Fahmi was not a happy man despite winning the men’s 100m gold with a time of 10.43 seconds at the 2024 Malaysian Open Athletics Championships at the Darul Makmur Stadium, here tonight because he was not able to improve on his own record.

Muhammad Azeem said though he can be happy for achieving the target of retaining the title as the fastest sprinter in the country and able to compete against the best sprinters in the country, it did not provide the ultimate satisfaction.

‘I must admit that I have not been able to set a commendable time since the Asian Games last year, but my main objective here was to enjoy the competition without putting any pressure on myself but rather make the fans happy.

‘There were several factors that prevented, maybe the head wind and the fact that I have not recovered 100 percent after a hectic long journey from the United States,’ he told reporters after the race tonight.

In the race, Armed Forces athlete Jonathan Nyepa came in second
with a time of 10.54 seconds while Muhammad Efrain Feerzan Khan from Pahang clocked 10.61s to finish third.

The 20-year-old athlete from Teluk Intan, Perak who holds the National record of 10.09s, said he would try to do better and maybe set a better time when taking part in the Kazakhstan Open next week.

“My dream and target is to become the first player from Malaysia to dip under the 10s mark. It is not impossible but a lot of preparations is needed to be ready for such an assault, including good rest.

‘I am still young and hope I will be given space and time, maybe two to three years, to reach the top of my performance,’ he said.

Muhammad Azeem’s season best this year is 10.24s which he had set duringn the LSU Invitational Athletics Championships in Los Angeles on April 27.

Meanwhile, in the women’s 100m final, Zaidatul Husniah from the Armed Forces crowned herself as the top sprinter in the country by taking the gold with a time of 11.79s, followed by Nur Afrina Batrisyia Moha from Selangor with a ti
me of (11.87s) while Terengganu’s Azreen Nabila Alias came in third (12.21s).

The three-day 2024 Malaysian Open Athletics Championships which started on Friday, featured 578 athletes from 17 contingents within Malaysia and eight foreign countries, including from Australia and Russia.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

ISKANDAR PUTERI, Kelantan Darul Naim (KDN) assistant head coach Rezal Zambery Yahya was satisfied with his team’s performance despite losing to Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in an FA Cup match at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium here last night.

He said his boys showed improvement and fighting spirit to force the home team to slog for their only goal in the first half.

“For me, the players have already put up a game which we achieved what we wanted..in the first half we did try to restrain… we knew JDT would come to attack.

“In the second half in keeping to defend we lost the ball very quickly… that added more pressure on the defence and after that we were penalised with two penalties. We did bounced back after that but it was a uphill task as our attackers did not perform as planned,” he said at the press conference after the match last night.

When asked about the weaknesses that need to be improved after this, Rezal Zambery admitted that the strikers need to improve to yield more goals in the upcoming matches.

”
I think right now we are focusing on the ‘attacking side’ which means moving the whole team to focus more on attack, generate more attacks as it is important for us is to create as many opportunities (attacks)..if we did not ‘create chances’, it would be difficult for us to score goals. So for me now our weakness is the attacking side,” he repeated.

In yesterday’s match, the four JDT goals were produced by Fernando Forestieri, Romel Morales Francisco Geraldes and Arif Aiman ??who led the JDT team to the semi-finals and will meet A1 Semi Pro League team, Universiti Malaysia scheduled to take place at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium on June 28.

Meanwhile, JDT head coach Hector Bidoglio said that although his men showed a good performance in the match, there will always be room to improve the quality of the game.

“It was a difficult match, especially in the first half, the opposing team played well and it was difficult for us to find space to kick the ball in. We still managed to penetrate their goal.

“The
second half was different because in terms of the dynamics of the game we improved by moving the ball from side to side and we attacked well so overall I was satisfied with their performance today.

“I don’t like to touch on the percentage of their performance but the team is playing better week by week, there is a good improvement but we need to play better game by game,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysian badminton legend Datuk Misbun Sidek’s wishes to continue imparting his knowledge in the sport within Malaysia as the ‘country is still close to his heart”.

Misbun said his heart is not yet ‘open’ to accepting any offers from abroad to serve as a coach at the moment, though he does not rule out the possibility of doing so in the future.

‘I am still doing private coaching and consulting on how to upgrade training development (in Malaysia).

‘Offers (to coach) are always there (along with) coaxing (from abroad) but I have always been like this. Maybe in the future, we don’t know, but for now, if you want me, if you want to learn, you come (to Malaysia),’ he told reporters recently.

Previously, the Nusa Mahsuri Club based in Ampang here shared on their Facebook that Misbun had ‘drilled’ three young Thai players during an intensive training session that lasted nearly a month.

Misbun left the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) after the governing body decided on July 28 last year t
o terminate his contract earlier than scheduled.

Misbun, who was then the Director of Youth Singles Development at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM), expressed regret and disappointment as his contract was terminated without mutual agreement.

BAM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria, however, issued a public apology through a press conference and offered Misbun the opportunity to complete his original contract with ABM until the end of last year.

However, Misbun declined the offer after the conflict between him and BAM reached an amicable resolution.

Subsequently, the media reported that Misbun had received at least five offers from abroad but refused to disclose the list of countries attempting to ‘lure’ him.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Two national swimmers contributed bronze medals for the country through the men’s 1500 metres (m) freestyle event and the women’s 200m individual medley at the Singapore National Swimming Championships yesterday.

The National Sports Council in its official Instagram said the national male swimmer, Khiew Hoe Yean recorded 15 minutes 45.37 second (s) behind the Indian swimmer, Kushagra Rawat who won the gold with 15:34.31s while Ratthawit Thammananthachote of Thailand collected the silver medal with 15: 41.33s.

Meanwhile, the women’s action saw Tan Rouxin recorded 2:21.09s behind two representatives of the host country, Letitia Sim who emerged as the champion with 21:14.80s and Levenia Sim in second place with 2:18.18s.

Hoe Yean on Friday managed to garner a gold medal for the country after emerging as the champion of the 400m freestyle event, but the record was not enough for the 21-year-old athlete to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

On that day, another national female swimmer Phee Jinq En
won the silver medal in the 50m breaststroke event after recording 31.94s.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUCHING, Facilities at the Serian Convention Centre, located approximately 60km from here, have been refurbished and are ready to host the artistic gymnastics events for the Malaysia Games 2024 (SUKMA XXI Sarawak 2024).

Sarawak Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister and Tarat assemblyman, Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn said that all preparations have been completed and they are now awaiting the arrival of the athletes.

“A total of 14 categories will be contested in the event,” he said after the handing over ceremony of the SUKMA and Para SUKMA XXI Sarawak 2024 baton in Serian today.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Deputy State Secretary (Operations) and Chief Executive Officer of SUKMA XXI Sarawak 2024, Datuk Hii Chang Kee said that about 400 people comprising athletes and technical volunteers will camp in Serian for four days when the artistic gymnastics events are held.

“The people of Serian are invited to join in celebrating this prestigious competition by providing strong support to all competing
athletes,” he added.

Serian will be the venue for the artistic gymnastics events of SUKMA XXI 2024 scheduled to take place from August 17 to 24.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency