Category: Sports

KUALA LUMPUR, It is clear from the Harimau Muda’s failure to win any of their three Group D matches and subsequent elimination from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup tournament in Doha, Qatar early today that not much homework or groundwork had been done.

The team’s capitulation raises the question among football fans nationwide as to how far the Harimau Muda squad are prepared to go to make sure they will be ready for the next edition.

A glance at the social media posts shows that most netizens viewed Harimau Muda head coach Juan Torres Garrido’s players treated the tournament in Qatar as a “holiday’.

The national squad ended their campaign by finishing at the bottom of Group D with no points after losing 2-0 to Uzbekistan on April 17, 2-0 to Vietnam on April 20 and 2-1 to Kuwait this morning (Malaysian time).

However, their failure did not come as a surprise to former national footballer Azlan Johar, who felt that the team did not prepare as thoroughly as they should have.

And
that, he said, is why the team failed to deliver the goods in all the three group matches.

“The players were not given sufficient exposure at the international level. They need more international friendlies, more playing time and more experience.

“Did the Technical Committee prepare for the tournament in detail or assume that the Under-23 side is not as important as the senior squad?

“Player selection must also be expanded and not focused on just one academy where one needs to look at at least 10,000 players to eventually produce just one good player,’ he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli, meanwhile, feels that the Harimau Muda were not given the attention they needed to gear up for such a tournament.

“Did our team think that their preparation was on par with that put in by the teams who topped their groups in the qualifiers?

“This is like doing enough to pass a trial examination and not putting in any extra effort for the final exam. Changing the ‘teacher’ (head
coach) alone is not enough,’ he said.

He said the national team should have, after qualifying for the Under-23 Asian Cup, focused on gathering players with the highest quality.

“We have many good players in the various leagues but how come we did not force them to play for the country? We can’t just take players from Mokhtar Dahari Academy (AMD) to represent the country.

“We must have a team with a clear direction, a fixed key performance indicator (KPI) and a practical and relevant time frame in terms of player development. Let’s not start preparing a team one year before a tournament because that will be too short a time,’ he said.

In yesterday’s final Group D match against Kuwait, the Harimau Muda managed to end their goal drought thanks to Haqimi Azim Rosli’s strike, although it was in vain as the national team still lost 2-1.

Malaysia, who advanced to the quarter-finals in the 2018 edition, had set the same target this time.

Only the top two teams from each group advanced to the last eight and stan
d a chance to fight for the three automatic spots in the 2024 Paris Olympics while the fourth-best team in Doha will have to take on Guinea in a playoff in Paris in May.

KUALA LUMPUR, The Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) are planning to send National weightlifter Mohamad Aniq Kasdan for a week-long training stint in Ireland as part of his final phase of training before heading for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

MWF president Datuk Ayub Rahmat said Mohamad Aniq, 21, the country’s only hope for a medal in weightlifting will train under former National weightlifter Mohd Faizal Baharom who is now based in Dublin, Ireland and employed as a weightlifting coach for a club there.

‘We will send him to get acclamatised to the weather in Ireland and train under a Malaysian coach. He might be there for a week before the Olympics.

‘Before going to Ireland, the MWF will ensure Aniq is 99 percent ready for the challenge, in Ireland it will be a stint to tie up the loose ends,’ he told Bernama.

Ayub said Mohamad Aniq who is currently undergoing training at the National Sports Council (NSC) will be going to Rompin, Pahang to undergo intensive training to beef up his technique in the Sn
atch competition under coach Edmund Yeo Thian Chuan.

He added that the Johor-born Mohamad Aniq would also be provided with supplements and vitamins from the National Sports Institute (ISN) to improve the weightlifter’s energy level and physical strength before heading to Paris.

Meanwhile, the MWF have set a medal of any colour as the target for Mohamad Aniq in Paris.

‘We have already set a weight target of 305-310 kilogramme (kg), for Aniq to lift. If Aniq can bring home a medal, it will be the highest achievement or rather success for MWF and the country, especially in the sport of weightlifting ,’ katanya.

Aniq lived up to expectations by confirming his ticket to Paris on merit after qualifying for the 61kg event after being ranked 8th in the world with a lift of 296 kg.

The last Malaysian weightlifter who competed in the Olympics was Mohd Hafifi Manor at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Eight other athletes in the list to Paris, include three track cyclists, namely Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, Muhammad Shah F
irdaus Sahrom and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri, Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif (sailing), Johnathan Wong (shooting), Ariana Nur Dania Mohd Zairi (archery) Nur Aisyah Mohd Zubir (road racing) and Bertrand Rhodict Lises (diving).

The 2024 Paris Olympics is scheduled from July 29 to Aug 11.

KUALA LUMPUR, A lack of match fitness is the main factor behind the national Under-23 squad’s failure to give their best in the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup in Qatar, said Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) technical director Scott O’Donell.

He attributed that to the Harimau Muda players’ lack of playing time and the long transition time of the Malaysia League (M-League).

Malaysia returned home without any points after losing all their three Group D matches – 2-0 to Uzbekistan, 2-0 to Vietnam and 2-1 to Kuwait.

“If we look at the statistics, not many players in this squad had any playing time with their clubs in last season’s Super League campaign…only four of them did.

“Goalkeeper Sikh Izhan Nazrel played for 2,250 minutes with Negeri Sembilan FC; Mukhairi Ajmal had 1,684 minutes with Selangor FC; T. Saravanan 1,252 minutes with Kuala Lumpur City; and Safwan Mazlan 1,063 minutes with Terengganu FC,’ he said in a statement shared by FAM today.

As for the long transiti
on time of the (M-League), he said the players had to wait a long time for the 2024/25 season to start on May 10, thus affecting their fitness levels ahead of the Under-23 Asian Cup.

As such, O’Donell stressed that FAM should look at restructuring age-group tournaments in the country so that the young players would get to play in more competitive matches.

He also hoped that the national Under-23 squad would make better use of the FIFA international window by holding more international friendlies.

“We need to give them more international exposure to play as a team and not just prepare our teams in an ad hoc manner just before the Under-23 tournaments like the AFC (Asian Cup) and SEA Games.

“If we cannot arrange an international friendly for the Under-23 team, we should at least have a training camp to give the coaches a chance to get to know the players during every FIFA international window period,’ he said.

O’Donell said he and the Harimau Muda head coach, Juan Torres Garrido will prepare a full report
on the Under-23 Asian Cup failure to be presented to the FAM National Team Management Committee.

KUALA LUMPUR, With fewer than 100 days until the 2024 Paris Olympic Games kick off, national diver Bertrand Rhodict Lises is intensifying his efforts to increase the degree of difficulty of his dives by training in different countries.

Bertrand, 19, who is currently based in Singapore (from April 15 to May 30), will continue his journey to Australia to participate in the Diving Championships in Brisbane before heading to another country in preparation for the world’s biggest sporting event.

As the only national diver at the quadrennial event, Bertrand admits feeling a bit “lonely” without the company of senior divers like Datuk Pandelela Rinong during this process, but he considers it an inevitable part of his career as a national athlete.

“I will be training in Singapore, Australia, and another country that I have not been informed of by the Malaysian Swimming Federation (MAS). I won’t be returning to Malaysia, so from that last country, I’ll go straight to Paris.

“The nervousness about going to Paris i
s there, but I am looking forward to it. This Olympics is definitely about gaining experience, but if luck is on my side, I might get on the podium,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Bernama previously reported that Bertrand had to sacrifice his participation in two 2024 Diving World Cup series events to focus on shifting from a 3.0 to a 3.7 difficulty in the back 3½ dive with pike routine.

When asked about any changes in his diet, Bertrand, who is accompanied by coach Nor Aznizal Najib in Singapore, said he is more cautious about food content and is taking supplements to boost his fitness level.

He believes all MAS plans are progressing smoothly, especially as his wrist injury has fully healed after receiving a recent platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection.

Meanwhile, MAS Technical Director (Diving) Bryan Nickson Lomas said the decision to send Bertrand to various countries was the right one, with the diver from Sarawak agreeing to the plan.

Although China, a powerhouse in swimming events, is not
among Bertrand’s ‘learning’ destinations, Bryan is confident that the diversity of other countries will be beneficial for him, potentially boosting his chances in Paris.

“We had several options, and we chose the ones that were worthwhile and beneficial. Indeed, China has complete facilities, but other countries are not far behind in terms of quality,” he said.

Bertrand is the only national diver who qualified to compete in the Paris Olympics Games in the men’s 10-metre platform event after securing his spot at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, last year.

Eight other athletes will join Bertrand, including three track cyclists, Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri; Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif (sailing), Johnathan Wong (shooting), Ariana Nur Dania Mohd Zairi (archery), Nur Aisyah Mohd Zubir (road cycling), and Mohamad Aniq Kasdan (weightlifting).

Six of them, including Bertrand Rhodict and Ariana Nur Dania, who are 19 years old, Nurul Izzah Izzati (2
1), Mohamad Aniq (22), along with Nur Shazrin and Nur Aisyah, 26, will be competing at the Olympics for the first time.

The Paris Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 26 to Aug 11.

KUALA LUMPUR, Young national track cycling star Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri has described her debut at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as a big step in her cycling career.

The 20-year-old said she did not expect her name to be listed to compete in such a prestigious sporting event, but admitted it is just the beginning of better things to come in the sport.

The Kedah-born athlete said she is determined to work hard to deliver a strong performance in Paris.

‘It is every athlete’s dream to qualify for the Olympic Games. It’s a big step for me. I hope my career will not end here; this is just the beginning for me to move forward.

‘There is still a lot I need to learn in my career; nothing is impossible, and size is not the only measure of success,’ she said in a post on her Instagram today.

Yesterday, the International Cycling Union (UCI) released the track cycling quotas for each National Olympic Committee (NOC), announcing that Nurul Izzah, along with Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and Muhammad Shah Firdaus
Sahrom had officially qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Four Malaysian cyclists will compete in the Paris games after Nur Aisyah Zubir earlier secured a spot in road cycling, making history as the first Malaysian woman to compete in a road event at the Olympics.

With this latest development, nine Malaysian athletes have officially qualified for the Olympics, The others are diver Bertrand Rhodict Lises, sailor Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif, shooter Johnathan Wong, archer Ariana Nur Dania Mohd Zairi, and weightlifter Mohamad Aniq Kasdan, who had confirmed their places earlier.