Karamjit, Ong shine for Malaysia

27/12/2002

THE year 2002 brought a bounty of golden harvests for Malaysia but the
most memorable one was from rally driver Karamjit Singh.
The `Flying Sikh' set new standards for Malaysians to follow with his
mighty display at the World Circuit.
Karamjit marked monumental milestones for the Petronas EON Racing Team when he first won his second consecutive overall Asia Pacific Rally
Championship title, and then, he was crowned Production Car World Rally champion.
Karamjit is the first Asian driver ever to win the title and the first
in world rallying history to win both that and the APRC title over a
single season.
Karamjit and his long-time partner Allen Oh, looking at a once-in-a-
lifetime chance at becoming world champions going into the Telstra Rally of Australia, faced an imposing task by any standard.
With a slim lead in the championship, he had to finish ahead of
Finland's Kristian Sohlberg. He attacked on Leg One, finishing the day
35.5 seconds ahead of Sohlberg but the Finn fought back on Leg Two.
Just as Karamjit's advantage shrunk, he found the title literally handed
to him when Sohlberg retired with a broken rear suspension.
Malaysians were busy as bees this year, starting with the Hockey World
Cup where Malaysia finished a commendable eighth, then the Manchester Commonwealth Games and ending with the Asian Games in Busan.
Mohamed Hafiz Hashim, Chan Chong Ming-Chew Chun Eng, Lim Pek Siah-Ang Li Peng, Siti Zalina Osman, Ong Beng Hee, Sarah Yap, Wendy Chai, Ho Ro Bin, Siti Zalina Ahmad, Josiah Ng ... the list of gold medallists was quite impressive in 2002.
However Amirul Hamizan, who won three gold medals in the 56kg category of the Manchester Commonwealth Games, was brought down to earth in the Busan Asian Games where his 260kg total lift could only place him seventh.
But in the end, Wushu exponent Ho and lawn bowler Siti received the
Olympian of the Year 2002 because their feats were deemed as of world
standards.
Ho won the Nanquan three-events gold at the Busan Games while Siti the
Lawn Bowls singles gold at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.
The year will also go down as special to karate eponents who won five
medals at the Asian Games. The most successful sport for Malaysia in Busan was karate and credit goes to gold medallists R. Puvaneswaran and S. Premila for their confident performances. Their gold medals helped salvage a campaign that almost went wrong after spending millions.
Premila did the country proud again in the World Championships in
Madrid, Spain, when she became the first Malaysian exponent to win a
medal.
Premila, who won bronze in the Open category of the kumite event,
defeated M. Jankovic of Croatia 2-1 for the first World Championships
medal.
In squash, Ong Beng Hee will be forever remembered for his Asian Games and Asian Championships gold medals. His move to stop studying and concentrate full-time on squash paid off handsome dividends.
Two gold and two bronze was what squash targetted in Busan, but Nicol
David's shock loss in the final to Hong Kong's Rebecca Chiu latter blew up into a controversy involving her coach Richard Glenfield - but it has been settled since and Nicol can look forward to a better 2003.
Josiah Ng, although more was expected of him and he failed in
Manchester, brought some cheer to cycling in the country with his silver
in the Asian Games.
The United States-based cyclist grabbed the 200m silver medal in the
Asian Games, two months after finishing fifth in the same event in the
Commonwealth Games.
Ng confirmed his calibre as a rider of Asian class, and he has been
given the chance to progress by training at the International Cycling
Union's World Cycling Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The centre was launched in April and is only open to the world's best
young cyclists who train under UCI's top coaches and experts using the
latest technique and technology.
In gymnastics, for years the girls have kept the boys in the shadows,
but 2002 was different.
Pommel horse specialist Onn Kwang Tung created history by winning gold at the Pacific Alliance competition in Victoria, Canada. The lad grew in confidence after he insisted on competing in last year's KL Sea Games with a knee injury.
He modified his routine to make it safer to dismount from the pommel
horse, and with a bandaged limb, managed to garner enough points to help Malaysia win the KL Sea Games team gold medal.
Ng Shu Wai added points for the boys when he unexpectedly sprung a
silver in Manchester.
Shu Wai won silver in the floor exercise, scoring 9.300 points after a
start value of 9.7, from what was a very decent and simple routine with no mistakes.
Loke Yik Siang then came into the picture. Although suffering from a
shoulder injury, he came back strongly in the pommel horse to perform a
simple yet near-flawless performance for a commonwealth bronze - and make the country notice the boy gymnasts. SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS
Commonwealth Games 2002 - MEN'S BADMINTON: Mohammad Hafiz Hashim (1 gold, singles), Chew Choon Eng (1 gold, doubles; 1 silver mixed doubles), Chan Chong Ming (1 gold, doubles); Lee Tsuen Seng (1 silver, singles).
Women: Lim Pek Siah (1 gold, doubles); Ang Li Peng (1 gold, doubles).
Swimming - Lim Keng Liat (1 silver, 50m backstroke; 1 bronze, 100m
backstroke).
BOWLING - FIQ Asian Championships (Qatar) Lai Kin Ngoh, Sarah Yap, Wendy Chai, Lisa Kwan, Shalin Zulkifli, Tang Joh Six (gold, Women"s Team).
ATHLETICS - Asian Track and Field Championships (Colombo): Loo Kum Zee (1 bronze, high jump); Faiz Mohammad (1 bronze, 110m hurdles).
SEPAKTAKRAW - World Inter-Regu Championships (Singapore): Suhaimi Salim, Aznan Raslan, Firdaus Abdul Ghani, Azman Nasruddin (silver).
(END)