Asian Tour Kicks MPGA in Groin

(Picture is of Thongchai Jaidee)

THE Asian Tour yesterday took a broad-side sweep at the Malaysian Professional Golfers Association (MPGA), claiming that it was not interested in developing its pros. In a statement, Asian PGA executive chairman Kyi Hla Han singled out MPGA as the only golf body in the region that it has not been able to work with in its goal to develop the professional game across Asia. “Over the years, the Asian Tour has been invited to sanction professional golf tournaments in no fewer than 16 countries.

“We have worked closely with national PGAs and golf associations and subsequently helped develop the game in places like India, Thailand, Singapore, China and South Korea. “This in turn has produced great champions like Jeev Singh, Thongchai Jaidee, Mardan Mamat, Liang Wen-chong and K.J. Choi,” said Han.

“Unfortunately, the MPGA is the only organisation which we have had problems with over the years and it’s hindering the growth of Malaysian golf.”

Han said the Malaysian PGA was not representing the best interests of Malaysian golf and its players.

He also revealed that a new tournament was moved from Malaysia to Thailand earlier this year due to problems within MPGA and warned that professional golf in Malaysia could suffer as sponsors take events to neighbouring countries.

“The MPGA recently suspended over 20 of Malaysia’s best professional players like Airil Rizman, Danny Chia and Iain Steel and interestingly, these players have formed a new Malaysian players’ body,” said Han.

“As the Asian Tour is a players’ organisation, we expect the MPGA to adhere to the same principles as us and work towards enhancing the careers of their players. We are deeply disappointed that the MPGA has done very little to develop golf and is clearly not looking after the interests of Malaysian players.

“Sponsors and state governments are wary of dealing with the MPGA because of its perennial problems. Sponsors do not want the MPGA’s sanction as it does not represent Malaysia’s best players or their interests.”

The Asian Tour, Han added, has supported Malaysian players by providing country exemptions for them to play on Tour and also through places in the Qualifying School .

“Through playing opportunities on the Asian Tour, Airil and Danny have won titles in Pakistan and Taiwan and Iain has also performed very well over the last few years.

“Upcoming players like Ben Leong, S. Siva Chandran, Steven Tan and Khor Kheng Hwai are cutting their professional teeth on the Asian Tour.”

The Asian Tour has been invited by the Selangor state government to sanction the RM1 million Selangor Masters at Seri Selangor Golf Club from Aug 6-9.

A strong contingent of 32 Malaysian players will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with the stars from the Asian Tour.

The leading eight Malaysian professionals ranked on the Asian Tour will gain exemptions while another 10 players will earn places through a domestic ranking system as determined by the Selangor Masters organising committee and Asian Tour.

A qualifying tournament, opened to local professionals and amateurs with a handicap of three and below, will be held for 10 slots while four places will also be offered to the country’s leading amateurs as part of efforts to help develop golf in Malaysia .

A record nine for Australia

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AFP) - Australia defeated Spain 4-1 to win a record-equalling ninth men’s field hockey Champions Trophy title here on Sunday.
Australia assistant coach Colin Batch hailed the win which matched Germany’s titles in the tournament as useful preparation for the Beijing Olympic.
"It was an excellent tournament for us and great preparation for the Olympics and to find our Olympic squad," Batch said.
Australia will announce their Olympic squad on July 10.
But coach Barry Dancer admitted he now faces a selection headache.
"Selection was always going to be very, very difficult and this tournament has not made it any easier," he said. "I always anticipated that next week would be a difficult time for the players." Australia started with customary speed on the ball and long passes into space, creating early pressure on Spain’s defence.
Desmond Abbott came back from his one-match suspension and made amends by scoring. Eli Matheson hit the crossbar with the ball falling to Abbott’s backstick to tap into goal.
Xavier Ribas scored Spain’s only goal, throwing a penalty corner flick high to the left of Stephen Lambert in the Australian goal.
Spain pressured Australia until the break, however, Australia’s deep defenders Matthew Wells, Bevan George and Mark Knowles repelled every attack.
The match drifted away from Spain in the second half as Jamie Dwyer flicked high to the left of goalkeeper Francisco Cortes for Australia’s go ahead goal.
In the last 10 minutes Spain pressed in Australia’s defensive quarter which Australia broke twice to score.
Eddie Ockenden beat two defenders and Eli Matheson went one on one with Cortes and beat him with a backstick drive into the middle of the open goal for Australia to take the 4-2 win.
"There is a growing maturity in the group which was showing throughout the tournament and the last five minutes of the match was another indication of that maturity," Dancer said.
Spain coach Maurits Hendriks was critical of his side’s finishing.
"We started well and took the game to Australia in certain moments and created chances in front of goal but we did not capitalise on those chances," Hendriks said.
Hendriks however remains positive for the Olympics.
"Spain took important steps forward in this tournament. There is nothing better than playing against the other top teams in the world to prepare for the Olympic Games," Hendriks said.
Earlier Argentina drew 2-2 with the Netherlands in regular time, and won a penalty shoot-out 5-3, to take bronze for their best finish in the tournament.
Argentina’s three Vila brothers - Lucas, Rodrigo and Matias - Juan Gilardi and Lucas Cammareri all netted their penalty strokes for a perfect conversion rate after five attempts.
Ronald Brouwer, Rob Reckers and Roderick Weusthof successfully scored for the Netherlands but Robert van der Horst had his low flick to the left post blocked by Argentina goalkeeper Juan Vivaldi.
Argentina started without midfielder Juan Eduado Garreta who returned on the first flight home after his mother died overnight.
Team members wore black arm bands and held a banner during the playing of Argentina’s national anthem urging the Garreta family to be strong.
The Netherlands put their poor pool performance behind them, attacking from the start with Teun de Nooijer getting the opener before Mario Almada equalised in the middle of the first half.
Argentine defender Lucas Rey was suspended for tripping de Nooijer seven minutes before the break and the Netherlands’ Ronald Brouwer punished the transgression by scoring with a deflection into goal late in the first half.
After the break Argentina employed their counter-attack through Juan Lopez to surprise the Netherlands with a goal by Matias Paredes to equalise at 2-2.
Argentina had one last shot on goal as the hooter sounded and the match went into a scoreless Golden Goal extra time for 15 minutes after which the result was determined by a penalty stroke contest with five strokes for each team.
Earlier Germany scored twice in the last ten minutes to beat South Korea 3-1 and take fifth place. -- AFP

Homework, before Schools takeover

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) will ensure the quality of age-group tournaments are not compromised before handing over the baton to the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) next year.
A working paper was presented to the MSSM recently where the MHF requested the MSSM to organise all age-group tournaments from under-12 to under-18.
“We have met with MSSM officials in the presence of National Sports Council (NSC) representatives to discuss a working paper which will eventually see age-group tournaments be organised by MSSM from next year,” said MHF coaching committee chairman C. Paramalingam.
“The MSSM and NSC officials will now brief their bosses before we venture further into this plan.”
Many quarters are skeptical of the proposed move because the MSSM ran their age-group tournaments on a carnival format this year which was a rush job with many glitches and did not benefit hockey at all.
“We proposed that an under-10 tournament be held by MSSM at districts and also said we are not in favour of a carnival format. This is to ensure that quality is maintained as schools provide future national players,” added Paramalingam.
“The MHF has also agreed to provide coaches for grassroots development where there are no teachers with qualifications, as in this way systematic development can start from next year in schools.”
National Juniors coach V. Muraleedharan had said that his present batch of players, who will represent the country in the Junior World Cup next year which will be co-hosted by Malaysia and Singapore, are still shaky with the basics because the schools system did not ingrain it in them.
“The coaching committee had a discussion about that and that is why we are keen to help the schools by providing technical officials and qualified development coaches so that we can arrest this problem as soon as possible,” said Paramalingam.
The MSSN, NSC and MHF will meet again to discuss how best this plan can be turned into a reality without compromising on quality.

Age-Group Back to School

AGE-GROUP hockey is heading back to schools, as the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) feel they have too much in their stable.
The Champions School, Under-14 and Under-16 will be organised by the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) from next year.
"We had a re-look at all the tournaments that we host, and feel that age-group should be held by MSSM from next year. We will, however, still provide MSSM with the technical aspect of the game," said MHF president Tan Sri Admiral (rtd) Anwar Mohd Nor.
MHF will now concentrate on the Under-21, Junior Hockey League, Malaysia Hockey League and the Razak Cup.
The MHF had contemplated scrapping the Champions School tournament, because the MSSM wanted to re-in troduce the Premier Schools tournament.
"That would be doubling up, as Champions School and Premier School would have run in the same format, and serve little purpose in the end," said Anwar.
However, the plan might back-fire, as MSSM started a carnival format this year, which saw hockey being played over 10 days and the rush-job saw many glitches.
"It is their (MSS) players (schoolchildren), so we feel it is better they handle the age-group tournaments, while the MHF concentrates on elite tournaments from next year.
"This will make sure there is a balance in development, and elite tournaments," said Anwar.

A Bunch Of Losers

The Malaysian Juniors team are far from ready for the Junior World Cup next year.

NATIONAL juniors’ coach V. Muraleedharan has aged 10 years in the last month, as the Poland Four-Nation and European friendlies revealed that our hockey players are a bunch of losers.
And if Malaysia were made to go though a qualifier for next year’s Junior World Cup, we will not make it.
The alarm-bells have started ringing, as Malaysia will co- host the 20-team 2009 Junior World Cup with Singapore, on June 7-21.
Muraleedharan’s boys only won two out of the nine matches they played in Europe recently, and both were 3-2 and 6-0 wins against France.
Their defeats were 4-3 against Austria, 2-1 against Poland, 4-0 against Germany, 5-2 against clubside Frankfurt, 5-2 against club-side Mannheim, 2-1 against Belgium, and 6-1 against Belgium.
"The problem with this team is that they lose possession within seconds, and it is not only when they are attacking, but in midfield and defense as well," said Muraleedharan.
The European Tour has been an eye opener: "This are the best players in the country today, but they do not measure up, because the schools system has failed to hammer the basics in them.
"I have my work cut out, as the (Junior) World Cup is just a year away, and the Asia Cup will indicate where we stand in this region, before I start planning for next year," said Muraleedharan.
Muraleedharan also conceded that, unlike the 2005 Junior World Cup team, none in this present batch are capable of breaking into the senior ranks.
"The 2005 junior team team had about nine players who were knocking on the seniors doors, and then made the cut, but this batch does not show promise."
Malaysia are in Group A of the Junior Asia Cup, in Hyderabad, India on July 11-18. The National Juniors will be up against India, Japan and Singapore. In Group B are Bangladesh, South Korea, Oman and Pakistan. Thailand has withdrawn.
It will be difficult for the team to reach the semi-finals, but losing to Singapore is not an option.
"We open accounts against Singapore on July 11, and I am confident this is one match we will win. And then, we will have to beat Japan to play in the semi-finals," said Muraleedharan.

It is easier said than done, as Malaysia will not field nine 21-year-olds, who are in the ‘senior ranks’ now, in the Junior Asia Cup, as they will not be eligible to play in the Junior World Cup.