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HIDDEN TALENT: Japan's Hayato Goto (C, in blue) fights for the ball with Faizal Saari of Malayasia during the Sixth Men's Junior Asian Cup hockey tournament in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad July 14, 2008.EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD Faizal Shaari is in flying form, and both the senior as well as Under-18 coaches want him for tournaments in New Zealand and Myanmar, which clash.
However, a compromised was reached as Tai Beng Hai will need him for the New Zealand Olympic Qualifiers on Nov 7- 15, so K, Dharmaraj will wait for him to arrive in Yangon, Myanmar for the Second Under-18 Boys Asia Cup on Nov 14- 22.
“Teams are only allowed to field 16 players for the Asia Cup, and I will also list Faizal’s name as he can fly down from New Zealand after the World Cup Qualifier ends on the 15th.
“I will have to play with 15 players until he arrives, but it will be worth the wait, as if we qualify for the semi-finals, we will have Faizal for the crucial knock-out stage,” said Under- 18 coach K. Dharmaraj.
Seniors coach Tai Beng Hai’s mission is on priority level, as Malaysia will be involved in a do-or-die in the Invercargill, New Zealand, World Cup Qualifiers.
Only the gold medallists advance to the New Delhi World Cup, and Malaysia will be pitted against the hosts, China, Austria, Wales and Scotland.
“After watching the boys play in the Hyderabad friendlies, and then winning the Sea Cup in Bangkok, I believe we have a team which can reach the semi-finals in Myanmar,” said Dharmaraj.
The winner in Myanmar will qualify for the Youth Olympics in Singapore.
Twelve teams will play in two groups, and the coach felt that India will be Malaysia’s biggest hurdle.
“I have been told that India and Malaysia are in the same group, while Pakistan and South Korea in another group. If it is true, then we should be able to reach the semi-finals, and Faizal will be an asset in the semi-finals onwards,” said Dharmaraj as the groupings have yet to be endorsed by the International Hockey Federation.
The other teams who have so far registered with the Asian Hockey Federation are Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan and Uzbekistan.
Faizal scored eight goals in the Junior World Cup, and since then, has shown great improvement when fielded in the Champions Challenge II, and the Australian and New Zealand Tours where he also got his name on the score boards.
Rediff.com
Ninety-two year old marathon runner Fauja Singh has signed a deal with Adidas for a major advertising campaign that also features footballer David Beckham, rugby ace Jonny Wilkinson and boxer Laila Ali, daughter of Muhammad Ali.
From this week, Fauja's face will adorn billboards in cities across the United Kingdom as part of a campaign called 'Impossible is Nothing'.
In athletic terms, Fauja admits he is a "late developer".
Fauja SinghFor the first 81 years of his life he lived on the family farm in India, jogging regularly "to get from one place to the next", The Times, London, reported on Tuesday.
Before the Second World War he took part in village sports competitions, in which, he recalls, being faster than many of his neighbours.
But at 36, family commitments took over - he now has four children, 13 grandchildren and five great grandchildren - and his running came to a halt.
After his wife's death, however, when he moved to England to live with his son 11 years ago, Fauja rediscovered his old passion.
Trying to cope with homesickness, language problem and endless hours to fill, Fauja sought an activity that would fulfill him mentally and physically. He found solace in running.
Initially he took part in short-distance races of five or ten kilometers. Four years ago, after a 53-year break from the sport, he lined up for his first Flora London Marathon at the age of 89. He took six hours and 54 minutes to reach the finish, and the following year ran the same time to set a world record for 90-year-olds.
Since 2000, Singh has persistently defied perceived wisdom about age being a barrier in sport by getting faster.
Last year, aged 92, he ran almost an hour quicker than he did on his debut at the 26.2 mile distance, finishing the Toronto marathon in 5 hrs 40 min, the fastest time yet recorded by someone of his age.
This year's London Marathon next month is his immediate focus, but his ultimate goal is "to enter the Guinnes Book of Records as the oldest ever to run the distance".
That means competing until he is at least 98.
Singh turns 93 next month and will be the oldest man ever to line up for the London Marathon.
But competition in the senior age groups is growing. Of 33,000 finishers in last year's race, 1,130 were over 60; more than 6,000 competitors take part in the biannual World Veteran Athletics championships.
Fauja Singh hopes to return in 2009 to break the record for the oldest marathon runner - presently held by a 98-year-old Greek athlete.
His profile as found in the face book
Born: 1st April 1911 in India
Former Occupation: Farmer
Running Career: Rediscovered at age of 81
Diet: Ginger Curry
Marathons: London (5), Toronto (1), New York (1)
Marathon Debut: London, 2000 aged 89
London Marathon Personal Best: 6h 2m
London Flora Marathon 2000 6 Hours 54 m
London Flora Marathon 2001 6 Hours 54 m
London Flora Marathon 2002 6 Hours 45 m
Bupa Great North Run (Half Marathon) 2002 2h 39m
London Flora Marathon 2003 6h 2m
Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2003 5h 40m
New York City Marathon 2003 7h 35m
London Flora Marathon 2004 6h 7m
Glasgow City Half Marathon 2004 2h 33m
Capital Radio Help a London Child 10,000m 2004 68m
Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon 2004 2h 29m 59s
MALAYSIAN Hockey Federation (MHF) president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, in saying "nobody is indispensable", accepted Ismail Abu's decision to resign from the national team yesterday.
Tengku Abdullah chaired the MHF management committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur and they accepted Ismail's resignation and imposed a fine on Azlan Misron and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin.
However, MHF did not announce the amount of the fine.
Azlan Misron (left) and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin had broken curfew while in centralised training (Azlan, left, and Tengku Ahmad)
for the Champions Challenge II in June.
Azlan Misron (left) and Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin had broken curfew while in centralised training for the Champions Challenge II in June.
Azlan and Tengku Ahmad had broken curfew while in centralised training for the Champions Challenge II in June.
Ismail Abu, 25 and with 120 caps, came under the spotlight when he skipped weights training on Monday with the excuse of wanting to repair his car, but was seen instead at a gaming arcade.
Ismail then preempted the management's decision by sending in his quit letter to team manager George Koshy.
"We have to educate our youth, and since nobody is indispensable, we accept Ismail's withdrawal letter and place our faith on others to take his place for the (World Cup) Qualifier," said Tengku Abdullah.
Tengku Abdullah said Ismail stated in his letter that he withdrew because of personal matters, and MHF will not dwell on the matter further.
Malaysia will play in the New Zealand World Cup Qualifier on Nov 7-15, with only the winners going to the New Delhi World Cup.
The others in the group are Wales, China, Scotland and Austria.
The committee were briefed by national coach Tai Beng Hai and Koshy before reaching their decision.
“Actually, we were only briefed on the decision that was taken by the team management and we endorsed it as we felt that if the issue is allowed to drag on, it will only spoil the team's final preparation," said Tengku Abdullah.
“Every player must be able to fit into the team, and must have the desire to play for the country. It will be a waste of good talent but at the same time, we must have faith in the others who are in training."
The final 18 will be named after the Australian Test matches and the team will leave for New Zealand on Oct 31.
Azlan Misron scoring a super goal in the Hamburg Masters in 2008.
THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) must not forget that ‘boys will be boys’, when they preside over the antics on Malaysia’s top strikers in the Management Committee meet ing today.
MHF office-bearers must also keep in mind that when boys are placed in a camp for a prolonged period, mischief is bound to surface.
And mischief is how this scribe would describe Azlan Misron, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin and Ismail Abu’s mis adventures that brought shame to their otherwise good conduct in training and tournaments.
Azlan, who had been entrusted with the skipper’s arm band before, and Tengku Ahmad are said to have broken curfew when in training for the Champions Challenge II in June.
Ismail Abu excused himself from weights training to repair his car but was found in a gaming arcade instead.
Today, the Management Committee will listen to what the coaches have to say about the three players and decide if they deserve a rap on the knuckles for being boys, or are referred to the disciplinary board for punishment.
But the discussion must not only focus how to punish the trio, but also have a look at the centralised training or camping system that Malaysia have been practicing for the past decade.
Players like Chua Boon Huat, 29, have spent the majority of their life for the last 10 years in and out of training camps, which sad to say, have yet to land Malaysia a single gold medal even in major qualifiers.
National coach Tai Beng Hai is all for centralise training, as through experience he knows that de-centralising players will see a drastic drop in fitness as Malaysian players are well-known for being a lazy lot when it comes to breaking sweat.
But even Beng Hai admits that more can be done to break the monotony of being in camp, but because of back-to-back tournaments, he never had the time to inject adventure this season, but has plans to make it more exciting next year.
Just ask him for his input and ideas, instead of punishing the coach by placing an axe near his neck, as a bizarre incentive to win gold in the New Zealand Qualifier.
Then there is confirmation from many players, after a random poll, that they are fed-up with team-mates who do not take training seriously, especially the fitness part.
The players lamented that those who do not take training seriously still get selected, and these are the players who throw in the towel in the first half of a match even though Malaysia are only losing by one goal, leaving only a handful carry their load.
They seem to feel that since there are very few talent in the reserve pool, they will be selected for the next tournament anyway.
So, while boys will be boys, the MHF officials must be man enough to look into the bigger picture on why curfew was broken and why Ismail decided to play truant, and why there is discontent among players in the final phase for an important Qualifier.
Lets take a leaf from the Disco 10 episode in 2003, which also involved Tengku Ahmad.
The Disco 10 were banned for one year by the MHF DB for breaking curfew during the FIH Under-21 tournament in Gneizno, Poland in Aug 2003.
But after an appeal by then juniors coach Sarjit Singh, they were given a life-line to play in the 2004 Junior World Cup and some of them like Kelvinder Singh and S. Selvaraju, are now pillars in the national seniors.
Lets be man enough to admit and rectify the shortcomings, and work for gold in New Zealand.
I had the misfortune of watching India beat Argentina 6-1 in the 2001 Junior World Cup finals in Hobart, Australia.
Together with me in Hobart were Malay Mail journalist Johnson Fernandez, Berita Harian journalist V. Ashok and Star journalist S. Ramaguru.
Ironically, there was not a single reporter from India covering the tournament in Hobart, while Malaysia had four journalists. India gold, and Malaysia 12th.
Here is what the India press wrote ... (Hobart (Australia), October 21
Propelled by a brilliant hat-trick by Deepak Thakur (pic), India’s ‘glory boys’ destroyed Argentina 6-1 to take home the junior World Cup for the first time in the country’s hockey history.But in reality, the Indian glory boys were actually men, some looked like they were 24-years-old, and one actually wore the number 34 on his jersey.
Naturally, the Argentine boys never had a chance in the final.
Everybody new about it, the FIH, Indian hockey officials, Asian Hockey Federation and even the janitor at the stadium who lamented 'big boys in Indeeea'.
Finally, India have started to x-ray their players, a little too late to undo the damage to their reputation.
There were also two players in the 2001 squad who warmed the bench and never played at all. When asked why bring them for the world cup, an official replied: "They are children of our sponsors."
Selection is biased, which is another well known fact, and that is what India need to rectify next to make their team stronger. Select on merit, not money... Wikepedia: The Indian rope trick is stage magic said to have been performed in and around India about the 1800s. Sometimes described as "the world’s greatest illusion", it involved a magician, a length of rope, and one or more boy assistants.
HIDDEN TALENT: Japan's Hayato Goto (C, in blue) fights for the ball with Faizal Saari of Malayasia during the Sixth Men's Junior Asian Cup hockey tournament in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad July 14, 2008.
