Foul!

As published in Sunday Mail Murthy looks at the ruins of his house. - Picture by Azneal Ishak (Malay Mail) By R.Loheswar loheswar@mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR — It will not be a Happy Deepavali for golfer S. Murthy as he woke to news of his house having burnt down in the early hours of   Thursday . Murthy was playing in the Perlis Closed which began   on Wednesday . He carded a 76 and looked in good nick to make the cut. When he awoke at   6.30am   on Thursday   he saw he had more than 40 missed calls. “I immediately called my sister and she said the house had caught fire in the wee hours of the morning,” said a dejected Murthy, who represented Malaysia from 1990 to1996.  “We (Murthy and his wife) immediately drove back to Banting.”  The source of the fire is unknown but early indications are a faulty socket might have been the cause. No one was hurt, but Murthy’s father Somasundaram Sadayan, 69, was in the hous...

As published in Mailsport on Dec 6 Comment by Graig Nunis gnunis@mmail.com.my PETALING JAYA — The old saying “it is all fun and games until someone gets hurt” holds true for the Women’s World Squash Championship. The attempt by Hallmark Events Group to “blackmail” the sports ministry into giving them RM3.5 million for “security arrangements” is a prime example of how badly we need a strong sports commissioner to uphold the Sports Development Act 1997. Hallmark cited security reasons for postponing the Dec 11-18 tournament but in an email reply to Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, they had admitted they do not have enough funding. Khairy said the organisers told him: “We can still organise this next week if you give us RM3.5 million for private security arrangements.” Khairy rightly shut them up, saying: “I don’t appreciate being blackmailed, especially after they had used security as an excuse and painted Malaysia in bad light when they admitted they had decided to pos...

As published in Malay Mail today Comment by Loghun Kumaran Picture by Farhan Najib mmsports@mmail.com.my AS the wooden tracks at the Velodrome Rakyat in Ipoh lie rotten like the ruins of an ancient village house, the only things that seem to cycle around are the blame game and excuses. For the last two years, the velodrome, built 26 years ago, has been left at the mercy of the elements without adequate maintenance. It was declared unusable in 2013. Could its present state been avoided? Yes, it’s just that no single authority assumed responsibility for its upkeep. And while fingers are being pointed at each other, Malaysia’s first velodrome — built on public donations — continues to rot away. Mailsport exposed its condition last month. On Monday Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin blasted the state government, Malaysian National Cycling Federation and the Perak Cycling Association (PCA) for neglecting the velodrome. These bodies, including Ipoh City Council (MBI) and ...

Here are two views about the subject. One is by veteran sports journalist Tony Mariadass while the other is by Malay Mail sports editor Graig Nunis. What are your views? Search in our own backyard By Tony Mariadass (March 23, 2015) IT is unimaginable national football coach Dollah Salleh — having come from an era of talented home grown players — is keen on naturalised players.  During Dollah’s time, he had Johor teammates such as goalkeepers Salleh Noor and Hassan Miskam and midfielders Khalid Shahdan, Nasir Yusof and Sazali Naseer alongside him in the national team. He also had for company players like Zainal Abidin Hassan, Salim Mahmud, Serbegeth Singh, K. Gunalan, See Kim Seng, Chow Siew Yai, Lee Kin Hong, S. Silvarajoo, K. Ravichandran, Ahmad Yusof, Azizol Abu Haniffah, S. Balachandran, A. Anbalagan, P. Somasundram and P. Ravindran to name a few.  For him to say the current players do not have the right mentality, are not matured, lack phys...

As published in Mailsport today MICK JAGGER and the Rolling Stones once sang  You can’t always get what you want . This is so true in life and especially so in sports. Most people want a better life, higher pay (without actually doing any work), bigger house, luxury car or big bike, prettier spouse, and to be healthier and slimmer without having to work out or watch what they eat. They feel the world owes them a living and if they don't get what they want, they rant, rave and rage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms. Well,  You can't always get what you want . Similarly, sports fans want their favourite player or players to remain with their club forever (please don't go Stevie G), their team to win all the titles they contest and their archrivals to suffer demotion, shame and shock defeats. They will proclaim their team, manager and players as paragons of virtue, who never cheat, dive, pull shirts or use underhand ...

Going Nuts, by Graig Nunis - as published in Mailsport today A WEEK ago an old colleague brought a copy of the  New Straits Times  (NST) to the office. Nothing strange about that except it was dated July 9, 1996 and back then,  Malay Mail  was under the NSTP group. Ian Pereira, 73, who last month was inducted into Olympic Council of Malaysia's (OCM) Hall of Fame thought it would be a good idea for the younger journalists to see what a newspaper looked like nearly 20 years ago. What caught the eye was the back page picture which featured a streaker (her bottom blacked out and front partially facing away from the camera) running across the pristine Wimbledon grass courts. Nowadays, we might get in trouble if we show a little cleavage or belly button while recently NST even pixelated armpit hair! Hugging is apparently OK – but not if done by K-pop stars! How times have changed. Well, not everything. Take the BA of Malaysia (BAM) for exampl...

Going Nuts by Graig Nunis, as published in Mailsport today. SOME Malaysians are going ga-ga over Astro’s new Hits channel which replays popular shows from the 1980s with many enjoying the campy, crappy, over-the-top and just plain silly The A-Team. The show is about a group of former American Special Forces who help the downtrodden and the oppressed (while eluding the long arm — or in this case, short arm of the law). Throughout the show’s four seasons, the heroes fired thousands of rounds of bullets without killing anyone — a little like Liverpool’s strikers who as the old joke goes, wouldn’t be able to score in a brothel! Campy, crappy, over-the-top and just plain silly could also best describe FA of Malaysia (FAM). Just when you thought things could not get any worse after the Malaysia Cup fiasco when the biggest local football match had to share the vicinity of the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil with a Buddhist prayer event and a Sarawak carnival — making life...

As published in Mailsport today By Wan Noriza Meor Idris mmsports@mmail.com.my NATIONAL swimming queen Khoo Cai Lin has a secret only people close to her know about Initially she grew up despising the sport!  "My involvement in swimming started at the age of three when I was forced into the pool at Petaling Jaya’s Kelab Syabas by my mother,” recalls Cai Lin. “I really disliked swimming and the pool at that time. It was like my scariest nightmare. I dreaded getting into the water but my mom insisted on taking me there. "When my elder sister Cai Lian got diagnosed for asthma, she was advised to swim. My mother dragged me along for company.  “But now, I thank my mother for forcing me to keep to swimming. Thanks a million Mum!"  Undying passion for the sport A Christmas baby, Cai Lin gradually fell in love with the pool and swimming allowing the sport to now play a big part in her life. "When I started enjoying what I was doi...

As published in Mailsport today By Nicolas Anil nicolas@mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR — World No 1 Lee Chong Wei confirmed he is suing Razif Sidek for alleging he has been using banned substances for a long time. The former national shuttler Razif had told Kosmo on Nov 11 that several Badminton Association of Malaysia officials were aware Chong Wei has been taking banned substances for some time, but kept mum as he is the world’s top shuttler. He also alleged Chong Wei hired a foreign doctor to treat him. “My lawyer sent him a letter a few days ago and we will settle this matter in court. He (Razif) had called me to apologise after receiving the letter, but what’s done is done,” fumed Chong Wei, who had tried without success to contact Razif when the story first broke “I can’t let this go because he defamed me. “As a former shuttler, I’m sure he knew better than to make false allegations against me — especially during these trying times. He has hurt not only me, but the entire cou...

Going Nuts as published in Mailsport today WRESTLING was once described by respected English journalist James Lawton as finely orchestrated fake violence — with real injuries. He forgot to mention the compelling drama, brilliant scripts and formidable actors aka the wrestlers who make docile grandmothers scream and spit at their television sets while watching the “action” unfold. Wrestlers can be the face (good guys) one day and heel (bad guys) the next and there doesn’t have to be a reason why one switches from one character to another. Similarly, Azmin Ali was seen as a “heel” when he took over from Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor menteri besar two months ago. Since then, however, the 50-year-old Gombak MP has gone on a charm offensive in a bid to become a “face”. His recent move to give the state’s 12 opposition MPs RM200,000 each to use for their constituency plus a Toyota Camry worth RM200,000 to opposition leader Datuk Mohd Shamsudin Lias including...

As published in today's Mailsport Reports by Vijhay Vick vijhay@mmail.com.my SINGAPORE - Mahali Jasuli hopes to end Malaysia's jinx when they play Myanmar today.  “We need a positive start. If we drop points it could cause us problem when we face Thailand and Singapore, who are the favourites to reach the semis,” said Mahali, who is aware  Malaysia lost their last two opening matches in the AFF Cup in 2010 and 2012.  “A win over be the perfect booster after poor results in our recent matches. It will ease some pressure as well." Mahali would likely start at rightback as Dollah Salleh's preferred choice Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak was left out due to injuries. Mahali also stressed they must not let the poor preparations affect them. Harimau Malaya only have one win - 4-1 over lowly Cambodia - from five preparation matches since August. They lost to Tajikistan (4-1), Indonesia (2-0), Syria (3-0) and Vietnam (3-1). “Our results i...