Foul!

As published in The Malay Mail today. HARESH SAYS by Haresh Deol IT is amazing how some people will go to great lengths to highlight something that has little significance but treat achievements by their compatriots lightly. National divers Pandelela Rinong Pamg and Leong Mun Yee reclaimed the bronze medal in the women’s 10m platform synchronised diving event at the World aquatics championships in Barcelona on Monday. They won the bronze in the same event at the 2009 edition. Malaysia were among the four Asian countries to participate in the finals. The others were eventual winners China, North Korea (placed 9th) and South Korea (11th). Some 530 kilometres away from La Sangrada Familia, national paralympic athlete Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli emerged victorious in the men’s shot put (F20) at the International Paralympic Council World Athletics Championships in Lyon, France. National archers Khairul Anuar Mohamad, Atiq Bazil Bakri and Haziq Kamaruddin...

UPDATE 9.06am :Paralympic athlete Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli won the gold medal in the men's shot put (F20) final of the IPC World Athletics Championships. ----   National divers Pandelela Rinong and Leong Mun Yee ensured a podium finish in the women's 10m platfom synchronised at the World Aquatics Championship in Barcelona early this morning. Pandelela and Mun Yee bagged the bronze medal in the Spanish city known for its football team while the famous La Sagrada Família serves as the backdrop for the world competition. China pair Chen Ruolin-Liu Hui Xia won the gold medal while Canadians Meaghan Benfeito-Roseline Filion were placed second. The Malaysian duo repeated their efforts in 2009 when they also won the bronze medal in the same event then. The other two Asian teams who made it to the finals are the divers from North Korea (placed 9th overall) and neighbours South Korea (11th). On Monday, the national archers came in second after losing 209-203 to Mexico in t...

A picture of our national divers sleeping on the floor at the New York airport was uploaded by London Olympic bronze medalist Pandelela Rinong. Would you ever see a picture of an official sleeping on the floor? As SS Dhaliwal wrote, I s this how we treat our athletes? HD says: Sigh!

It was an almost predictable line-up of winners at National Sports Awards yesterday. While world No 1 Lee Chong Wei and Pandelela Rinong bagged the sportsman and sportswoman of the year titles respectively, the junior hockey team certainly surprised many in a pleasant way after netting the national men's team of the year title. Congratulations to the winners. Read the full report in Sports247. (Pic from Sports247). National Sportsman Datuk Lee Chong Wei (Badminton) National Sportswomen Pandelela Rinong   National Men’s Team Hockey Junior Squad: Amir Farid Ahmad Fuzi, Dedy Ariyadi Jumaidi, Faiz Helmi Jali Faizal Saari, Kavin Kartik Govindasamy, Mohamad Azri Hassan, Mohamad Syamim Mohd Yusof, Mohammad Izad Hakimi Jamaluddin, Mohd Fitri Saari, Mohd Hazrul Faiz, Muhammad Ramadhan Rosli, Muhammad Aslam Mohamed Hanafiah, Muhammad Noor Faeez Ibrahim, Norhizzat Sumantri, Shahrul Azaddin Aus Karzie, Shazril Irwan Nazli, Shazrul Imran Nazli National Women’s Team Sq...

What does Merdeka mean?   Pandelela Rinong - national diver, London Olympic bronze medalist “Merdeka means we are free from penjajah and we stand together as one.” Azizulhasni Awang - national cyclist “Merdeka literally means freedom from colonialization but in the new millennium, in the current context of our country, Merdeka reflects our country’s solidarity in the advancement towards being a developed nation and most importantly how we bring about the paradigm shift of our mentality to another level.” K.Rajagobal - national football coach “Merdeka holds a significant meaning to all of us. It reminds us of our grassroots and the ability to be harmonious in our country. Everybody should respect the values. Malaysia is a blessed country and we should not think of the negatives and look at the positives. It’s a country filled with colours.” Sieh Kok Chi - Olympic Council of Malaysia secretary “I’m proud and happy we have progressed so far. My beli...

This led Kedah Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang to attack BMF over Twitter. He said: “Foreign-based Bruno Manser Fund should not interfere [with] how Malaysians reward their national hero at Olympic. Please mind your own business.” The following was taken from Free Malaysia Today as seen here . The bronze medal winner was conferred the Johan Bintang Kenyalang award by the state government yesterday. Athletes turned into political tools? Let's revisit several instances that happened not too long ago. Remember when Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong paraded around Ijok during the by-elections in 2007 right after winning the All-England championships? One year ago, the time when Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat won the All England Open Badminton Championships gold medal, it was also “coincidently” the time for the Ijok by-election. Through a “timely” arrangement, they turned up in Ijok to share their joy with the voters. Read the commentary by Sin Chew Daily's Lim...

As the Olympics finally came to an end, here are some of the most memorable and not so memorable quotes from the Games. “I tried really hard and am sorry not to have won. I played better than I did in Beijing or the World Championships but it seems that I’m destined to play bridesmaid to Lin Dan." - Lee Chong Wei after losing to Lin Dan in the badminton men's singles final. "I'm sorry about that video, I know nothing about that song too, I am here to say sorry to every one, hopefully Chinese fans can forgive this." - Lee Chong Wei on Namewee's video clip which was insulting Lin Dan. "LIN DAN wins. He played better than Lee Chong AWAY." - Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M. Manoharan after Chong Wei lost in the final. "I deeply regret the comments I have made and tender my heartfelt apologies to Datuk Lee Chong Wei and his family." - Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M. Manoharan after receiving flak for his earlier comments....

Kegagalan. That was the word used by former Mailsport journo Rizal Hashim during a phoner with Sukan Awani Ekstra on Astro Awani (ch 501) yesterday. I was a guest on the said show as we discussed about Malaysia's performance at the 2012 Summer Games. Rizal had plenty to say about the powers-that-be, mainly the Sports Ministry and the National Sports Council to which I refrained from commenting and to only react by saying; "Ouch". The Road to London 2012 programme - initiated by former Sports Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob - had the 'objective' of ending the gold medal drought. It was not meant to be but some insist the RM20 million programme has "reaped its benefits" as reported here . Some may say Azizulhasni Awang failed to rise to the occasion but I know national cycling coach John Beasley would be happy with Azizulhasni's performance, given the fact that Azizulhasni bounced back from several setbacks prior the Olympics. Also, the succes...

It got many excited as London Olympic bronze medalist Pandelela Rinong is 'finally' on twitter. With a picture of her and her favourite nickname as her handle ( @LuluGDolphine ), one would have expected the Sarawakian lass to have stepped into the world of Twitter. However, a quick check by the author proved otherwise as evident in the exchange of SMS-es ( pic ). Harimau Muda A coach Ong Kim Swee has several 'pages' on Facebook and Twitter. He has denied having set up accounts on any social platforms. Parody accounts are common as even former Works minister and MIC president Samy Vellu is also seen on Twitter. So the next time you follow, like or request to add someone from such social networks, do some homework before blindly acknowledging. Otherwise, there could be a serious form of misrepresentation that could offend many in return. HD says: The price of being famous I guess.

National diver Pandelela Rinong made a splash at the London Olympics after bagging the bronze medal in the women's 10m platform final. China's Chen Roulin won the gold medal with a total of 422.30 points while Australian Brittnay Broben surprised many by playing bridesmaid after collecting 366.50 points. Pandelela, meanwhile, obtained 359.20 points to clinch the bronze. This is the nation's second medal at the Summer Games after national shuttler Lee Chong Wei netted the silver medal in the men's singles final. Congratulations to Pandelela and the coaches.

It has been a rather interesting journey leading to the up-coming London Olympics. As our athletes leave the country in batches for the Summer Games, some of them could return as national heroes. However, it has been an interesting and painful journey for some of the athletes thus far. Top national shuttler Lee Chong Wei injured his ankle and has yet to fully recover but is still touted by officials as being the best bet to net the nation's elusive Olympic gold medal. Azizulhasni Awang is eager to steal the thunder in the cycling event, having laid rather low as he trained diligently in Melbourne . Then we have shooter Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi who is already making headlines worldwide despite having yet to step foot in London as she is eight months pregnant. There are youngsters in the form of Pandelela Rinong who are eager to give it a shot while there are the "experienced few" including cyclist Josiah Ng and shuttlers Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong ...