Chong Wei is Malaysian badminton and Malaysian badminton is Chong Wei

The Denmark Open confirms something which rankles my mind that Malaysia is just Lee Chong Wei in badminton and vice versa.

My predictions also that Koo Kien Kiet-Tan Boon Heong are slowly moving in a free fall direction couldn’t be further than the truth. After a Macau Open win in a rather weak field the Danish Open once again displayed that the same pair we saw last year is yet to be found.

We don’t know why then can lose to a scratch pair, well maybe, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) can come up with a better answer.

Oh, back to Chong Wei, no Chong Wei means no semi finalist (minimum benchmark) in any Super League tournament. Look at Hafiz Hashim, not good enough at the international level but better than most back-up players in the country.

This is something BAM must address, a dearth of decent singles players and the continued dismissal form of Kien Keat and Boon Heong. At the rate we are going, we can only watch Chong Wei playing for Malaysia’s glory while the rest are early round casualties.

Ajit the Horseman

There seems to be few or maybe non-existent Equestrian writers in the local fraternity since the heady days of Mustapha Kamaruddin interviewing a horse after winning a gold at the 2001 SEA Games!

Enter Ajitpal Singh of NST and I think he is slowly becoming a horse specialist and also a tennis specialist writer।

Well keep up the good work and quit horsing around when possible. Other than being a horseman, maybe you should take up tennis since rumour has it you are quite a good badminton player. Only difference is one uses a cock while another uses a ball!

Letter to New Straits Times

Managed to get my letter out in the New Straits Times, date - 28 October. Not to say that Mohamed bin Hammam will read my letter but probably can get like-minded people like me to protest against this type disrespectful treatment towards AFC which he thinks was formed by Arabs and is for Arabs.

Don't realise AFC belongs to all Asians, not just a select few!

Here is the Letter...

Football quarrel: Let AFC move elsewhere By : GARY MARK NAGAN, Puchong, Selangor
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IT is sad but true that things are slowly turning ugly between the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Malaysia. Sad that they have made unrealistic demands to the point that Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Lt Gen (rtd) Azzudin Ahmad was obliged to point out that "they are not the United Nations".
I am disappointed that AFC President Mohamed Hammam is not giving Malaysia face with his excessive demands and conditions to continue to house the AFC in Malaysia. I see these demands as a good excuse to let the AFC relocate elsewhere.We wonder which country in its right mind would kowtow to the AFC's rather excessive demands, to put it mildly.I think the more pressing need is to improve the standard of Asian football. After all, who cares where the administrative house is located when it should be football development and results that are central to what the AFC is all about.

Merdeka Tournament is Ours!

Ok, ok, I stand corrected. Malaysia has qualified for the last four of the Merdeka tournament and my previous article was all slam bang our national team.

However judging by the quality of the opposition, we should steamroll them. The fact that most of them were either from war torn countries or came here with their junior or reserve team, should not be an excuse but hey, we need to show them how good we are or how bad they suck.
Anyway, since the opposition have turned up to be weak, this is a good chance for us to win the Cup. Anything else is disaster!

AFC should not hold its birthplace – Malaysia, ransom

It is sad but true that that things are slowly turning ugly between Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Malaysia. Sad that they have made unrealistic demands to the point that Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Sec-Gen Lt Jen (rtd) Azzudin Ahmad labelled them “they are not the United Nations”.

I am quite disappointed that our Qatari friend is not giving Malaysia face with his excessive demands with their terms and conditions to house the AFC House elsewhere. I see this demands as a good excuse to relocate AFC to possibly Middle East, or somewhere in Asia.

In this economic depression, we wonder which country in their right mind would actually ‘kow-tow’ to this rather excessive demands, to put it mildly.

The big question is why AFC have suddenly dislike Malaysia? I mean this is where it all happened since its humble beginnings and it is truly a slap in the face for all our past leaders who have made AFC what it is today – well known and successful.

Why does our Qatari friend is so in hurry to relocate? Since the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Asian football is on the decline after the heights that Japan and Korea Republic achieved.

If you look now, only a big number of Koreans, Japanese and Iranians are successful in Europe, where are the players from Arab countries? Why only the East Asians are doing well while the West Asians are still stuck in their own Gulf world of numerous football tournaments lacking in quality?

Call me Malaysian bias if you like but the previous Malaysian regime under HRH the Sultan of Pahang ensured Asian football was noticed by the rest of the world. Now?

I think the more pressing need is the need to MOVE Asian football standards higher than what was achieved back in 2002 RATHER than worrying about moving AFC House out of Malaysia. After all, who cares where the administrative house is located when it should be football development and results that are central to what the AFC is all about.

Does our National Team think Merdeka tournament is a weak tournament?

The 40th Merdeka tournament commences from Oct 15-25 and the teams competing in the tournament won’t make any Tom, Dick or Harry jump for joy in terms of team composition other than Malaysia.

READ: Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Myanmar, Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

But let’s be fair, this tournament will be interesting and a test of sorts. Why? If Malaysia can win this tournament, I will be happy as rankings never tell the true story.

Apparently, Malaysia is ranked higher than Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan – according to FIFA rankings. But the last I recall, Vietnam are a handful, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, emm, don’t expect an avalanche of goals from us when we play them.

So, good chance for Malaysia to pacify the long suffering Malaysian loving EPL fans. I hope our coach don’t take it easy and as all our past coaches say, use this tournament, that tournament as preparation for a bigger tournament. When the bigger tournament comes, they stumble and give another round of excuses like they were up against more stronger and well prepared teams.

Based on my own research, Mozambique has players playing in the Greek, Hungarian and Swiss League while Sierra Leone has a mix of journeymen plying their trade around Europe mainly in the lower leagues so if the Malaysian national team thinks this tournament will be a walk in the park, well, they are gravely mistaken.

We hope they will play as well as trying to look good in their Nike outfits together with their gel-ed up punk-type hair, like the Euro football stars around the world. Thank God, the team is mainly made up of Muslims, hence, we won’t see new tattoos on their arms and legs as it is prohibited in their religion.

I mean, we don’t want to say the boots has more talent than the player right? We need more than a good performance to regain our faith in the national team and the only way forward is by winning this tournament. Ignore that once again, we are preparing fro AFF Cup in December. When come AFF, we lose, what ‘s the excuse? Thailand were better prepared? Oh, come on guys!

Winning is a Curse

I noticed one thing about Malaysian badminton players, the moment success comes to them, the reality of consistency sinks in - which we somehow lack.

Look at Zakry Latif and Fairuzizuan Tazari. They started off in tournaments as unknowns, but a few wins here and they have propelled their career into dizzying heights. Now, they are a marked pair and the results have not been forthcoming.

It seems that success curses us as we somehow thrive being an unknown but wilt when the going gets tough. Could be mental but I guess the measure of a good sports person is Nicol David whom we have to admire as the best sports person to appear from this side of the globe for a long time and trust me, I doubt anymore Nicols will be coming out of our conveyer belts of squash (if any)

Back to Zakry whom I know from Seremban personally. Had to use them as they represent the best upcoming pair but sucked into the spotlight of a marked pair.

I hope they can come back to a decent level, I somehow lost faith in Kien Keat-Boon Heong. Sad but true.

Denmark Open offers a chance for them to put some faith back into me and I think, for the majority of badnintons fans in Malaysia.

Let's see how they fare....

Success Don't Come Easy

It's a pity that Lee Chong Wei lost in his second final as a world number one but then as they say, shit happens!

Well the first one with Sony Dwi Kuncoro could be attributed to his long absence from competing due to his fame as an Olympic silver medallist and his new Datuk-ship award which distracted him from training, judging by his political appearance in Penang.

But then, the second loss, this time to Taufik Hidayat is probably, arse luck. Everybody knows the mercurial Indonesian is unbeatable on form. Lately, probably by injuries and married life has slowed the skillful Indon but he is not to be underestimated.

Catch him on his day and all I can say is screwed! Of course, Chong Wei found out the hard way. Well, I hope Chong Wei starts winning to justify his world number one tag soon, if not people will remember him a world number one not because of his skill and reputation but because the rankings calculation says so.

Moving to our 'fallen angels' Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, as a badminton pundit, I am not impressed by their win in this rather weak filed in the Macau Open.

They won, yes, but let's see whether they can convince us Malaysians in the upcoming Denmark Open that they are back in business. As pair slated for greater things, it has been downhill since their invincible run last year and only a stronger field will erase our doubts and fears.

Night Out at Khadijah's

This Sungai Wang pair making an impression?

They look more than friends judging by the gentle touch on the 'back'.. I wonder

Lets just say I enjoy my Coke, burp! to that

Male models of the Year

Radzi probably let one off while the unsuspecting Rash joins in the smell despite Naser's obvious allergy to Radzi gas - a conction of curries, mee mamak, sambals and teh tarik all rolled into one.

My delicious food, rammed down my throat, mmm...yummy

Bosom buddies and they make a great couple!

Maddy and Lou - the names that was nearly used as camel mascots. Looking at them, not to far off the truth, don't you agree?

Photo of the day - Either the food must be good or George is just trying to pass gas while the Liz smiles despite the aroma permeating from somewhere nearby

As usual Louis tries to talk c@#$ but being a smarter and diplomatic guy, Rash pretends to gulp down his ice lemon tea like it is the best in the world - obviously to shut Louis up!

Flashback to Oranje win in 88'

Holland at its best

Marco van Basten, my idol and many a wannabe goal scorer's idol

Courtesy of ESPN Soccernet

Host nation: West Germany

Winners: Holland

Brilliant orange: Holland line up before their 2-0 final win over the Soviets.Here was a tournament in which another team ended its long exile in the trophy-winning wilderness. The Dutch had lit up the 1970s with their 'Total Football' but finished potless.

Much of the 1980s had been spent in turmoil after successive failures to qualify for major tournaments. A rebuilding period had begun during that time and Holland had found a new generation which was to dominate European club football for some years to come.

This would perhaps be the sole time the Dutch pulled together as a unit, for their age-old problem of in-fighting would stop this great team dominating the international scene. But they would burn brightly in Germany, where they were to gain revenge for their defeat in the 1974 World Cup Final.

They had waltzed through the qualifying rounds, even surviving having to replay a home game with Cyprus because of crowd trouble. They won the initial game 8-0 but the replay a mere 4-0. In their finals group they faced England, under Bobby Robson, who had stormed their qualifiers with stars like Lineker, Hoddle and Robson in full flow. Sadly for England, only Robson of the three would perform at any level at all in the finals.

Italy had a burgeoning side with young stars like Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini while the Russians were strong, featuring the 1986 European Player of the Year Igor Belanov alongside Alexander Zavarov and striker Igor Protasov. Both had qualified with ease. Spain, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland, in their first major championship, had harder progress but all made it.

France, whose ageing team had largely retired after the Mexico World Cup, could only finish third in their group behind the Russians and East Germany. They were to enter their own wilderness period.

The tournament began with the hosts playing Italy and an Andreas Brehme strike was needed to cancel out a Mancini goal. The Dutch began in poor fashion and were beaten by the Soviet Union and a great strike from Vasili Rats. Their next game was with England, themselves nursing the embarassment of losing to Ireland. A Ray Houghton header was never answered by England, for whom Gary Lineker, later diagnosed with hepatitis was noticeably off form.

The Dutch simply blew away England. The Milan trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard were at their very best. Van Basten, before that game never really sure of his place in Rinus Michel's starting eleven, scored one of the best hat-tricks in living memory while Bryan Robson's brave goal was all England had to celebrate. Russia, in Frankfurt, completed the misery as England were again beaten 3-1.

Ireland's draw with the Soviets came after a great volley from Ronnie Whelan was cancelled out by a Protasov strike from a Belanov assist. It was between the Irish and the Dutch, the latter of whom needed a win. Ireland looked to have their draw until a fluke stepped in their way. Koeman's volley looped off substitute Wim Kieft and keeper Packie Bonner was powerless.

The Italians and Germans had qualified on equal points from the other group. The Danes were a shadow of the 1984 vintage and Spain could only beat the Scandinavians as players like Butragueño and Michel failed to find form.

Italy's youth counted against them in the semi with the USSR. Mancini and Vialli flopped badly and even old stager Alessandro Altobelli couldn't find the net. Two ruthless finishes in three minutes from both Sergiy Litovchenko and Protasov finished off the Italians, whose sights were perhaps more firmly set on success in the World Cup they would host in two years.

For the Dutch, the other semi was a mission of vengeance in both historical and footballing terms as goalkeeper Hans Van Breukelen would later admit. It was a bitty first half, littered niggling fouls and attempts to dupe the referee. But the second period was lit up by two penalties, one for Lothar Matthaeus and another equalising one for Ronald Koeman.

Then, with extra time lurking in the background, Van Basten wrapped his leg around a Jan Wouters through ball to direct the ball past Eike Immel. In the stadium, and at home in Holland, there was an amazing outpouring of emotion. It was felt that wrongs, both in football and in other, more political affairs, had been righted for the moment.

It was a final between clearly the best teams in the tournament. And the Soviets looked the stronger side in the opening salvos. But a well-worked corner saw Van Basten nod across to Gullit whose header powered past Rinat Dassaev.

Next came the image the championships will be forever remembered for. Arnold Muhren's looping ball from the left bypassed everyone, save for Van Basten, in what seemed too tight an angle.

But the Milan man's eye was in and he looped a volley of pace, direction and power over Dassaev. It remains one of the best goals in any game in football. Van Basten's fire may have burned for not too long but he will be forever associated with one of the best instances of the striker's art.

The Soviets were not done yet and Dutch keeper Van Breukelen conceded a penalty for fouling Serguei Gotsmanov. But it was to be Holland's day as he saved Belanov's resulting spot-kick. The rest was plainsailing and a celebration as Holland's beautiful game finally succeeded at the highest level.

Hopefully, Holland don't deceive once again

In them.. I trust
Courtesy of ESPN Soccernet

Once again, Holland looks one of the favourites on paper to win Euro 2008 but.. the big BUTT is whether they can pull it off as always, they have deceived me.. a huge Holland fan. However, loyal as I am I still dream of Holland win in 1988 with Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard leading the way against the Russians.

Let look at the goalkeeping area, without a doubt Man Utd's Edwin van der Sar get the nod as he would be taking part in probably his final Euro championship. Marten Stekelenburg and Henk Timmer has long been playing second fiddle to van der Sar and would be interesting to see who the new Holland coach selects as this would be van Basten's last game in charge.

My only question mark is why pick Mario Melchiot of Wigan who staved off relegation in the EPL? The rest of the cast looks decent, nothing to shout about. However, John Heitinga and Wilfred Bouma catches my eye with their defensive qualities and Heitinga's push forward whenever needed.

In the middle of the park and upfront, Holland has an embarrassing of riches and based on this, my fervent hope is for them to win. Real Madrid's trio of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben together with Hamburg's star playmaker Rafael van der Vaart is enough to make one's team balls shiver.

If all goes well, I will have a happy tournament. If not, well I have to live with another disappointment.

The main thing is, Holland needs to click - the days of racial groupings (remember Kluivert, Davids and Seedorf breaking ranks with the whites) and self destruction are hopefully in the past. As long as they don't press the self destruct button and pretend to be Spain (remember them, always go misisng in big tournaments), a semis is in the offing, of course, it does not help being in the Group of Death!

Squad:
Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax Amsterdam), Henk Timmer (Feyenoord)

Defenders: Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa), Tim de Cler (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Ajax Amsterdam), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg SV), Mario Melchiot (Wigan Athletic), Andre Ooijer (Blackburn Rovers)

Midfielders: Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Orlando Engelaar (Twente Enschede), Nigel de Jong (Hamburg SV), Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg SV), Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar)

Forwards: Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Ajax Amsterdam), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Real Madrid), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic).

Over rated Biatch!

This is totally not related to sports. More of commenting on someone I saw at an event a couple of weeks ago.

Let's call this lady Miss X (no not you, my colleague who goes by the same name and who is ultra dependent on Feng Shui). Apparently, she is a celebrity, journo and emcee and what not. But, after seeing her in flesh, I beg to differ and wonder what the hullabaloo about this biatch is all about.

She emcees badly with all the words strung together and rumour in the grapevine is that she is being paid for a day's job of between 4-6k. What a waste of money and a load of crap. In these hard times, I wouldn't trade that much for a dud!

Also some say she is a model but after seeing her posture, hmm, I reserved my comments. Not to say that I got something against people of that nature but the publicity that sorrounds her is irritating and cheap to say the least.

Argentina 5 Malaysia 0, football? NOT!

Before I begin, I must say been a busy week and did not have time to write. Anyway, there are some interesting sports happenings and of course, I managed to find some time to write about it.

Saw the score of the 5-0 thrashing by Argentina in the Sultan Azlan Shah and was wondering what has happened to our hockey team. Of course, I did not get to catch the game but that was immaterial as the score sums it all up.

I managed to catch the New Zealand game on Sunday and I must say I was slightly impressed by our chaps. Of course, it did not help that the Kiwis made us look good and it seemed peculiar that we actually won the game.

Well, my suspicions are confirmed when Argentina thrashed us. Okay, people would say that Argentina is also a hockey powerhouse but how can we explain that we have fallen behind them in the pecking order?

For crying out loud, Argentina is more known for football rather than hockey as Malaysia is well known for badminton that football. What has happened?

I really don't know, I suspect mentally, the players are not there; no pride in wearing the national colours and of course, inconsistency, the bane of all Malaysian sportsmen except Nicol David.

Once again the coaches will sing the same old praise which I quote when I was reporting "pleased with the boys attitude and bla, bla". Main thing is just admit it. Nothing wrong, the results is obvious. You cannot lie in sports unless the match was fixed as the results explains everything.

CAN LA LIGA CHAMPIONS REAL MADRID WIN IN EUROPE NEXT SEASON?

Congratulations to the Madristas. Once again they have shown who is the team to be reckoned with. I for one was hoping that Real win this year's La Liga and they did in style with 3 matches to spare.

Only blot in their whole season is their inability to win the Champions League which now is the domain of English teams with foreign contingents to win. Anyway, hope they will work on this next season as Real Madrid are by far, the best all time team in Europe since the days of Puskas and Gento.

As an avid fan of the Dutch national team, it is nice to see Robben, Sneijder and van Nistelrooy weighing their contributions for the team's benefit, not to mention the rejuvenated Raul and the ever improving Guti, a vital cog to the team even though media coverage about him is not in favour. No idea maybe he is too low profile, but hey I would pencil in his name if I ever (never) manage a football team. We cannot forget the contributions Robinho and Gonzalo Higuain whose skills and flair brought in crucial goals when the odds were stacked against the Madristas.

Bernd Schuster does not really impress me as a coach, what with the talent he has on display to select from but if he can flatter the Real Madrid bosses he could be in for the long run. Maybe a Champions League trophy next season could ensure a longer contract as another trophyless season could spell doom.

Remember Vincente del Bosque? He won the La Liga in 2003 and still had his contract not renewed. The management wanted a more exciting and lively coach to lead them and it took a while before full service was resumed.

On the hindsight, the Spanish media has labelled the league as the league that no one wanted to win and looking at Barca's slide, Valencia flirting with relegation and Sevilla not being the same team as it was last season, it was like a gift on platter. Of course, we should take anything away from Real.

(Pix: Courtesy of www.realmadrid.com)

BLUES TO EXORCISE DEVILS IN RUSSIA?

What a victory, what glory! Yes, I am so happy that the Red side of Mersey has bit the dust. They deserve it for their over reliance of Torres and their self belief that only Torres and Gerard can lead them to the final.

I am no fan of Chelsea, well also, no fan or any love for Liverpool but I prefer Chelsea anytime to Liverpool and finally, we have a genuine contender to go up against Satan. If Liverpool entered, I suspect we can hand the title to Satan as judging by this season's performance, Liverpool is a bloody huge disappointment when you expect them to deliver the goods against Satan in the EPL.

It is good to see Drogba, finally, delivering and Lampard overcoming grief to lead Chelsea and I would be rooting for Chelsea this coming CL final in Moscow. In fact, I think neutrals would definitely be supporting Chelsea. Drogba is jaguh kampung in EPL and he needs a performance on a big stage like this to show his prowess.

Ok, not to sound biased, we have to give it to MU for a polished display against a sorry Barca and it would be folly to underestimate the hardworking Tevez and the tricky Ronaldo pulling all out stops to deny the Blues.

Another Kodak moment would be Avram Grant letting go his emotions. Now, that's priceless.
Oh, coming back to him Israel - Grant and Tal Ben Haim coming to Malaysia.. wonder why people are making a fuss over it. I mean they are here on sports not politics. Anyway, who are we to judge their role in oppressing Palestine and why are we playing God by judging people? Are we so innocent that we have never done anything bad to our neighbours? Anyway, when I went to local uni, it was so damn obvious racism rearing its head so why make noise about 2 Israelite coming here to play football? Will we boycott Chelsea because of both of them, I really would like to see.

(Pic: Courtesy of www.guardian.co.uk)

IN DHAKA FOR WORK

On my recent trip to Dhaka, Bangladesh for work, it was an eye opener as I now know why they come here to work, even as a pump attendant and it is considered a noble job. The country is poor and if you look at their buses and taxi, it will be deemed not road worthy here. Noticed pedal power prevails here as the people are strong in cycling their goods for one point to another. When I say goods, it like guni sacks on a special board connected to their bicyle.

At night after 8pm, there is nothing to do as the power is shutdown at public buildings meaning all shopping complexes are shut at 8pm. Was also advised not to step out of the hotel I was staying as it might be dangerous.

One more thing is that there is so much military presence in Dhaka and when I pass a posh hospital which houses VVIP patients, there was like 15-20 soldiers at the entrance.

On the plus sight though, I passed the National Stadium of Bangladesh for foootball, the Bangabandu Stadium and also passed by one fo Asia's oldest football club, the Mohammedan Sporting Club. No frills but I guess that where the football action in South Asia happens.

FLASHBACK TO REXY

Thought I'd share a moment with one of my favourite badminton players of all time, Rexy Mainaky. My favourite pair was him and Ricky Subagja.

Here is a pix of my Assumption Church badminton team at the PJ Churches badminton tournament where we finished second quite a while ago :( Sad.

Need a platform to show everyone and I thought this is a good starting point.

Nonetheless quite happy we got a photo taken as I loved his flamboyant and stylish play. Never seen anyone as quick as him and when I saw him play singles for SFX church, the accuracy and power and of course, speed was there. Don't bother that the opponent was a 'fish' but the crux of the matter is that I am witnessing something great from a few cm away. Even if I had half of his skills, I would be freaking happy.

BRING ON THE YOUTH

BAM's selection of young Arif Latif I think it's a good one for the future as he would be probably shoulder the burden of the nation's hope in the future. Rather than take older players to the Thomas Cup, it is good for us to take a risk (ala Walcott to the World Cup, see some similarities) and who knows, rewarded for it when its time for boys to become men.

Back in my playing days in Seremban, I have seen him play and also his elder brother Zakry who forms the 3rd doubles with Fairuzizuan, and I would say, those boys are good and skillful players, only lacking in power play, I suppose.

We just hope that he doesnt become a dud like Kuan Beng Hong who never recovered after getting whipped in the previous Thomas Cup. Talking about 3rd singles, we never had a solid reliable player in this position. No idea, even though they delivered the goods, like Kwan Yoke Meng and Wong Tat Meng. Looking at their singles career after team events, it never prospered and we hope the jinx on playing 3rd singles will never rub on this teenager.

Badminton other than squash, is our only sport which is world class and we need to maintain our high standards and I suppose everyone need to view the Thomas Cup seriously and not spoil our vision with illusion of grandeur at the Olympics, at least till the Thomas Cup is over.

CHELSEA OR MAN UTD?

The result of MU's loss in the EPL is a welcome relief to MU haters and neutrals. I for one was happy that they lost finally and more or less throw some life into the league. However, the title is still in MU's hands as all they need to do is win the remaining 2 matches to win the league as the goal difference is just too much for Chelsea to swallow. Also, if Chelsea stumble in their next match, it is as good as a gift to MU.

Well, I for one is looking forward as the race goes down the wire. Pardon me, but I would love to see Chelsea nick it over MU, maybe because a new league champion would be better and definitely shut most of MU's hardcore fans who I dislike. (well, some of them are my buddies so you all are excluded).

Hope to see Ballack pulling the strings and feeding Drogba and Les Sulk to greater glory. Of course, looking at MU objectively, their strength can never be underestimated with the likes of Ronaldo (ho-hum), Rooney and Hargreaves pulling their team from the brink as always.

Anyway, guys, lets enjoy the remainder of the season and hope by a miracle that Chelsea wins it... if they don't well, they did well enough to come close to United.

AT THE OLYMPIC TORCH RUN 2008

Me thinks I will be part of history today by being at the route of the Olympic torch run. I am just minutes away from this. Well, this will probably be my first and last and I would like to just witness this historic occasion for the country.

My only fear is the protesters but I guess, we, as a peaceful country won't experience this. Saw the list of torchbearers and it reads like a who's who list of the Malaysian sports scene. Anyway, as a former sports journo, kind of excited as you wonder how this ppl would look after many years away from the backpages of the sports pages - that's how I start my day, from the backpages and I think many sports aficionados do the same.

Will update my blog later once I witness this occasion. With so much of good and bad publicity surrounding it, one must be there to comment and feel the occasion.

Sad end to my Teams

Well, my Arsenal going to end up empty handed this season and its damn freaking sad seeing them fumble at the bloody Red Devils and also at the red colour of Mersey which I don't like. What to do, short on manpower in the squad - Van Persie is back but he is not the player he used to be, Flamini is out, Gilberto is back but it shows why Wenger does not field him regularly as he is crap. Adebayor is not making chances count while Bendtner is not up to mark. Just could go on and on but I guess 3rd spot is alright. Just hope the Kop don't catch up though.

Only hope is Chelsea to deny Satan but they are also fumbling. Looks like Satan's title again. Hope next season would be better and all the young kids would be more matured. Also, hope for better buys next season, does not matter whether English or Rest of the World. Anway, English players suck.. Just look at the national team.

Oh well, here's hoping to a good weekend to Arsenal, Everton, AC Milan and Real Madrid!

Ciao

FAILURE IN HOCKEY

Good one, courtesy of Rizal Hashim's blog, one of the top sports writers in Malaysia
Read on and be enlightened

FAIL, FAIL, FAIL…Athens Olympics 2004 World Cup 2006 Beijing Olympics 2008Egotistical MHF and Wrong Appointment of CoachesNSC and MHF - Please Help!Received an sms on Thursday 10 April 2008 from a hockey lover, he said Malaysia is down 4-3 to Italy and few minutes to play. I could not believe the news; I assume it is a typo error by the data entry personnel. But my friend checked again on the net and said is confirmed. Lucky Malaysia equalized in the 70th minutes to obtained one point from Italy, a pizza diet nation.Could not believe it because of the following reasons:1 Italy is ranked 37th and Malaysia 14th 2 Spent millions on the Malaysian team preparation till MHF is in debts of 1.71 millions.3 Big Funding from NSC on the Coaches and Team.4 Malaysian team played in an elite tournament i.e. Champions Trophy (Dec 2007) and also went to Australia (Feb/March 2008) for exposure. 5 Two years of preparation i.e. full time training (day in day out).6 Lofty level of benefits – allowances, accommodation and food is free.7 Foreign assistance – Goalkeeper Coach from Pakistan and Advisor from Germany.8 Scientific training – Support from ISN on fitness and nutrition9 Physiotherapy, Medical Officer and Masseurs for the team.Based on the above, what have the other participating teams in the Qualifiers get and done prior to the Qualifiers? But still they managed to perform to certain level and got reasonable results in the tournament. What excuses do the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) and National Sports Council (NSC) have in their pockets or hats?Played 6 games – 3 win, 2 draws and 1 lost. Scored 16 and let in 14 goals.Does the above points justifies their achievement in their Olympic qualifiers in Japan. Even the blind and deaf but hockey lover would say that the team achieved is an illogical achievement based on the support and benefits.The new MHF office bearers are almost 1 and ½ years old in the office. Most decision and policy made by certain quarters are “FLIP-FLOP”. Nothing is done based on merit and every decision is made on personal interest. The game of hockey is an ancillary to the arrogants. The Federation exists because of the game but due to ego of certain quarters think that they are bigger than the sport. They show and demonstrate their powers as though the game of hockey belongs to them.They control most of the affiliates by giving a chance for the affiliates office bearers (President and Secretary) on a rotation basis to be the Team Manager of the Malaysian Hockey Team. This is done because of their future votes in the BGM shall permit these bigheaded office bearers to sustain power in the office.The members or appointees selected by MHF for various positions must have the following criteria’s:1 Must be a bootlicker and must be a friend of the arrogants2 Every decision is maneuver before a meeting – Decision made before discussing in the meeting. Is like kangaroo courts!3 Listen to the instruction and be a puppet master to the arrogants4 Don’t worry whether you have the qualification to take up the post. 5 Enjoy the get together after every meeting – booze and makan sponsored by the arrogants and then claim from MHF.6 Play the same tune or else you would be out of the system.The Qualifiers in Japan, we heard that about 31 people went to the games to make sure the team performed at its very best – at least a seat in the Finals.There were many officials from the Coaching team, Medical Team, Management team, Trainer, Cooks, Physiotherapist, Masseur, Video-man, NSC officials and others. Only missing link is Weatherman and Cheer Group – no allocation but NSC could consider including them in the next qualifiers, but make sure the cheerleaders are girls to stimulate the coaches and the team. No wonder the Organizers said the hotel rooms are fully booked and Gifu Government also mentioned that the turnover of tourist rise by 10% for the month of April…The coaching department comprise of 4 members - 1 head coach, 2 assistant coaches and 1 Goalkeeper coach. MHF appointed a new assistant coach who hardly only played hockey at University or State level. No coaching background, surprisingly how did NSC allow to slip in this guy into the coaching setup and fully paid for his trip? The other coaches are appointed based on friendship and not on merit. To be a coach in the National setup you need be a friend of the arrogants and follow what they say. Don’t worry whether you are qualified or not and what was you past coaching credentials, all this is not an important yardstick for the evaluation of the appointment. The Coaching Chairman is just a dummy master who just chairs the meeting and endorsed the arrogants decision. The decisions are all made before the meeting. Poor old man! There were rumors that the current coaches have filed in for their salary increment to NSC. The revised salary asked around $15k to $21k. Don’t worry it is possible due to friendship policy between MHF and NSC. Can be done even failed to qualify…There are two Mangers i.e. Manager and Stand-in Manager registered on the bench. But why MHF need to register two managers but only one manager was in action. What to do, just follow instruction. Everything is done based on what the arrogants feel is right. Whether the team needs one or two Manager is secondary “Mahu tolong kawan ma..”Let’s go back to the Qualifiers result.For sure they will be out due to Germany supremacy! But the question is how did the Malaysian team bowed out of the tournament. Not even securing a final seat, which was the MHF and NSC target.For sure all the Media members under the friendship policy was also advised to play a low key and do a marketing job for the arrogants to keep on their posts. Tak payah risau, ada booze and makan waiting… Any MHF media jobs or tender can be considered.After the tournament all the media members started their marketing gimmick to protect their friends by saying keep the same squad and coaches for long-term preparation. They perform accept for the third goal Japan scored? This goal is used as a deflection of the actual fact of the failure. The arrogants and friendship media members need a reason to plot their failure. They forget about the overall summary results! The MHF and NSC could do a through and accurate investigation on the whole set-up and see where it went wrong. But the media boys started to protect their friendship policy.Failures are a familiar story for Malaysia hockey and are common for not making the cut! But the MHF and NSC would still retain the same coaching setup because of the existence of friendship policy between the arrogants of MHF and an official of NSC!NSC needs to intervene because the funding is people’s money – taxpayers. The public needs to know what happened? Please drop this friendship policy in any decision-making, do the right thing based on the merits. NSC is holding the key to the door of the Malaysian hockey future direction.If one has done crime, please arrest and punished, don’t allow the criminal to be free and continue to do more crime. NSC and MHF please arrest these criminals and punished! Tolong tangkap and masukkan dalam ISA!If the same arrogants people are running the game of hockey, don’t have any hope for the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Olympics. By then our ranking would be 30 to 40 in the World hockey.But MHF has also created a history that the team has missed two Olympics in a row. Syabas and the officials of the Malaysia books of record, please dot down this fact into the records book. Don’t worry the third one is coming soon if this arrogants and the coaching setup remains.It is very disturbing the way the coaches have asked the NSC to review their salaries and allowing a University coach to be in Japan is very annoying. Rather than paying these arrogants, please take this budget and appoint a foreign coach. We had Terry Walsh, Paul Lissek and others! Is Paul Lissek still around or gone back to Germany for good.We need a surgeon i.e. foreign coach to curb the cancer that is Stage 2, need to operate and cut the affected area, which are the bigheaded officials and coaches. Please also do an electric shock wave on the dummy master to wake him up to appoint good coaches! NSC and MHF should do chemotherapy on the cancer! Please get the independent parties to perform this exercise. If not the same patient is treating its own recovery method, which most of the Association does after a failure. Please address this issue to save the standard of Malaysian hockey and the game we loved the most…The Implication for not Qualifying:1 Ranking now 14th to 20th (postulation) after Beijing Olympics. Drop too many points to sustain number 14th. Missed 2 Olympics and 1 World Cup.2 The Sports Ministry may consider to revised from Category A to Category B sports.3 No sufficient / allocation of funds for future exposure and oversea stint.4 Future generation hockey players’ benefits jeopardize.5 Top ranking teams (1 to 10) may not invite Malaysia to participate due to the poor standard of international hockey.6 The interest of future generation to be involved in hockey looks very dim.Oops! Forgot that the Alongs and Debt Collectors are looking for the treasurer of MHF to settle the debts. Especially, the hotels and a restaurant owner where these arrogants have abused and misuse their powers during tournaments. More so these are public money that are sponsored by NSC and also Tenaga Nasional Bhd. These arrogants have not even contributed any single penny but they behave as though the sponsored money is belongs to them and not the game.Within 13 months the arrogants have raped the Federation and is in debts now. Their operating account is also freezed like the Qualifiers result.Now they are searching for victims to bailout these debts. NSC please don’t bail them anymore…To End. The hockey fraternity is in dilemma and heartbreaking for the state of hockey in this country.The way forward…Appoint several independent members (Former Coaches, Players and Administrators) with few NSC and MHF genuine officials who have an importance on this matter. The Chairperson shall be a reputable representative from NSC who has no any direct or indirect interest with regards to the game of hockey at any rank.With this, an independent post-mortem with taking into account the “Game of Hockey” is a bigger agenda than these arrogants in the MHF setup.If such remedial action is not taken by NSC and MHF, then we better forget in investing our support and time to the game of hockey that we loved most because of the:“Egotistical MHF And Wrong Appointment of Coaches”Thank you and all the best to NSC and MHF…

My debut today

Made my debut on this blog today and felt good writing.. been a while since I wrote something about sports, which I used to do when I was with The Sun before we were all retrenched. Sports was and still is a passion. Sadly, I can't make as much from it.. wish I could

Had a blog at 360 yahoo but I guess this blog has a better feel to it. Not really expecting ppl to read my blog but hey, if anyone do.. would be great, especially looking at the comment section.

I don't know what to write but I guess inspiration will come soon.

For now, I lay in wait for the next big thing which crossess my medula oblongata.

Malaysian Hockey, why bother?

The Malaysian hockey team is really bad and it is only going to get worse by the day? Why?

Just look at the composition of the team and you wonder where are the Seranis, the Chinese, Indians and the Singhs? The minorities are so miserly represented in the team. What happened? Only MHF can answer, me thinks. Look at the past and you will notice multi racial teams always do the trick for the country.

Anyway, ignoring the race card, how on the earth can we bloody draw with Italy? I mean Italy, Yes, a country known more for their footie, food, historical sites and women. I am surprised the local media did not ram them the glory for their pathetic draw. Blaming Japan at the last min won't do. In my words, nasi sudah menjadi kue tiau!

Let's look at the league. MHL is a league where even its free, you won't see ppl coming in droves to support the team. Anyway, only BSN, Tenaga, Sapura and E and Y are the only teams playing real hockey - likened to a one eyed person in a blind man's world. And we wonder why there are not much sponsors coming around. I don't blame the big teams, it is their right to hire anyone they like as long it follows the tournament regulations.

In MJHL, its always BJSS. What is so great seeing their players win when they are supposed to win? To the uninitiated, BJSS is a sports school meant to place sports above academic excellence. BJSS should not be playing there but instead sent elsewhere for training. Let the newbies from other team perform, at least the pool would be bigger.

But then knowing us, we Malaysians when sent overseas for training, will miss all the comforts of home like teh tarik, nasi lemak, roti kosong...(except for a few athletes who are doing well overseas)