Asian Championships

Finals

Nicol vs Rebecca Chiu (HK)

Azlan vs Amir Atlas Khan.

Semifinals

Azlan beat Saurav Ghosal (Ind) 11/5, 11/6, 115

Nicol beat Dipika Palikal (Ind) 11/5, 11/5, 11/2

Our players won the battle against India in the semifinals convincingly to book their places in the finals. Azlan never allowed Saurav into the match with tight length and exquisite drops. Saurav was also frustrated as he was denied lets over and over again as a result of Azlan's drops.

Nicol never allowed Dipika to settle into her stroke making game as Nicol was relentlessly attacking the back corners followed by a quick shot to the front which was then easily put away from Dipika's pick ups. As much as Dipika tired, she eventually gave up in a match that lasted about 20 minutes.

Quarterfinals

Azlan beat Abdullah Al Mezayan (Kuw) 13/11, 11/7, 12/10

Ong Beng Hee lost to Yasir Butt (Pak) 10/12, 11/8, 11/8, 11/8

Wan lost to Amir Atlas Khan (Pak) 12/10, 11/8, 11/5

Nicol beat Song Sun Mi (Kor) 11/4, 11/7, 11/7

Delia lost to Joey Chan (HK) 11/4, 11/4, 11/6

It was not the best of days for the Malaysian team today. Beng Hee lost to an inspired Yasir Butt who at will was hitting nicks. Seems that Beng Hee has this effect on Pakistanis that they will play the best match of their lives when they are up against him. Delia on the other hand was totally out of sorts on a slower court compared to yesterday's match.

Azlan although won in 3, it was close all the way. Azlan himself admitted that his unforced errors kept Abdullah in the match all the way. Nicol was in cruise control all the way.

Today, Nicol and Azlan will be up against the home favourites, Dipika Palikal and Saurav Ghosal. Updates on Facebook at 4pm Indian time (about 6pm Malaysian)

Round 3

Men

Azlan beat Anson Kwong (HK) 11/2, 11/4, 11/2

Beng Hee beat Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) 11/7, 11/8, 11/6

Nafiizwan beat Siddarth Suchde (Ind) 11/13, 11/13, 13/11, 11/8, 11/8

Ivan lost to Farhan Mehboob (Pak) 9/11, 11/6, 11/8, 11/8

Wan had a massive match this morning lasting almost 2 hours and starting to get cramps. He was unlucky to lose the first 2 games and fought back from 10-7 down to win the 3rd and eventually the match. Ivan did well and had a good match with Farhan while Beng Hee and Azlan won comfortably. Next up is the quarters and updates on Facebook

Round 2

Men

Azlan beat Ammar Al Temimi (Kuw) 11/2, 11/6, 11/6

Ivan beat Sandeep Jangra (Ind) 16/14, 11/6, 12/14, 11/4

Nafiizwan beat Takanori Shimizu (Jpn) 11/6, 11/8, 11/4

Beng Hee beat Timothy Soh (Sin) 11/3, 11/2, 11/8

Women

Nicol beat Elise Ng (HK) 11/6, 11/6, 11/5

Delia beat Chinatsu Matsui (Jpn) 11/3, 7/11, 11/5, 10/12, 11/5

Sharon lost to Song Sun Mi (Kor) 11/9, 5/11, 10/12, 12/10, 11/9

Wee Wern lost to Dipika Palikal (Ind) 10/12, 12/10, 11/7, 8/11, 11/8

The men played their last 32 matches and all of them won comfortably except Ivan who struggled a little on the courts which are separate from the main building. Those courts are absolutely hot and bouncy and that made him struggle a little. The rest of the men were quite comfortable.

The women's matches were the last 16 matches and Wee Wern and Sharon lost in 5 games. They were both a little unlucky but had chances to close it but couldn't capitalize. Delia struggled on the same courts as Ivan but was in totally in control in the 5th.

There was a massive upset in the women's event when Misaki Kobayashi of Japan beat the 3/4 seed, Annie Au of HK 3-1 to set up a date with Dipika for a place in the finals. Annie looked out of sorts and on the hot and bouncy courts in the other building, Misaki took full advantage to pull the biggest upset of her career.

Today, the men will play 2 matches; last 16 in the morning and quarters in the evening while the women will only play their quarterfinal matches in the evening. Updates on my Facebook.

Interesting but true......

Comment: Using gag order to keep a lid on truth

2010/04/30

Devinder Singh
devinder@nst.com.my

GAG orders are there for a reason, whether valid or not, it depends on an individual's point of view.

But what gag orders usually represent is fear. Fear of deep and dark secrets spilling out into the open, as some of our sports associations can attest to.

Journalists do not care much for gag orders although there are instances where we adhere to them so as to protect those who face persecution for daring to speak the truth.

Football, squash and athletics are some of the associations fond of restricting freedom of speech although where the Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union (MAAU) is concerned, this order is mostly flouted.

The FA of Malaysia punishes any player, coach or official falling out of line when matters of policy are called into question.

With the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM), however, silence is strictly enforced with nobody other than the president authorised to speak to the media in an official capacity.

It does not matter whether it is policy related or something even as benign as selection of players for overseas assignments, a right which anywhere else would lie with the coaches.

This matter can sometimes be a source of irritation in relations between media and associations.

While the Federal Constitution clearly enshrines the freedom of speech as a basic right, sports associations blatantly gag their own people as one squash coach found out to his detriment recently.

No sooner had a local daily quoted him on the national players' chances of winning titles at an upcoming tournament, a letter was sent to him reminding him of SRAM's gag on coaches speaking publicly.

Apparently, it did not matter that the subject of coaching and players is clearly within his remit, but all the same the message is "Keep your mouth shut."

It makes me wonder why our sports leaders are so iron-fisted in their approach that they can brook no criticism whether from within or externally.

Accountability is a rare commodity in sports, as those following the travails of MAAU will agree.

To those keen on keeping a lid on the truth, all I would like to say is you can't silence them all.

Indian Odessy- Asian Championships

I am in Chennai, India for the Asian Championships and will bring you guys as much updates as I can daily. The team is looking to defend all the 4 titles they won the last time in Kuwait in 2008. Wish them best of luck.

Day One

Today the Individual Events starts and the men's is a 64 draw and the women's is a 32 draw. Azlan and Nicol will be defending their titles this time around and are top seeds.

Round 1 Results

Men

Azlan beat Ali Shuhaib (IRQ) 11/4, 11/0, 11/5

Ivan Yuen beat Vivian Rhamanan (SIN) 11/9, 11/5, 11/9

Mohd. Nafiizwan beat Vrishab Kotian (IND) 11/7, 11/1, 11/4

Beng Hee beat Shen Jiaqi (CHN) 11/6, 11/3, 11/8

Women

Nicol beat Gu Jinyue (CHN) 11/2, 11/3, 11/6

Sharon beat Kim Ar Huyn (KOR) 11/4, 11/4, 11/6

Wee Wern beat Gayara Jayasuriya (SRI) 11/3, 11/3, 11/1

Delia beat Damindi Udangawa (SRI) 11/0, 11/3, 11/1

2nd round matches are commencing soon which will be last 32 for men and last 16 for women. Updates after that or live updates on my Facebook.