A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE

The personalities that run sport in Malaysia do not love sports, but they are in love with its perks – the government grants, the publicity, the political clout, the junkets and the kickbacks.

They do not want a serious threat to their positions from the qualified and committed.

Some have been associated with a particular sport for so long and the youngsters can be forgiven if they were to think that these people actually invented that sport. It’s akin to the old adage – “ask not what you can do for Malaysian sport – ask what Malaysian sport can do for you.” And mind you it can do plenty.

Power, pelf, influence, political clout, international exposure – the sportsmen might be denied all these, but officials wallow in them.

There is no denying that most, if not all, politicians use sports as a platform, and if they divert sports funds for party work, none is the wiser because accountability is not their string point.

Perhaps we get the Sports Ministers we deserve. But do they realize, be it the present Minister or those before him and those who will assume office after he completes his tour of duty, that we don’t have a sports culture in Malaysia, and we have to develop it.

But here we are fighting about what attire the contingent uses for the march past ceremony. Let me make a suggestion – if we truly want to preach and practice the 1 Malaysia concept, then allow all the different races in the team to wear attire of their culture – baju melayu, baju kurung, cheongsam, saree, kurta blouse and pants, etc. Only then can we show the world that we may come from diverse cultures, but we march as one country, Malaysia.

The power that goes with the office is used to put “lesser” men in place, and cultivate a culture where Ministers and their aides assume top positions in the sporting hierarchy and expect sportsmen to pay obeisance as a matter of course.

For sportsmen to be effective in Malaysia, two things will have to happen.

The Sports Minister’s position must be delinked from politics and elections; the minister cannot be a politician. As stated by Tun Musa Hitam in an earlier blog posting, the Sports Minister has to be a top professional from the field who is given a Cabinet rank.

Why do we struggle to hold our own in the world sporting stage” Is there something within us, a corollary of Malaysianness perhaps that militates against success at the highest level except in odd individual cases like Nicol David and Lee Chong Wei?

One cannot say we are not excelling in sports, as the 12 gold medals performance at the Commonwealth Games has been one of our better performances.

But how can we expect more when we neglect the grassroots level? There are plenty of talented young people who do not receive encouragement – they need the right facilities, expertise and diet.

Not building a velodrome just because the cyclist comes from the home state of the Minister. In that same breath I ask, why is there no hall named after Lee Chong Wei who has been the top of World Rankings for the past 25 months?

FINALLY FAM ACTS

THE Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has asked ZIFA to forward its findings on match fixing involving a betting syndicate run from the Asian country.

Dato’ Azzuddin Bin Ahmad, FAM general secretary, said the sharing of information between the two associations over the scandal would help them “take extra precaution in future”.

A ZIFA probe committee chaired by Ndumiso Gumeede has found that Zimbabwean players, coaches, officials and referees had been involving ion match fixing between 2007 and 2009.

The corruption, the committee found, revolved around a Malaysian national named so far only as Raja Raj – although officials say this may not be his proper name.

ZIFA CEO Henrietta Rushwaya and the association’s programmes officer Jonathan Musavengana have been suspended and face lengthy bans, even criminal trials it has been suggested, after being fingered as central players in the corruption.

The scandal, now dubbed Asiagate by the local media in Zimbabwe, has attracted the attensions of FIFA, the Confederation of African Football and football associations in Thailand, Syria, Oman and now Malaysia.

In a letter to ZIFA released Monday, FAM’s Ben Ahmad said: "On behalf of His Royal Highness Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, FAM president, the Football Association of Malaysia would like to present its best compliment to Zimbabwe Football Association.

"Please be informed that we have picked up an article from BBC Sport website and understand that Zifa has suspended the chief executive in relation to a national team tour of Malaysia.

 

"The FA Malaysia also heard that the match between the two countries was fixed and involving a Malaysian.

"Therefore we would be grateful if Zifa has concluded the investigation and know if any Malaysian involved in this match-fixing. We kindly request Zifa to inform FA Malaysia the name of this individual or group for us to take extra precaution in the future.”

Gumede’s probe team has uncovered evidence that Rushwaya and Musavengana arranged trips by under-strength Zimbabwe teams to travel to Asia where they were given money by betting syndicates in return for producing pre-agreed results.

It has since emerged that Monomotapa football club may have also lost African Champions League matches for money, leading to the team’s coach Rodwell Dhlakama being fired.

NEGERI MALAYSIA CUP CHAMPIONS, BY DEFAULT

Going by regulations, as the Football Association of Malaysia claim to be, then there will not be a Malaysia Cup final this weekend.

Rather, defending champions Negeri Sembilan ought to be declared champions as Kelantan would be deemed to have lost the game by default as they do not have the services of an "A" coach on their bench with B. Sathianathan being suspended for six months.

The two assistants that Kelantan have are "B" coaches, hence going strictly by regulations, Kelantan should not have been allowed to play their semi final match against Kedah last Saturday.

One way out is for Kelantan to hire a coach right away, but they must offer the coach a six month contract, as once again we have to abide by the FAM rules which prevent a one month contract. So Tan Sri Musa, be prepared to pay a coach for a day's work a total of six months salary.

By the way, the head of the FAM Referees Department went on ir, live on RTM 1, last Saturday, prior to the semi finals being played, the names of the match officials picked for the final. Wow, some efficiency, but its a blatant disregard for procedures.

He who has learned how to steal, must learn how to hang.

Malaysian sports is today in a poor state of organization. Its super-structure is top heavy, some of its foundations are built on shifting sands. The entire edifice has been corroded with jealousies and prejudices, provincialism and communalism, anomalies and stupidities.

A rash of medals at the New Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games may have given the impression that we have become a sports power. Not so soon. The champagne must stay on ice.

The Sports Minister, and his able deputies, have contributed nothing towards sports in the time they have been in office, save for turning up to take pictures and pose with athletes that have won medals, and that too limited to the likes of top world class performers in the likes of Lee Chong Wei.

Mind you that read this, the Minister has done wonders in promoting tennis in the country, with close to RM40 million being spent on three events, but where was he when the Malaysian Hockey Federation had to virtually sell their rights of the Project 2013 team to Air Asia as they could ill afford the flight tickets to participate in tournaments in India this month. What’s a mere RM20, 000 opposed to the RM40 million?

And while we are at this subject Mr. Minister, how come none of the main stream media nor some vocal bloggers, who virtually started a war with KBS and its then minister about the football extravagant event that cost RM17 million gone silent on you spending RM40 million on a sport that has never given us gold even at SEA Games level?

And what about the Sports Industry Secretariat that occupies the first floor of Casa 1 holds meetings and eats food from the NSC cafeteria daily, the expenditure, which comes from the beleaguered NSC that has been accused of not paying its debtors, but in reality, has to pay for feeding a committee that, is run to your whims and fancies?

So the crux of the matter is that players are merely pawns in the skirmishes for power, the stepping- stones by which social climbers and careerists find their way into presidential and committee chairs.

The three stakeholders in defining the success of an athlete are, the athlete himself, the administrators and the public at large.

In reality the greatest thrust for excellence has to come from the athlete, but for so many years, the athletes have shown themselves to be satisfied with the perks of participation, rather than the rewards of performance.

For the last few decades, our participation in multi sports events has been not targeted for wins, but to improve on their personal best. What more with the Malaysian Hockey Federation treating the games as ax exposure trip, declaring openly their intentions. So why did the Olympic Council of Malaysia not declare the hockey team as a Category B participant?

It will be easy to blame the athletes. But they are part of a system that rewards mediocrity, a system that is geared towards producing gracious losers, not aggressive winners.

No football, hockey, badminton or squash association can take credit for the successes of athletes like the Bakar brothers Namat and Isa, Kavandan brothers Keevan and Logan, Lee Chong Wei, the Sidek brothers, Misbun, Razif,Jailani, Rashid or Nicol Ann David. These athletes emerged from the strong, unbiased, focused organizations that have not been given enough credit, their families.

Most of these champions have had problems with their respective sports associations, including the Ministry of Youth & Sports, which are being run or were run by politicians. And not forgetting time observers who want to take credit for every success, but are experts in pointing fingers at others when things go wrong.

When such champions continue to be harassed by officialdom, which functions in a heavy-handed bureaucratic manner in the likes of some zealous officials within the National Sports Council, what chance do those in the lower rungs of the ladder have.

Part Two will follow on the War Series…

To bend a bamboo, start when it is a shoot.

Core values tend to drive an institution's strategy and decisions and contribute in a definitive manner to its success.  The very culture of the organization is determined by its values and philosophy.

These values are the ideals and inspiration that guide the decisions and actions taken by an institution and by its individual employees, be it in sports or the business world.

Thus this message is directed to the National Sports Council, which has come under fire of late, allegedly for its miss-management of funds of poor handling of its debts.

What has been established is that NSC is not bankrupt, nor is it poorly administrated. It is just that its senior officials are victims of a political game being played by certain characters out to undermine the current administration and hoping for a change after the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

The fact that in the Commonwealth Games, the contingent won 12 gold medals has somewhat put a spanner in the works of these crude officials who will stop at nothing to make Malaysian sports their domain.

The writing is on the wall; poor results in these two multi sports events was to set  a plan in motion, ousting of the Director General topping the agenda.

As organizations grow and develop, their culture changes. It is recognized that these values are influenced by past, present, and future attitudes and principles. Sadly it’s the poor attitudes that are bane of the NSC as birds of a feather flock together.

Core values are the essential and enduring tenets of an organization - the very small set of guiding principles that have a profound impact on how everyone in the organization thinks and acts.

Core values require no external justification. They have intrinsic value and are of significant importance to those inside the organization.

Core values are deep, very deep. They are extremely important.  Thus sports and business share similarities when the issue of core values is discussed.

This first core value in both the aspects is the fundamental business strategy which in sports and business focuses on forging strong, long-term relationships with clients, in the case of sports it is the clients, which are the national sports associations, OCM as well as the sports loving fans of this great nation.

Sound client/fans relationships the most important contributor to success and both the business sector as well as sports as the clients can cement these relationships by providing superior customer value and by continuously improving performance. But this is lacking today, as accountability seems to be thrown out of the window.

Officials from NSC are no angels too as they play a major role in the elections of office bearers of national sports associations, and mind you this is not something that is happening of late but it is a parasite that irritates the sporting fraternity for the last two decades.

So the current NSC Director General must take stock of the current situation in our sporting world. Let NSC become a partner of sports and not an enforcer, as that is the role of the Sports Commissioner.

NSC must be not only being seen as friendly, but must inculcate a sense of responsibility towards its stakeholders. It should not be seen as highhanded but more as a counterpart to the national sports association in the true essence of the 1 Malaysia spirit.

What the NSC DG must remember is that as in business, employee talent in sports is the cornerstone of success.

Their expertise and capabilities deliver or perform the work thereby creating values for clients, and generate loyalty from investors, in this case the potential sponsors and the fans alike.

It pays to create an environment where employees meet fresh, exciting challenges and experience the satisfaction of a job well done. Winning 10 medals or more at the Commonwealth Games or Asian Games is not the only way; consistency throughout the year is what we all want.

Yes we won 10 gold medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, we won 111 gold medals at the 2001 Sea Games, but that is the past. Some of those involved in sports today cannot even name the 10 gold medal winners of the 898 Games in Kuala Lumpur.

But how do we get people to share our core values one might ask. You don't. You can't.

Just find people that are "predisposed" to share your values and purpose, attract and retain those people, and let those who don't share your values go elsewhere.

This entire exercise is about having your integrity in - in the sense of your authentic values and your courage to act congruently all of the time.

And could it be that the seemingly unending quest for the answer - will ultimately take you back to the beginning - to what you are and what you stand for? And perhaps, this could be the first step to the beginning ... on the path to greatness.

DRAGONS AWAKE

The addition of Nakiea Miller to the KL Dragons’s roster might just be what the doctor ordered.

The KL Dragons cane off with a victory against the Singapore Slingers in their second home game

And the win avenged a heart breaking lost to the Slingers in their last meeting.

Dragons led at 11-10 with 5:45 remaining in the quarter. It continued to be a close game throughout the quarter until Slinger’s marksman; Leonidez Avenido tied the game at 17-17 from downtown.

Looking to continue their hot streak from the first quarter, Dragons opened the 2nd quarter with another 3 pointer from the corner.

Both teams however went through a period of drought, failing to convert several attempts on both ends.

Slingers however continued their attack and managed to break the drought in the 7th minute through Pathman Matialakan’s basket. Guards Al Vergara and Oh Wei Jie used their speed and agility to attack the basket and creating plays for their other teammates.

INJUSTICE

For manhandling, the FAM suspends coach and players for six matches, reference Red Giants v Deer in FA Cup.

But for stating the obvious, FAM suspends Sathianathan for 6 months , not a full suspension but a custodial one , preventing him from sitting in the bench.

What interests me most is why it took FAM 3 months to charge and punish Sathia and which committee framed the charges?

Well since you are in the mood to suspend, please go back to February 2010 when a certain someone took the nation for a ride by stating Harimau Muda was going to Slovakia and participating in their league.

Double standards or discrimination, it's for all to see the obvious.

ASIAGATE

SUSPENDED Zifa chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya ordered Monomotapa to throw Champions League games for money, it has been sensationally claimed.

The Harare club represented the country in Africa’s premier club competition last year after winning the domestic championship in 2008.

But it is their 2-0 away loss to Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia on September 12 which has stirred controversy.

Minutes of a meeting held with club owners after the game show that an extensive network involving Rushwaya, Zifa programmes officer, Jonathan Musavengana, shady Asian characters club coaches and players was behind the scam.

The meeting was held on September 19, 2009, after the betting allegations emerged, and was attended by the Monomotapa’s co-owners as well as the coaching and management team of Rodwell Dhlakama and Clayton Munemo.

The club’s owners heard that the team management received several phone calls from ZIFA officials and individuals linked to Asian betting syndicates before and during the game.

Munemo told the meeting he had answered a phone call from Rushwaya who advised him to ensure Monomotopa lost the match by a 0-4 margin.

The Zifa CEO is said to have promised Munemo and the team huge rewards if they threw the game.

Again an individual who has been linked to the Warriors betting scandal in Asia also phoned and assured the Monomotapa officials that they would be rewarded for throwing the game.

"At half time Raja (the benefactor — the man who was funding the whole deal) spoke to the manager (and) emphasised the need for Monomotapa to lose the game as he had already put his bet down," Munemo said, according to minutes of the meeting.

“He promised to give each player US$4,000 which translated to US$60,000 for the players and some US$10,000 for the coaches."

Dhlakama told the meeting Rushwaya phone him to make clear the margin by which Monomotapa were to lose the game.

Rushwaya reportedly told the coach: “I am giving you an instruction, you should lose the game by four goals to nil; the first two goals should be in the first half's 35 to 45 minutes and the other goals in the second half."

After Monomotapa conceded the first goal Rushwaya is said to have called to ask “whether they did not want any money as the goal had been scored earlier than the time prescribed”.

A report submitted by the club’s then captain Mthulisi Maphosa also implicated Musavengana in the scam.

Maphosa said he had been called to a meeting by Musavengana – the head of the travelling delegation – where the Zifa official asked whether the players had received their payments for the game.

“The players denied receiving any money and at that juncture Musavengana went on to call Raja as the money was supposed to have been given to Dhlakama in South Africa while they were in transit,” minutes of the Monomotapa meeting read.

The minutes suggest the Tunisian club may also have been involved in the scam after their coach went to Monomotapa's hotel, allegedly to find out if they understood they were to lose.

The Monomotapa minutes show that there was a near bust up between players and Monomotapa officials as tensions rose after the game with the players demanding their share of the bribery proceeds.

Monomotapa sacked Dhlakama and Munemo after the game.

The club also travelled to Malaysia last year disguised as the Zimbabwe senior national team and played in games said to have been organised by Asian betting syndicates.

Rushywaya and Musavengana, who were this week linked with fixing matches involving the national team by an official ZIFA report, both strenuously deny the corruption allegations.

The Zifa CEO was suspended for her alleged role in organising unsanctioned national team trips to Asia where they threw games for local betting syndicates in one of the biggest scandals to hit Zimbabwean football.

Football administrators, players, coaches and media practitioners have been caught up in the scandal.

WAR IT SHALL BE

Seems that there is an instruction sort of from some bigwigs of KBS and NSC who upon the advice of some journalists and bloggers, not to give me any work to do for sports bodies. Well good for the Minister and his henchmen. If it's war you want then it's a war u will have. See you in hell gentlemen.

PERUMAL SPEAKS UP

The supposed protagonist in the Zifagate match-fixing scandal, Wilson Raj Perumal, on Thursday expressed shock at the fact that Zifa concluded their investigations without hearing his side of the story.

Perumal, a Singapore-based football agent, is believed to be at the centre of the alleged match- fixing and betting syndicates which has seen three Zifa employees, chief executive officer Henrietta Rushwaya, programmes officer Jonathan Mashingaidze and marketing officer Harry Taruva, being suspended.

A Zifa board enquiry headed by vice-president Ndumiso Gumede has since produced a damning report which has fingered Rushwaya, Musavengana, Warriors players, the technical team and a number of local referees.

Speaking to NewsDay on Thursday, Perumal, who is at the centre of the storm, claimed his company dealt with Zimbabwe in a professional way.

He said: “It’s nice to know Zifa can come to a conclusion that I’m the mastermind without listening to my side of the story.

Justice can only be served after you hear from all concerned parties .

Zifa sent official papers to the Thailand FA and Malaysia FA indicating their interest to play these matches.

It is believable to lose a match by 1-0 precisely.

“No one with football knowledge will ask for such a scoreline.

CONTINUES BELOW



And the threat from Asian syndicates is a joke.

The Zimbabwe team, when they were in Malaysia never wanted to set foot onto the pitch unless they were paid appearance fees.

The Malaysian officials had to practically beg the players to start the match.

Even then the team would not budge.

We then did our best to arrange $10 000 in appearance fees for them to start the match and they did after receiving money.”

Responding to allegations that he threatened the Zimbabwe contingent after they lost 3-0 to Thailand in their opening match of the jaunt in Bangkok, Perumal said:

“If there was someone being threatened, then it certainly wasn’t the Zimbabwe players but it was us.

When we say us I refer to my company.

We brought Zifa to Jordan and they were paid$30 000 in appearance money.”

Perumal, according to affidavits by players and officials who travelled to the Asian countries, was angered by the 3-0 scoreline instead of 1-0 which resulted in him losing “millions” of dollars.

The Asian confirms working with Zifa in the past.

“We have worked with Zifa and given the young players from Zimbabwe the opportunity to travel and impress clubs abroad.

These are things Zifa would never have done. The only trips Zifa make are for Caf matches.

Rushwaya made history when she brought Brazil to play in Zimbabwe,” said Perumal.

He also attacked Malawian football agent Felix Sapao who said last month that Perumal, in cahoots with Rushwaya, had contacted him to fix matches for his native country.

Perumal said: “One clown called Felix made these allegations after a good one year when he first met me.

I have an email from Felix asking for $60 000 to fix TP Mazembe players for the World Club Championship in Dubai.

I ignored his mail and never contacted him after that.”

The Asian, who claims to run a sports consultancy company in Singapore, also confirmed that he was convicted for match-fixing.

“I was charged in Singapore for conspiring to fix matches but was acquitted on nine match-fixing charges.

The presiding judicial commissioner found that the prosecution had fabricated nine charges against me and acquitted me on all the charges,” he said.

JUSTICE AT LAST

Four policemen were sentenced to six months imprisonment each for assaulting an Indonesian, who was a referee for a karate championship, three years ago.

Abdul Aziz Shamsudin 23, Adi Sebi 35, Helmi Hussanie Sukri 24 and Mohd Dzulhaffiz Che Zainal 45 were charged with voluntarily injuring Donald Peter Luther Kolopitha along the road outside a Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia hostel in Nilai at about 2am on Aug 24, 2007.

Kolopitha, who was here with the Indonesian karate team, was a referee at the Eighth Asian Karate Championship held at the Nilai Indoor Stadium.

The sentences were passed by Magistrate Nor Alis Mas at the magistrate’s court here on Thursday.

They were charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail sentence of one year and RM2,000 fine.

At the time, the beating had sparked off anti-Malaysian demonstrations in several cities in Indonesia.

In his police report then, Kolopitha claimed he was going for supper around 2am when a white unmarked van stopped near him and four men got out and pushed him into the vehicle. He alleged that he was handcuffed and beaten. It was alleged that his assailants took his passport, wallet, watch and money.

He allegedly suffered injuries to his chest and abdomen and was only released hours later and sent to the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital.

Kolopitha claimed he fought the four as he thought they were robbers. The four policemen had alleged that Kolopitha was behaving suspiciously and tried to punch them and run away when questioned.

JEAN AIMS FOR TOP !5

Chua Tze Jean has set her sights on finishing amongst the top 15 in the inaugural Sim Darby LPGA Malaysia that gets underway this Friday at the KLGCC.

But the Malaysian will not have any home ground advantage as she has not played on the course for the last five years.

And being away in the USA for the past five years, with occasional visits, the last being in February this year means that the humid conditions to will be bound to affect her performance.

But the 23 year old remained confident despite playing in one of women golfs strongest fields.

"It all boils down to the three days and trying to keep up with the pace setters I am optimistic that I can play well and have set a personal target of finishing amongst the top 15 players," said Tze Jean.

"The fact that Malaysia is hosting an event of this magnitude augurs well for ladies golf as we have been deprived of big events since the late 90"s.

"Personally I hope many players will take up golf after this event as we have golfers that can produce results but lack the exposure."

Achievements (2003)

In 2003, Jean went on to stamp her mark in the Malaysian Junior Circuit by winning the 1st Leg SportExcel National Junior Golf Circuit, MSSKL(Malaysian Schools Sports, Kuala Lumpur)and MSSM(Malaysian Schools Sports Council). Due to her stellar performance she was recruited to the Malaysian national squad in July 2003. In August, in her first international tournament representing Malaysia, she won the 'Hong Kong MacGregor Junior Open'.

Achievements (2004) 

In 2004, again she captured the MSSM(Malaysian Schools Sports Council) and the National Junior Circuit Grand Finals KRPM titles. On the International front, she won the Asean Girls Junior, Jarkarta (4–7 May ’04), Asean Schools Golf , Bangkok ( October 2004), Royal Selangor Ladies Open, (25–27 August) RSGC and runners-up in Malaysian Ladies Open 5–8 July ’04, Glenmarie , and 2nd runners-up in Asia-Pacific Junior Championship, Royal Air Force Golf Club, Bangkok (December 2004)

Achievements (2005)

In 2005 she proved to be Malaysia’s top amateur by clinching the Malaysian Ladies Closed Championship title in Perangsang, Templer, the Northern Malaysian Ladies Open, Taiping Golf and Country Club( 26–27 April 2005), and MGA 100 Plus Asean Junior Golf Championship (May 2005 )

With her record of achievements, she was awarded Full scholarship to Wake Forest University, North Carolina, Women’s Golf Team.

College Career 2005-2009

Her college career include winning the Lady Falcon Invitational title in 2007, Lady Tar Heel Invitational – Individual and Team Champion in 2008, Landfall Tradition –Team Champion and Individual Second Runners-up in 2008. In 2009, she helped her college to gain victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship – Team Champion/ Individual 5th.

Jean graduated with Bachelor of Arts (Mass Communication), Wake Forest University in May 2009. She returned to her hometown of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in June 2009 but continue to hone her skills in golf. She is now based in Bangkok, Thailand training in the Wilding Golf Performance Centre.

2007 MERDEKA CUP FIXED?

ZIFA CEO Henrietta Rushwaya was damned on Monday after a probe into match fixing allegations against the Zimbabwe national soccer team found she was the “core central point” in the scam which involved referees, players and journalists.

ZIFA board member Ndumiso Gumede was assigned to lead a probe into an unsanctioned trip by the Warriors to Thailand and Malaysia in December last year.

On the trip, Zimbabwe lost 3-0 to Thailand; beat the Malaysian champions Selangor 3-0 before suffering a 6-0 drubbing by Syria.

In sensational revelations which will send tremours in the world of football, the ZIFA Board of Enquiry found:

a Malaysian betting syndicate paid Zimbabwe players US$1,500 each to lose by a pre-agreed score-line.

a member of the syndicate sat on the Zimbabwe bench and gave instructions when to concede goals.

ZIFA programmes officer Jonathan Musavengana received “a bunch of US dollars” from a representative of the syndicate.

players feared for their lives when a representative of the betting syndicate claimed they had cost him US$1 million after losing the first game 3-0 instead of 1-0.

Rushwaya was in on the scam.

 the match-fixing may have been going on for three years, starting with the 2007 Merdeka Cup held to commemorate Malaysian National Day.

Method Mwanjali, tipped to be the new national team captain after Benjani Mwaruwari stood down, negotiated payments with the betting syndicate.

an agent of the syndicate was at the Warriors’ camp ahead of a friendly match with Japan just before the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa in June.

most of the players involved in the corruption “now pose a big problem” for the national team.

The devastating report will be studied in Zimbabwe, Japan, Malaysia, Syria and Thailand. It will also attract the attention of the Confederation of African Football and FIFA, and could lead to criminal charges.

Rushwaya and Musavengana are already suspended over the controversial trip to Thailand at the end of December last year.

Gumede’s committee said the trip was not sanctioned by the ZIFA Council and the Sports and Recreation Commission but had been arranged by Rushwaya and Musavengana.

SUKOM 13 YEARS ON

KUALA LUMPUR 19 Okt. - Walaupun England, Australia dan India telah menganjurkan Sukan Komanwel selepas giliran Malaysia pada 1998, akaun penganjur temasya sukan terbesar pernah dianjurkan di negara ini, iaitu Sukom Ninety Eight Berhad (SUKOM 98), hanya akan ditutup secara rasmi pada Oktober tahun depan.

Pengerusi Eksekutif SUKOM 98, Datuk Nik Mahmud Nik Yusuf berkata, syarikat tersebut yang ditubuhkan bagi mengendali Sukan Komanwel di ibu negara pada 1998, telah melantik sebuah syarikat pembubar, Deloitte Kassim Chan, pada awal bulan ini untuk menyelesaikan penutupan akaun itu.

Ketika ditanya kenapa SUKOM 98 memerlukan masa sehingga 13 tahun untuk dibubarkan, Nik Mahmud berkata, antara penghalang utama ialah kes tuntutan di mahkamah, akaun yang belum selesai serta masa yang diperlukan untuk mengutip dan menjelaskan hutang.

"Deloitte Kassim Chan bertanggungjawab untuk menutup akaun SUKOM 98, termasuk menyelesaikan semua kes tuntutan di mahkamah,” katanya kepada Bernama dalam satu temubual di pejabatnya di Bukit Jalil.

FUMING PLAYERS

At the time of writing this piece, some of the national players, namely Lee Chong Wei as well as doubles pair Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong would have got the clarification/or response from the Badminton Association of Malaysia with regards to their omission from the
 Denmark and French Open's respectively.

While Chong Wei was entered, and his name subsequently withdrawn from the list of participants, Kk/Tan were not even entered for the French Open.

The players were upset during the Commonwealth Games but requested this blogger from refraining to write the story till the games were over.

But what is more ironic is that the coaches, Misbun Sidek as well as Rexy Mainaky too were not told about the non participation of these players in the two events.

"I submitted a program for Chong Wei and the Danish Open is listed as a tournament he needs to participate. This was to be used as conditioning for the Asian Games. As to who and why he was withdrawn, I really have no idea as we only found out when we were here in New Delhi," said Misbun.

As for Rexy, he said while he respected the decision, still it was not right for the coaches not to be consulted about withdrawaing or not enntering players.

"It is our neck on the chopping block should players fail thus our programs ought to be respected. We hope to get some info upon our return," said Rexy.

LEE, SAINA WIN GOLD

Saina Nehwal clinched the gold medal in the women’s singles final at the Commonwealth Games with a come from behind win over Malaysia’s Wong Mew Choo.

The Indian, ranked number one, was within a point of defeat, but showed steely determination to take the gold in a match that lasted 70 minutes.

It was another epic encounter between the two players as their match in the mixed team event lasted 68 minutes.

In the first set, Saina led 3-2, and it proved to be the only time in the set that she was to be in the lead. For Mew Choo matched Saina stroke for stroke, leading 16-12 at one stage.

Though the Malaysian was one point away from winning the first set, leading 20-17, she allowed Saina back and was fortunate to win it 21-19, in 22 minutes.

The second was closely contested as well, with little separating the two players as they matched each other point for point.

This time it was Saina who wasted an opportunity to win the second when leading 20-19 as Mew Choo drew level. The Malaysian was a point away from winning the gold, leading 21-20 but failed to capitalize, with the Indian closing the set 23-21 in 28 minutes.

Saina was given a second life and she took full advantage of it to pull away to a 6-3 lead in the third set. She gradually increased her lead to 12-7, with Mew Choo struggling to keep up with the pace.

And with the capacity crowd cheering her on, Saina completed the formality, winning the third set 21-13.

In contrast, the men’s singles final was a mismatch as Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei hardly broke into a sweat in his 21-10,21-8 win over Rajiv Ouseph of England.

It was a clinical display, yet entertaining for the crowd as Chong Wei displayed high standards, and toyed around with Rajiv at regular intervals.

There was hardly a moment in the match that Chong Wei was troubled, not even when Rajiv took a 5-1 lead in the opening set.

Chong Wei created history of sorts, as he is the only player to have successfully defended a title at the Commonwealth Games.

"There was no competition for me and used Commonwealth Games to prepare for the Asian Games which is just 28 days away," said Chong Wei.

"Though I am the world's number one player, my participation in Delhi was important as the country was counting on me to deliver a gold medal. The level of competition may be easy for me but I doubt that another singles player from Malaysia could have won gold as Kashyap, Rajiv and Chetan played well.

"I am still undergoing treatment for my back injury but am fortunate it did not act up here at all.”

The men’s doubles title too went to Malaysia as Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong defeated England’s Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson 21-19, 21-14 in 32 minutes.

It was the second gold medal in men’s doubles for Koo in the history of the Games as he won four years ago as well, but was partnering Chan Chong Ming.

Koo/Tan were behind 13-16 in the first set but were patient enough to bide for time, returning whatever the English pair had to offer. Two mistakes in returning the serve in quick succession by Clark/Robertson allowed the Malaysians back into the set. And they went on to seal it 21-19.

In the second set it was neck to neck with scores tied at 12-12. But the Malaysia pair reeled off five points in one serve to lead 16-12 and after that lost only two more points to seal the gold with a 21-14 win.

“ We took time to settle down and that almost cost us the match. Koo was a bit tired after the mixed doubles match but paced himself nicely,” said Tan.

“It is always good to win but this is especially memorable for me and I dedicate this win to my family without whose support I will not be an international player."

Gold Medal Playoffs

Mens Singles

Lee Chong Wei (MAS) bt Rajiv Ouseph (ENG) 2110,21-8

Womens Singles

Saina Nehwal (IND) v Wong Mew Choo (MAS) 19-21,23-21,21-13

Mens Doubles

Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (MAS) bt Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson  (ENG) 21-19,21-14

Womens Doubles

Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt  Sari Shinta Mulia/Yao Lei (SIN)  21-16, 21-19

Mixed Doubles

Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui (MAS) bt Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork (ENG) 22-20, 21-12

GOLD FOR KOO/CHIN

Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hi won the gold medal in the mixed doubles event at the Commonwealth Games.

The duo defeated top seeds, Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork of England 22-20,21-12 to win gold, an unexpected result for them given that they were unseeded and were only paired for the Commonwealth Games.

“We were very tensed in the opening minutes and thus we conceded easy points,” said Koo.

“They were keeping me away from the net as it was our strong point. But we had to be patient and I am glad that it paid off.

“Now I have to concentrate on getting the gold in the men’s doubles and the schedule has been taxing to say the least. But the fact that its only one match from another gold has me pumped up.”

From the English pair’s perspective, the final was decided by only one person, Koo.

“He is an exceptional player and we just were unable to cope up with his pace and experience,” said Jenny.

With the partisan Indian crowd opting to throw their support for the Malaysian pair, it was plain sailing for them despite the fact that they were down 0-5 in the opening minutes.

The fightback started when Koo/Chin were down 8-11 as they hit a purple patch to win the next six points to lead 14-11. The Malaysians then surged ahead to lead 19-15 at one stage before Nathan/Jenny got their act together and leveled the score to 19-19.

The English pair won the next point and had the set point but faltered as the Malaysians went on to collect three points to win the first set 22-20 in 18 minutes.

In the second set, once again the Malaysian pair collected nine points on the trot, from being tied 8-8 to lead 17-8, largely due to the error prone Robertson who was not at his usual best.

Koo/Chin went on to clinch the gold, taking the second 21-12 in just 17 minutes.

“I told them to attack Jenny as we knew that she gets tensed when under attack. With her making mistakes, Robertson’s concentration was affected and this was exactly as we planned,” said coach Rexy Mainaky.

“It was a good win as they were unseeded but then again its experience that matters.”

In the women’s doubles final, second seeds, Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnapa upset the top seeded Sari Shinta Mulia/Yao Leu 21-6,21-19 in 39 minutes to take the gold medal.

Jwala/Ashwini took the first set 21-16, not giving the Singapore pair much attacking options as Jwala dominated at the net,

Sari/Yao held the upperhand in the second set, leading 15-12, but the Indian pair fought back and they two pairs were level at 18-18 when controversy broke out.

Jwala served to Sari, but the Singaporean claimed she was not ready. However the umpire awarded the point to the Indian pair. Despite protests and play being held up for five minutes, the point stood and the Indians capitalized to go on and win 21-19 to take gold.

Such was Yao’s disgust that she smashed her racquet into the ground after losing the match.

UNLIKELY BRONZE FOR AUSSIES

Australia’s Kate Wilson Smith and He Tang Tien secured an unlikely bronze medal for their nation as they won the women’s doubles match against England’s Jenny Wallwork/Gabrielle White in the playoffs to decide the bronze medals at the Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi.

It was Australia’s first medal at the Commonwealth Games since the 1998 edition in Kuala Lumpur.

Kate/Tang Tien were unseeded and that is what makes the medal all the more remarkable as their win was over the third seeded English pair.

“This medal means a lot for Australian badminton and we are happy to have contributed it. We just cannot believe that we will be on the podium for the medal presentations tomorrow,” said Kate who is 31 and has played in four Commonwealth Games.

“We really hope that this medal will now be the catalyst for the revival of badminton in Australia as we want more kids to take up the sport.”

It was more remarkable though for Teng Tien, who represented China at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

“We decided to pair each other in February this year and I am so happy that it paid dividends here in New Delhi,” said Teng tien.

The Aussies should have really won the first set as they held two set points, at 20-19 and 21-22 but failed to make it count. And that allowed Jenny and Gabrielle to win the first 23-21.

Midway into the second set, Gabrielle suffered an injury to her hand that required medical attention. The score at that time was 9-4 in favour of the Aussie pair.

More woes followed for the English pair as Jenny was shown the yellow card for dissent at 10-4. The English duo did not recover and went on to lose the second set 12-21.

The English pair held the advantage in the third set, leading 7-2 at one stage but the Australians staged one of the most remarkable comebacks, winning the next eight points to lead 10-7.

They never looked back after securing the lead and jumped for joy after scoring the winning point, with the English looking shell shocked.

But while Jeny and Gabrielle faltered, Elizabeth Cann rose to the occasion to win bronze in the singles, defeating Scotland’s Susan Egelstaff.

For Elizabeth it was sweet revenge for Egelstaff deprived that deprived her the bronze medal in Melbourne four years ago.

The men’s singles bronze medal match saw an all-Indian contest with youngster P. Kashyap upstaging the much-fancied Chetan Anand 21-15, 21-18 to take the bronze.

In the men’s doubles, which was an all-Singaporean affair, Hendra Wijaya/Hendri Kurniawan lived up to their billing as they defeated Chayut Triyachart/Derek Wong (SIN) 23-21,21-12 to take the bronze.

Meanwhile Singapore’s Chayut Triyachart/Yao Lei defeated Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia 21-14,17-21, 21-17 to win the bronze medal of the mixed doubles event.

Chayut/Lao started off brightly in the first set, opting to attack the weaker Goh. And their strategy paid off as they went on to win the first set 21-14.

But the Malaysians bounced right back in the second with Pang ustilising his smashes to great advantage. The Malaysians made less mistakes and capitalized on the error prone Chayut to clinch the second set 21-17.

Pang/Goh could not sustain the pressure in the third set and lost 21-17 and in the process failed to net the RM20, 000 incentive provided by their government for a bronze medal.

Bronze Medal Playoffs – Wednesday, 13th October 2010

Mens Singles

P. Kashyap (IND) bt Chetan Anand (IND) 21-15, 21-18

Womens Singles

Elizabeth Cann (ENG) bt Susan Egelstaff (SCO) 21-18,21-16

Mens Doubles

Hendra Wijaya/Hendri Kurniawan (SIN) v Chayut Triyachart/Derek Wong (SIN) 23-21,21-12

Womens Doubles

Kate Wilson Smith/He Tang Tien (AUS) bt Jenny Wallwork/Gabrielle White (ENG) 21-23, 21-12,21-16

Mixed Doubles

Chayut Triyachart/Yao Lei (SIN) bt Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) 21-14,17-21, 21-17


Gold Medal Playoffs – Thursday, 14th October

Mens Singles

Lee Chong Wei (MAS) v Rajiv Ouseph (ENG)

Womens Singles

Saina Nehwal (IND) v Wong Mew Choo (MAS)

Mens Doubles

Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (MAS) v Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson  (ENG)

Womens Doubles

Sari Shinta Mulia/Yao Lei (SIN) v Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)

Mixed Doubles

Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui (MAS) v Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork (ENG)

MALAYSIA IN FOUR FINALS

When the dust settled at the end of the semi finals of the individual badminton event of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, Malaysia and England turned out to be the big winners in terms of players qualifying for the final.

Malaysia, which featured in five semi final matches has four finalists while England who also had five semifinalists will see action in three of the final events.

The biggest losers were Singapore as they had four semifinalists but only their women’s doubles pair made the final, while India who had four players in action in the semis will be represented by two finalists, in the likes of Saina Nehwal in the women’s singles as well as the women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa.

In the women’s doubles, the fairytale run of Australia’s Kate Wilson Smith and He Tian Tang came to an end in the semi finals.

The duo, who came out of semi-retirement for the chance to compete in Delhi, faced a battle with the crowd and number two seeds, Jwala/Ashwini, but could not pull off another giant killing act despite their valiant efforts.

Despite being unseeded, the Aussies made it to the last four but will rue the opportunity of not making the final as they lost 12-21,21-13,11-21.

In the men’s singles, world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia sailed into the final as he sent India’s number one, Chetan Anand packing with a 21-11, 21-10 win.

The manner in which Chong Wei disposed off Chetan showed that he has shrugged of the back injury he suffered in the math against Rajiv Ouseph in the World Championships in Paris last August.

And co-incidentally Chong Wei will meet Rajiv in the final on Thursday after the second seed came from a set down to break the hearts of millions of Indians by defeating P. Kashyap 19-21,21-12,21-18.

“I am hungry for the gold medal as this could well be the last time I feature in the Commonwealth Games.

“Besides I carry the hopes and aspirations of my country thus I am focused on the objective, that is to win gold, no matter what the conditions or who my opponents is.”

The match between Kashyap and Rajiv had drama right till the end as the Indian was clearly upset by a line call when the scores were tied 18-18 in the third set.

A smash by Rajiv on Kashyap’s left was called in by the linesman. And that had the Indian and the crowd fuming as Kashyap claimed it was out and appealed to the chair umpire.

“It was a bad call and affected my performance ad was the contributing factor to my defeat. The chair umpire could have easily over ruled the call but opted not to. I was too hasty to finish the match and that cost me a place in the final,” admitted Kashyap.

But Kashyap has only himself to blame for the defeat as he won the first set 21-19 but was at sea when he lost the second 12-21. And in the third, Kashyap led 16-13 but allowed Rajiv to draw level.

It was point for point after that until that call which was hotly disputed by Kashyap and affected his concentration.

“I never gave up although he had a healthy lead in the third. It was a question of sending the shuttle back and letting him make the mistakes. I am glad it paid off as the pressure got to him,” said Rajiv.

“It will be tough against Chong Wei in the final and I am just going to go out there to enjoy the occasion.”

In the women’s singles, Wong Mew Choo had to dig deep into her reserves before securing victory over Elizabeth Cann of England.

Mew Choo won the first set 21-12 but lost the second 18-21. She went on to book her place in the final with a 21-17 win in the third. And she will play the darling of Indian badminton Saina Nehwal in the final after the Indian defeated Susan Egelstaff of Scotland 21-10, 21-17 in the last tie of the day.

“It is a heavy burden off my shoulders now that I have made the final. Against Saina I will give it my best shot as the pressure is on her to win. I will not give in easily and she has to earn every point,” said the second seeded Mew Choo.

In the men’s doubles, second seeds, Nathan Robertson/Anthony Clare of England were made to work hard by Singapore’s Chayut Triyachart/Derek Wong before prevailing 21-10,17-21, 21-14.

But there were no such problems for the top seeds Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong as they sailed into the final with relative ease after defeating Singapore’s Hendra Wijaya/Hendri Kurniawan 21-11, 21-8.

However Malaysia suffered mixed fortunes though in the mixed doubles event when fourth seeds Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying lost to top seeds Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork of England.

But the scratch pair of Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui marched into the final when they defeated Singapore’s Chayut Triyachart/Yao Lei19-21, 21-16,21-18.

Chan/Goh have only themselves to blame as they held match point at 2-18 in the third set but failed to finish off the match. They eventually lost 19-21,21-13,23-21.

Semi Final Results

Mens Singles

Lee Chong Wei (MAS) bt Chetan Anand (IND) 21-11, 21-12
Rajiv Ouseph (ENG) bt P. Kashyap (IND) 19-21, 21-12,21-18

Womens Singles

Saina Nehwal (IND) bt Susan Egelstaff 21-10, 21-17
Wong Mew Choo (MAS) bt Elizabeth Cann (ENG) 21-12,18-21, 21-17

Mens Doubles

Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (MAS) bt Hendra Wijaya/Hendri Kurniawan (SIN) 21-11, 21-8.
Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson  (ENG) bt Chayut Triyachart/Derek Wong (SIN) 21-10,17-21, 21-14

Womens Doubles

Sari Shinta Mulia/Yao Lei (SIN) bt Jenny Wallwork/Gabrielle White (ENG) 21-19, 21-13
Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Kate Wilson Smith/He Tang Tien (AUS) 12-21,21-13, 21-11

Mixed Doubles

Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui (MAS) bt Chayut Triyachart/Yao Lei (SIN) 19-21,21-16,21-18
Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork (ENG) bt Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) 19-21,21-13,23-21

Bronze Medal Playoffs – Wednesday, 13th October 2010
Mens Singles

Chetan Anand (IND) v P. Kashyap (IND)

Womens Singles

Susan Egelstaff (SCO) v Elizabeth Cann (ENG)

Mens Doubles
Hendra Wijaya/Hendri Kurniawan (SIN) v Chayut Triyachart/Derek Wong (SIN)

Womens Doubles

Jenny Wallwork/Gabrielle White (ENG) v Kate Wilson Smith/He Tang Tien (AUS)

Mixed Doubles
Chayut Triyachart/Yao Lei (SIN) v Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS)


Gold Medal Playoffs – Thursday, 14th October
Mens Singles

Lee Chong Wei (MAS) v Rajiv Ouseph (ENG)

Womens Singles

Saina Nehwal (IND) v Wong Mew Choo (MAS)

Mens Doubles

Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (MAS) v Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson  (ENG)

Womens Doubles

Sari Shinta Mulia/Yao Lei (SIN) v Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)

Mixed Doubles

Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui (MAS) v Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork (ENG)

HAFIZ CRASHES OUT

India suffered a misfortune in the mixed doubles but gained as P.Kashyap gave them plenty to cheer about in the quarterfinals of the individual events for badminton at the Commonwealth Games.

Jwala Gutta/D.Viju, who are the second seeds were sent packing by a clinical display of attacking badminton by Malaysian scratch pair of Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui, who won 21-13,21-19.

But the pain of the Indian spectators was somewhat soothed when Kashyap played very well to oust the 4th seed, Malaysia’s Muhd Hafiz Hashim with a 19-21,21-19,21-16 score line.

Kashyap was in his element despite losing the first set 19-21. Though he led for several spells in the first set, he could not pull away to win. But he did not make such a mistake in the second, engaging Hafiz in net play and won the set 21-19.

In the decider, Kashyap took and early lead at 6-2 but Hafiz fought back gallantly to draw level. But Kashypa once again pulled away to lead 17-13. Though Hafiz managed to reduce the deficit to within a point, the strain of playing catch up soon caught to him as he succumbed 21-16.

“My plan was to win the first set but it did not happen. I kept my focus and smashed my way through the second and benefited from my opponents unforced errors. It is a good win and gives me confidence against Rajiv in the semis. We have only met once in Touluse, and I lost due to injury. But I am better prepared this time around,” said Kashyap.

Kashyap will meet the second seed, Rajiv Ouseph of England in the last four after the Englishman had it surprisingly easy against Singapore’s Derek Wong, winning 21-13,21-15.

Chetan Anand joined his teammate in the semis after he defeated Carl Baxter of England 21-17, 21-9. Chetan will however find it difficult to match his semis opponent, world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.

Chong Wei defeated Singapore’s Ashton Chen Yong Zhao 21-13, 21-11 and looks virtually unstoppable.

Koo/Chin were in superb form as they attacked relentlessly, with Jwala not getting much breaks at the net where she is normally deadly. The two pairs battled point for point in the first set, with the Malaysians leading 11-8 at the break.

They went on to win the set with relative ease, 21-13. And the second was much closer with the Indian pair leading 7-5 at one stage. But Koo/Chin pulled their act together and although it was a titanic battle, with only one point separating the pairs, Koo/Chin kept their composure to win 21-19.

“It was not easy for us as we both have to play four matches today as we are also involved in the doubles. But I was confident that we could beat the Indians. The semis will be a different story altogether as the Singaporeans are sound in every department. But we have the edge having beaten them in the team event,” said Koo.

The Malaysians will take on Chayut Triyachart/Yao Lei of Singapore in the semis. Chayut/Yao had come from a set down to defeat Anthony Clark/Heather Olver of England 19-21,21-8, 21-12 in their quarterfinal.

The other semifinals will see top seeds Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork battling it out with another Malaysian pair, Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying.

Nathan/Jenny were taken to the wire by Scotland’s Watson Briggs/Imogen Bankier and eventually won 22-20, 23-21. And it was no different for Chan/Goh as they needed three sets before getting the better of another English pair, Chris Addock/Gabrielle White, to register a 22-20, 16-21, 21-11 win.

The women’s singles saw all the seeded players making it into the semis with Saina Nehwal of India taking Susan Egelstaff of Scotland while Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia will play Elizabeth Cann of England.

Quarterfinal Results

Men’s Singles

Lee Chong Wei (MAS) v Ashton Chen Yong Zhao (SIN) 21-13, 21-11
Chetan Anand (IND) bt Carl Baxter (ENG) 21-17, 21-9
P. Kashyap (IND) bt Muhd Hafiz Hashim (MAS) 19-21, 21-19, 21-16
Rajiv Ouseph (ENG) bt Derek Wong (SIN) 21-13, 21-15

Women’s Singles

Saina Nehwal (IND) bt Anna Rice (CAN) 21-7, 21-10
Susan Egelstaff (SCO) bt Huang Chia Chi (AUS) 21-18, 21-15
Elizabeth Cann (ENG) bt Michelle Li (CAN)  21-14, 19-21, 21-16
Wong Mew Choo (MAS) bt Aditi Mutatkar (IND) 21-8, 21-12

Mixed Doubles

Chayut Triyachart/Yao Lei (SIN) bt Anthony Clark/Heather Olver 19-21,21-8, 21-12
Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui (MAS) bt Jwala Gutta/V.Diju (IND) 21-13,21-19
Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork (ENG) bt Watson Briggs/Imogen Bankier (SCO) 22-20, 23-21
Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) bt Chris Addock/Gabrielle White (ENG) 22-20, 16-21, 21-11

Mens Doubles

Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (MAS) bt Oliver Leydon Davis/Henry Tam (NZL) 21-16, 21-13
Hendra Wijaya/Hendri Kurniawan (SIN) bt Watson Briggs/Paul van Rietvelde (SCO) 21-11, 22-20
Chayut Triyachart/Derek Wong (SIN) bt Rupesh Kumar/Thomas Sanave (IND) 21-16, 21-15
Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson  (ENG) bt Muhd Hafiz Hashim/Chan Peng Soon (MAS) 21-8, 21-7


Womens Doubles

Sari Shinta Mulia/Yao Lei (SIN) bt Leanne Choo/Renuga Veeran (AUS) 21-18, 17-21, 21-17
Jenny Wallwork/Gabrielle White (ENG) bt Lydia Cheah/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) 21-15, 16-21, 21-13
Kate Wilson Smith/He Tang Tien (AUS) bt Danielle Barry/Donna Haliday (NZL) 21-12, 21-6
Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Mariana Agathangelou/Olver Heather (ENG) 21-9, 21-14

Semi Final Match Ups

Mens Singles

Lee Chong Wei (MAS) v Chetan Anand (IND)
P. Kashyap (IND) v Rajiv Ouseph (ENG)

Womens Singles

Saina Nehwal (IND) v Susan Egelstaff
Wong Mew Choo (MAS) v Elizabeth Cann (ENG)

Mens Doubles

Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (MAS) v Hendra Wijaya/Hendri Kurniawan (SIN)
Chayut Triyachart/Derek Wong (SIN) v Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson  (ENG)

Womens Doubles

Jenny Wallwork/Gabrielle White (ENG) v Sari Shinta Mulia/Yao Lei (SIN)
Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) v Kate Wilson Smith/He Tang Tien (AUS)

Mixed Doubles

Chayut Triyachart/Yao Lei (SIN) v Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui (MAS)
Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork (ENG) v Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS)

CATWALK ON COURT

Wearing a skimpy black skirt and a sexy sleeveless top, Kate Kune Foo dazzled like a model on a ramp at the Siri Fort Stadium on Sunday.

The Mauritian shuttler, who lost her second round women's singles match to Caroline Black of Nigeria, is indeed a part-time catwalk model.

Coached by her elder sister Karen, the 17-year-old, who has walked the ramp a few times, said badminton and modelling are her two loves. "Like my sister I also want to compete in Olympics. I want to help my country do well in this sport. Modelling too is exciting.

"Though it's my hobby, I want to excel in this field. I hope I'll get more modelling assignments," the teenager said. Kate will be teaming up with her sister in doubles too.

The Foos are a badminton family. Their parents, in fact, fell in love after they met at a mixed doubles event.

"They were playing the mixed doubles event for Mauritius at the Indian Ocean Games," says Karen.

The stunning beauty from the small island is dating footballer Douglas and likes to gorge on Indian food. "I love the chapatis and naans," she said.

Interestingly, her fear of spiders made her a stronger badminton player. "When I was about six, my sister hung a shuttle on a rope attached to the ceiling and told me I should hit it with a racquet as if it were a bad spider," she said.

NO GIRLS AFTER EIGHT

After at least two police couples were found in an intimate position, a young intern couple was found in a passionate embrace at the media centre located inside the Pragati Maidan, last week. Both the 'culprits' are in the rank of Assistant Supervisors.

On the early hours of Thursday the police personnel on duty in the control room saw a couple in a compromising position inside the TV viewing room after which a cop went to the room and asked the receptionist to enquire into  the matter. "It was found that the assistant supervisors, both of them from IIMC, stayed till 3 am on Thursday in the office by taking special permission. They were spotted in a compromising position at about 4 am," sources said.

There are about 110 students of IIMC who have been working as supervisors at Pragati Maidan alone.
Sources said that while the girl lives in a hostel in Delhi, the boy is a resident of south Delhi.  "We are collecting the CCTV evidence to suspend them," a senior OC official said. Sources said that before this incident the couple was found kissing in the open by the security guards.

The incident has forced the authorities to issue a directive asking all women working at the media centre to leave by 8 pm. "We have asked the women working in that wing not to stay in office after 8 pm to avoid such encounters, as they bring embarrassment," officials said.

SINGAPORE LOSE OUT

Singapore had a bad day at the pre-quarterfinal stage of the individual events of the Commonwealth Games at the Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi this morning.

In the women’s singles, Singapore’s Fu Mingtian and Xing Aiying were shown the exit.

Fu, the seventh seed, lost to Huang Chia Chi of Australia, 21-15,21-19, while Xing, who was the eight seed, was also shown the exit by Michelle Li of Canada, losing 23-21, 21-12.

Saina Nehwal of India was in devastating form as she blanked Caroline Black of Northern Ireland 21-0,21-2.

“I guess my opponent was too nervous. I was smiling at her so that she would get comfortable but she just never got into the match. Infact I wanted to play longer rallies and gave her chances to get points,” said Saina.

In the mixed doubles, Scotland’s Watson Briggs/Imogen Bankier sprung a surprise as they sent New Zealand’s eight seeds, Henry Tam/Donna Haliday packing, winning 18-21,21-6,21-17.

England’s Rajiv Ouseph too was taken to the brink by Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne before winning 21-5,12-21,21-18.

“He gave all he had and was all over the court. It was a difficult match and I have to recover fast as the quarters are later today. It will not be easy and I know that I have to be at my best from now on,” said Ouseph.

World number one and top seed, Lee Chong Wei had no trouble disposing off the challenge posed by Zimbabwe’sJuma Muwowo winning 21-9,21-9.

In the women’s doubles, second seeds Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa of India were in trouble when they lost their first set to Malaysia’s unheralded Chin Ee Hui/ Woon Khe Wei 15-21.

With the voiceforous crowd urging them on each step of the way, the Indians recovered to take the next two sets 21-10, 21-16 to move into the last eight.

“We did not have the right rhythm in the first set and I am happy with the end result though. As the match progressed we started improving and that was the key to this win,” said Gutta.

The quarterfinal matches will commence at 1800H on Monday with the semis scheduled for 1800H on Tuesday with the gold medals being decided on 1000H on Thursday, the last day of the Commonwealth Games.

Quarterfinal Match Up

Men’s Singles

Lee Chong Wei (MAS) v Ashton Chen Yong Zhao (SIN)
Chetan Anand (IND) v Carl Baxter (ENG)
P. Kashyap (IND) v Muhd Hafiz Hashim (MAS)
Derek Wong (SIN) v Rajiv Ouseph (IND)

Women’s Singles

Saina Nehwal (IND) v Anna Rice (CAN)
Susan Egelstaff (SCO) v Huang Chia Chi (AUS)
Michelle Li (CAN) v Elizabeth Cann (ENG)
Wong Mew Choo (MAS) v Adit Mutatkar (IND)

Mixed Doubles

Anthony Clark/Heather Olver (ENG) v Chayut Triyachart/Yao Lei (SIN)
Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui (MAS) v Jwala Gutta/V.Diju (IND)
Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork (ENG) v Watson Briggs/Imogen Bankier (SCO)
Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) v Chris Addock/Gabrielle White (ENG)

Mens Doubles
Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (MAS) v Oliver Leydon Davis/Henry Tam (NZL)
Hendra Wijaya/Hendri Kurniawan (SIN) v Watson Briggs/Paul van Rietvelde (SCO)
Chayut Triyachart/Derek Wong (SIN) v Rupesh Kumar/Thomas Sanave (IND)
Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson  (ENG) v Muhd Hafiz Hashim/Chan Peng Soon (MAS)

Womens Doubles

Sari Shinta Mulia/Yao Lei (SIN) v Leanne Choo/Renuga Veeran (AUS)
Jenny Wallwork/Gabrielle White (ENG) v Lydia Cheah/Goh Liu Ying (MAS)
Danielle Barry/Donna Haliday (ENG) v Kate Wilson Smith/He Tang Tien (AUS)
Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) v Mariana Agathangelou/Olver Heather (ENG)

Results

Men’s Singles

Muhd Hafiz Hashim (MAS) bt K. Karunathilake (SRI) 21-14,21-13
Lee Chong Wei (MAS) bt Juma Muwowo (ZAM) 21-9,21-9
Derek Wong (SIN) bt Jeff Tho (AUS) 25-23,21-16
Ashton Chen Yong Zhao (SIN) bt Dinuka Karunaratne 21-19,21-8
Rajiv Ouseph (ENG) bt Niluka Karunaratne (SRI) 21-5,12-21,21-18
Carl Baxter (ENG) bt Garron Palmer (JAM) 21-11,21-14
Chetan Anand (IND) bt Jamie van Hoojdonk (WAL) 21-8,21-2
P. Kashyap (IND) bt Kieran Merrilees (SCO) 21-12,21-15

Women’s Singles

Saina Nehwal (IND) bt Caroline Black (NIR) 21-0,21-2
Susan Egelstaff (SCO) bt Michelle Chan (NZL) 21-11,21-9
Adit Mutatkar (IND) bt Kristy Gilmour (SCO) 21-11,21-17
Anna Rice (CAN) bt Gayle Lloyd (GBG) 21-4, 21-7
Huang Chia Chi (AUS) bt Fu Mingtian (SIN) 21-15,21-19
Wong Mew Choo (MAS) bt Elena Johnson (GBG) 21-5, 21-10
Michelle Li (CAN) bt Xing Aiying (SIN) 23-21, 21-12
Elizabeth Can  (ENG) bt Anna Rankin (NZL) 21-14,21-13

Men’s Doubles

Watson Briggs/Paul van Rietvelde (SCO) bt Stephan Beeharry/ Sahir Edoo (MRI) 21-9,21-9
Chayut Triyachart/Derek Wong (SIN) bt Edwin Ekiring/Abraham Wogute (UGA) 21-8,21-8
Rupesh Kumar/Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Gareth Henry/Garron Palmer (JAM) 21-11,21-7
Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (MAS) bt Joe Morgan/James Phillips (WAL) 21-11,21-10
Oliver Leydon Davis/Henry Tam (NZL) bt Nicholas Colin Reifer/Jonathan Thorpe (BAR) 21-8,21-14
Hendra Kurniawan Saputra/Hendra Wijaya (SIN) bt Joh Green/Mathew Jon Wilkinson (IOM) 21-4,21-5
Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson (ENG) bt Toby Ng/Jon Vandervet (CAN) 21-7,21-12
Muhd Hafiz Hashim/Chan Peng Soon (MAS) bt Ross Smith/Glenn Warfe (AUS) 21-1,21-12

Women’s Doubles

Lydia Cheah/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) bt Imogen Bankier/Emma Mason (SCO) 21-9,21-9
Leanne Choo/Renuga Veeran (AUS) bt Aparna Balan/Adit Mutatkar (IND) 21-16,23-21
Mariana Agathangelou/Heather Olver (ENG) bt Subodha Dahannayake/Thilini Jayasinghe (SRI) 21-7,21-6
Danielle Barry/Donna Haliday (NZL) bt Elena Johnson/Gayle Llyod (GBG) 21-13,21-15
Jenny Wallwork/Gabrielle White (ENG) bt Grace Gao/Joycelyn Ko (CAN) 21-12,21-15
Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) bt Chin Ee Hui/Woon Khe Wei (MAS), 15-21, 21-10, 21-16
He Tian Tang/Kate Wilson Smith (AUS) bt Alex Bruce/Michelle Li (CAN) 21-19, 21-19
Shinta Sari Mulia/Yao Lei (SIN) bt Mariana Eastmond/Shari Watson (BAR) 21-5,21-6

Mixed Doubles

Anthony Clark/Heather Olver (ENG) bt Mathew Gleave/Sinead Chambers (NIR) 21-5,21-4
Watson Briggs/Imogen Nankier (SCO) bt Henry Tam/Donna Haliday (NZ) 18-21,21-6,21-17
Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (MAS) bt James Phillips/Caroline Harvey (WAL) 21-11,21-13
Chris Adcock/Gabrielle White (ENG) bt Sanave Thomas/Aparna Balan (IND) 21-15,21-18
V. Diju/Jwala Gutta (IND) bt Rupesh Kumar/Ashwini Ponnappa (IND) 15-21,21-18,21-16
Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork (ENG) bt Hendra Wijaya/Sari Shinta Mulia (SIN) 21-19,21-17
Chayut Triyachart/Yao Lei (SIN) bt Eli Mambwe/Ogar Siamupangla (ZAM) 21-11, retired
Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui (MAS) bt Toby Ng/Grace Gao (CAN) 21-7,21-16

CHONG WEI, SAINA ADVANCE

The afternoon session of the individual events for badminton at the Siri Fort Stadium did not produce any shock results.

Most of the top players were on court for a short period, as they wanted to wrap up their matches fast since they will play the third round as well as the quarterfinals tomorrow.

Hence getting more rest was on the mind of these players, thus the fast pace of the matches.

But there was plenty of excitement for the fans that turned up as the darling of Indian badminton, Saina Nehwal took to the courts for her second round singles match against Sarah Thomas of Wales.

With the crowd cheering her on, the Indian ace breezed through the first set, winning it 21-5 in just seven minutes. And the second was over in a blink as well as Saina raced to a 21- 9 win.

Saina will now play Caroline Black of Northern Ireland who won her match against Kate Foo Kune of Mauritius 21-14,26-24.

Earlier, Malaysia’s Wong Mew Choo, the second seed, was on court for less then half an hour as she outclassed Mauritius’s Karen Foo Kune 21-7,21-3. Mew Choo will meet Carrisa Turner of Wales in the third round.

Carissa had earlier defeated Elena Johnson of Guernsey 25-23,19-21.24-22 in close contest.

Also making it through to the third round was Anna Rice of Canada who defeated her teammate Alex Bruce 21-7,21-10. Her reward is a third round match against Gayle Lloyd of Guernsey.

“I am aiming for a medal as I have never won any medal at the Commonwealth Games,” said Anna who is the 6th seed.

“But I guess it will be an uphill task given the fact that I will meet Saina (Nehwal) in the last eight. It will be very tough but I aim to give her a good fight,” added Anna who will quit competitive badminton after the Commonwealth Games.

In the men’s singles, Muhd Hafiz Hashim progressed to the third round when he defeated David Snider of Canada 21-12,21-13.

“Since I am also playing in the doubles, I had to preserve my energy in the singles match,” said Hafiz, the 2002 singles gold medalist.

World number one Lee Chong Wei also moved with relative ease into the third round, defeating Alex Pang of Canada 21-11, 21-10. And it will be another easy match for Chong Wei in the third round, as Juma Muwowo from Zambia is not expected to pose much problems.

Also progressing was England’s Rajiv Ouseph who had it easy against Enejoh Abah of Nigeria, winning 21-8,21-10.

Rajiv, who will play N. Karunaratne of Sri Lanka in the third round, is expected to meet Singapore’s Derek Wong in the last eight and anticipates a tough match.

“Derek has a never say die attitude and he will be a difficult opponent and can be dangerous,” said Rajiv who is seeded second.

“The fact that we have to play two matches tomorrow will not make things any easier. But I am optimistic that I have what it takes to make the last eight and then the semis.”

England has another player in the third round as Carl Baxter too advanced with a 21-13,21-1 win over Edicha Ocholi of Nigeria. Baxter will next meet Gareth Henry of Jamaica before an expected last eight clash against Chetan Anand of India.

In the mixed doubles, two Malaysian pairs advanced to the third round.

Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying, the 4th seeds, defeated Charles Pyne/Christine Leyow of Jamaica 21-12,21-14 and will meet James Phillips/Caroline Harvey in the third round.

Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui will take on the 6th seeds, Toby Ng/Grace Gao of Canada in the third round. The Canadians progressed after they defeated Martyn Lewis/Sarah Thomas of Wales 21-6,21-14.

The men’s doubles first round saw an exciting tie between Ola Fagbemi/Jinkan Ifraimu of Nigeria and Watson Briggs/Paul van Rietvelde of Scotland.

The fans were kept on their edge of their seats in the first set, with the Scots pulling off a narrow 23-21 win. But the Nigerian pair hit back to take the second set 21-16 to force a third.

But Briggs/Rietvelde managed to pull through the third, winning 21-16.

LYDIA BLOWS IT

Scotland’s Susan Egelstaff survived a scare before making the third round of the women’s singles event at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

The third seed was came from behind in the second set to defeat Malaysia’s Lydia Cheah 21-14,21-19.

Susan was dominating in the first set with Lydia scrambling to retrieve the shuttle. Thus it was no surprise to see the Scot winning easily 21-14.

In the second Lydia started off brightly and led 11- 6 at the break. And although the Malaysian led 19-17, she could not finish off the set thus giving Susan the window to win in two sets as she reeled off four points on the trot.

“I hung in there and just set the shuttle back, letting her make the mistakes. And I guess she was tiring towards the end of the match and that helped my cause,” said Susan.

The men’s singles also saw status quo with all the seeded players clearing their matches with relative ease.

India’s P. Kashyap, who is the 6th seed, defeated Charles Pyne of Jamaica 21-5,21-12 while Chetan Anand, the third seed was in his element as he brushed aside Ola Fagbemi of Nigeria 21-12, 21

In the mixed doubles, Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying defeated Charles Pyne/Christine Denise Leyow 21-12,21-14 to make it to the third round.

They will take on James Phillips/Caroline Harvey of Wales who defeated Sahir Edoo/Yeldie Leyow of Jamaica 21-8,21-16.

Malaysia’s scratch pairing of Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui also progressed to the third round defeating Kieren Merrilees/Kristy Gilmour 21-7,21-14.

It was also curtains for Australia’s sibling’s mixed doubles pair of Raj Veeran/Renuga Veeran as they lost to India’s Rupesh Kumar/Ashwini Ponnappa 21-16, 18-21,21-18.

The Australians led 11-9 in the second but made several unforced errors and trailed 12-14. But they pulled their act together to take the second set 21-18.

In the third it was Raj/Renuga that went into the lead at the break, 11-6, but their game caved in as the Indians drew level at 13-13. And although the pairs were locked in a point for point battle, Rupesh/Ashwini made fewer errors to win 21-18.

Also making the next round was Mathew Gleave/Sinead Chambers from Northern Ireland who defeated Joshua Green/Cristen Callow 19-21,21-13,21-15.

“It was a tough match and we played well. We targeted Callow as she was the weak link,” said Chambers.

GOING FOR GOLD

The individual events in badminton get underway today at the Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi. But the big guns do not take to the courts until Sunday.

At stake are five gold medals, in the men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.

Early indications are that the men's singles and doubles titles will go to Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong respectively. The trio have no peers in their events and should be able to warp up the titles come Thursday, the final day of the badminton event, incidentally the final day of the Commonwealth Games as well.

In the women's singles, Saina Nehwal is the favourite for gold. But she will face some tough opposition from the likes of Wong Mew Choo (Malaysia), Anna Rice (Canada), Fu Mingtian (Singapore) and Elizabeth Cann (England).

The 68 minute battle between Saina and Mew Choo in the team final has shown that there are chinks in the armour of Saina, who is susceptible to drop shots on her backhand.

“It will not be easy for me as any of the other seeded players can hit form on the given day and I have to be prepared for every eventuality,” concended Daina.

But while Chong Wei is a sure bet for the title, the gold medal winner of the 2002 Manchester Games, Muhd Hafiz Hashim is aspiring to make it an all Malaysian affair in the men's singles final.

Hafiz, who has been suffering from inconsistency since winning the All England, is aiming to make amends atr the Commonwealth Games.

The Malaysian number two will open his campaign on Monday against the winner of the David Snider (Canada) and M.Rasheed (Maldives).

Standing in his path to the final is the likes of India's promising youngster P. Kashyap who will most likely be Hafiz's opponent at the quarterfinals. And if the number four seed clears that, then he will be up against Rajiv Ouseph in the semis.

“There are pitfalls in evety round and the key to success will be to remain focussed in each match and not take opponents lightly,” said Hafiz.

“I am desperate to do well, and Kashyap will be a dangerous opponent in the last eight as he is growing in confidence.”

In the women's doubles, Singapore's Sari Shinta Mulia/Yao Lei are the top seeds. But their performance thus far has not been impressive thus giving possibility to the likes of Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnapa to land an unexpected gold for India.

But the Indians will come under severe test in the quarters where they will likely meet Malaysia's Chin Ee Hui/Woom Khe Wei.

The mixed doubles sees England's Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork as top seeds. And they too have under performed in the team events.

It is the unseeded Malaysian pair of Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui who will come under close scrutiny. And it is in the last eight that they will cross swords with India's V. Diju/Jwala Gutta, giving the home pair a chance to gain revenge for their loss in the team event that cost India the gold.

Satwant Singh Dhaliwal

MALAYSIA WIN GOLD

Malaysia won the gold medal of the team event at the Commonwealth Games when they defeated India 3-1 at the Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi.

Malaysia have won the gold in this event since Manchester 2002 and this makes it the third medal on the trot they have won in the team event.

“This somewhat makes up for our disappointment at the Thomas Cup although some may say this is only the Commonwealth,” said Malaysian coach Misbun Sidek.

“I am impressed with the performance of Wong Mew Choo as she displayed true grit in her match tonight.

“It is a good win and gives the players added confidence going into the individual events tomorrow.”

Malaysia drew first blood when mixed doubles pairing of Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui defeated the more fancied Indian pair of Jwala Gutta/V.Diju.

The Malaysian pair raced to a 12-6 lead in the first set and never looked back as Jwala was clearly not in the game, making numerous mistakes to hand easy points to her opponents.

Koo/Chin won the first set in 12 minutes and the crowd at Siri Fort were stunned.

Jwala/Diju went into the offensive from the start of the second match as the Malaysians trailed 4-6 and then 8-11 going into the break. Koo/Chin could not gauge their shots with the wind behind their backs and sent several shots over the baseline.

The Indian pair captitalised on this and increased their advantage, racing up to a 18-10 lead before wrapping up the set 21-10 in 18 minutes.

Stunned by the setback, Koo/Chin got their act together and went ahead 7-3 but the Indians narrowed the deficit to 7-5. However the Malaysian pair were undeterred and won 21-10 in just 14 minutes to put Malaysia 1-0 in the lead.

Next up was Lee Chong Wei who took on Indian youngster P. Kashyap, who was fielded instead of Chetan Anand.

And the 23 year old fought the world number one point for point and even led 13-9 at one stage. But his lack of experience let him down as Chong Wei won the first set 21-18 in 19 minutes.

It was a stroll in the park for Chong Wei in the second set as he won 21-7 in just under 13 minutes to give Malaysia a 2-0 lead.

“I played a patient game as I knew he will come out attacking as that is his style of play,” said Chong Wei.

“It is good to have contributed a point to the team and I now look forward to the singles title. It will not be as easy as some may think as lower ranked players tend to raise their game against me.”

The Wong Mew Choo v Saina Nehwal match was a thriller as the Malaysian was the underdog and was not expected to poise much of a challenge for the world number 3.

But Mew Choo had other ideas as she gave it her best shot. Despite Saina leading all the way, Mew Choo kept within distance and took the lead for the first time at 19-18.

Mew Choo had four chances to finish off the set but each time Saina hung in there. But eventually Mew Choo won the first set 26-24 in 23 minutes.

The second set was once again an energy sapping affair with Saina having the edge. She eventually won the second 21-17 to force a third set.

Saina led to an 11-9 lead at the break in the third. And try as she did, Mew Choo was too drained out to mount a creditable challenge as she lost 14-21 and India were back in the hunt.

Any possibility of an upset by India was snuffed out by Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong who defeated Sanave Thomas/Rupesh Kumar 21-12,21-19.


Results:

Gold Medal Match

Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui bt V.Diju/Jwala Gutta 21-14, 10-21,21-10
Lee Chong Wei bt P. Kashyap 21-18,21-7
Wong Mew Choo lost to Saina Nehwal 26-24, 17-21,14-21
Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong bt Sanave Thomas/Rupesh Kumar 21-12, 21-19
Chin Ee Hui/Goh Liu Ying v Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa


Roll of Honour:

Gold: Malaysia
Silver: India
Bronze: England

ENGLAND NET THE BRONZE

England made up for their disappointment of losing their semi final against India by winning the bronze medal of the team event at the Siri Fort Stadium this afternoon.

Seeded second in the team event, England lost 3-0 to India last night but showed resilience by defeating Singapore 3-1.

In the mixed doubles, England's Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork displayed much better performance then of their semis match against India to run out 21-13, 21- 15 winners over Singapore's Triyachart Chayut/Yao Li to put their team 1-0 ahead.

It was the men's singles that turned the tide in favor of the English as Rajiv Ouseph played very well to defeat Derek Wong 21-15,21-17.

Ravij showed good court craftsmanship to deny Derek any chance of using his smashes, often keeping the shuttle low and opting to let his opponent make the mistakes.

Based on current form,. Derek should have beaten Rajiv, but perhaps he overdid himself in the energy sapping semis clash against the World Number 1, Lee Chong Wei.

Elizabeth Cann however failed to get the better of Xing Aiying in the women's singles, going down 14-21, 12-21 and Singapore were back in the hunt, reducing the deficit to 1-2.

Any hopes Singapore had of forcing the tie into the final match were dashed as Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson disposed off the challenge poised by Triyachart Chayut/Hendra Wijaya in the men's doubles, winning 21-12, 21-11 and handing the bronze to England.

Results

Bronze Medal Playoff

Singapore 1   England 3

Triyachart Chayut/Yao Li lost to Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork 13-21,15-21
Derek Wong lost to Rajiv Ouseph 15-21, 17-21
Xing Aiying bt Elizabeth Cann 21-14, 21-12
Triyachart Chayut/Hendra Wijaya lost to Anthony Clark/Nathan Robertson 12-21,21-11
Yao Li/Sari Shinta Mulia v Jenny Wallwork/Gabby White

INDIA - MALAYSIA FINAL

India and Malaysia qualified for the final of the team event of the Commonwealth Games, albeit in contrasting styles.

While India, who were initially expected to be given a tough time by England won 3-0, Malaysia dropped a game when its singles player Wong Mew Choo was beaten by Singapore's Xing Aiying. But Malaysia still had too much power and won 3-1.

India took a 1-0 lead with mixed doubles pairing of Jwala Gutta/V.Diju easily defeating Nathan Robertson/Jenny Wallwork 21-17,21-17.

India fielded P.Kashyap instead of the more experienced Chetan Anand in the mens singles against Rajiv Ouseph. And Kashyap played brilliantly to outclass the higher seeded Ouseph.

With nothing to lose the 24 year old who hails from Hyderabad attacked the Englishman with an array of strokes, punishing every mistake with a telling effect to win 21-13, 21-17 and more importantly put India on the road to victory.

“It was tough as Rajiv is ranked 16 and I made several mistakes in the match. I was not told that I was playing until this morning so I was somewhat unprepared,” said Kashyap.

And then it was Saina Nehwal who stepped onto the court to complete the formality by defeating Elizabeth Cann 21-18,21-10 to put India into the final.

“I played just 40% of my ability and still won the match. It was not tough at all and I look forward to the final,” said Saina.

For Elizabeth, the defeat was painful but she was encouraged by the fact that she played much better against Saina this time around.

“She is ranked third in the world and I am down at 30, so I kind of expected the result. Besides the Indian crowd was a plus point for the home team today,” said Elizabeth.

Malaysia got it's first point via mixed doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat/Chin Ee Hui who easily brushed aside Yao Lei/Tiryachat Chayut 21-17,21-13.

World number one Lee Chong Wei was given a tough time by youngster Darren Wong but used his experience to down the Singaporean 21-19,21-18.

Darren was a fighter as he matched Chong Wei in every department and even led 14-13 at one stage.

He led 19-17 but lacked the experience to finish off the match. And this allowed Chong Wei to claw back and win the first set 21-19. It was the same in the second as Chong Wei finished off the match at 21-18, and more importabntly delivered the second point for Malaysia.

Singapore reduced the deficit to 2-1 with Aiying's win over Mew Choo, but Malaysia confirmed their place in the final when Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong defeated Hendra Wijaya/Triyachart Chayut 21-7,21-13.