World number 1 and 2 tennis players Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will play against retired legend Pete Sampras and Frenchman Richard Gasquet respectively in series of exhibition matches in Malaysia in November.
The games are part of Malaysia’s 50th Merdeka celebration.
Federer will play Sampras on Nov 22, while Nadal vs Gasquet on Nov 20; both matches will be held in Melawati Stadium, Shah Alam. The tickets’ price is ranged from RM83-RM443.
The Malaysian hockey team defeated Japan on Sunday (Sep 9) to clinch third place in the 7th Asia Men’s Hockey Championship in Chennai.
It is Malaysia’s best achievement in this Asian-level tournament since 1994 when they finished third in Hiroshima, Japan. [Bernama]
Malaysians often criticized our sport teams when we are doing poorly, but are stingy in praises when we are doing well… we need to change this mindset, really.
Congratulations to our men hockey team. Work hard and continue achieving good success.
The Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, has resigned as deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) with immediate effect.
Tengku Abdullah did not give any reason for his resignation; Bernama thinks that his decision to quit from all posts in FAM is seen as his reaction to fulfil the requests of football fans that the present FAM leadership make way for new blood who could bring changes to the local football scene. [Bernama]
I actually think that Tengku Abdullah should resign much earlier; his reign at FAM was not working well obviously. I don’t really blame him though… he is not solely responsible for the slump of our nation football. In fact his apology to the fans on Wednesday after the China defeat has earned some respect from me.
The troubling thing with Malaysian football these days is that nobody has a real clue on what is happening and what can be done to turn back the tide. The fans and critics could only slam the players and the management for the poor performances, but nobody seems capable to come out with a solid plan to revitalise Malaysian soccer.
I can only hope that a real capable person with the right vision and capability will take over Tengku Abdullah’s position.
I went to watch the Asian Cup game between Malaysia and China in (we lost 1-5) at Bukit Jalil. Here are some of my thoughts after the match…
Publicity
I have read an article from a foreign journalist about his (I assumed) experience in KL… he mentioned that he saw lots of billboards everywhere in the city, but saw nothing about the Asian Cup; he had a feeling that he was at the wrong city for the games… I guess some Malaysians shared the same sentiment too, I know I do.
I can’t recall the organizer taking aggressive methods in pulling the crowd and selling the tickets, or to promote the event. I felt that the Malaysian organizers are taking the event too lightly… for goodness sake, it is one of the largest sporting event in Asia, the world (or at least lots of Asians) are watching the competition; it is a good chance to show how good we are in hosting a major sporting event, or how bad instead.
The AFC Asian Cup 2007 has kicked off! This is probably the first ever major sporting event around the world to be co-hosted by 4 countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam)… the first match in Malaysia will be held on Tuesday (July 10) at Bukit Jalil Stadium, with Malaysia playing against China.
I felt that the publicity for the event is quite poor in Malaysia; I don’t see many banners around the city, and I don’t see many advertisements about the tournament on TV or newspapers. Hopefully the stadium won’t be too empty during the matches.
Below is the schedule of the matches (in Malaysia)…
July 10 (2035) - Malaysia vs China (Bukit Jalil)
July 11 (1820) - Iran vs Uzbekistan (Bukit Jalil)
July 14 (1820) - Malaysia vs Uzbekistan (Bukit Jalil)
July 15 (1820) - China vs Iran (Bukit Jalil)
July 18 (2035) - Malaysia vs Iran (Bukit Jalil)
July 18 (2035) - China vs Uzbekistan (Shah Alam)
July 22 (1820) - Quarter final (Bukit Jalil)
July 25 (1820) - Semi final (Bukit Jalil)
Try going for a game a two if possible and show some support for our team and to show our hospitality as a host for the game.