RM1 Million Incentive A Great Motivator, Says M. Jegathesan
KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Bernama) -- The RM1 million incentive announced by the government for the Olympic-bound athletes who bag the country's first-ever gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, is a great motivator for them to excel, said Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) deputy president Datum M. Jegathesan.
He said the handsome incentive would further motivate the athletes who will be competing in ten sports at the world's biggest games.
"With the announcement, I firmly believed our athletes will strive harder to win the country's first-ever gold medal," he said, adding the incentive was considered to be the highest if compared to other countries.
M. Jegathesan told this to reporters after attending an OCM Selection Committee meeting held at Wisma OCM here Tuesday.
On top of the RM1 million incentive announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak after chairing a Cabinet Committee on Sports Development meeting here today, athletes who win a silver medal will get RM300,000 and RM100,000 for the bronze.
Teams that win a gold medal will be rewarded RM150,000 each player. The monthly pension for Olympic medal winners will also be increased from RM3,000 to RM5,000 for gold medallists, RM1,500 to RM3,000 for silver medallists and RM1,000 to RM2,000 for bronze medallists.
M. Jegathesan said OCM had endorsed 33 athletes who respectively had qualified for the Beijing Olympics this August.
"However, the actual number of the Olympic-bound athletes will be finalised at the end of this month. We have two top national swimmers and a sailor who are still competing to qualify to the games this month," he said.
The two swimmers are Foo Jian Beng and Marellyn Liew and Rufina Tan for sailing.
The following are the athletes who have qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games:
1. Archery -- Cheng Chu Sian, Muhammad Marbawi Sulaiman, and Wan Mohd Khalmizan Wan Abdul Aziz.
2. Diving -- Bryan Nickson Lomas, Leong Mun Yee, Elizabeth Jimie and Pandelela Rinong Pang.
3. Swimming -- Daniel William Bego, Siow Yi Ting, Khoo Cai Lin, Lew Yih Wey, and Leung Chii Lin.
4. Athletics -- Roslinda Samsu (women's Pole Vault), Yuan Yu Fang (women's 20km walk), and Lee Hup Wei (men's high jump).
5. Badminton -- Men: Lee Chong Wei (singles), Wong Choong Hann (singles), Koo Kien Keat (doubles), Tan Boon Heong (doubles), Lee Wan Wah (doubles), and Choong Tan Fook (Doubles).
Women: Wong Mew Choo (singles), Wong Pei Tty (doubles), and Chin Ee Hui (doubles).
6. Cycling -- Azizul Hasni Awang, Josiah Ng, Mohd Edrus Yunus, and Rizal Tisin.
7. Sailing -- Dr. Kevin Lim (Laser).
8. Shooting -- Hasli Izwan Amir Hasan (men's 25m rapid pistol fire).
9. Taekwondo -- Elaine Teo Shueh Fhern (women's below 57kg) and Che Chew Chan (below 67kg).
10. Weighlifting -- Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim (men's below 56kg).
-- BERNAMA
Overseas Stint For Olympic Bound Pole Vaulter, Walker
KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Bernama) -- A month's stint in Spain with five back-to -back international meets will be the final phase of overseas training for Roslinda Samsu in her quest to qualify for the final stage of the pole vault event at the Beijing Olympics this August.
Roslinda, who is leaving for Spain Tuesday night with her trainer, Gennady Potapovich from Ukraine, said the tight schedule in Spain would enable her to get back her momentum before the Games.
"I hope to beat the 4.40 metre national record which I did in Spain in July 2006. Before recording the mark, I participated in eight back-to-back meets there.
"For the Beijing Olympics, if I beat the 4.45m mark, I might qualify for the final," she told reporters here Tuesday.
She said all she needed now were competitive tournaments which would enable to sharpen her techniques.
The five meets, she said, would be held in five cities around Spain. Her best jump in the past five month was 4.23m during the International Pole Vault Competition in Taiwan, last month.
Meanwhile, national walker in the 20km Walk event, Yuan Yu Fang will spend 49 days in Kunming, China before leaving heading to Beijing.
She said Kunming's high altitude training centre would enable her to acclimatise before the Games.
"I will train together with China's national walkers under the guidance of their national coach, Shen Yi Zheng," said Yu Fang, who came back without any medals from the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Her best time, which is also the national record, is one hour 32 minutes 28 seconds she did at the 15th Asian Athletics Championships Manila in 2003.
At the Sydney Olympics, the China-born walker clinched 15 spot out of 54 walkers while in Athens, she grabbed 35th place.
-- BERNAMA
Olympic Tickets Touted On Internet At 10 Times Its Value
By Tham Choy Lin
BEIJING, June 24 (Benama) - Despite official warnings of no profiteering, thousands of offers of Beijing Olympic Games tickets have popped on the Internet this week, with a local newspaper reporting that prices have been upped at least 10 times.
The rash of re-sale came after notices to collect pre-booked tickets which Bank of China branches mailed out on June 16 in Beijing, and June 23 in other cities.
Popularly touted were tickets for the opening ceremony, football and the men's 110m hurdles event in which home athlete Liu Xiang defends the gold medal.
According to the Internet postings, the tickets would be sold at face value, with sellers willing to meet buyers face-to-face.
Beijing News said many sellers, however, upped the price by at least 10 times when contacted, with one trying to palm off a 5,000 yuan opening ceremony ticket for 100,000 yuan with no bargaining. (RM1 = 2.1 yuan)
Another quoted 30,000 yuan for an opening ceremony ticket costing 3,000 yuan, the daily said.
One website alone had postings to sell 3,654 opening and 633 closing ceremony tickets, Beijing News said.
Games organisers allow booking of only one ticket per individual for the opening and closing ceremony and successful buyers, who are decided by computer lottery, are required to provide identity details and transfer the tickets only once.
Earlier this month, state media reported Beijing police had detained a gang which used fake identity cards to open more than 900 bank accounts to book nearly 1,600 tickets to re-sell at 50 per cent profit.
Scalpers face 10 to 15 days of detention and a fine of up to 1,000 yuan.
The Beijing Olympic Games Organising Committee said last week that about six million tickets for the Aug 8 to 24 games were sold, and the remaining one million would be put on sale, late next month.
The balance tickets are mostly for the soccer competition in the four co-host cities of Tianjin, Shanghai, Qinhuangdao and Shenyang.
-- BERNAMA
Selangor Masters Makes Asian Tour Debut With RM1 Million Prize
PETALING JAYA, June 24 (Bernama) -- Asias top stars, including Malaysian pros Airil Rizman, Danny Chia and Iain Steel, are expected to tee off in the RM1 million Selangor Masters which will debut on the Asian Tour from Aug 6-9, at the Seri Selangor Golf Club here.
It will be the first time that the Selangor Government backs an Asian Tour tournament which will reach millions of television viewers through an hour-long highlight beamed via ESPN StarSports, the Asian Tours broadcast partner.
The inclusion of the Selangor Masters is a momentous occasion as it will lift the Asian Tour to unprecedented heights where the new tournament will swell its schedule to an all-time record of 29 tournaments, offering over US$38 million (US$1 = RM3.25) in total prize money.
"On behalf of the Selangor Government, we are delighted to support the staging of the Selangor Masters at Seri Selangor Golf Club on the Asian Tour in August," said Selangor State Secretary, Datuk Ramli Mahmud at the launch here today.
"This new and exciting tournament will showcase the state of Selangor and place Selangor firmly on the worlds golfing map. We are looking forward to the tournament and believe that it will create a positive impact on the development of sports in our state and country.
"The event will also support the Raja Muda of Selangor Foundation which is in aid of sports development in the state. Golf is such a wonderful game as it promotes integrity and honesty and we believe that these are core values that sportsmen must instill in themselves to achieve success."
Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han hailed the launch of the Selangor Masters as an exciting partnership with the Selangor Government.
"The collaboration has led to the launch of a new tournament on the Asian Tour. On behalf of our talented players, I would like to extend our fullest appreciation for its generous support towards the promotion of the professional game in Asia and Malaysia," said Hla Han.
"It is only through the staging of new events like the Selangor Masters that we are able to expand significantly and create playing opportunities for our members, including Malaysia's leading stars.
"It will be exciting for the Asian Tour to stage another world-class golf tournament in Malaysia. More importantly, the Asian Tour is committed to assist the development of Malaysia's professional players as this new event will give them an opportunity to test their game against the tours finest."
The Selangor Masters will be one of three Malaysian events featured in the Asian Tour this season, with the Maybank Malaysian Open held earlier in March and the Fortis International Challenge, the qualifying event for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China, slated for September.
The par-71 Seri Selangor Golf Club, designed by Australian architect Ross Watson, was built by the state government to make the game more accessible to the general golfing public and was opened for play in 1998.
-- BERNAMA
Terengganu Sukma Contingent Get RM1.3 Mln Windfall
KUALA TERENGGANU, June 23 (Bernama)-- The Terengganu government gave a RM1.3 million reward to the state's Malaysia Games contingent following their emerging overall champions when its 12th edition was hosted here last month.
Athletes who captured the gold received RM3,000 for each medal while for silver and bronze it was RM2,000 and RM1,000 respectively per medal. Those who broke Games' records received an additional RM1,000 per record broken.
At a special ceremony to celebrate their 61 gold, 39 silver and 47 victory at the Indoor Stadium at the Gong Badak Sports Complex here last night, the coaches and team managers of the winning teams were also duly rewarded. Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said presented the incentives to the winners.
Woman canoeist Siti Rajiah Ali, 18, was the biggest winner taking home RM21,OOO for winning six gold medals and setting three new Games records. She also received a watch worth RM1,000 after being named as the best female state athlete at the Games.
The top male athlete was Mohd Azizul Hasni Awang, who won the 1km and 200m sprints in cycling.
Ahmad, who was elated by the state's performance in dislodging six-times champions Selangor at the prestigious Games, also announced that all the gold medal winners would be given the opportunity to compete in next year's Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia, which will be held from May 9 to 17.
-- BERNAMA
Kedah Continue Fine Run In Malaysia Cup
KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Bernama) -- Fresh from their FA Cup victory on Saturday, Kedah continued a fine run in the Malaysia Cup Tuesday night, beating Penang 1-0 at the Stadium Negeri in Batu Kawan.
A solitary goal by national striker Mohd Khyril Muhymeen Zambri in the 45th minute was all Kedah needed to collect the three points and positioned themselves in second place behind Johor FC in Group B.
Another match in the group saw Kuala Lumpur collecting full points after beating Sabah 3-2 at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras.
In Group A, Terengganu beat Negeri Sembilan 2-1 at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium through Abdul Manaf Mamat in the 20th minute and Jocian Bento in the 56th, to erase an earlier goal by Negeri Sembilan's S. Kunalan, also in the 20th minute.
At the Shah Alam Stadium, Selangor beat Sarawak 3-1. Frank Seator opened the account for Selangor in the 39th minute followed by Mohd Safee Sali (69th) and Akhmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli in the 90th while Sarawak's only goal was by Saifulaye Camara in the 86th minute.
Meanwhile, Kelantan collected three points after beating Melaka 3-1 at the Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV, in Kota Baharu.
Kelantan's goals came from Mohd Badri Radzi (9th min), Kairul Zal Azmi (50th and Mohd Farisham Ismail (70th) while Kofi Etsiba Shaw scored the only goal for Melaka in the 82nd minute.
UPB-MyTeam dominated Group C after a 2-1 win Tuesday night against Perlis at the Stadium Utama.
Sasa Branezac scored twice for UPB-MyTeam in the 36th and 89th minutes while Philimon Chipeta scored for Perlis in the 72nd minute.
In another matches Pahang drew 2-2 with Perak at the Stadium Darul Makmur and Johor PG beat ATM 3-1 at the Selayang Stadium.
-- BERNAMA
RM1 juta nilai pingat emas Olimpik
Oleh Meor Hisham Zulkifli
WANG tunai RM1 juta menjadi taruhan terbaru kerajaan dalam usaha membakar semangat atlit negara meraih pingat emas pertama negara pada Sukan Olimpik di Beijing Ogos ini selain daripada bayaran pencen berjumlah RM5,000 sebulan sepanjang hayat.
Pengumuman kenaikan Skim Hadiah Kecemerlangan Sukan Olimpik itu diumumkan Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Kabinet Mengenai Pembangunan Sukan di bangunan Parlimen, semalam.
"Olimpik adalah kejohanan yang paling unggul dan kerajaan berpendapat perlu diletakkan satu ganjaran tinggi agar dapat membakar semangat atlit untuk meraih pingat emas.
Najib turut mengumumkan pemenang pingat perak akan menerima ganjaran RM300,000 manakala gangsa RM100,000 bagi individu dan bagi acara berpasukan yang meraih emas, hadiah RM150,000 dijanjikan untuk setiap pemain.
"Selain itu, kerajaan turut bersetuju untuk menaikkan pencen bulanan kepada atlit yang meraih pingat di Sukan Olimpik untuk sepanjang hayat mereka iaitu RM5,000 untuk emas, perak RM3,000 dan gangsa RM2,000," katanya.
Pengumuman ini bermakna lima atlit yang sudah meraih pingat di Olimpik Cheah Soon Kit dan Yap Kim Hock (perak)serta Rashid Sidek, Razif Sidek dan Jalani Sidek (gangsa), bakal menerima kenaikan pencen mereka bermula hujung bulan ini.
Najib turut menekankan bahawa kerajaan kini menuntut supaya kekuatan mental atlit turut diberikan penekanan dalam persediaan atlit negara kerana mendapati kelemahan itu menjadi punca atlit negara tewas dalam saingan peringkat tinggi.
"Kita menegaskan supaya selain daripada tumpuan kepada latihan secara sistematik dan komprehensif, latihan turut memberi fokus kepada kekuatan mental kerana faktor inilah yang membeza antara pasukan dan individu yang menang.
"Kita melihat sudah ada atlit negara yang mencecah ke taraf dunia tetapi yang membezakan kita dengan lawan adalah kerana kekuatan mental kita tidak dalam keadaan boleh menjamin kejayaan dalam saingan yang begitu sengit," katanya.
Ketua Pengarah Majlis Sukan Negara, Datuk Zolkples Embong dan Setiausaha Kehormat Majlis Olimpik Malaysia (MOM), Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, turut menganggap langkah itu yang disifatkan sebagai mengiktiraf atlit negara.
INFO
Kenaikan Imbuhan Olimpik
Individu
Emas: RM1 Juta (RM160,000)
Perak: RM300,000 (RM80,000)
Gangsa: RM100,000 (RM40,000)
Berpasukan (lebih daripada enam)
Emas: RM150,000 setiap seorang
Perak: RM40,000 setiap seorang
Gangsa: RM20,000 setiap seorang
Berpasukan kurang daripada enam atlit berkongsi ganjaran seperti individu
Bayaran pencen
Emas: RM 5,000
Perak: RM 3,000
Gangsa: RM 2,000
Kevin gets Beijing ticket, finally
KEVIN Lim can rest easy knowing he is assured of sailing in his fourth Olympic campaign, a record for a Malaysian, after the Malaysian Yachting Association (MYA) let go of its claim to the country's berth in the Laser class in Beijing.
Kevin, 32, earned the berth through his participation in the World Laser Championships in Australia in February, a competition which MYA opted not to send any of its sailor to contest, leading the sailor to question its motives.
However, MYA general manager Mohd Affendy Abdullah cleared the air when he said MYA dropped its plans to hold the selection after meeting Kevin in Batu Laut on the sidelines of the Selangor Regatta last month.
"We told him at the time that there would not be a trial and that the Olympic spot is his. So we don't understand why he said later that he was still in the dark.
Affendy said an additional RM25,000, approved by the National Sports Council, has been released to Kevin for his Olympic preparations after the sailor's repeated appeals for a speedy release of the funds.
"Kevin must understand that it takes time to process his requests and obtain the money from NSC. It is not easy for us to get hold of the funds as there are procedures to follow," he said.
Affendy hopes that the dispute with Kevin over the Olympic berth and funding is now over as both parties focus on their respective obligations.
"This has put us in a very bad light and led to our sponsors, who we have struggled to attract, questioning us on the matter.
"Any money we obtain from the sponsors goes into our development efforts and we cannot be spending it unnecessarily," added Affendy.
Nine associations told to pay their own way to Bali
KUALA LUMPUR: Nine national sports associations intending to participate in the inaugural Asian Beach Games in Bali from Oct 18 to 26 have been told the bear the costs of expenses themselves.
The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary, Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, said that the Games were not in the same status as the SEA Games, Asiad or the Olympics for them to foot the bill.
“We welcome the move by associations to compete in such a prestigious international meet but regret to say they have to bear all the expenses themselves,” he said yesterday.
Kok Chi said that the associations who planned to participate in the Games were from sailing, kabadi, beach volleyball, beach sepak takraw, beach football, bodybuilding, triathlon, woodball and parasailing.
He added that the organisers had set participation fee for each athlete at US$50 (RM160) a day and that any other association interested to feature in the Games could contact the OCM before the closing date on June 30. – Bernama
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