KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (Bernama) -- The national volleyball squad to the December SEA Games in Laos, although in group B, is determined to give its opponents a tough match and has engaged a coach from Thailand to strengthen the team.
Team coordinator Shamsaimon Mohd Sharif said the coach, who led Thailand to win a gold in the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, started work in July and would be with the national squad until December.
"Under his guidance, the 18 national squad trainees for Laos have shown remarkable improvement," he told Bernama Friday.
He said the participation of Malaysia's volleyball team in Laos was more of an exposure to its players and, for that, the team did not have a medal target.
The last time the national volleyball squad won a medal was in the 2001 edition in Kuala Lumpur when it got a bronze and after that did not participate in the SEA games anymore.
Shamsainon said the national volley ball squad did not participate in the SEA Games in Vietnam (2003), the Philippines (2005) and Thailand (2007) because there was no allocation for the team as it was in category B where the association would be required to pay for the team's expenses to the event.
The association would be refunded for the expenses by the Malaysian Olympic Council if the team won a gold or silver medal, he added.
For beach volleyball, Samsainon said Malaysia would be represented by Beh Shun Thing and Luk Teck Hua in Laos.
The pair won a bronze in the edition in Korat in 2007 and was also the winner in the Indonesian Volleyball championship the same year.
-- BERNAMA
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
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