LE TOUR DE LANGKAWI: Anuar best among Malaysians

ANUAR Manan was again the star of the show as far as Malaysians were concerned when the Synergy-Baku Cycling Project rider did well to finish eighth in a bunch sprint that ended Stage Four of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from Tapah to Kapar yesterday.

Ruing his lack of a sufficiently strong lead-out for the bunch sprint, Anuar is still fighting to keep his hopes of landing the points classification which he last won in 2010 and his determination showed.

While three riders were away in an early breakaway, Anuar picked up the pieces by taking fourth spot in the first two intermediate sprints yesterday, before sitting back to recover for the bunch sprint, which was eventually won by Italy's Francesco Chicchi of the Vini Fantini team.

"I just had to do what I could to pick up whatever points that were available to keep myself in touch in the points classification. Today (yesterday) I was looking again to try and win the stage, but in the final kilometres, my lead-out man (Rico Rogers) wasn't able to bring me all the way up to the front," said Anuar, 26.
"In the last kilometre, I had to work at it myself and tried to find my way to the front, so I only managed eighth. I've told my teammates about this need for us to pool together if we want to get a result, but this is our first race together, so we can still work on it in the coming stages."

The Malaysian contingent are expected to find the going tough again today when the race heads up to the summit of Genting Highlands, where a top 20 result by the likes of Adiq Husainie Othman or Saufi Mat Senan would be a realistic target.

By Arnaz M. Khairul

Comments

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

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...

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...

Indonesia Choose Komodo Dragon As SEA Games Mascot

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Bernama) -- Host for the 26th SEA Games, Indonesia has chosen the Komodo dragon as mascot for the 2011 Games which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang from Nov 11 to 25. The Indonesia SEA Games Organizing Committee (Inasoc), was qouted by Jakarta Post as saying that a pair of Komodo dragons, a male (Modo) and a female (Modi), were chosen in recognition of the Republic's conservation efforts to protect the dwindling number of the rare lizard. Modo and Modi were unveiled last night at a function in Jakarta, to mark the 200-day countdown before the games open on Nov 11 in Palembang. The Komodo dragons, the largest lizard in the world, only live on the Indonesian islands of Komodo in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara. On Jan 15, Inasoc unveiled its logo, a Garuda eagle, to symbolize the power and grandeur of Indonesia. Indonesia dominated the Games between 1977, when it first competed, and 1997, failing to top the medal charts only twice in that p...

Malaysian Sports - Today's back pages!

Search This Blog