Malaysian Sports - Today's back pages!

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Former renowned Sabah sportsman Datuk Dilbagh Singh Kler died here early this morning following a short illness. He was 76 and is survived by his wife, Datin Amrit Kler, three children and a grandson. He breathed his last just before 5am at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 2 after being warded for a week, his eldest daughter, Jaswinder told Bernama. "It was totally unexpected. But he hasn't been well because he was already old," said Jaswinder, a former New Straits Times journalist and wife to Bernama Sandakan Chief Haslin Gaffor. The Kota Kinabalu-born Dilbagh was a renowned athlete who represented Malaysia in several international tournaments in the 1960s such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games (then known as British Empire & Commonwealth Games). -- BERNAMA

SHAH ALAM - Legenda bola sepak negara, Tan Sri Ghani Minhat meninggal dunia akibat komplikasi selepas menjalani pembedahan pintasan jantung di Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) hari ini. Allahyarham menghembuskan nafas terakhir kira-kira jam 10.34 pagi tadi. Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Minhat (The King of Football) Born in 1935, Ghani Minhatwas put on the path of professional football by a pair of boots hereceived from Police Officers sometime in 1951. In those days, only professionals wore football bootsand Ghani saw thisas a calling for him to upgrade his skills. By1952 he had earned a place in thePoliceDepotteam. Thisbecame hisstepping stoneto earning a place on the Selangor squad in theMalaysia (then Malaya)Cup series. The left-winger helped to bring in eight Malaya Cup wins and three Merdeka Football Tournament (“Pestabola Merdeka”) wins. He was also partof thevictorious team in the 1961 SEAP Games (now SEA Games) in Rangoon. One of the finest forwards ofthe 60s, Ghani’ssuperb sk...