Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Chandrika’s impressive feats brighten country’s prospects in Asian Games 2014

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Sprinter Chandrika Subashini is making steady progress towards her personal best after overcoming a bad patch plagued with sicknesses. With a busy international schedule coming up, her recent form indicates that she could be Sri Lanka’s brightest prospect in athletics in 2014 where the country will compete in at least three major International Multi Sports events.



Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Lusophony Games are some of the major international sports events that Sri Lanka will be competing in 2014. Going by her recent form, Subashini is the leading contender in the female category in track and field, having overcome a rather disappointing phase.
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Ninth grader wins ticket to cover Incheon Asian Games 2014

Student Tieng Kimleng (right) collects a winner’s medal from National Olympic Committee of Cambodia President Thong Khon
A ninth grade student from CIA First International School, Tieng Kimleng, emerged as the winner of a writing contest yesterday to determine Cambodia’s young reporter heading to next year’s Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, under a program sponsored by the Olympic Council of Asia.
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World Boxing Championships: Shiva Thapa, Manoj Kumar in quarters

World Boxing Championships: Shiva Thapa, Manoj Kumar in quarters

Almaty (Kazakhstan): Rising Indian boxer Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg) endured draining contests but came out triumphant to enter the quarterfinals on a bitter-sweet day for India in the World Boxing Championships, here on Monday.

Both the boxers came back after being down a round to outwit their respective rivals. While Asian champion and fourth seed Shiva got the better off Argentina`s Alberto Melian 2-1, sixth seed Manoj beat Canada`s Yves Ulysse by the same margin.
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Govt negotiates with Yangon hotels for SEA Games


Rose GardenThe Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has been discussing with the Shangrila Residence and the Rose Garden Hotel in Yangon about the possibility of being operational in time for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games.
Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw are the two major locations that are expected to face room shortage problems during the SEA Games, according to the Ministry.
The Ministry's director Hlaing Oo said Shangrila Residence will provide 240 rooms while the Rose Garden Hotel will provide 300 rooms so Yangon will have enough hotel rooms if the two hotels can be operational before the SEA Games.
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South Korea invites the North to Asian Games



(SFC) A senior government official from South Korea told the Korean Herald the country has invited North Korea to attend the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

“We asked North Korea to participate in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games some two months ago via the Olympic Council of Asia,” Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Jong-gil told reporters.
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Philippines demand changes to SEA Games | Asia Pacific

COJUANGCO: Well, I think the media has overreacted to our position, because the South East Asian Games has always been a friendly gathering of the 11 countries and we have just expressed our feelings that South East Asian Games have to be sort of rehabilitated or something, because of the fact that as pointed out in the last meeting of the South East Asian Games Federation Council is that the South East Asian countries have been falling down in the number of medals being won in the Olympics every Olympic year, because of the fact that we have not focused really on our Olympic sports in the South East Asian Games itself.
 
It's gotten worse to the fact that in Myanmar now, there are for example our tennis president of our Federation here says there are 14 events to be contested and of the 14, he's only familiar with four and the other ten are not that familiar. So what we are trying to do is to get other countries' opinion on the matter. And I've just arrived from Lausanne, where there was a meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committee. I had spoken to a  few of the leaders of the South East Asian countries and they had the same feeling.  So I asked a few of them that I talked to as said how about getting together and discussing this, not necessarily to affect the games in Myanmar, but for future references and everyone I talked to seemed to be in agreement that something has to be done. So in the latter part of November this year, the Philippines will be hosting a Centennial Festival of Asian Sports, because in 1913, the first international sports competition was held here in the Philippines and we have been tasked to host that kind of celebration...and I asked them maybe you people can come a day earlier than our convention itself and discuss this matter and all those that I talked to anyway were willing to talk about it and they agreed with my position.
 
EWART: Can I ask therefore, because of what you were saying there the fact that you've just come back from this meeting of the Olympic Associations in Switzerland. I mean has your position perhaps changed since you've had those informal talks, because certainly the message that was coming out of the Philippines was that you were talking of sending a much smaller team to the South East Asian Games in Myanmar than usual and the Chairman of the Philippines Sports Commission, as I say, was suggesting that you might pull out of the organisation altogether. So it seems as though things have calmed down maybe in the last 24 hours?
 
COJUANGCO: No, necessarily calmed down. We are still going to be sending a small delegation. We still have to express our position that we have to do some changes and but as far as completely pulling out, I think that's been taken out of context wherever they got the idea of us pulling out, because we do belong to the South East Asian Games Federation and there are just some media releases here that have sort of had that idea of us boycotting. Because the big concern here is, of course, is that we have been, the medal tally, the gold medal tally of the Philippines have been going down as well. So I think there are more people concerned about how we were going to be performing. The fact is like this,  whenever  we send a delegation to the South East Asian Games, over 50 per cent of the people that compete in the South East Asian Games come home with medals and as far as I'm concerned as President of the Philippine Olympic Committee, I'm very satisfied with the performance of our athletes. The only problem is we are not getting into the gold medal circle and so we're doing something about that.
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Friday, November 22, 2013

Saudi Arabia bans two over suspect biological passports 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Mohamed Shaween, who won men’s 1500m gold at the 2010 Asian Games, has been given a three-year ban for violating anti-doping regulations, the Saudi Arabian Anti-Doping Committee (SAADC) said.
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Boxers losing precious time

Dilly-dallying on part of the Indian boxing federation (IBF) over holding the men's national championship, which is likely to miss its traditional October-November date, means time is running out to hone the skills of emerging talent with the potential to blossom at next year's Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
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Thursday, November 21, 2013

JYJ goes to Guangzhou to promote ‘2014 Incheon Asian Games’


JYJ recently headed to Guangzhou, China as part of their promotions as ambassadors of the ‘2014 Incheon Asian Games’.
C-JES Entertainment revealed that following their first promotion in Vietnam earlier, their second stop was here in Guangzhou, and over 40 media outlets had gathered to report on JYJ.
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Monday, November 18, 2013

Threat of violence a big concern for nations at SEA Games

Security remains a concern for Myanmar, who will be hosting the 27th Southeast Asian Games for the first time in 44 years in their new capital Nay Pyi Taw from December 11 to 22. The country, earlier known as Burma, had hosted the Games in 1961 and 1969.
The country's preparations have hit a snag when a series of bomb blasts went off around the country in October.
The threat of sectarian violence has become an overriding concern for all participating nations, especially to Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia.
Nonetheless, Myanmar's Deputy Minister for Sport Zaw Win has assured the countries that security plans are in place and the Myanmar police force will work together with international counterparts to ensure tight security during the Games.
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Saturday, November 16, 2013

Gilas re-signs Douthit for Worlds, Asiad PH Team

MANILA, Philippines - Gilas Pilipinas has just signed Marcus Douthit to a contract-extension deal lasting up to September, assuring the PH team of a naturalized player in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain and in the succeeding Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
National coach Chot Reyes, however, doesn’t rule out the possibility of tapping in another naturalized player.
“We’ve renewed his contract until the Asian Games, so he’s going to be there. Whether it’s him that we’ll eventually use, that depends on, No. 1, will we find somebody better than him and, No. 2, can we get him through the needed naturalization process,” said Reyes.
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Philippine Blu Girls eye spot in 14th world championship


MANILA—Barging into the top three and earning a qualifying spot to next year’s world championships is what the Philippine national women’s softball team is aiming for when it competes in the 14th Women’s Softball World Championship Asian qualifier later this month in Chinese Taipei.
“Ten of them played in the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia, where they won the gold.. The players have been practicing since August, and they are young, fast and strong,” Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines operations manager Ismael Veloso said during the Scoop Forum yesterday. Some of them have also played in the Little League World Series. I hope the team does will and we’ll advance to the world championships.
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Friday, November 15, 2013

Prasun Banerjee – A man for all seasons ( Indian football team )

Prasun Banerjee
Thirty one years ago, wiry and slim Prasun Banerjee was a member of the Indian football team which reached the quarter finals of the 9th Asian Games in Delhi. He scored both the goals, with blistering left footed shots from outside the box, in the 2-0 win over Bangladesh. In the group league phase, he then helped India beat Malaysia 1-0 and draw 2-2 with China. Playing in the 4-3-3 system, the hallmark of India’s display was their superlative midfield trio – Parminder Singh on the right, Prasun as the central holding midfielder and Prasanta Banerjee on the left. Experts like P.K. Banerjee and Arun Ghosh consider this trio as India’s best midfield in the modern era.
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Saturday, November 2, 2013

Hong Kong has medal chance in women's rugby at 2014 Asian Games


The benefits of becoming a full-time athlete at the Hong Kong Sports Institute are already paying off for women's rugby with Hong Kong now proving a serious challenger to Asian powerhouse China.
With 12 full-time athletes on the cards at the elite training academy, the Hong Kong women have twice gone down narrowly to China, losing with the last try of the match at the Shanghai Sevens, giving rise to expectations of an Asian Games medal in Incheon, South Korea, next year.
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Asian Games target for Syafiq

Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek: 'There’s no bowling in the SEA Games this year but that’s okay because next year we will have a bigger objective – the Asian Games in Incheon.'
Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek: 'There’s no bowling in the SEA Games this year but that’s okay because next year we will have a bigger objective – the Asian Games in Incheon.'

PETALING JAYA: National bowler Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek will have to polish up his game when he competes in the Malaysian Open from Nov 15-23 at the Sunway Megalanes in Sunway Pyramid.
With no competition after the World Championships in Nevada in August – where the men’s team returned empty-handed, Syafiq has been taking it easy.
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SIM cards for SEA Games won't fall to black market - MPT

Mobile SIM cards issued for participants of the Southeast Asian Games will not fall into the black market, according to Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT).
MPT will be collaborating with the Myanmar Olympic Committee to provide over 8000 athletes, coaches and participants in SEA Games with mobile SIM cards that are usable for three months.
"Only the MPT will supply the mobile SIM cards for athletes. Besides, MPT and the Olympic Committee will ensure to prevent the black market. Olympic Committee will take care of distributing the SIM cards to the athletes," said Thein Hote, Deputy General Manager of MPT.
The SEA Games will be held in Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay as well as in Ngwe Saung Beach. The opening ceremony of the SEA Games will be held at Wonna Theikdi Stadium in Nay Pyi Taw.
During the SEA Games, Wi Fi facilities are to be set up for common use in most of the places in Yangon.
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Pakistan Sports Board fails to submit entry for Asian Games


KARACHI: Pakistan’s squash faced another blow when the authorities failed to send entries for Asian Games 2014 due to the ongoing rift between two groups of sports officials.


There are currently two bodies claiming to be the legitimate Pakistan Olympic Association (POA): one is backed by Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and the other is recognised by the International Olympic Association (IOC).

The last date for sending entries for the Asian Games was October 31, but since Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) supports the PSB-backed POA, it did not send entries for the games, which had to be routed through the other POA, led by Lt Gen (retd) Arif Hasan.

“We are not in a position to do anything in this regard unless this issue is resolved. However, the PSB has asked us to give them entries for Asian Games, so we will do so,” said Secretary PSF Amir Nawaz when contacted.

The Asian Games 2014 are scheduled to be held in South Korea from September 19 to October 4, 2014. Pakistan’s squash players have secured seven medals in Asian Games so far.

In the 13th Asian Games held at Bangkok in 1998, Zarak Jehan won gold and Amjad Khan won silver in singles categories.

In the 14th edition of the games at Busan in 2002, Mansoor Zaman won silver and Shahid Zaman won bronze in singles categories. Mansoor Zaman won bronze medal in the 15th Asian Games held at Doha in 2006. In the 16th Asian Games held in China in 2010, Pakistan team won gold medal. Amir Atlas also won silver medal in singles category.
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Fong Wei makes family proud with bronze medal

Malaysia's Chai Fong Wei in action in the 'gunshu' (stick) event at the 12th World Wushu Championships in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. She finished third with 9.62 points, behind winner Zheng Shaoyi of China and Hong Kong's Geng Xiao Ling. - BERNAMA Photo
Malaysia's Chai Fong Wei in action in the 'gunshu' (stick) event at the 12th World Wushu Championships in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. She finished third with 9.62 points, behind winner Zheng Shaoyi of China and Hong Kong's Geng Xiao Ling. - BERNAMA Photo

KUALA LUMPUR: Chai Fong Ying, the two-time Asian Games champion, is not competing but the Chai family members were all smiles at the World Wushu Championships at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium in Cheras on Saturday.
This time it was not Fong Ying, but younger sister Fong Wei who made the podium in women’s gunshu (stick), earning 9.62 points to finish third behind China’s Shaoyi Zheng (9.72) and Hong Kong’s Geng Xiao Ling (9.65).
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