NST Online: Sports

Badminton / Indonesia Open: Daren gets chance for revenge against Taufik

Posted: 21 Jun 2011 05:17 PM PDT

2011/06/22
By K.M. Boopathy
boopathy@nstp.com.my

Liew Daren (left) will meet Taufik Hidayat while Lee Chong Wei (right) will play Tommy Sugiarto in the Indonesia Open first round today.

LIEW Daren survived the qualifying rounds again to set up a rematch against local favourite Taufik Hidayat in the Indonesia Open in Jakarta yesterday.

Daren beat Indonesians Indra Bagus Ade Chandra 21-13, 21-13 and Evert Sukamta 21-7, 21-18 to reach the main draw where he will meet Taufik in the first round today.

The Malaysia held a 13-8 lead in the deciding game against Taufik in the first round of the Singapore Open last week but squandered the opportunity to pull off a major upset and crashed 22-24, 21-12, 21-18.

It will be tough to beat Taufik in a tournament where the Indonesian is aiming for a record seventh title but Daren, who has been in good form of late, should stay focused and target his opponent's scalp.

Hafiz Hashim, not surprisingly, lost 21-16, 22-20 to Hsueh Hsuan Yi of Taiwan in the first round of the qualifiers to continue his poor run this year.

Title holder Lee Chong Wei will play Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia while his arch rival Lin Dan of China will meet another Indonesian, Alamsyah Yunus, who tends to play well at home, today.

In the men's doubles, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong play Thailand's Songphon Anugritayawon-Sudket Prapakamol while Fairuzizuan Tazari-Ong Soon Hock take on Fang Chieh Min-Lee Sheng Mu of Taiwan.

Zakry Latif-Hoon Thien How will have to battle hard for survival against Indonesia's No 3 Mohammad Ahsan-Bona Septano while Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen will not have it easy r against hard-working Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato of Japan.

In the women's doubles, Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui will meet Denmark's Line Kruse-Marie Roepke in the first round.

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Football: Strikers to make it count this time

Posted: 21 Jun 2011 05:17 PM PDT

2011/06/22
Ajitpal Singh
ajitpalsingh@nst.com.my

The national players going through their paces yesterday. — Picture by Fariz Iswadi Ismail

STRIKERS Izzaq Faris Raman and Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim have both set a target when they face Lebanon in tomorrow's return leg of the Olympic Qualifiers.

The duo want to forget about their performances in the first leg in Beirut, where they were misfiring in Lebanon's penalty box.

Izzaq started the match as the main striker before the 21-year-old was replaced by Syahrul minutes after the breather in Beirut.

Izzaq said he was nervous at first in the first leg as the Lebanese players were physical.

"They were aggressive in their play and the humidity in Beirut was also not helping. I had no problems taking on their defenders but luck deserted me when I had the opportunities to score," said Izzaq at the National Sports Council (NSC) training ground in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

"I want to put the first leg behind me by helping my team win on Thursday (tomorrow). It does not matter who scores, as long as we win."

The first leg in Beirut was Izzaq's first Olympic qualifying match. The striker was injured when Malaysia defeated Pakistan 2-0 on aggregate in February.

"I felt uneasy playing in Beirut as it was an away match, though there were more Malaysian fans in the empty stadium. We will feel more comfortable at home. I hope the fans will come support us in numbers," added the Kuala Terengganu-born who has scored seven goals for Young Tigers A in the Super League.

Syahrul, who is expected to start on the bench in the return leg, said his team will likely play attacking football tomorrow.

"We were in Beirut to play a defensive game. It was not easy for us as we needed to help out in defence. I am certain we will be more adventurous upfront here."

"I hope I can play in the return leg but it will depend on coach Ong Kim Swee's tactics," said Syahrul, who hails from Tanah Merah, Kelantan.

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Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Selasa, 21 Jun 2011

NST Online: Sports

NST Online: Sports

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