NICOL David has a clear run at closing out her season on a high at her final two tournaments of the year next month as she described how she handles the pressure to keep her winning momentum going.
As the accolades keep pouring in for the four-time world champion, Nicol said the ceaseless pressure to keep winning will not detract her from going for her eighth and ninth Wispa Tour titles in November.
The latest honour bestowed on Nicol was the naming of the National Squash Centre main court in Bukit Jalil after her in acknowledgement of her stunning achievements over the last five years which put Malaysia firmly on the sporting map.
"There is always pressure (to win) whether you like it or not. You've got to work hard and if you put the effort in on the court, it will work out. If not, you learn from it and step up a notch the next time but I've got to believe in what I can do," said Nicol after the unveiling of the Nicol David Arena at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil on Tuesday.
Fresh from winning a fourth consecutive Hong Kong Open title on Sunday, Nicol will be in action at the Carol Weymuller Open in New York on Nov 3-8, a tournament she has not played since 2005.
The top seed can expect former world champion Vanessa Atkinson of the Netherlands and England's Jenny Duncalf to be her main threat to an expected final meeting with British Open winner Rachael Grinham of Australia.
But the Qatar Classic in Doha on Nov 19-23 will be a tougher proposition for Nicol where she could meet Rachael or Egypt's Omneya Abdel Kawy in the semi-finals and Dutch World No 2 Natalie Grinham in the final.
Before that there is the danger posed by England's Laura Massaro, who ran the world champion close in their last two meetings, in the quarter-finals.
The country's top men's duo of Azlan Iskandar and Ong Beng Hee too have a loaded November to deal with which begins with the World Open in Kuwait.
After his impressive run to the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Open, Azlan is set to carry his form over to Kuwait on Nov 1-7 where he is slated to meet Egypt's Amr Shabana in the third round.
Shabana toppled compatriot and World No 1 Karim Darwish en route to the Hong Kong title last week and will present 12th seed Azlan a stiff test of his credentials.
Beng Hee, seeded 13th, was unfortunate to be drawn to face second seed Gregory Gaultier in the third round although the Frenchman's fitness remains suspect after being forced to withdraw from the Hong Kong Open final due to a knee injury.
Azlan and Beng Hee should come through the first two rounds while national No 3 Nafiizwan Adnan could spring a surprise when he comes up against world junior champion Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt in the first round.
Beng Hee will also be in action in Doha where he meets ninth seed Peter Barker of England in the first round while Azlan is entered in the Dutch Open in Rotterdam the following week
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
F1: Fairuz has a bright chance of landing spot
FAIRUZ Fauzy is on the list but he is not a certainty to make his Formula One race debut with the 1Malaysia-Lotus F1 Team next season. The 27-year-old Malaysian, according to 1Malaysia-Lotus F1 Team technical director Mike Gascoyne, is among those being considered, although he would prefer to have two experienced drivers doing the job in the team's first season.
What seems at the very least a near certainty for Fairuz is a test drive seat with the team next season.
Fairuz, who next weekend challenges for his best ever finish in the Formula 3.5 World Series by Renault at Motorland Aragon in Spain, does have the benefit of having worked briefly with Gascoyne during his time as test driver for the Spyker F1 Team in 2007.
So does the name linked closely to Gascoyne, current Toyota driver Jarno Trulli, who has a close relationship with the much traveled technical director.
The team's first ever driver line-up is set to be announced next month and Gascoyne, who is currently in Kuala Lumpur, remains tight-lipped over the matter.
"You have to look at what's best for the team. Ultimately, you'd want to have two experienced drivers. Because as a new team, with two new drivers, you would not know where you are," said Gascoyne.
"We have to see. In Fairuz Fauzy you've got a very, very good racing driver. But he's in a bunch of GP2 drivers who are all ready for F1," added Gascoyne.
"I'm sure that we'll have a Malaysian driving the car at some stage next year in testing, but will he have a race seat? That we have to wait and see. It is a possibility, but we're very realistic.
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"We want the best people in it. So, we want a Malaysian in it, when he's capable of being the with the best. If we don't adopt that approach, we will be the team at the back."
What seems at the very least a near certainty for Fairuz is a test drive seat with the team next season.
Fairuz, who next weekend challenges for his best ever finish in the Formula 3.5 World Series by Renault at Motorland Aragon in Spain, does have the benefit of having worked briefly with Gascoyne during his time as test driver for the Spyker F1 Team in 2007.
So does the name linked closely to Gascoyne, current Toyota driver Jarno Trulli, who has a close relationship with the much traveled technical director.
The team's first ever driver line-up is set to be announced next month and Gascoyne, who is currently in Kuala Lumpur, remains tight-lipped over the matter.
"You have to look at what's best for the team. Ultimately, you'd want to have two experienced drivers. Because as a new team, with two new drivers, you would not know where you are," said Gascoyne.
"We have to see. In Fairuz Fauzy you've got a very, very good racing driver. But he's in a bunch of GP2 drivers who are all ready for F1," added Gascoyne.
"I'm sure that we'll have a Malaysian driving the car at some stage next year in testing, but will he have a race seat? That we have to wait and see. It is a possibility, but we're very realistic.
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"We want the best people in it. So, we want a Malaysian in it, when he's capable of being the with the best. If we don't adopt that approach, we will be the team at the back."
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
EPL 2009-10 Season: Rafa: Reds are still in the race for title
LONDON: Rafael Benitez refused to write off Liverpool's chances of winning the Premier League this season despite watching his side fall six points behind leaders Chelsea after a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Goals from Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda condemned the Reds to their third defeat of the season and left them languishing in fifth place.
Three league losses is one more than Liverpool suffered over the whole of last season and Benitez's team looked anything but championship quality on Sunday as Chelsea overpowered them in the second half.
However, Benitez is staying upbeat about their title prospects.
"Our target now has to be the next game. Every game is important. We have to keep calm and working hard," he said.
"This year the top sides will lose games but you have to try to improve and we will try to win against Sunderland next.
"When the teams at the top of the table drop points and you win, it is better, but we have to keep winning games and stay as strong as possible and see what happens.
"It is my opinion you will see top sides losing more games this season. It is good for the Premier League and it means we have to keep calm."
French duo Anelka and Malouda were on target for Chelsea, who climbed back on top of the Premier League table following their shock 3-1 defeat at Wigan the previous week.
Carlo Ancelotti's side have now opened up a two-point gap over Manchester United, who drew with Sunderland on Saturday and lie in second place.
But perhaps more importantly, it restored the Blues to winning ways in emphatic fashion.
Ancelotti said: "It was an important win. It was a difficult match. I don't know if it was a better performance than in the Champions League against APOEL Nicosia. We did what we prepared before the game.
"After this game I think we have resolved the problem from the defeat at Wigan but it was not a big problem."
The Italian added: "Manchester United's result was a surprise for sure, but this season is about us because we are top of the league.
"We can prepare for the next games with concentration and determination as we know our season will depend on it."
Despite the defeat Benitez said he had few complaints about the performance of his players and admitted they could simply not find a way past the Chelsea defence.
He added: "The performance was not bad. We were playing a very good team in Chelsea." -- AFP
Goals from Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda condemned the Reds to their third defeat of the season and left them languishing in fifth place.
Three league losses is one more than Liverpool suffered over the whole of last season and Benitez's team looked anything but championship quality on Sunday as Chelsea overpowered them in the second half.
However, Benitez is staying upbeat about their title prospects.
"Our target now has to be the next game. Every game is important. We have to keep calm and working hard," he said.
"This year the top sides will lose games but you have to try to improve and we will try to win against Sunderland next.
"When the teams at the top of the table drop points and you win, it is better, but we have to keep winning games and stay as strong as possible and see what happens.
"It is my opinion you will see top sides losing more games this season. It is good for the Premier League and it means we have to keep calm."
French duo Anelka and Malouda were on target for Chelsea, who climbed back on top of the Premier League table following their shock 3-1 defeat at Wigan the previous week.
Carlo Ancelotti's side have now opened up a two-point gap over Manchester United, who drew with Sunderland on Saturday and lie in second place.
But perhaps more importantly, it restored the Blues to winning ways in emphatic fashion.
Ancelotti said: "It was an important win. It was a difficult match. I don't know if it was a better performance than in the Champions League against APOEL Nicosia. We did what we prepared before the game.
"After this game I think we have resolved the problem from the defeat at Wigan but it was not a big problem."
The Italian added: "Manchester United's result was a surprise for sure, but this season is about us because we are top of the league.
"We can prepare for the next games with concentration and determination as we know our season will depend on it."
Despite the defeat Benitez said he had few complaints about the performance of his players and admitted they could simply not find a way past the Chelsea defence.
He added: "The performance was not bad. We were playing a very good team in Chelsea." -- AFP
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