July 27, 2009 21:17 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) — National Sports Council (NSC) acting director-general Abdul Jalil Abdullah hopes national athletes would be able to achieve their respective targets when competing in the Mini Olympics.

The Mini Olympics, organised for the first time as preparations for the 2012 London Olympics, is open to athletes who are ranked among the top in the eight sports to be contested.

“It is not a state or national meeting but open to all athletes who are eligible to compete. There is also no age limit,” he told reporters here Monday.

The Mini Olympics was initiated following a resolution adopted after the National Sports Convention last year and aimed at providing a platform for junior and senior athletes to compete on a level playing field, based on their rankings.

Eight sports, namely aquatics (swimming & diving), athletics, gymnastics, (rhythmic & artistic), cycling (track & road), archery, badminton, shooting and weightlifting would be hosted from July 29 to Aug 9.

Abdul Jalil said the NSC would spend RM1.1 million to organise the Mini Olympics that is expected to feature 1,595 athletes and officials with athletics listing 360 participants, the biggest in the event.

He said archery and badminton would be the first two sports to open their doors for competition on July 29.

“The respective national sports associations had made their selection based on their selection criteria and the number of athletes competing also depends on the associations,” he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union (MAAU) deputy president Karim Ibrahim confirmed that the athletics contingent will remain as 360 because there were more than 40 events in the athletics programme as compared with other sports.

“Unlike other sports, athletics features more than 40 events in the men’s and women’s categories and even if eight participants are fielded in each event, the number will reach 320, excluding coaches and officials,” he said.

July 26, 2009 18:34 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (Bernama) — The Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) and its affiliates will be sending 378 athletes to the upcoming MiniOlimpik with the objective of pitting national and non-national athletes.

MAAU president Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim said the rationale behind sending a large contingent of track and field athletes was to give all aspiring athletes under its wing a chance to compete in one national competition.

Out of the 378 athletes, 208 are non-national athletes from MAAU’s affiliates (states) while 170 are national senior, back-up and junior athletes.

“They will compete with each other, which is a good platform to prove their potential and talents.

“It’s a huge contingent to the MiniOlimpik and the National Sports Council (NSC) might face accommodation problems. Nevertheless, we (MAAU) on behalf of NSC, will help solve the problem,” said Shahidan.

The inaugural MiniOlympics, from July 29 until August 9, is aimed at unearthing medal prospects for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Athletes from eight national sports associations, namely MAAU, Malaysian Amateur Swimming Association, Malaysian National Shooting Association, Malaysian National Archery Association, Malaysian Badminton Association, Malaysian Weight Lifting Association, Malaysian Gymnastics Union and Malaysian National Cycling Union are taking part in the meet.

Saturday July 25, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR: High jumper Lee Hup Wei will make a last attempt to qualify for the world athletics championships in Berlin next month by competing in the Mini Olympics, which will be held at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil from July 31-Aug 2.

Cuban coach Jose Luis Alforo, however, said that it would tough for Hup Wei to clear 2.28m to qualify on merit under category B for the championships scheduled for Aug 15-23.

“He competed in seven meets over the last three months and his best effort was 2.24m, which he did three time in the Asian Grand Prix circuit in May,” said Alforo, who has been coaching Hup Wei since last year.
“He should concentrate on improving on the height to defend the ATF (Asian Track and Field) title in Guangzhou in November.”

Hup Wei became the first Malaysian to win a ATF field event gold medal in Jordan in 2007 with a height of 2.24m.
Last year, he broke the national record with a jump of 2.27m in the China Open to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

The deadline for world championship qualification is on Aug 3 and no Malaysian has made the grade thus far.
The Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union (MAAU) deputy president, Karim Ibrahim, said that if none of the athletes met the qualifying marks, they were eligible to send one male and one female track athlete to the championships.

He added that they had identified three men and two women as candidates for the championship.
The male athletes in the running for the Berlin trip are 2007 Korat SEA Games gold medallist Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian (110m hurdles), Mohd Zaiful Zainal Abidin (400m) and Mohd Jironi Riduan (800m). The female athletes are Norjannah Hafiszah Jamaluddin (100m) and Noraseela Khalid (400m hurdles).

The Championships, to be held from March 24 to 27, will be relocated almost 60km away, to the Petaling Jaya Stadium in Kelana Jaya.

SMK Methodist won 38 gold medals, 19 silver medals and 14 bronze medals. In the primary schools category, SJK(C) Choong Hua were the overall champions with six gold, four silver and four bronze medals.Three athletes - Tan Hau Xi, R. Vinotheni and Winifred Anne Duraisingam - from SMK Methodist were voted the Best Athletes in their respective age groups.Tan, competing in the boys’ Class One, won two gold medals (400m hurdles and 110m hurdles) and a bronze medal in the 800m, while Vinotheni was the girls’ Class One winner in the 400m and 800m. She won the 400m gold medal in a record time.

Winifred Anne won the 400m and 200m gold medals and a silver medal in the 100m in the girls’ Class Two.SMK Sijangkang Jaya’s Alif Hakim Arifin was the Best Athlete in the boys’ Class Two. He won the gold medal in the high jump with a 1.6m clearance.

We will be initiating a centralised training programme in Kuala Langat. We will also get the athletes to train at the PJ Stadium to give them the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the conditions there

                     KEPUTUSAN RASMI

KEJOHANAN OLARAGA REMAJA SELANGOR TERBUKA KE 70/2009

            STADIUM MBPJ KELANA JAYA