Nicol, Beng Hee make a clean sweep

MALAYSIA signed off from the Doha Asian Games in golden fashion – with a clean sweep of the men’s and women’s individual squash gold medals yesterday.

First, top seed Nicol David earned sweet revenge over Rebecca Chiu, trouncing the Hong Kong player 9-0, 9-3, 9-3 in the squash final at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday.

Ong Beng Hee and top seed Mohd Azlan Iskandar were the last Malaysians to see action in the Games.

And they put on a splendid display, with Beng Hee coming back from a set down to upset Azlan 5-9, 9-1, 10-9, 9-5 in a gruelling 67 minutes to retain the men’s title.

Azlan had also lost to Beng Hee in the final of the Asian championships in Taiwan in February.

Nicol, who had lost to Rebecca in an emotional final four years ago, was way too strong for her opponent yesterday. She controlled the match from the first set with her fast attacking play and tricky shots to win without dropping a point.

She only dropped three points in the second set. In the third, Rebecca tried to put up a fight, coming from 0-3 down to level but Nicol reeled off six straight points to win.
Nicol was happy to end the year with the title. “I had no thoughts of revenge against Rebecca as I had beaten her several times after the Busan Games.”

The world No 1 will be RM80,000 richer for winning the gold in the Asian Games, making for a merry Christmas indeed. Nicol pocketed US$15,000 (RM58,000) for retaining her World Open title in Belfast. She also received an incentive of RM20,000 from the National Sports Council (NSC) for retaining the title, making it a total of RM158,000.
Beng Hee, meanwhile, said he was glad to have retained the title after a hard fought win over Azlan, who is the number one player in Asia.

“We are the best of friends but in competitions we are the biggest rivals. I was nervous after losing the first set but kept my cool to come back,” said Beng Hee. “I really wanted to win the title as you never know when you will ever win it again.”

We should all now be proud to be a MALAYSIAN !!!!!

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A fairy tale for all Malaysian ....

THEY were unseeded. They were unheralded.

Yet the Malaysian pair of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong capped a magical fairy-tale run in the Asian Games with a gold medal – ending an agonising 36-year wait for the nation.

And they did it in style, blowing favourites and eighth seeds Alvent Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto off the court in straight sets 21-13, 21-14 to give Malaysia the men’s doubles gold

Bravo my fellow Malaysians.... ALl salute u for you guys ...

Chinese pair double up for gold @ Doha

Gao Ling and Huang Sui saved a match point to win an all-Chinese final in the women’s badminton doubles against Zhang Jiewen and Yang Wei.

The top seeds looked like they would have to settle for silver after they lost the first game and trailed 21-20 in the second.

Zhang and Yang could not take their opportunity and, spurred on by the reprieve, Gao and Huang, who took silver four years ago in Busan, recovered to win 18-21, 23-21, 21-14.

Huang was full of praise for her partner, who had played three doubles matches yesterday to claim mixed doubles gold. She said: “In the second game they came very close, when we were 20-20 there were a few high shots coming through that I thought we were going to miss but Gao kept hitting them back.

“She didn’t give up and that gave me a lot of encouragement.”

Silver medallist Zhang was left to reflect on defeat and said: “I think anyone who doesn’t get the gold in the final will regret it to a degree. There were some chances for us to win but we just didn’t play to the extent of our ability.

“Everyone knows each other, we are all on the same team. Still, I’m not really satisfied.

adapted from http://www.doha-2006.com/gis/menuroot/news/article.aspx?flag=1&pagenum=1&id=28131

2006: Federer stole the ATP show, again

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The incomparable Roger Federer, once again, dominated the ATP headlines in 2006, a year that also marked the end of an era with the retirement of the great Andre Agassi.

The 25-year-old Federer does not wish to be disturbed while he's in the midst of rewriting the tennis record book. His career Grand Slam tally is already up to nine after '06 saw him corral the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles. The sublime Swiss recorded a runner-up finish at the French Open and became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to reach all four major finals in one season.

Federer became the first player to win both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in three consecutive years, and his run at the All England Club currently stands at four straight. He'll try to match Bjorn Borg's Open Era record of five straight championships at Wimby next year

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Manchester United on 9 Clear away

Man Utd 3-1 Man City

Manchester City's 32-year wait for an Old Trafford win goes on as United moved another step closer in their quest to end a three-year title drought with a 3-1 derby triumph.

Cristiano Ronaldo's late goal ensured the Red Devils marched nine points clear of Chelsea at the Premiership summit, although Sir Alex Ferguson might not have been too happy at the way his side failed to cruise home after Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha had put them two in front at the break.

• Fergie eyes title For 12 nervy minutes after Hatem Trabelsi's magnificent effort had breathed fresh life into a contest which saw City battle hard without ever looking likely to win, United were a bundle of nerves.But Ronaldo calmed them by turning home Rooney's cross six minutes from the end, before Bernardo Corradi was sent off at the death

Anfield Sheik-up

While the majority takeover of Liverpool Football Club by Dubai International Capital is not yet complete this looks to be as far down the path as the Reds have gone with any one investor.

Our current chairman, David Moores, is left with no choice except to sell his majority shares if he wants Liverpool to surpass the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and to some extent Arsenal. I say to some extent Arsenal because they rarely seem to overpay for players.

Of course, like most Liverpool supporters, I wish David Moores could remain as Liverpool's majority stake holder. However the harsh reality of modern day football is that in order to compete with the big money spending of United and Chelsea we need deeper pockets then Moores is capable of. Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's £450million takeover would provide 'possibilities and more money' according to manager Rafa Benitiz, but there are also concerns.

Liverpool are a club with a long and storied history so the new ownership will be a worry for all supporters, regardless of their nationality. In some ways Roman's takeover at Chelsea was a bit easier because Chelsea were never really considered a big club. It will take a great deal of time for us to see how this proposed ownership change plays out, but so far it seems like everyone is saying and doing the right thing.

Personally I don't care if they are from Mars or wherever as long as they have the best interest of the club and the supporters at heart. The other day, after our draw against Pompey, I mentioned that Manchester United drew over 30,000 more supporters in their match with Everton on the same day.

New investment is clearly needed to help fund a new stadium.

Carragher scores rare goal

Liverpool 4-0 Fulham

Liverpool's Scouse heart of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher scored two of the four goals which finally accounted for a resilient Fulham 4-0 at Anfield.

After dominating a goalless first half Gerrard followed in his saved 53rd-minute penalty for the first after Ian Pearce's handball.

Carragher, whose last goal came on January 16 1999, then dived in at the far post to stab in a second and Luis Garcia headed in Agger's cross before substitute Mark Gonzalez curled in an injury time free-kick to cap the victory.Gerrard, who along with Jose Reina, Steve Finnan, Luis Garcia and Dirk Kuyt was brought back after the Champions League defeat by Galatasaray, was instrumental throughout.However, even he needed a stroke of luck when Jan Lastuvka saved his penalty, but he made no mistake with his follow-up effort.Up until that point it appeared Fulham, playing five in midfield, would frustrate their opponents on a ground they have never won at in 95 years of competition.

In Liverpool's first real attack Kuyt combined with Bellamy and when the Wales striker's shot was half-blocked Luis Garcia stabbed an effort past Lastuvka, only for Liam Rosenior to clear off the line.Even with less than six minutes gone Lastuvka seemed intent on wasting as much time as possible, but when his long clearance released Volz down the right, he crossed for McBride to hit a first-time shot, which Reina did well to tip around his left-hand post.From the corner Liverpool launched a quick counter-attack down the right through Jermaine Pennant, but John Arne Riise's 25-yard drive went wide.In the 15th minute Pennant outpaced Rosenior, but Kuyt's ambitious long-range shot from the winger's pass spun horribly off his right foot for a goal-kick.Pennant, having one of his better games, broke from inside his own half and after a 40-yard run slipped the ball to Bellamy, who laid it off to Luis Garcia, only for the Spaniard's shot to be blocked by Zat Knight.

When Fulham did gain possession in their opponent's half, they were not sure what to do with it and Papa Bouba Diop blazed a 30-yard shot well over.At the other end, Pennant just failed to get a telling deflection on Xabi Alonso's low free-kick, while Bellamy's clever dummy set up Pennant to cross, but from 10 yards Kuyt could not get enough contact on the ball to divert it goalwards.Lastuvka was then forced to save low to his left from Alonso's 30-yard curler as Liverpool continued to pressurise the Fulham defence.A minute before half-time Luis Garcia's looping header from Kuyt's left-wing cross dropped onto the top of Lastuvka's net.Diop, who had returned in the second half with heavy strapping on his right thigh, lasted just four minutes before he was replaced by Philippe Christanval.In the 50th minute Pennant's cross from the right side of the penalty area saw Bellamy miss with his head and the ball bounce through Kuyt's legs - with both players no more than seven yards out.

But the long-awaited breakthrough finally came three minutes later. Bellamy's cut-back to Kuyt saw the Holland international's shot blocked by Pearce's arms and referee Uriah Rennie had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.Gerrard's effort was well saved low to Lastuvka's left, but the Liverpool captain followed up to drive home.Agger had a great chance to make it 2-0 a minute later, but he missed a free header from Gerrard's corner, while Bellamy also fired over at the far post from his captain's next flag-kick.Bellamy's quick break from the halfway line earned Liverpool another corner in the 59th minute and when the ball came back out to Gerrard, Lastuvka could only fumble it around a post.

It was to prove costly as Agger flicked on Gerrard's resulting cross and Carragher dived in feet first at the far post for Liverpool's second.The result was assured when Agger crossed from wide on the left in the 67th minute and Luis Garcia jumped unmarked to head in the third.Late on Gerrard was denied by the Fulham goalkeeper again when he fired straight at Lastuvka from Pennant's cross, while substitute Robbie Fowler's volley was deflected wide by Rosenior.Substitute Gonzalez curled in a 25-yard injury time free-kick to cap the victory