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Football: Hairuddin looking to spoil Kelantan party Posted: 28 Feb 2011 04:05 PM PST 2011/03/01 Negri Sembilan's Hairuddin Omar expects the passionate Kelantan fans to give him a hard time in their Super League match today. The Terengganu-born, who lifted the Malaysia Cup with the East Coast team last season, said he doesn't expect anything less from the passionate supporters. "I will be jeered for certain but that is just the way the Kelantan fans are but I know deep down, they appreciate what I did for the team last year.
Hairuddin said Negri will be strengthened by the return of Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak. But Kelantan coach M.Karathu said, even with quite a number of national players in the visiting team, it will take a special effort from Negri to get the better of Kelantan.
"We are also playing well at home, unlike last season where we were quite vulnerable when playing in Kota Baru, and our only worry now is the fact that we are not scoring as many goals as we should," said Karathu. He pointed out the 1-1 draw against Kedah on Saturday as a perfect example of his strikers' failure to convert chances.
Coach Yunus Alif said the 3-0 victory over Perlis was just what his team needed to kick-start their season after three consecutive losses. "Add the early exit in the FA Cup, and we have had quite a miserable start but all that should be behind us now that our strikers have found their scoring boots again. "But then again, we have to work hard to overcome Felda United especially now that midfielder Zairo Anuar Zailani and striker Haris Safwan Mohd Kamal are out injured," he said. In Kangar, coach Muosthakeen Omar is hoping to emulate Yunus by steering Perlis to their first win when they host Kuala Lumpur at Utama Stadium. "We saw how T-Team engineered their win over us in Kuala Terengganu and hopefully, our young team will be able to do the same to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (today)," he said. |
Tennis / BMW Malaysian Open: Ayumi eyes top 30 Posted: 28 Feb 2011 04:02 PM PST Japan's Ayumi Morita thrashed Belarus' Darya Kustova 6-2, 6-0 in her first round match yesterday. — Picture by Fariz Iswadi Ismail. Ayumi turned in a commendable performance at the Australian Open before going down to China's much improved Peng Shuai. It was her best run in a grand slam tournament since turning pro in 2005. She then reached the last-16 in Dubai which helped her to a career high ranking of 48 but dropped nine rungs in this week's rankings.
"It is important I do well in big tournaments especially the grand slams as they carry more weight and ranking points." The 21-year-old may have won eight career ITF titles but she has yet to make a mark on the WTA Tour. Her best tour result was reaching three semi-finals, including last year's Malaysian Open. "It is not easy playing on the WTA tour as you cannot afford to play badly and hope to win. I was once ranked third in the junior rankings but it was easy then as I won matches effortlessly. "It is different on the senior tour as you need to always stay focused and confident to attain good results," she said.
"It is always tough in the first round, so I am glad to have won my match convincingly," said Ayumi. "The Malaysian Open is special to me as I reached the semi-finals last year. I rather not speak about my target here as I prefer to take it one match at a time," added the Japanese, who plays China's Zhang Shuai in the second round tomorrow. |
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