Level Field: July 2023

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Arul pays tribute to others for his award

apakhabartv Education, Human Interest, Sport July 19, 2023 5 Minutes

By Tony Mariadass

For a man whom many were not very fond of and received more brickbats than accolades, it was the icing to the cake for national hockey coach Arul Antoni Selvaraj, when he was named the coach of the Year at National Sports Award on Sunday in Subang Jaya.

No, the 49-year-old former national player, who had set up his home in Dublin, Ireland 15 years ago, was not gloating over his award nor taking shots at his critics, but instead was his normal modest self, lying low and praising everyone else for his award.

“ Firstly, I must thank Datuk Sri Subahan Kamal (president Malaysia Hockey Confederation -MHC) for trusting me and believed in me to offer me to take the job and the second person I like to acknowledge is Datuk Ahmad Najmi Abdul Razak (Vice President and national team committee chairman) and of course, my national team manager Datuk Mirnawan Nawawi,” Arul started off on his award winning.

“It is nice thing for me to be allowed to work with a free hand, no one interferes, allowing me do my job how I want and do my things, get to do on my own on what I want to do, when I want to do, how I want to do it and why I want to do it.

“When I present to them my plans, they gave me full support and that is a big thing for me. When you are a coach and when your bosses allow you to do it your way and trust in the process, it makes my job easy.”

*National Hockey team the Men’s Team of the year all drressed up for the occasion.*

And Arul also paid tribute to his family: “Of course, my family, especially my wife Solo (former national athlete Soloseeni Krishnan), were behind me all the way to allow me go to Malaysia.

“I was coaching in Ireland and had to leave the job and when I decided to take up the offer and uproot myself to come to Malaysia and my children (three daughters Tharine, Erin and Deepa) asked me why I had to leave them and go Malaysia. I explained to them and they understood what it meant to me.

“For me it was when my nation needed me, I am still a Malaysian and love my country and so when Malaysia asked to come back to serve my country, I needed to come back.

“Of course the support from my brothers and sisters played a role too in my decision to come back.

“But at the end of the day, it was my team here – the players, my assistants and back room staff – who played a huge role in the team’s rise and my recognition as a coach.

“What I tried to preach to them and they had to bite into my ideas, concepts and apply it.

“If the players did not bite into my ideas, believed in it and performed and implement accordingly, nothing would have been achieved. It is their performance that is the result of my award today,” said the modest lanky coach.

Thus, Arul said the hockey team being awarded the Men’s Team Award of the Year was a fitting recognition for all the players for all the hard work they had put and the results that they achieved.

“That every player was recognised was so meaningful and I am very happy for the players who fully deserve the recognition.”

His wife Solo, as she is affectionately known, indeed was proud of all the sacrifices both of them had made.

Solo, working in the Malaysian Embassy in Dublin watched the live streaming of the awards ceremony during her lunch hour and was in jubilation when Arul was named the winner of the award.

When contacted in Dublin, this is what Solo had to say: “As Arul’s wife, and our daughters Tharine, Erin Mridula and Deepa, we are very proud and excited to see Arul receiving this prestigious award.

“It recognises the work of a dedicated and humble man, who has made many sacrifices during his coaching career to reach this level of success.

“The long pathway has at times been very tough and challenging for Arul and for his family, but Arul has shown great resilience and strength and also loyalty to his team and our nation.”

Malaysia Madani !!!

Indeed, spoken from the heart and only she and her daughters will know the sacrifices they had to make, to be away from Arul.

*Arul with daughters Deepa and Erin In KL.*

Love him hate him, but Arul, has been totally focused on his job as the national men’s hockey team head coach and went about his job with full confidence and believe in himself and his team.

And the award is testimony for his dedication and resilience.

He took charge of the national team head coach from Roelant Oltmans, of Holland, in August 2020, has had his fair share of critics for his way of managing and selecting the players, his choice of friendly matches overseas and basically doubting his capabilities.

But Arul has proven he has done it his way with the believe and trust of his bosses and team and recognition was finally on the rise when Malaysia made history when they lifted the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup trophy at home ground for the first time after defeating South Korea 3-2 in a tense final at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium, in Ipoh last year.

The victory to win the championship came after a 39-year absence after losing to Australia 8-3 in the 2014 final.

All eyes will now again be on Arul, for the Champion’s Trophy in India at the end of this month, prior to the Asian Games in Hangzhou, which is the qualifier for the Paris Olympics.

The Champion’s Trophy five weeks before the Asian Games is certainly not an ideal situation.

Having to play seven matches in 10 days, makes it even more difficult situation.

But critics will want result no matter what and the knives may just be out again, even before Arul savour the Coach of the Year award.

However, Arul remains focused and will use the Champion’s Trophy to try out all players, see the players gain individual confidence, enjoy the game and take one game at a time.

“I have no targets for the Champion’s Trophy, but it is the Asian Games gold we are eyeing to make to Paris,” declared Arul bodly.

“I also have to worry not to pick up any injuries during the Champion’s Trophy,” said Arul.

At the 29 th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament, Arul had declared that the tournament was a process to get the team ready for the World Cup in January in India and with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2024 OIympics, by winning the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.

Should, Malaysia fail to emerge champion at the Asian Games, they have another chance in January 2024, in the Olympic qualifier where 16 teams will be involved and the top three in each Group qualify.

But that is furthermost on Arul’s mind, as he focuses on the Asian Games.

Another rough and winding road is ahead of Arul, but the award will only spur him to achieve greater heights with his believe and his way.

ALL THE AWARDS AWARDED ON SUNDAY:

Anugerah Jurulatih Wanita (Women’s Coach) Kebangsaan 2022
Beh Lee Wei (Table Tennis)

Anugerah Jurulatih Lelaki (Men’s Coach) Kebangsaan 2022
A. Arul Selvaraj (Hockey)

Anugerah Pasukan Wanita(Women’s Team) Kebangsaan 2022
Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan (Badminton Doubles Women)

Anugerah Pasukan Lelaki (Men’s Team) Kebangsaan 2022
Men’s Hockey Team

Anugerah Khas (Special Awards) 2022
Soh Wai Ching

Anugerah Khas 2022
Tuan Haji Ahmad Merican Othman

Anugerah Khas 2022
Datuk Fauzi Omar

Anugerah Khas 2022
Desmond David & Ann Marie David

Anugerah Kepimpinan (Leadership) Sukan 2022
Prof. Dato’ Dr. Abdullah Mohammad Said

Anugerah Olahragawati (Sportswomen Paralympian) Paralimpik Kebangsaan 2022
Lim Carmen (Para Swimming)

Arul with his family, wife Solo and daughters Tharine,Erin and Deepa (pix left). Arul’s wife in jubilation over Soloseeni Krishnan in Dublin at her work place – the Malaysian Embassy – in jubilation over husband’s award.

Hangzhou all set for Asian Games after 'most difficult decision'

By Tony Mariadass - July 6, 2023 @ 10:31pm

Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium venues of the 19th Asian Games. -AFP file pic

KUALA LUMPUR: It was probably the best decision by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to postpone last year's Asian Games in Hangzhou to September this year due to the Covid pandemic.

OCA Director General Captain Hussain Al-Musallam said at the World Press Briefing/World Broadcasters meeting in Hangzhou last week: "It was the most difficult decision in the history of OCA and it was made with the full support of Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC) and the Chinese Olympic Committee.

"Looking back, we believe it was the correct decision. Looking forward, we now have a free and open 19th Asian Games with the athletes, national committees, spectators and media can truly embrace and create a spirit of friendship and unity.

"OCA is very proud of our Asian Games, and the Hangzhou postponement is another example of everyone working together in order to guarantee the best conditions and environment for all concerned, notably our athletes."

HANGZHOU READY TO ROLL FOR 19TH ASIAN GAMES

apakhabartv Uncategorized July 6, 2023 4 Minutes

By Tony Mariadass

It was the probably the best decision to postpone the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on May 6 last year by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on May 6 last year, to move the Games by one year from the original dates of September 10-25,2022 to Sept 25 to October this year due to the COVID pandemic.

As Captain Hussain Al-Musallam, the Director General of OCA said in his speech at the Second World Press Briefing/ World Broadcasters Meeting in Hangzhou in China last week,: “It was the most difficult decision in the history of OCA and it was made with full support of Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC) and the Chinese Olympic Committee.

“Looking back, we believe it was the correct decision. Looking forward, we now have a free and open 19th Asian Games with the athletes, National Committees, spectators and media can truly embrace and create a spirit of friendship and unity,” said Hussain said in his read speech.

Indeed, it was a difficult decision, but the Hangzhou Asian Games will forever go down in history as an unique Games and probably the best prepared Games.

“OCA is very proud of our Asian Games – and the Hangzhou postponement is another example of everyone working together in order to guarantee the best conditions and environment for all concerned, notably our athletes.”

Without doubt the postponement was a major test and burden to HAGOC, as all facilities were ready even before the announcement of the postponement.

But Kudos to HAGOC, they have maintained all the facilities spick and span for most two years now to welcome the Asian family to the Games in two months time.

It was indeed an humongous task for HAGOC to maintain and manage the facilities but with the resilience, dedication, commitment and passion, they have come out with flying colours

.It was the first time in the history of the Games that the people of the host nation got to use the competition facilities before the athletes for the Games.

HAGOC had opened the doors for booking of the facilities and in some cases allowed to use the facilities for free.

During the recent Second World Press Briefing/ World Broadcasters Meeting and the tour of facilities, it was evident that HAGOC have done an excellent job to maintain the facilities and if a decision was taken to host the Games next week, everything was ready to go!

From airport arrival facilitation which included special lanes for immigration, baggage arrivals at the carousels and custom clearance is all in place including at arrival pointless besides Hangzhou, which included Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Urumqi Diwopu International Airports, is all in place and ready to be activated.

The media who came for the briefing had first hand experience of the services.

The overlays (signages) are all in place and from the airport the Asian Games atmosphere is alive and hits one in the faces.

The briefing was thorough and went through all details with a fine comb headed by host Xu Jianfeng, the deputy Director of the International Relations Department of HAGOC.

Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, one of the central cities in China’s southeast coast. About 170 kilometres from Shanghai, it covers an area of 16,600 square kilometres with a permanent population of 11.94 million people.

Hangzhou is a city of innovation and Vitality E-commerce is booming in Hangzhou, where a click of the mouse connects the world. Hangzhou hosts the headquarters of world renowed enterprises such as Alibaba, Wanxianbg, Wahaha and Hikvision. It is China’s fist cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone, gathering more than one-third of China’s e-commerce comprehensive enterprises.

Thus, it is not surprise that the slogan for the 19th Asian Games has tech elements as it reads: Heart to Heart, @Future.

The Games has the perfect branding, identity and look of the Games which is all modern.

Everything is in place from the competition and training venues, press operations and facilities, arrival and departure facilities, transport and logistics, catering and accommodation, the Asian Games Village for Athletes, Technical officials and Media and IT services.

On top of that, official hotels and medical services are also in place.

This will be the third time China will be hosting the Asian Games after Beijing (1990) and Guangzhou (2010). China have also hosted the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008 and the Winter Olympics in 2022.

At the two-day 2nd WPB at Hangzhou International Expo Center top officials were present to give first hand information on the Games to the print and broadcast media.

Senior officials from OCA and China’s national, provincial and municipal governments, major media organizations and key institutions, including Mr. Jian Zhou, Director of Media & Broadcast Department of OCA, Mr. Chen Weiqiang, Deputy Secretary General of HAGOC and Vice Mayor of Hangzhou, Mrs. Xu Jing, Deputy Director General of the Press and Publicity Department of the General Administration of Sport of China, Mrs. Fan Qingyu, Deputy Chief of the Publicity Department of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee were present.

Attending the 2nd WPB were more than 80 agencies in China and oversea, including nearly 200 participants in person and other hundreds on line from across the Asia.

Following the report from HAGOC, up to now, there are 12,000 athletes, 5,000 officials, 4,700 technical officials and 12,000 media who will attend the 19th Asian Games – Hangzhou 2022.

HAGOC has recruited about 50,000 volunteers to serve for the event. Marketing activities got a good achievement when they have signed up 178 sponsors and have secured about 4,615 billion RMB (around 65 millions USD).

During the meeting, participants also toured Asian Games venues including Hangzhou Binjiang Gymnasium, Media Village and International Expo Centre (as MMC), particularly media facilities at the competition venues and accommodation in the Media Village.

The Media Village located alongside the Qiantang River on a built up area of 660,000 square metres has a total of 31 buildings with 2,551 apartments to accommodate 5,000 accredited media professionals an rights-holding broadcasters.

The Main Media Centre (MMC) is located at the Hangzhou International Expo Centre which consists of the Main Press Centre (MPC) and the International Broadcast Centre (IBC), the Host Broadcaster Operations Centre (HB), the Life area, and the Commercial services area. It is also equipped with transport facilities sitting on a 34,000 square metres area.

The Athletes Village has 37 towers which has 2,696 apartments and 10,400 beds.

There is also a Technical Officials Village all in the same vicinity as the Media and Athletes Village.

Probably, Chairman of OCA Media Committee, Charles Loo best summed it up when he said in his speech read by Jeans Zhou Jian, OCA Director of Media and Broadcast Department,: “ We are in safe hands in China and can expect a memorable Games.”