Nomad Tan seeking a break (The Malay Mail)

NEW Kuala Lumpur signing Tan Cheng Hoe is on a mission to resurrect his
soccer career.
 Cheng Hoe, who hails from Alor Star, has been a nomad of the M-League
the past four years since injuring his right knee while with Kedah in
1993.
 He in fact sufferred the injury in 1991 but continued playing until it
took a turn for the worse in 1993.
 He went for an operation that year but was relegated to the Kedah back-
up team, Langkasuka, who played in the Amateur League for two years (1994
and 1995).
 Cheng Hoe's desire to play in the M-League saw him join Perlis in 1996
but he did not see much action.
 Frustrated, the 29-year-old moved over to Penang last season but here
too he did not get to play regularly.
 It was then that he decided to try his luck with KL this season and
coach Chow Kwai Lam was impressed enough to give him a one-year contract.
 "The last four years have been really frustrating for me as I had to
move from team to team," said Cheng Hoe, who is basically a rightback also
plays in midfield.
 "My best years were under former Kedah coach Milous Kvacek from 1989 to
1990 as I was a regular and played in two Malaysia Cup finals. I collected
a winners' medal in 1990 when we beat Singapore.
 "I want to hit that form again and I believe I have what it takes. And I
have recovered from my injury. All I need is regular matches to regain my
confidence.
 "I worked very hard but did not get the opportunity to play regularly.
 "I hope things will change with KL although I realise the competition
for a first choice slot is stiff.
 "But I am prepared for the challenge. I see my stint with KL as a last
chance to redeem myself and end my career on a high note," said Cheng Hoe
who played for the national second team in two tournaments -  in Bangkok
(1988) and Nepal (1991).
                                (END)

Not professional enough (The Malay Mail)

SOCCER in the country has gone fully professsional since 1994 but not a
season has kicked off without controversies.
It often involves the movements of players and their contracts, leading
to the State FAs crying foul.
Who is to blame? The players themselves and the State FAs.
In fact, both parties deserve each other for making a mockery of the M-
League. While most of the players are ignorant of their rights as
professionals, the State FAs are of no help at all - being equally
ignorant too.
In the end, both the players and States FAs end up blaming each other
for the mess they created.
The root of the problem is that neither the players nor the State FAs
are professional enough in dealing with their jobs.
While the players are to be blamed for making use of State FAs to mark
up their value by offering their services to every other team, aren't the
State FAs suckers enough to be used by them?
State FAs should make players sign letters of intent instead of verbal
agreements which are not binding.
State FAs should know the types of players they want and not just
entertain every other fella who walks through their doors.
While it is unethical of players to play the waiting game for the best
offers, the State FAs too should not make "insulting offers" to the
players.
You have State FAs offering one-year contracts using the current
economic situation as an excuse and another reason that they are not sure
if their presidents would still be around next year.
As State FAs safeguard their interest, the welfare of the players should
also be considered.
Can the players be blamed if they shop around for more secure contracts?
After all, this is their profession and their families depend on it.
Many have given up stable and comfortable jobs to turn professional as
required by the FA of Malaysia.
And it is not surprising to hear of professional players who do not even
have copies of the contracts!
Many are still asked to sign pieces of papers where the only clear print
is the salaries.
The players themselves should be blamed for signing the contracts
blindly with the State FAs equally guilty of the manner they obtain the
signatures.
Then, we have players who still have existing contracts from the
previous year, but find themselves dropped.
While both parties can come to a settlement for termination of
contracts, many players just do not know what to do and stop attending
trainings, giving  the State FAs an excuse to drop them.
Little wonder then, controversy after controversy would litter the start
of each season because noboby seems to understand the mechanics of the
professional world.
The FA of Malaysia have done their best to educate the State FAs, the
officials and the players but somehow they don't seem to learn.
Even team management is far from professional and it is not surprising
to see the standards of the game correspond accordingly - mediocrity at
best.
It is about time both State FAs and players act more professionally to
ensure that the game is not turned into a circus.
And everything is still very amateurish.
                               (END)

Time to grow up (The Malay Mail)

WATSON NYAMBEK ran away from reality yesterday when he failed to win
anything in the Asian Games 100m final.
 Watson couldn't face the big moment. And the Malaysian speed demon
couldn't face the journalists.
 Perhaps the 22-year-old Sarawakian couldn't face his own self after so
much of promise, especially after scorching times in the heats.
 It was all gone in 10.32s at Bangkok's Thammasat Stadium as Japan's Koji
Ito, who ran 10s flat in the semifinals, took the gold in 10.05s.
Thailand's Seehanwong Reanchai and Japan's Yasukatsu Otsuki were second
and third respectively on 10.28s and 10.31s.
 Watson ended up fourth. A big zero as the Malaysian camp had predicted
that Watson would win a medal but it was gold that he wanted.
 The optimism and confidence had skyrocketed after Watson found himself
as the next favourite after Ito after the latter finished second fastest
in the heats on Sunday.
 But, in the end, the "Flying Dayak" just couldn't make the quantum leap
to greatness though he had shown such signs when winning the Asian
championships silver in Fukuoka, Japan, in July.
 Watson couldn't live with the pressure and the legs of the powerfully-
built speedster got weighted down with too much expectation just like in
the Olympics and SEA Games. In Fukuoka, Watson shone when nothing was
expected of him.
 Perhaps it works best like a bolt from out of the blue. When Rabuan Pit
won the century dash for Malaysia 16 years ago in New Delhi (our last
sprint success), he was not even close to being a darkhorse.
 A devastated Watson yesterday showed his lack of character off the field
as well when dealing with the Press.
 Just earlier, he cut a confident picture while waiting for the
unofficial times to be flashed on the scoreboard. When the results
appeared, a stunned and bitter Watson then stormed off to the dressing
room.
 When he finally came out, he tried to evade the Malaysian electronic and
print media, scrambling away in his walk.
 When asked what happened in the race, Watson shot back: "What happened
was I finished fourth."
 When asked whether he lost his balance at the start, Watson refused to
answer and just walked way to be joined by his coach Mumtaz Jaafar.
 As the reporters rushed after Watson, Malaysia's fastest man was
"running away" from them.
 Mumtaz was overheard asking Watson if the latter had lost his balance.
Watson replied: "I did not."
 "You looked like you were floating at the start," said Mumtaz.
 "No, I did not feel like that," said Watson.
 "What happened then?" asked Mumtaz.
 "I don't know," said Watson.
 The Press then asked Mumtaz to request Watson to speak with them but the
sprinter shook his head and continued his way.
 One can understand Watson's feelings especially after two superb runs in
the heats.
 But, as a sportsman, he must be sporting enough to accept defeats.
 When he did well in the heats, Watson was effusive and very obliging in
giving interviews. It seems his runs on the field is the barometer of his
emotions.
 The nation shares Watson's disappointment and he owes it to the people
to share the race with them.
 Unless Watson matures in character, it will be difficult for him to
triumph on the field.

Back for a good cause (The Malay Mail)

FORMER national midfielder Lim Teong Kim (left), now in Germany, will
return to Malaysia on Tuesday to coach.
 Teong Kim, who attained the German A Licence last year after being in
Germany for over two years, will be the head coach of the FA of Malaysia
academies from Feb 1.
 And the man instrumental for his return is none other than Datuk Ahmad
Basri Mohamad Akil, one of the four FA of Malaysia vice-presidents and
chairman of the Youth Development Department.
 Teong Kim, who had earlier applied to coach M-League teams like Kedah,
Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan, had also expressed an interest to work on
youth development, be it at State or national level.
 While the State FAs did not take Teong Kim seriously, it was Ahmad Basri
who pushed for the latter's recruitment as he realised the potential of
Teong Kim's contribution to soccer development in the country.
 Holger Obermann, the head coach and technical chairman of the FAM youth
department, is another man, who was in full support of Teong Kim's return
to join FAM.
 Obermann had also played a key role in assisting Teong Kim in sitting
for the A Licence in Germany and also an attachment with Bayern Munich.
 Teong Kim could eventually take over Obermann's position in FAM when the
latter, who is here on a German Government Programme, eventually leaves.
 Teong Kim, who has a German wife and three children, had recently
pointed out that local coaches should equip themselves with better
knowledge of the game and his comments did not go down well with many
local coaches.
 He said local coaches, who lacked knowledge of the game and were not
exposed to high level international competitions, would find it tough to
bring out the best from the players and motivating them.
 Teong Kim said he did not mean to belittle local coaches, but hoped to
see improvement in the coaching aspects in Malaysia.
 Now that he will be back to help groom the youngsters, he will have an
opportunity to put his experience to good use.
 However, he needs the cooperation of all academy coaches throughout the
country to come up with a successful programme.
                              (END)

Don't insult me (The Malay Mail)

SCOTT Ollerenshaw is not amused that his previous exploits with Sabah all
count for nothing as 1997 came to an end.
 Ollerenshaw, who won the M-League's Golden Boot Award in 1995 and 1996,
has been told by the Sabah FA to attend trials if he wants to continue
playing for the Rhinos.
 The Sabah FA condition came after Ollerenshaw, who is married to former
national karate exponent and Sabahan Michelle Koh, parted company with
them in his mission to play for Australia in the World Cup.
 Ollerenshaw, who turns 30 on Feb 9, said yesterday in Sydney he felt
hurt that after four years of service with Sabah, he had to attend trials
if he wished to play for them again.
 He said he wants to explain to the fans of Sabah his exit from Kota
Kinabalu because they have been great to him.
 He does not want them to get the wrong picture of him walking out on
them.
 "It is true that I asked to be released from Sabah at the end of
December although my contract runs until December 1998.
 "The reason I wanted out was because I wanted to play for Australia in
the World Cup. I had written to the Sabah FA requesting for an early
release and they duly replied saying my request has been granted but that
my contract would end in November 1997.
 "I then found out that Terry Venables has already named a squad of 26
and, even if Australia qualified for the World Cup, he will not be calling
up any more players apart from those named earlier.
 "Australia also failed to qualify and I wrote back to the Sabah FA
offering to continue my services following the turn of events.
 "They wrote back saying that they are sticking with their earlier
decision to release me. However, they added that if I still wanted to play
for Sabah, I could attend trials.
 "I was really hurt by this statement because after four years of playing
for Sabah, they still do not know want I can offer. I really don't know
what to say.
 "I respect their decision not to re-engage me but to ask me to attend
trials was certainly not necessary. They could have just told me they do
not need my services anymore," said Ollerenshaw.
 Ollerenshaw said he will seek the help of the FA of Malaysia in getting
his  December salary as his contract covered the 12 months of 1997.
 "I hope the fans can now understand why I will not be playing for Sabah
in the new season," said Ollerenshaw, who made it known that he is still
very keen to continue playing in the M-League.
 "I am now a free agent as Sabah have released me. I want to play for
another team.
 "I have been offered by a team in Singapore, but I prefer the M-League
and I hope some of the teams are interested in me."
 Ollerenshaw said he would like to play for Negri Sembilan as he sees the
Deer as a good side and have the potential to do well.
 "I want to play for the team and win something for them. I also want a
new challenge and I see Negri as having the potential of winning something
but they will have to work hard for it and I want to be a part of it."
 On reports that he and fellow Sabah teammate Seslija Milomir have been
offered a package deal to play for a certain team, Ollerenshaw said he is
not aware of it because he has not been in touch with Milomir.
                              (END)

Game on a roll (The Malay Mail)

BOWLING is among the few sports that has given us reason to cheer in 1997.
 It serves as an example of a well managed association with achievements
that are hard for others to match.
 Over the last few years, bowling has brought about good news and pride
to the nation with its achievements rather than controversies.
 Basically, it all boils down to proper administration, calibre coaches,
professionalism, dedication, good development programmes and good
relationship with the National Sports Council (NSC) and sponsors.
 And the bowlers have certainly proved that they are no one season
wonders and the sport is constantly growing in strength with their full
potential yet to be realised.
 Even when their full potential is realised, which is expected to be in
1999, they can only move upwards as there are many more potentials waiting
on the wings for an opportunity to move into the main stream.
 The fact that their partner-in-sport under the Rakan Muda project - The
Land & General Bhd - has increased their grant from RM400,000 in 1995 to
RM600,000 last year only underlines the confidence the sponsors have in
them.
 The sport itself has certainly not let the sponsors down as eight other
sponsors (out of 20) have withdrawn their sponsorship for various reasons
including poor performances, disagreement, poor management and poor
accountability.
 Critics may point out that when it mattered most, bowling had failed
especially when the bowlers competed in step-ladder finals which had
turned out to be a jinx for the sport last year.
 Bowling sensation Shalin Zulkifli failed twice, in the Sea Games in
Jakarta and the World championship in Cairo, while Lai Kin Ngoh slipped at
the inaugural Brunswick Asian Championship for Champions in Guangzhou.
 But the step-ladder is no guideline because it is a one-off game while
the respective bowlers have done well overall and were even leaders during
the competition.
 However, in any case, national coach Sid Allen had specifically said
that Malaysia's true potential has yet to be realised.
 Not even when Malaysia had won five golds, five silvers and six bronzes
at the Jakarta Sea Games.
 Although next year is a very important year for the sport with six major
international championships coming up. It is the 1999 FIQ World
championship in the United Arab Emirates that Malaysia have targeted to be
ranked among the top three.
 Currently Malaysia are ranked about sixth with Holland leading the list
followed by the United States, Sweden, Finland and Taiwan.
 Ambitious as it may sound, but at least here is a sport body that
strives for excellence and is well in line to achieve their targets.
 While the hiring of Canadian nine years ago was the best thing that
could have happened to Malaysian bowling, it did not stop there.
 The Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC), under the leadership of Dr
P.S. Nathan and secretary Sideny Tung, have constantly worked hard to see
improvement.
 Besides Allen, there is Australian-born Chinese Eric Jang who has been
in Malaysia for the last two years and been largely involved in the
development of the game in the country.
 Known as the roving coach, Jang has been travelling to the ten bowling
centres of excellence across the country not only to help the elite group
of young bowlers but also to upgrade coaches in the respective States.
 The centres of excellence which started 10 ten years ago as a joint
effort by MTBC and NSC has certainly paid dividends and is expected to
continue to do so with the number of new talents being produced every
year.
 Next year, two more new centres will be opened to bring it to 12
throughout the country.
 There are about 35 coaches involved in the programme.
 Of the current 20 national bowlers, 16 of them, including Shalin are
products of the programme.
 And it was no surprise that at the recent national championships, more
fresh talents surfaced to give further hope for the future.
 Sarawak and Penang are two centres who have developed fast and produced
many talents for the future.
 Jang was stationed in Kuching for three months before the national
championship last month, and that probably explained Sarawak's supermacy
in the championships.
 James Potter, who was hired early last year, is another coach who has
made tremendous contribution to the game with his expertise in ball
drilling.
 The MTBC research centre has been rated as one of the best in the world
and it is through such planning and research that success has been gained.
 When bowling was said to be dominated by women in recent years, the men
also gave reason to celebrate with their emergence last year to match if
not better the women's performances.
 It has indeed been a fruitful year for the Malaysian bowlers with Sharon
Low starting off 1997 with her win at the Irish Open in January.
 Other notable achievements include Daniel Lim and Sharon Low winning the
mixed doubles event at the World Games in Lathi, Finland, Alex Lim
emerging as the youngest bowler to win the Melbourne Cup.
 The successes include Lydia Kwah winning the Philippines Open, Ricky
Chen bagging the Indo-Cement Cup in Indonesia, Kenny Ang's victory in the
Taiwan Open, Lai Kin Ngoh's second placing in the Brunswick Asian
Championship and of course Shalin's third place in the World Cup in Cairo.
                              (END)

Drastic changes (The Malay Mail)

THE humiliation at the Jakarta Sea Games was the lowest point in Malaysian
soccer this year.
The unimaginable loss to lightweights Laos and the subsequent failure to
qualify for the semifinals led to some drastic changes.
The question is have we over-reacted to the Sea Games debacle by sacking
the whole national team?
Were the changes made by the FA of Malaysia in response to pressure
rather than an earnest desire to gain loss ground?
The only constant may be change but it has to be for the right reason
and in the right direction.
The change to the M-League format from one division to two next season
is another questionable decision.
We will have Premier 1 and Premier 2 but it is nothing new as the format
was used when the Semi-pro League was introduced in 1989 and it was in
force until 1993.
The only difference is that two club sides will be joining the ranks of
state teams in Premier 2.
But what is there to gain from playing teams of lesser quality?
The lower division is also unlikly to have a wide following and fan
support is one of the main ingredients for a successful league.
Pahang coach Jorgen Larsen said there is hardly any fault in the present
League system.
His only qualm is that league sides should be better managed.
He also feels it would be better for teams to play one match a week
instead of the current two so as to give the coaches time to work on their
team.
The Olympic team are the new national team but with them playing in the
League too, the intention of allowing the national side to train more does
not make sense.
Prior to the Sea Games, the national team were hailed as saviours of
Malaysian soccer after their encouraging performances in the Tiger Cup,
Dunhill Cup and World Cup qualifiers.
All that changed immediately after the Sea Games.
Perhaps the better approach would be to identify and rectify specific
weaknesses instead of disbanding the team and erasing all the work put in
in the last two years.
Soccer in Malaysia has gone professional but many States FAs are hardly
run professionally.
This is another area Larsen pointed out for improvement.
For players to act professionally, the management must act that way
first.
Self-serving officials, without a clue of the game, will have to go.
Rewarding mediocrity is self-defeating and Pahang's policy of rewarding
only achievements should be lauded.
Larsen was to be paid bonuses only for winning titles.
Teams should do away with team managers and appoint manager-coaches or
have an administrative officer handling the team's affairs.
We should not complicate things for the Sydney Olympics squad by giving
them too much responsibility.
Calibre coaches like Alan Vest, Ronald Smith, Jorgen Larsen, Karl
Weigang and Steve Wicks can help in the selection of players and their
knowledge of the game should be tapped to the maximum.
It was heartening to note that many young players featured in the
Malaysia Cup final on Saturday.
The performances of Aizal Lamin, Mohamad Rizal Mohamad Hassan, Nazzab
Hidzan, Abdul Hadi Tahir, Jalaluddin Jaafar, Khairuniza Mustafa, Ahmad
Shahruddin Rosdi and Suhami Mohamad Nor gives hope of a bright future.
State FAs have to spend more time on youth development and the rewards
to Selangor and Pahang should serve as an eye-opener to others.
And constant changes in the Malaysian soccer set-up and to their
blueprints are not going to help any.
There is nothing much that is wrong with Malaysian soccer, except that
it should be managed more professionally at all levels.
Let us hope 1998 will be a better year.
                            (END)