SPORTS SPORTS WEDNESDAY | NOV 8, 2023 31 Olympic dream on hold Hanis Nazirul’s springboard move puts Paris 2024 out of reach THE transition from platform to springboard event since May could cast a shadow of doubt on national men’s diver, Hanis Nazirul Jayasurya’s dream of making his Olympics Games debut in Paris 2024. However, the determined 22-year-old athlete remains undeterred. He said the situation would serve as an opportunity for him to embrace a new challenge and keep his Olympics dream alive. “Realistically, it is kind of hard for me to earn the ticket to Paris 2024. However, I still have a long journey to go in diving and I wish to qualify for Los Angeles 2028, instead,” he said when met at the Malaysia Open Diving Championships 2023 in Kuala Lumpur. The Kuala Lumpur-born diver admitted that he still needs time to adapt to springboard, after having competed in the platform event for the past seven years Asked on why he opted to switch events, Hanis Nazirul emphasised his desire to continue the legacy of seasoned campaigners – Ooi Tze Liang and Muhammad Syafiq Puteh – in springboard event, should they retire in the future. “The other reason was to help my juniors (platform) to emerge, otherwise they will not have the chance to get the exposure,” he said. Currently, among the up-and-coming national men’s divers for the platform event include Bertrand Rhodict Lises, who had already earned a spot in Paris 2024 and Enrique Maccartney Harold. Meanwhile, Hanis Nazirul expressed his openness to the idea of forming a partnership with Wendy Ng Yan Yee in the mixed 3m springboard synchronised event in the future. This consideration came after the scratch pair emerged victorious in the mixed 3m springboard synchronised event with a total of 262.80 points, during the last day of the tournament held in National Aquatic Centre, Bukit Jalil yesterday. Malaysia emerged as the overall champions of the three day tournament with five golds, three silver and three bronze, followed by Sarawak in second place (2-2-0) while Uzbekistan were third (2-1-1). – Bernama Bertrand gets wake up call WHAT an unexpected turn of events! The national diving squad’s hopes of concluding the Malaysia Open Diving Championships on a high note were dashed by Uzbekistan’s Igor Myalin, who remarkably clinched the men’s 10m platform gold at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil, yesterday. Myalin was truly in his element from the start and capped off a total of six dives with 428.55 points to pip two national divers Jellson Jabillin, who delivered silver (406pts) while Bertrand Rhodict Lises had to settle for bronze (366.35pts) on the last day of the tournament. For Bertrand, the outcome served as a valuable reality check, particularly regarding managing his excitement during the competition. “I made mistakes in the second and fifth dives which proved costly for me but my overall performance was not that bad. “My coach also told me that I cannot get overly excited during the competition. It was a good lesson for me and how I wish I could have done better,” he told reporters after the medal presentation ceremony. Asked on what’s next for him, the 18-yearold Sarawakian, who emerged as the first national diver to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, said he will switch his focus to increase the degrees of difficulty in next month’s training camp in China. In the meantime, Jellson was glad to finish the campaign with silver despite feeling under the weather for the last three days. – Bernama MALAYSIA’S splendid start to the Sultan Nazrin Shah Cup International Indoor Hockey tournament suffered a setback after losing 5-7 to Namibia in their second round robin match at the Indera Mulia Stadium in Ipoh yesterday. The Malaysian squad (Speedy Tigers) opened their campaign yesterday morning with a superb result by beating Australia 8-2. But they could not maintain that momentum in the match against Namibia, who are ranked 13th in the world, compared with Malaysia who are in 15th spot. The Speedy Tigers goals were scored through Syed Mohamad Syafiq Syed Cholan in the 22nd, 29th and 40th minutes while Faridzul Afiq Mohd (7th) and Danial Asyraf Abdul Ghani netted in the 27th minute. Namibia scored through Britz John-Paul (9th), Finch Dylan (2nd, 33rd), Hansen Fagan (30th, 37th) and Van Der Merwe Cody (31st, 39th) minutes. In the match against Australia who are ranked 14th in the world, Muhamad Izham Azhar emerged as the star with a hattrick in the 23rd, 24th and 35th minutes. Danial Asyraf Abdul Ghani (9), Syed Mohamad Syafiq (13), Muhammad Firdaus Omar (16), Faridzul Afiq Mohd (22) and Mohd Shafiq Yaacob (32) completed the rout while Australia scored twice through Leong Jett (10th) and Hall Ross (14th) minutes. The Speedy Tigers will face New Zealand and Hong Kong today before taking on South Africa on Friday to complete the round robin fixtures. National Indoor hockey coach Mohd Hanip Che Halim who was pleased with the performance of his boys said his charges showed a lot of commitment and determination in both games although the result of the match against Namibia was not favourable. “I am happy with the overall performance. We will review video recordings of both matches to take note of shortcomings and prepare for our next matches,” he said via a video clip message that was shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC). “Our target is to put up a better performance in our remaining matches.” The top two teams in the round robin fixtures will face each other in the final scheduled on Saturday. – Bernama Thrill of victory, agony of defeat for Speedy Tigers ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Tottenham 1 (Kulusevski 6) Chelsea 4 (Palmer 35-pen, Jackson 75, 90+4, 90+7). P W D L F A Pts Man City 11 9 0 2 28 8 27 Tottenham 11 8 2 1 23 13 26 Liverpool 11 7 3 1 24 10 24 Arsenal 11 7 3 1 23 9 24 Aston Villa 11 7 1 3 26 16 22 Newcastle 11 6 2 3 27 11 20 Brighton 11 5 3 3 24 20 18 Man Utd 11 6 0 5 12 16 18 Brentford 11 4 4 3 19 14 16 Chelsea 11 4 3 4 17 12 15 Crystal Palace 11 4 3 4 10 13 15 West Ham 11 4 2 5 18 20 14 Nottm Forest 11 3 4 4 12 15 13 Wolves 11 3 3 5 14 19 12 Fulham 11 3 3 5 9 17 12 Everton 11 3 2 6 11 15 11 Luton 11 1 3 7 10 21 6 Bournemouth 11 1 3 7 9 27 6 Burnley 11 1 1 9 8 27 4 Sheff Utd 11 1 1 9 9 30 4 LA LIGA: Getafe 1 (Mayoral 76) Cadiz 0. TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts Girona 12 10 1 1 29 15 31 Real Madrid 12 9 2 1 23 8 29 Barcelona 12 8 3 1 24 12 27 Atletico 11 8 1 2 26 11 25 Bilbao 12 6 3 3 21 14 21 SERIE A: Frosinone 2 (Cuni 58, Ibrahimovic 74) Empoli 1 (Caputo 86), Torino 2 (Sanabria 5, Vlasic 68) Sassuolo 1 (Thorstvedt 18). TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts Inter Milan 11 9 1 1 27 6 28 Juventus 11 8 2 1 17 6 26 AC Milan 11 7 1 3 18 12 22 Napoli 11 6 3 2 24 12 21 Atalanta 11 6 1 4 19 10 19 Bologna 11 4 6 1 12 8 18 Rashford hits out at ‘malicious’ rumours MARCUS RASHFORD has attacked an unofficial Manchester United fan channel for ‘spreading malicious rumours’ surrounding the relationship between the player and the club. The Manchester United forward chose to go out to the nightclub Chinawhite to celebrate his birthday after his team’s 0-3 home defeat to Manchester City on Sunday Oct 29. His celebrations were branded “unacceptable” by manager Erik ten Hag. The club then reported that Rashford had sustained a knock in training, and that was why he missed the Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle, and the 1-0 win at Fulham at the weekend. But the United Stand, an unofficial fan channel, watched by hundreds of thousands, took aim at Rashford, with a presenter saying he “does not buy” that Rashford’s absence was due to a knock, claiming it might have been a form of punishment, and going even further to criticise the striker’s commitment to the club. Rashford took offence, and commented in reply to the video on X, saying: “Please STOP spreading malicious rumours.” Neville appointed Portland Timbers coach FORMER Inter Miami manager Phil Neville was named as the new head coach of the Portland Timbers yesterday as the team bid to return to Major League Soccer’s elite. Former Manchester United and England defender Neville replaces Gio Savarese, who was sacked by the club in August after six seasons. Neville, 46, was axed by Miami in June with the club languishing at the foot of the Eastern Conference, shortly before the arrival of Lionel Messi. “I am massively excited about the challenge ahead, and from the very first moment I met the staff I knew it was the right opportunity for me, the right club for me and the right city for me,” Neville said in a statement. Timbers general manager Ned Grabavoy said Neville was the “right person to lead this team forward.” SIDENETTING RESULTS & STANDINGS National divers Hanis Nazirul Jayasurya (left) and Ng Yan Yee pose with the their medals after winning the mixed 3m springboard event final at the Bukit Jalil National Aquatic Center yesterday. – BERNAMAPIX National diver Bertrand Rhodict Lises in action during the men’s 10 meter platform final yesterday. He won the bronze. – BERNAMAPIX
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