By K.M. Boopathy
Jan 20:
THE effectiveness of clubs in producing elite athletes was clearly evident during the Malaysia Taekwondo Association's (MTA) Sea Games selection trials last Friday where 10 out of the 16 exponents were products of clubs. Taerobics Taekwondo Academy (Taerobics) had the most number of exponents when Lee Pei Fen (lightweight), Che Chew Chan (middleweight) and Hue Seow Ching (welterweight) made the cut for the initial Sea Games women's squad.
Viva Taekwondo Centre's Noornadia Norrizan and Noordiana Norrizan, who defended their Asean Taekwondo championships titles in Vietnam last month, also made the cut in the women's bantamweight and featherweight respectively.
In fact, six out of the eight trainees in the women's events are club-based while Ernie Abdul Halim of Kedah and Shu Seo Hie of Sarawak were the only two exponents from the State TAs to make the squad.
The men's squad had four exponents from the clubs. They are Sharil Ismail of Bangsar Taekwondo and Fitness Centre (finweight), R. Surendran of SPU Academy (bantamweight), Syed Taufiq Aidrus of Gemilang (featherweight) and Mohamed Fazmi of Universal (middleweight).
R. Thilakasan, who qualified in the heavyweight, was originally from Dynamic Academy but fought for Selangor in the trials.
National coach R. Dhanaraj reminded the exponents that the final squad will only be formed after their second trials, which will be held immediately after the national championships.
"This is our initial training squads and the exponents will be sent for various international training until the national championships. They can secure their places if they win medals," said Dhanaraj.
"The last qualification event will be the national championships. The trainees who lose in the national championships must compete in the trials to make the final squad for Manila.
"We will identify one exponent for every event which will be sibject to the Olympic Council of Malaysia's (OCM) approval."
Former Sea games flyweight champion Elaine Teo, who failed to win a medal in the Athens Olympics, represented Traditional Taekwondo Academy but was among three exponents exempted from the trials. The others are Rusfredy Tokan Pedrus of Sabah (men's flyweight) and Chew Chan.
Dhanaraj said their automatic inclusion was based on their victories in the National Inter-Club championships last month but stated that they will have to compete in the national trials in May.
The success of club-based exponents is a timely boost for the development of the sport.
Sports Commissioner Tan Sri Elyas Omar has already recommended for the clubs affiliated to MTA to be given voting rights based on performance.
The selected trainees will undergo medical tests at the National Sports Institute (NSI) in Bukit Jalil today while their training details will only be finalised after MTA's meeting with National Sports Council on Jan 27.
Manila Sea Games training squad -
Men's finweight: Sharil Ismail (BTFC); Flyweight: Rusfredy Tokan Pedrus (Sab); Bantamweight: R. Surendran (SPU Academy); Featherweight: Syed Taufiq Aidrus (Gemilang); Lightweight: Ahmad Nizam Sabri (Forces); Welterweight: T. Paragas (KL); Middleweight: Mohamed Fazmi (Universal); Heavyweight: Thilakasen (Sel).
Women's Finweight: Ernie Abdul Halim (Ked); Flyweight: Elaine Teo (Tradisional Academy); Bantamweight: Noornadia Norrizan (Viva); Featherweight: Noordiana Norrizan (Viva); Lightweight: Lee Pei Fen (Taerobic); Welterweight: Hue Seow Ching (Taerobic); Middleweight: Che Chew Chan (Taerobic); Heavyweight: Shu Seo Hie (Sar).
Souirce from http://www.nst.com.my
No comments:
Post a Comment