OCM Weekly Highlights - 29th March 2009

OCM Weekly Highlights
29th March 2009

Coming Events

Corporate Cup Individual Carom Championship 2009 – 4th and 5th April 2009, from 9.00 a.m. each day, at 2nd Floor, OCM Indoor Sports Complex, Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur.

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Men’s Hockey Tournament 2009 – 5th to 12th April 2009 at Ipoh.
25th National Junior Netball Championship 2009 – 9th to 12th April 2009 at Stadium Juara, Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. each day. 12 State teams are participating and the Championship is for girls under 21 years.
152nd OCM Council Meeting – 18th April 2009 at 10.00 a.m. at the Conference Room, Ground Floor, Wisma OCM, Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur.

28th OCA General Assembly 2009 - 26th April 2009, Bangkok, Thailand.

1st Asian Martial Arts Games 2009 – 25th April to 3rd May 2009, Bangkok, Thailand 5th OCM-Pharmaton Ex-Internationals Golf Challenge 2009 – 28th April 2009 at Kelab Golf Seri Selangor (KGSS).

28th OCM Annual General Assembly 2009 – 30th May 2009 at 2.00 p.m. at OCM Indoor Sports Arena, Wisma OCM, Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur.

9th Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup 2009 – 7th to 21st June 2009, Johor Bahru and Singapore.

7th Asian Netball Championship 2009 – 21st to 29th June 2009 at National Netball Stadium, Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.

1st Asian Youth Games 2009 – 29th June to 7th July 2009, Singapore.

News Items

Congratulations

Congratulations to Track Cyclist Rizal Tisin, for being the first Malaysian Cyclist to win a medal at the World Track Cycling Championship, when he won the bronze medal in the 1Km Time Trial event on 27th March 2009, at the World Track Championship currently being held at the BGZ Velodrome in Pruzslow, Poland. In finishing third, Rizal Tisin became the first Asian cyclist to go under the 1:02 barrier, when he clocked a time of 1:01.658, thereby setting a new Malaysian and Asian record.

National Sports Award for 2008

The National Sports Awards 2008 was held on 23rd March 2009 at 8.00 p.m. at Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur. The Guest of Honour was SPB Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Wathiqu Billah Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah.

Other VIPs were YB Dato’ Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Minister of Youth and Sports Malaysia, YB. Encik Wee Jeck Seng, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Malaysia and Mrs Wee, Y.Bhg. Dato’ Mohd Yasin Mohd Salleh, Secretary General, Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia and Chairman of the Selection Committee of the National Sports Awards 2008, and Y.Bhg. Datuk Dr. M. Jegathesan, Deputy President, Olympic Council of Malaysia. Over 800 guests, representing National Sports Associations, government sports agencies, sponsors, Malaysian Paralympic Council, Media and Olympic Council of Malaysia were also present.

The winners of the National Sports Awards 2008 are:-

Sportsman of the Year – Y.Bhg. Dato’ Lee Chong Wei (Badminton – 2008 Olympic Games Men’s Singles silver medalist)
Sportswoman of the Year – Y.Bhg. Dato’ Nicol Ann David (World Women’s Squash Champion 2008)
Men’s Team of the Year – Malaysian Men’s Olympic Archery Team (Quarter-Finalist at the 2008 Olympic Games)
Women’s Team of the Year – Malaysian Women’s Squash Team (Asian Women’s team Champion 2008)
Men’s Coach of the Year – Y.Bhg. Dato’ Mohamad Misbun Dato’ Haji Sidek (Badminton – Coach of Y.Bhg. Dato’ Lee Chong Wei).
Women’s Coach of the Year – No winner
Sports Leadership Award – The late Dato’ Ho Koh Chye (Chef de Mission, Malaysian Contingent of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games).
Special Award – Ms. Petrina Low (Rhythmic Gymnastics)
Sportsman of the Year for Paralympic Athletes – Zul Amirul Sidi bin Abdullah (Swimming)
Sportswoman of the Year for Paralympic Athletes – Siow Lee Chan (Power Lifting – Bronze Medalist at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games)

“International Inspiration” Meeting

A delegation led by Mr. Youssouf Oomar, unicef Representative to Malaysia, Ms. Debbie Lye, Head of Worldwide Impact of UK Sport, Mr. Nick Fuller, Head of Education of London Organising Committee (LOCOG), Ms. Judith Hemery and their colleagues, held a meeting with Y.Bhg. Dato’ Roy Rajasingham Vice President of Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), Dato’ Sieh Kok Chi, Honorary Secretary of OCM, and a representative of the National Sports Council Malaysia in the morning of 24th March 2009 at Wisma OCM, Kuala Lumpur.

The purpose of the meeting was to evaluate whether Malaysia could be one of the participating countries of the “International Inspiration” Project, which is jointly being implemented by UK Sport, the British Council and unicef, supported by the British Olympic Association and the London Organising Committee (LOCOG)

Ms. Debbie Lye, Head of Worldwide Impact of UK Sport briefed the meeting on the Project, which is using “the power of the Games in changing the lives of young people”. Ms. Lye stated that a total of 20 countries around the world will be participating in the Project. Projects are running in Zambia, Azerbaijan, India and Palau and will soon be running in Bangladesh, Ghana, Jordan, Mozambique and Trinidad & Tobago. The meeting exchanged views on the types of programmes and activities to be included, the states where the project could be implemented and the means of implementing the programmes and activities. Ms. Lye spoke on the 3Ps, which are Policy makers, Practitioners and Participants, in order to successfully implement the Project and the importance of leaving a legacy for the continuing the programmes and activities, after the completion of the Project. The meeting also touched briefly on the feasibility of running the Project in Sabah and Sarawak.

Besides the meeting with OCM and NSC, the delegation also met representatives of the Ministry of Education Malaysia and the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia, as well as paid a visit to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, where the delegates met the representatives of the State Government of Sabah.

Media Launch of the 5th OCM-Pharmaton Ex-Internationals Golf Challenge 2009

The Media Launch of the 5th OCM-Pharmaton Ex-International Golf Challenge 2009 for the Datuk Dr. M. Jegathesan Challenge Trophy was held on 25th March 2009 at the Kelab Golf Seri Selangor (KGSS), the venue of the Golf Challenge to be held on 28th April 2009. . Y.Bhg. Dato’ Roy Rajasingham, Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Golf Challenge briefed the media on the purpose of this event, which is to bring together former Malaysian international athletes from all sports and to provide a socially enjoyable environment for them to meet, interact and reminiscence. As in previous years, about 100 ex-internationals are expected to participate in the event. The Datuk Dr. M. Jegathesan Challenge Trophy will be presented to the winning team by sport. Besides the Challenge Trophy, other prizes will also be presented.

For those who are interested to participate in this year’s challenge, please submit the entry form to OCM by 20th April 2009. For details or clarification, please contact the office of the Olympic Council of Malaysia by telephone +603-2175 2802 or email fong@olympic.org.my. Entry forms could be down-loaded from OCM’s Website www.olympic.org.my .

2nd IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia 2009.

Congratulations to the Malaysian Ice Hockey Team for winning the bronze medal at the 2009 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, from 13th to 22nd March 2009. The tournament, in its 2nd edition, is for non-winter countries in the Asian region. The countries participating in this year’s tournament are Hong Kong, India, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, Thailand and host UAE.

By finishing third in this year’s tournament, the Malaysian team retained the bronze medal won in 2008, in spite of having to overcome a lot of adversities, such as losing the team’s star player, Kim Loke, the 2008 tournament’s MVP, through injury, during the second match (against Thailand) and being the only team without an international size Ice Hockey rink to train on. Coach Patrick MacDonald offered his praises for his teams players, who through a very demanding training regimen again produced results against all odds for Malaysia. The players have proven yet again that dedication, hard work, and preparation are always a recipe for success.

In addition to winning the bronze medal, two Malaysian players, namely, Jamil David bin Ahmad Mokhtar, who was awarded the “Best Defenseman” of the tournament, and Tengku Muhd Azlly bin Tengku Abdullah, who won the “Best Goaltender” award.

In its opening match, Malaysia beat Mongolia by a score of 4 goals to 2, but lost to Thailand 8 goals to 2 in its next group match. In its final group match against India, Malaysia won easily with a score of 10 goals to 1, thereby finishing 2nd to Thailand in its group. In the semi-final against UAE, Malaysia lost by 3 goals to 1. In the play-off for the bronze medal, Malaysia beat Hong Kong by 4 goals to 2. Malaysia’s record at the tournament was 3 wins and 2 loses.