Walking through MSN

MSN, as in Majlis Sukan Negara (National Sports Council), not the instant messenger. My recent trip in KL was a transition between Bangkok for the recent Asian Championships and Melbourne for training for a month before more races in November. After a while not being back in Malaysia, it’s nice to see how the council display all athletes’ pictures and profiles through the hallway. Fond memories.

Okay, this one’s not exactly about me, but my name in it. Write-up about Rosman Alwi.

Love this one the most.

That’s me next to Beng Hee.

The building is clean and well-kept, as it still attracts international athletes (visitors) on a daily basis.

Standing at the LRT station, admiring the stadium.

This is me, looking rather tired after a hard training at the gym before I left for Melbourne that weekend that just past.

Today’s U! Pullout

Link: http://203.115.192.117/tuesday/tue_page33.html

E-mail press@josiahng.com if you’d like to request for a copy of the write-up.

Thanks Kimberly Lau for a wonderful write-up!

Cycling: Josiah, Azizul in Malaysia’s keirin final charge

2007/09/06

THE ray of hope shone brighter yesterday when first Josiah Ng cruised clean through to the keirin final, followed by an explosive showing by Azizul Hasni Awang to win his repechage.

Thus, two Malaysians line up for the much awaited keirin final in the Asian Championships at the Hua Mak Velodrome in Bangkok today, both with hopes of registering the country’s first gold medal.

Josiah and Azizul will be up against two Japanese — Masaki Inoue and Toshiyaki Fushimi, South Korea’s Asian Games gold medallist Kang Dong Jin and Iranian Mahmoud Parash in what is expected to kick-start a medal rush for the country today.

A bonus could come from the junior section, where Syamil Baharum won his repechage to make the keirin final for the second straight year, hoping to emulate Azizul’s feat last year.

It will be Josiah’s first shot at revenge over Dong Jin, after the South Korean eased inside his slipstream for two laps to steal the Asian Games gold medal from the Malaysian at the finish in the Doha Asian Games last year.
National team manager Datuk Naim Mohamad, however, stated that revenge should not be the priority, instead a strategy that enables Josiah and Azizul to work for one of them to have a clear shot at the gold will be charted.

“Azizul was very determined and he showed that by winning his repechage. So, the both of them are in good form, but we don’t want them to be distracted by thoughts of revenge,” said Naim, when contacted in Bangkok yesterday.

The women’s points race yesterday brought about a dismal showing from both Malaysians as Nor Azian Alias and Ruszatulzanariah Yusof finished 11th and 12th in a field of as many riders.

China’s Li Yan took the gold medal, with Hong Kong’s much improved Wong Wan Yiu grabbing silver and Japan’s Asian Games road race gold medallist Satomi Wadami taking the bronze.

A medal is also expected today from the men’s 1km time trial, where the troubled former Asian keirin champion Rizal Tisin makes his competitive return to cycling after initially planning an early retirement.

Bigger hopes are pinned on Fatehah Mustapa to add another medal to the 200m sprint silver she won on Tuesday, when she takes to the track in the junior women’s 500m time trial.

Link: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Sport/20070906084144/Article/index_html 

Hopes riding on Josiah at Asian meet

Thursday September 6, 2007
By LIM TEIK HUAT

PETALING JAYA: Olympian Josiah Ng set himself up for a grudge opportunity and the chance to bag Malaysia’s first gold medal in the keirin event at the Asian Cycling Championships after charging through to the final in style at Hua Mak Velodrome in Bangkok yesterday.  

Joining Josiah in the top six senior men’s final today is fellow Malaysian youngster Azizul Hasni Awang.  

Josiah qualified in style for the final by winning both first and second round heats but the 18-year-old Azizul had to made it the hard way through the repechage.  

Azizul lost his second round heat and was staring at elimination unless he won the repechage. However, the promising rider from Terengganu, who is groomed for the December Korat SEA Games in Thailand, soaked up the pressure well against his physically bigger rivals to pull through.  

The top two finishers from the two second round heats earn qualification for the final.  

The two respective winners from the repechage rounds complete the field for the keirin final.  

Besides Josiah and Azizul, the other finalists are Japan’s Inoue Masaki and Fushimi Toshiaki, Iran’s Mahmoud Parash and South Korea’s Kang Dong-jin, the gold medallist from Doha Asian Games last year.  

Inoue and Fushimi were members of the 2004 Olympics silver medal winning sprint team for Japan.  

Josiah is not known to peak early at this time of the year, preferring to build up his momentum towards the World Cup campaign starting at the end of the year but with the experience that he has, there is still hope for him to bag Malaysia’s first gold in the Asian championships today.  

“We hope Josiah can pull through but he has to be wary of the Japanese and also the South Korean, who beat him at the finishing line for the gold in the Asian Games.  

“He is the best chance Malaysia have of winning a gold in the senior competition,” said Malaysian team manager Datuk Naim Mohamad in a telephone interview from Bangkok yesterday. 

Josiah took a hard earned bronze in the 200m sprints, the first medal won by a Malaysian rider in the event at the senior level of the Asian meet in 20 years. 

Malaysia will also be challenging for a medal in the men’s junior keirin final today in Mohd Syamil Bahrum.  

Syamil made it from the repechage in style, thanks to the help of team-mate Mohd Firdaus Jaafar who worked out an intelligent strategy to block their rivals and allow his partner through.  

The battles in the senior and junior keirin were the highlights of the day for the Malaysian camp after missing out on the medals in the team sprint yesterday.  

The senior men’s sprint team of Azizul, Muhd Edrus Yunus and Junaidi Nasir lost out on the bronze medal to Iran.  

It was also the same outcome for the junior men’s sprint trio of Syamil, Mohd Zamani Mustaruddin and Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin when they lost to Taiwan in the shoot-out for the bronze.  

Japan and South Korea took gold and silver in both senior and junior team sprint competitions.  

Noor Azian Alias’s wish to get a medal on her birthday fizzled out after finishing eleventh in the senior women’s points race without collecting a single point. 

Besides the keirin, Malaysia will also be hoping for medals in the time trial and 10m scratch competitions in both senior and junior categories today. 

Link: http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2007/9/6/sports/18797239&sec=sports 

Cyclist Fatehah bags a silver, Josiah rides to a bronze

Wednesday September 5, 2007

By LIM TEIK HUAT

Proud winners: Fatehah Mustapa (left) and Josiah Ng (second from right) posing with their medals with team manager Datuk Naim Mohamad (second from left) and Josiah’s coach, John Beasley, in Bangkok yesterday.

PETALING JAYA: Track cyclists Josiah Ng and Fatehah Mustapa put Malaysia on the medal standings on the second day of the Asian Cycling Championships with fighting performances at the Hua Mak Velodrome in Bangkok yesterday. 

Fatehah bagged Malaysia’s first medal, settling for the silver in the junior category of the 200m women’s sprints after losing both final heats to South Korean Kim Won-gyeong. 

The 18-year-old Terengganu lass, who rode with a swollen shoulder suffered due to the strains of competition, certainly gave a gutsy performance.  

She made it to the final by beating another South Korean, Lee Joo-mi 2-1. 

On Monday, Fatehah eliminated Kazakhstan’s Galina Lavrentyeva in the quarter-finals. 

“I could have won if I had been in a better condition,” said Fatehah in a telephone interview yesterday. 

“I broke my collarbone while leading in the Tour of Vietnam in June and the shoulder became swollen after training two days ago.  

“I felt pain each time I pushed hard. But this silver medal will spur me to do well in the remaining events.” 

Fatehah, who won six of the seven gold medals for Terengganu in the 2006 Sukma (Malaysia Games) in Alor Star, is down to compete in the 500m time trial and individual road race. 

Josiah, competing in the Asian Championships for the first time, bagged a hard-earned bronze medal in the senior category of the 200m sprint after China’s Li Wenhao was disqualified in the deciding heat for illegal blocking. 

He had lost the first heat in the contest for the bronze medal but won the second. 

Asian Games gold medallist Tsubasa Kitatsuru of Japan won the event, beating team-mate Kazunari Watanabe 2-1 in the final later. Watanabe had beaten Josiah 2-1 in the semi-finals. 

While there was no golden glory for Josiah yesterday, it was still a noteworthy achievement.  

The bronze was the first medal won in the sprint by a Malaysian rider at the senior level in 20 years.  

Josiah, who also broke his collarbone in April this year, will be looking to bag a second medal in the keirin event, which begins today. 

Josiah and youngster Azizul Hasni Awang will lead the two-pronged Malaysian challenge to defend the title won by Rizal Tisin last year. 

Link: http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2007/9/5/sports/18783407&sec=sports

3rd place in 200m Sprints

Latest results:
After the news in Star Sports dated Tuesday, 4 Sept 07

200m Sprint (Elite Men) : Josiah Ng 3rd BRONZE
200m Sprint (Elite Women) : Fatehah Mustapha SILVER

Josiah and Fatehah make it to the sprint semis

By LIM TEIK HUAT

Medal hopeful: Josiah Ng has made it to the semi-final of the men’s 200m sprint in Bangkok.

PETALING JAYA: Track cyclists Josiah Ng and Fatehah Mustapha defied the odds to qualify for the semi-finals of the 200m sprints in the Asian Cycling Championships at Hua Mak Velodrome in Bangkok yesterday. 

But Malaysia had no medal to show after the first day of track competitions. 

Four individual pursuit events in senior and junior categories for both men and women were contested and Uracca Leow came closest to winning a medal. 

Uracca made it in fourth place in the qualification round but was beaten in the ride for the bronze. 

However, Josiah raised hopes of becoming the first Malaysian in 20 years to win a medal in the sprint event in the senior category of the championships with a fighting display to make the last four. 

Josiah, fighting heat exhaustion, beat China’s Zhang Lei 2-0 in the quarter-finals but it was the end of the road for Azizul Hasni Awang. 

The 18-year-old from Terengganu was beaten 1-2 by another Chinese, Li Wenhao. 

Josiah will be up against Japanese Kazunari Watanabe in the semi-finals today while Wenhao will face Doha Asian Games gold medallist Tsubasa Kitatbasa. 

In qualification rounds earlier, Azizul had upstaged his more illustrious team-mate. Azizul made it to the knockout stage in third place (10.61) while Josiah was placed fifth (10.74). 

The 26-year-old Josiah, who is competing in the Asian championships for the first time, said that it was a tough day for him to adjust to the conditions in the velodrome. 

Fatehah: In the 200m sprint semi-finals.

“I was really feeling the heat. The humidity level here is much higher than in Kuala Lumpur. I had to put on ice mask and the support staff helped by giving massages. I had a bad morning session but I’m just relieved to pull through,” said the 2004 Olympian in a telephone interview yesterday. 

Kazunari was the fastest rider in the qualification round (10.50) and being part of the Japanese trio who took the Asian Games gold in team sprint, he will certainly start as the favourite. 

“I’m looking forward to racing against him tomorrow,” said Josiah, who has decided not to compete in the team sprint to conserve his energy for the keirin event tomorrow. 

Malaysia will also have a representative in the semi-finals of the junior women’s category today in Fatehah. 

The Terengganu lass, who is still recovering from a collarbone operation recently, put up a gallant display for a 2-1 win over Galina Lavrentyeva of Kazakhstan. 

Fatehah was second fastest in the qualification round in 12.50 behind South Korean Kim Wongyeong. 

In the junior men’s category, Mohd Syamil Bahrum qualified third fastest after Korean rider Han Lee-ki (10.96) and Japan’s Tomohiro Fukaya (11.08). But he was beaten 0-2 by Japan’s Kazuki Amagai in the quarter-finals. 

Another junior rider, Mohd Zamani Mustaruddin, clocked 11.63 and missed out on a place in the last eight by one spot. 

Link: http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2007/9/4/sports/18774870&sec=sports

Start of road to 2008 Beijing Olympics for Ng and Azizul

By LIM TEIK HUAT

PETALING JAYA: The road to the 2008 Beijing Olympics begins for cyclists Josiah Ng and promising youngster Mohd Azizul Hasni Awang when they race in the Asian Championships starting in Bangkok Monday.  

The track competition for the senior and elite at Hua Mak Velodrome in Bangkok will end on Thursday.  

The road competition for both senior and elite categories will be held at Nakhon Ratchasima province from Sept 8-10.  

Josiah has never raced in the Asian cycling meet since he started donning national colours in 2001 and the hope is on him to defend the keirin title for Malaysia.  

Rizal Tisin won the keirin event in the Asian meet hosted in Malaysia last year. It was the only gold medal won in the senior category and also the first for Malaysia in 19 years.  

However, Rizal’s poor form has saw him losing his place to promising youngster Azizul Hasni Awang, who is groomed to lead the challenge in the Korat SEA Games in Thailand in December.  

Azizul won three gold medals in the junior category in the Asian meet last year.  

Malaysian team manager Datuk Naim Mohd said Azizul has been entered for the keirin and sprint events as well along with Josiah and another newcomer Muhd Edrus Yunus.  

“Azizul was slated for the 1km time trial when he was promoted to the national team early this year but we wanted to try him for the individual sprint and keirin events.  

“This is because the 1km time trial is not an Olympic event anymore and we wanted him to focus on getting into the Olympics. This will be his major exposure before we enter him for the World Cup campaigns later,” said Naim in a telephone interview from Bangkok Sunday.  

For Josiah, who arrived from United States to join the team last Friday, the Asian meet will give him a chance to earn automatic qualification for the World Championships next year.  

“The World Championships gives out quota places for the Olympics but Josiah also can qualify through the UCI rankings at the same time,” added Naim. However, it will not be easy for the Malaysian team to finish in the medals in the senior category this time. “Compared to last year, the field is much stronger because this is the year before the Olympics. “All the top Asian riders are present here because there are points to be earned towards the world rankings,” said Naim. The team sprint in which Malaysia won a bronze last year will see a new combination of Azizul, Edrus and Junaidi Nasir. However, the team sprint combination could be switched to include Josiah depending on his form and if the schedule permits. The endurance events will be contested with a new team pursuit quartet of Amir Mustafa Rusli, Thum Weng Kin, Saiful Anuar Aziz and Akmal Amrun, while Jasmin Ruslan and Harrif Salleh have been slated for the scratch race and points race. Nor Azian Alias and Uracca Leow will lead the challenge in the women’s road and track events. For the record, Malaysia won a medal haul of 4-5-3 in the championships last year.  

MALAYSIAN TEAM: 

Senior Men Track: Josiah Ng, Mohd Azizul Hasni Awang, Muhd Edrus Yunus, Mohd Rizal Tisin, Amir Mustafa Rusli, Thum Weng Kin, Mohd Saiful Anuar, Mohd Akmal Amrun, Mohd Jasmin Ruslan, Mohd Hariff Salleh. Road: Suhardi Hassan, Mohd Zamri Salleh, Mohd Rauf Nur Misbah, Mohd Safwan Sawai, Mohd Faris Abdul Razak, Loh Sea Keong.  

Senior Women Track and Road: Noor Azian Alias, Mohd Yusof Ruszatulzanariah, Uracca Leow, Sulha Sulaiman, Masziyaton Mohd Radzi, Norhidayah Yusari.  

Junior Men Track and Road: Mohd Syamil Bahrum, Mohd Zamani Mustaruddin, Mohd Firdaus Jaafar, Mohd Shahrul Mat Amin, Mohd Shahrul Afiza, Mohd Fadhli Fauzi, Mohd Azman Saharuddin, Ishak Amir Arifuddin.  

Junior Women Track and Road: Fatehah Mustapha, Muslihah Salim, Badeuzzaman Nurul Ahmar.  

Link: http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2007/9/2/sports/20070902174411&sec=sports

Malaysia Can Do It

MALAYSIA BOLEH!

One more day to the race. All getting pretty charged up. Been taking care of health, getting alot of rest and preparing my mind. Can’t wait for the challenge. My team-mates have all arrived and checked into Chaleena Hotel together with the rest of the teams from all over Asia. This is gonna be so exciting.

Cycling: Josiah entered for Asian Championships

NOT taking anything for granted in his pursuit for Olympic qualification, Josiah Ng (pic) has been entered for the Asian Championships for the first time in his career.

Josiah arrived on Thursday in Nakhon Ratchasima, ahead of the rest of his teammates who leave today, to prepare for the championships in which Malaysia will enter a strong two-pronged challenge to defend the keirin gold medal won by Rizal Tisin last year.

Josiah and last year’s record triple Asian Junior Championships gold medallist Azizul Hasni Awang will lead the charge among the seniors, but more importantly the entire track cycling squad will begin their charge towards next year’s Olympics in Nakhon Ratchasima’s spanking new velodrome that was built as part of the 333rd Anniversary Sports Complex for this year’s Sea Games.

National team manager Datuk Naim Mohamad said Josiah, who had initially planned to start his campaign later, with just one Asian meet in his plans — the second leg of the Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur in November — will not be taking anything for granted this time around.

“The idea is for Josiah to qualify by all means. The Asian Champion earns automatic qualification to next year’s World Championships, which gives him another chance to qualify for the Olympics, although he may also do it via the World Cup rankings,” said Naim.
Last year’s Asian keirin champion Rizal won’t be defending his gold medal, but instead has been slated for the 1km time trial, with a new combination of Azizul, Edrus Yunus and Junaidi Nasir being prepped for the team sprint in which Malaysia won the bronze last year.

Edrus has also been entered for the keirin, but Naim said, the team sprint combination could be switched to include Josiah should the schedule of events allow them to do so.

“The main objective for Josiah is the keirin and the sprint, the same as Azizul.

“We have pretty much decided on the individual events, but our plans for the team sprint may switch if the programme is not too tight and Josiah can have enough time to do a third event,” said Naim.

The endurance events will be contested with a new team pursuit quartet of Amir Mustafa Rusli, Thum Weng Kin, Saiful Anuar Aziz and Akmal Amrun, while Jasmin Ruslan and Harrif Salleh have been slated for the scratch race and points race.

Nor Azian Alias and Uracca Leow compete in the women’s endurance events.

Link: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/Sport/20070901080703/Article/index_html