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Last update:24/12/2003 10:57:18 PM

• Note: I'm more likely to upload my blog nowadays, rather than this website.

• Greatest swimmer of all time - Mark Spitz (1950- )
  Spitz produced the performance for the ages at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Seven gold medals, seven world records. Ian Thorpe does have a reference standard now, hasn't he? Incredibly, 20 years later, at age 42, Spitz tried to make a comeback at the 1992 Olympics but he failed to make the US team for the 100m freestyle (?). He needed 55 secs, but managed only 58 secs. Sabah Athlete of the Year 2002, Lim Keng Liat (3rd time he won it) - take note. Finishing a close second behind Thorpe not in his pet event is not that impressive.............

• Greatest athlete of the 20th century - Jim Thorpe (1888-1953)
  A Red Indian, he's the only athlete to excel in ALL pro sports in the US in his era - baseball, football and ?. He participated in the 1912 Olympics and easily won both the Decathlon and Pentathlon. He's so naturally gifted he didn't need to practice. He would walk into any game and excel at it - eg, as a boy, he walked into a high jump event and easily broke the school record (5'9") and scored 200 in tenpin bowling easily. Sadly, towards the end of his life he was destitute and became an alcoholic and died of a heart attack at 65. But perhaps his greatest performance was when the Swedish King presented him with the gold medal at the 1912 Olympics held in Stockholm. The King said, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." Thorpe replied, in his typical guileless style, "Thanks, King".  

• NBA Basketball - Michael Jordan finally retires
  Last match 16 April 2003. He might've been a scoring machine, but Wilt Chamberlain was the scoring king, scoring 100 points in an NBA match in March 1962. In comparison, Jordan "only" scored a career-high 69 points in one match. But Jordan still is the greatest season averager in history.

• Basketball - Flashback to Olympics 1992
  This was the time the greatest basketball team ever assembled played - the "Dream Team I". Subsequent Dream Teams never managed to match the heights this team scaled. Imagine coming up against a team that looked like this:

•  

  • Charles Barkley (F, 6'6", 250lbs, 29, Phoenix Suns)

  • Earvin "Magic" Johnson (G, 6'9", 220lbs, 32, LA Lakers)

  • Michael Jordan (G, 6'6", 198lbs, 29, Chicago Bulls)

  • Larry Bird (F, 6'9", 220lbs, 35, Boston Celtics)

  • Scottie Pippen (G/F, 6'7", 210lbs, 26, Chicago Bulls)

  Whew! All are among the greatest players who ever walked the earth - and as if that's not bad enough news for the opposition, the following 7 are waiting on the bench: Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing (C, 7', 240lbs, 30, NY Knicks), Karl Malone (F, 6'9", 256lbs, 29, Utah Jazz), John Stockton, Christian Laettner, Chris Mullin and David Robinson (C, 7'1", 235lbs, 27, San Antonio Spurs)

  Facing Croatia in the gold medal contest, the U.S. again prevailed in the rematch, this time winning by 32 points, 117-85. Jordan led the U.S. in the gold medal contest with 22 points, while Barkley and Ewing accounted for 17 and 15 points, respectively.

  Averaging an Olympic record 117.3 points a game, the USA squad won by an average of 43.8 points and the closest any opponent could come was 32 points (117-85 versus Croatia in the gold medal game).

  "You will see a team of professionals in the Olympics again," said USA coach Chuck Daly. "But I don't think you'll see another team quite like this. This was a majestic team."

  USA RESULTS (8-0)

• USA	116	Angola	48
  USA	103	Croatia	70
  USA	111	Germany	68
  USA	127	Brazil	83
  USA	122	Spain	81
  USA	115	Puerto Rico	77
  USA	127	Lithuania	76
  USA	117	Croatia	85

1992 OLYMPIC GAMES FINAL STANDINGS

• 1. United States (8-0)	7. Germany (3-5)
  2. Croatia (6-2)	8. Puerto Rico (3-5)
  3. Lithuania (6-2)	9. Spain (3-4)
  4. Com. of Ind. States (5-3)	10. Angola (2-5)
  5. Brazil (4-4)	11. Venezuela (2-5)
  6. Australia (4-4)	12. China (0-7)

Even China, Asia's best team, finished the tournament at 0-7, despite never coming up against the US.  

• Champions League 2003
  The "true final" is in the semifinals (?): 

1st leg: Real Madrid handed Man Utd a masterclass - beating them 3-1. But Man Utd bounced back magnificently, beating Newcastle 6-2 (after trailing 0-1) away in the very next match (Premiership). Utd around then scored 12 goals in 3 matches, against top class opposition - Liverpool (4-0), Newcastle (6-2) and Arsenal (2-2).

Just look at Real's mind-boggling lineup wihch included the following magnificient seven starters: Casillas, Roberto Carlos, Zidane (former WPY), Figo (former WPY), Raul, Ronaldo (3-time WPY), Hierro. Morientes and McManaman on the bench. Man Utd's star-studded lineup suddenly looked ordinary in comparison: Barthez, Ferdinand, Beckham, Scholes, Van Nistelrooy. Veron missed match due to injury.

2nd leg (23 Apr 2003): Man Utd v Real Madrid

• Australian Open 2003 (Tennis)

  Andre Agassi dominated!

• Asian Games 2002 October

  Offical website: www.busanasiangames.org

  Malaysia finished with 2nd best ever medal haul at 6-8-14, gold medals coming from karate-do (2), wushu, squash, bowling (2). If Alex Lim and Nicol David had won, we would've gotten 8 golds, the best ever showing!

  Of note:

  Weightlifting

  Superheavyweight (105+ kg) weightlifter Hossein Reza Zadeh (Iran) crowned strongest human in the world when he ran away with gold medal with massive 35 kg margin. He lifted total of 440kg (200 in snatch and 220 in clean and jerk). His world record attempt for snatch and jerk at 263kg is the heaviest weight ever attempted by any human in the history of weightlifting. Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim (56kg class) discovers that he's way out of his depth. Even though he lifted better than at Commonwealth games, his 117.5, 142.5 (total 260.0) was far behind the gold medal winner, Wu Meijin (China) who lifted 130.0, 162.5 (total 292.5). Even Indonesian Jadi Setiajadi did better at 4^th (120.0, 150.0, 270.0). "I was not well prepared to compete at this level".

  Squash

  Nicol David suffered shock defeat in squash final, 0-3 to arch rival Rebecca Chiu (world no. 30?). Ong Beng Hee surprisingly had an easy 3-0 win over Mansoor Zaman, touted to be Jansher Khan's successor.

  Swimming

  Alex Lim Keng Liat defeated in his pet event, 100m backstroke by Atsushi Nishikori. However he bettered national record, and only lost by a mere 0.01s (55.17s to 55.18s). Elvin Chia finished 5th in his favourite event, 100m breaststroke despite having trained for months in USA (1:04.09). However he was competing against the great Kosuke Kitajima, 20 who won by almost 3 seconds (1:00.45). Later Kitajima broke the world's oldest swimming world record (200m breaststroke) in 2:09.97, the first person to ever break 2:10. Allen Ong finished last in 100m freestyle (52.27s compared to winning time of 50.76s) and 50m freestyle (23.70s compared to winning time of 22.86s).

  Badminton

  Team: Malaysia lost 0-3 to South Korea in semis. Choong Hann lost to Shon Seung Mo 4, -6, -7. Then Tsuen Seng put up a disppointing display, losing 5 and 2 against Lee Hyun Il. Then Chong Ming and Choon Eng lost to Lee Dong Soo and Yoo Yong Sung 12, -9, -3.

  Indonesia beat China 3-1 in the other semis. Final was extraordinary to say the least. First singles: Taufik Hidayat against Shon Seong-mo. Trailing 13-15, 9-13 Taufik's smash was judged out (all Korean officials) but television replays showed it was at least 2 inches in. A disgusted Taufik threw down his racket and stormed off court, not to return. After some frantic negotiations, play was resumed 2 hours later, the same officials on court, the point judged a let, and officals took the unprecedented step of allowing umpire to overrule linesmen's calls (not allowed in rule book). Taufik won 2nd set 15-13. In 3rd game, another bad line call again made Taufik throw down his racket. In the end, he lost 16-17. By then, the Indonesians were rattled and some of their top players lost easily. Only Sigit/Chandra Wijaya proved unbeatable against Lee Dong Soo/Yoo Yong Sung, winning 12 and 10. End result: 3-1 to Korea.

  Doubles: Chew Choon Eng/Chan Chong Ming narrowly lost 16-17, 12-15 to crack pair Yoo Yong-sung/Lee Dong Soo in semis, who went on to beat Thai pair 2-0 in final.

  Singles: Hafiz lost to Taufik Hidayat 11 and 5 in quarters. Then Choong Hann also lost in quarters 1-2 to Lee Hyun Il. Taufik went on to win gold, 10 and 7 against Hyun Il - this time no controversy.

  Soccer

  preliminaries: 0-1 Oman, 3-1 Maldives, 0-4 Korea [look how far we've been left behind by our old foes]

  Quarters: Japan 1-0 China; Thailand 1-0 North Korea

  Semis: Korea 0-0 Iran (3-5 penalties), Japan 3-0 Thailand

  3&4: Korea 3-0 Thailand

  final: Iran 2-1 Japan (Iran scored in 2^nd min, then 87^th, Japan replied in 88^th)

  Hockey

  Malaysia lost 1-6 to Pakistan in last group match but still advanced to semis. Then Pakistan lost to India 3-4 while South Korea beat Malaysia 2-0. In final, Korea beat India 4-3. Then Malaysia achieved 1^st hockey medal in 20 (?) years when they beat Pakistan 4-2 on penalties after being tied 1-1 at full time. Credit to the goalie by stopping star player Sohail Abbas's penalty flick! Star player of India: Dhanraj Pillay. In all star team, 4 Malaysians in (among the most!).

  Sepak takraw

  Easily the worst outing ever for the national team. First, 3 players were sent home due to positive drugs test even before kicking a ball. Then, we finished behind South Korea and Japan in sepakraga bulatan!!! Then in inter-regu, we lost to Myanmar in semifinal 48-57 who in turn lost to Thailand 31-42 in final. Then in team competition, we lost again to Thailand in final 2-0 (84-49), all in straightforward straight sets. The same old comments as expected came in: "their tekongs were simply too good". Most of the Thai's points came from services (more than 10 in a match!) - this has been going on for years! Why dont we entice Suebsak Phunsueb to become a Malaysian citizen or at least chief coach???

  Athletics

  Biggest flop, not even one bronze to show. Best hope Lee Kum Zee jumped a miserable 2.10m in high jump. Come on, even the gold medal winner's jump (2.23m) is lower then Kum Zee's best (2.24m)! Worse still, we didnt even manage to improve on a single national record.

  Boxing

  Archery

  Robin Hood malaysia, Mon Redee Sut Txi lost in quarters (olympics round) to Korean (?)

  Bowling

  Shalin 2 golds ?

• Professional boxing, June 2002

  Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson

Prematch talk by Tyson: I want to eat your children and rip your heart out

Result: Tyson KOed 2 minutes+ into 8th round

Postmatch talk by Tyson: Okay, I admit it, he's better than me

• Soccer: World Cup 2002

  fifaworldcup.yahoo.com [official site]

  worldcup.espnsoccernet.com [the best, comprehensive info on each team/player!] 

  www.2002football.com

  The actual tournament:

  Notable results:

  1st round

  Saudi Arabia who topped their qualification group, with 5-2-1 record ahead of Iran second (4-3-1), found life not so rosy and the pace too much in the actual finals. They lost all 3 matches, including a 0-8 demolition by Germany which incurred the wrath of Peter Velappan, AFC President.

  Meanwhile first-time qualifiers China who qualified with 6-1-1 record, where only loss is meaningless 0-1 at Uzbekistan, were given baptism of fire. Their superstars Fan Zhiyi, Ma Mingyu, Hao Haidong, Lie Tie and company wilted against world-class opposition, losing all 3 matches, including a good hiding 0-4 by Brazil, and 0-3 by Turkey.

  France 0-1 Senegal. Start of things to come for the world cup of the underdog.

  France 0-2 Denmark. Again dominated, but didnt score, and caught on the break. Zidane proved he's no talisman, only human. Henry sent off too. Trezeguet and Cisse failed to make up for it.

  Portugal 0-1 Korea. Figo and co didnt have the answer. Joao Pinto sent off.

  Portugal 2-3 USA, after trailing 0-3 in 1st half. 2nd half was terrific!

  Argentina 0-1 England, clash of the titans. Beckham buried the ghost of 1998. The way the Argentines camped around England's penalty area in the last few minutes are classic stuff.

  Argentina 1-1 Sweden. Try they did, but the goals just wouldn't come for the multi-million dollar strikeforce of Lopez, Crespo and Batistuta.

  Uruguay 3-3 Senegal. Trailing 0-3, Recoba and co clawed back.

  2nd round

  Italy 1-2 Korea (ET). Mamma mia! The Azzurri's World Cup dream has collapsed. The greatest upset in the history of the world cup? Nationalist Perugia chairman Luciano Gaucci promptly sacked Ahn Jung-hwan, Korea's golden goal scorer. The demons have returned to haunt a team that was more than capable of winning the competition. Byron Moreno, 32 the ref from Ecuador defended his decision. Sepp Blatter, FIFA President said all are to blame: officials (meaning ref) and ultra-nationalistic Italians. The Totti episode was neither worthy of a penalty nor a red card. From match stats, it's clear that Koreans dominated. They had more shots on goal (8-5), corners (10-7), ball possession (56-44). 

  Korean squad who'll surely become legends: Lee Woon Jae, Choi Jin Cheul, Kim Nam Il (Lee Chun Soo 68), Yoo Sang Chul, Kim Tae Young (Hwang Sun Hong 63), Seol Ki Hyeon, Lee Young Pyo, Ahn Jung Hwan, Hong Myung Bo (Cha Du Ri 83), Park Ji Sung, Song Chong Gug

  And just look at Italy's multi million dollar squad: Buffon, Panucci, Maldini, Coco, Zanetti, Del Piero (Gattuso 61), Totti, Iuliano, Tommasi, Zambrotta (Di Livio 72), Vieri; with Cannavaro, Inzaghi, Nesta and Di Biagio waiting in the wings.

  Brazil 2-0 Belgium. Belgians looked dangerous. But watching England squad were bedazzled and leapt to their feet and the commentator couldn't help exclaiming "That's what Brazil is all about! That's what the World Cup is all about!" when Rivaldo scored his classic goal.

  Quarterfinals

  Germany 1-0 USA. If not for Oliver Kahn, Germany would've lost.

  Turkey 1-0 Senegal (golden goal). Turkey dominated, deserved win.

  Korea 0-0 Spain (5-3 on penalties). Mission Impossible III accomplished! Yet another legend was born in the person of Lee Woon Jae, Korea's keeper who saved Joaquin Sanchez's 4th spot kick for Spain. Veteran Hong Myung-Bo was a rock in the South Korean defence, alongside Choi Jun-Chul, to keep the score at 0-0. He stood firm to thwart many Spanish attacks and also scored the winning penalty to send his team into the semi-finals. More controversy followed with Spanish coach Camacho fuming over 2 disallowed goals, including a seemingly perfectly good one in extra time which would've handed them victory. The assistant referee wrongly flagged the ball had gone out before Fernando Morientes scored. Fernando Hierro, 34 and Luis Enrique, 32 announced quitting international football. FIFA and Korean coach Guus Hiddink dismissed any conspiracy theory.

  Brazil 2-1 England, dubbed "immovable object meets irresistible force". Pulsating battle, England hit by a Ronaldinho-inspired double strike in seven minutes either side of the interval. Coach Eriksson's first defeat in a competitive international. Yet it all looked so different after 23 minutes when Michael Owen put England in front after a double defensive blunder he could scarcely believe. There appeared little danger when Emile Heskey picked up Mills' short pass on halfway. The Liverpool front-man spotted his Anfield team-mate making a run towards the Brazilian goal, but Lucio appeared to have the situation under control. However, the defender who was so impressive on Bayer Leverkusen's run to the Champions League final mis-controlled straight into Owen's path. Advancing into the box on his own, Owen would probably have scored anyway but Marcos gifted him an open goal by diving to his right before the striker had even lined up his shot. For the remainder of the half, England looked comfortable, but David Beckham's failure to run the ball into touch two minutes into injury time, set Brazil in motion for the leveller. Paul Scholes failed to make a vital tackle in midfield, allowing Ronaldinho to sweep forward. Ashley Cole was dragged into the middle and with neither Rio Ferdinand or Sol Campbell able to make a tackle, Rivaldo drifted to the right, took the easy pass and stroked a first-time shot into the corner. Still reeling from that blow, England quickly conceded a second after the interval and this time the damage was self-inflicted. As Ronaldinho lined up a free-kick in an innocuous position, Seaman pulled away from his line expecting a cross. The Brazilian spotted the opening and from 35 yards floated the ball into the top corner with the aid of the crossbar. It was a blow from which England couldn't recover, even though their opponents were reduced to 10 men just 11 minutes after the break when Mexican referee Felipe Ramos Rizo ruled Ronaldinho had stamped on Mills, even though replays showed the player had pulled out of the challenge. Eriksson threw on Darius Vassell and Teddy Sheringham late on in a desperate search for an equaliser. But there was to be no redemption as Brazil maintained their stranglehold on contests between the two nations, advancing to a semi-final meeting with either Senegal or Turkey. Had England been able to hold on to their lead, it would have been just reward for an almost perfectly-executed first-half plan. Though Brazil dominated for long periods, they were denied space around the English box, Ronaldo being forced to drop deep to gain possession. Ronaldinho looked the most lively South American, but with Campbell and Ferdinand again proving a solid barrier, England's goal remained largely untroubled. Scholes and Nicky Butt snapped away with the usual gusto and with Heskey producing by far his best international performance, Brazil were largely ineffective. 

  

  David Seaman is caught unawares by Ronaldinho's lofted free-kick.

  Seaman might still have been feeling the after-effects of the knock when he tried to stop Rivaldo's curling effort pulling Brazil level, but even at full stretch he had no chance. Most England fans were relieved when Seaman was fit enough to resume after the interval, but within five minutes they were reflecting on an error equally as crass as those made by the suspect Brazilian rearguard. For the first time in the competition, England were behind and chasing the game against opponents lethal on the counter.

  Later, Beckham went down in the box under pressure from Roque Junior and beat the ground in frustration as Rizo waved away the penalty appeal. England continued to press but Brazil never looked like yielding their advantage and long before the end, Beckham and Co had run out of ideas.

  Eriksson: "I had hoped we would have done better when it was 11 against ten. But we were tired, and Brazil are very good at keeping the ball. hey had seven or eight players when they won the ball keeping it - they were better than us. That was the difference, and it is very disappointing today. Once it was 2-1, we were not strong enough to come back after that. It happens in football, but overall we did rather well and we have learned a lot about many things."

  Luis Felipe Scolari: "I have a feeling of happiness and of a job well done. To be alive and not to die was the only thought we had. We practise with ten men sometimes. People have asked me why I do this - but now you see why. Never have I seen a group of players defending the national colours with such a fighting spirit."

  England: Seaman, Mills, A Cole, Sinclair, Ferdinand, Campbell, Beckham, Scholes, Owen, Heskey, Butt. Threw 2 forwards in last 11 mins: Vassell and Sheringham, while Dyer replaced Owen in 56th.

  Brazil: Marcos, Cafu, Lucio, Roque Junior, Edmilson, Roberto Carlos, Gilberto Silva, Ronaldo (Edilson 70th), Rivaldo, Ronaldinho (red card 57th), Kleberson

  Stats (Eng-Bra): shots 6-9, shots on goal 2-4, fouls 20-18, corners 5-2, freekicks 0-4, ball possession 47-53

  General Commissioner of game: John Windsor (Malaysia!!)

  Semifinals

  Germany 1-0 South Korea. Mission Impossible IV proved too much to carry out. An extremely tight semi-final though. Guus Hiddink said, "We were marking too far away from our opponents, and that is down to experience. After half-time it went better, but we did not have the big chance. We showed them too much respect." More than 65,000 packed into the Seoul World Cup stadium - and tickets had been changing hands for as much as £1,700 outside - to make the stands a sea of red. Korea pushed until the very end.

  Brazil 1-0 Turkey. Arguably the hardest match Brazil had in the entire tournament.

  3rd & 4th Placing

  Turkey 3-2 South Korea. Hakan Sukur scored the fastest goal in World Cup history on 11 seconds. The match was unbelievely lively for an essentially meaningless/friendly match. Both teams joined hands and saluted the fans at the end. South Korean players want 170,000 pounds bonus for each player.

  Final

  Brazil 2-0 Germany. Watched live by an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide, the best headline could be: "Ronaldo 2 Kahn 0". Kahn won the Golden Ball (first keeper to do so) but that is scant consolation, because due to his rare mistake Ronaldo struck for the first goal. Rivaldo's shot was not cleanly kept and Ronaldo was there to pounce. There was nothing he could do with the 2nd goal though, as Rivaldo's dummy which unraveled the previously unpenetrable Die Mannschaft off Kleberson's pass was ruthless put away by The Phenomenon from 12 metres. The end saw an outpouring of religious fervour as the entire Brazilian contingent made a circle in the middle of the field and said their thanks to God before the prizewinning trophy. Ronaldo said he'd give away the USD180,000 prizewinners' cheque to charity. The best image: Kahn in the foreground watching Cafu hold aloft the Cup. Closing ceremony highlight: what else but Anastacia belting out "Boom"! The best Brazilian team since 1982 revived the "beautiful game" and proved too good for any defence of the tournament. Ronaldo: 21 shots on goal, 8 goals; Rivaldo: 12, 5; Roberto Carlos: 5,1; Ronaldinho: 4,2.

  

  Germany, it was just a dream....

  

  Ronaldo celebrates 1st goal, Kahn knows he's made a fatal mistake

  soccernet.com's final analysis:

  Where the match was won and lost (by: Dominic Raynor)
  
  Germany may have started the 2002 World Cup final the better, but at the final whistle there was little doubt of Brazil's superiority as they powered their way to a fifth World Cup success.

  Germany battled bravely to make life difficult for the South Americans before the break but eventually wilted as the brilliant Ronaldo shone through.

  The Inter Milan striker erased the painful memories of France 1998 with a double strike which earned Brazil the World Cup and himself the Golden Shoe as the tournaments leading scorer with eight goals.

  The margin of victory could, and perhaps should, have been greater, but Rudi Voeller's side can take great pride in their performance in losing 2-0.

  The Germans owe much to the outstanding goalkeeper of the tournament, Oliver Kahn, who produced two vital saves to deny Ronaldo before the break to and keep his side in it.

  However, it was a blunder by Kahn from Rivaldo's shot which handed Ronaldo his first goal, although he had no chance with the second.

  His opposite number, Marcos, did much to rubbish the dodgy reputation of Brazilian goalkeepers with two top-drawer saves. First to tip Oliver Neuville's blistering free-kick on to the post and then to keep out substitute Oliver Bierhoff's late strike on the turn.

  His much maligned defence also played their part as Lucio, Edmilson and Roque Junior held firm.

  Lucio and Edmilson both indulged their penchant for forward runs, but neither were found wanting as the Germans put them under pressure without ever really carving them apart.

  Edmilson was probably Brazil's best player of the first half, and arguably overall. Twice thwarted Schneider-inspired moves ending up at Klose's feet and provided a vital block from Jens Jeremies' free header.

  To their credit, the German defence stuck to their task admirably despite needing the assistance of keeper Kahn several times before the break.

  Ably marshalled by the impressive Carsten Ramelow, Thomas Linke and new find Christoph Metzelder turned in committed performances to keep Rivaldo and Ronaldinho relatively quiet, but Ronaldo's quality eventually shattered their resistance.

  Germany won the midfield battle thanks to Voeller's tactics and the hard work of his players. Wing-backs Torsten Frings and Marco Bode pinned Roberto Carlos and Cafu back inside their own half and provided excellent support to the frontmen.

  In the absence of the suspended Michael Ballack, Bernd Schneider was given a free attacking role and proved a threat throughout. Dietmar Hamann and Jeremies waded in with some tough tackles, but Hamman was robbed by Ronaldo in front of his back four and that lead to the first goal.

  Starved for long periods of the surging runs of Cafu and Carlos, the onus was on the outstanding Kleberson, who hit the bar with a ferocius strike, alongside Gilberto Silva to provide the link between attack and defence. He did that to superb effect, capping a fine individual display with the run and cross from which Ronaldo sealed victory.

  But Brazil's famous front three did not have things all their own way, and indeed Ronaldinho and Rivaldo were contained comfortably for much of the game as the Germans got men behind the ball.

  It was the classic irresistible force of Brazilian free-flowing attacking football facing the immovable object of dogged German resistance.

  However, Ronaldinho found occasional flashes of brilliance which created Ronaldo's first-half chances and a quiet Rivaldo provided the dummy to set up hero of the day Ronaldo with his second goal.

  Neuville was Germany's prominent striker while their leading scorer Miroslav Klose flitted in and out of the game and was replaced by veteran Bierhoff.

  The former captain was handed a good opportunity seven minutes from time when Torsten Frings crossed and he shot towards the bottom corner, but Marcos was equal to the task to deny him a late goal.

  24/6/2002: FIFA All-Star Team shortlist (33 players)

  Goalkeepers: Oliver Kahn (Germany), Marcos (Brazil), Iker Casillas (Spain), Rustu Recber (Turkey), Lee-Woon-jae (South Korea)

  Defenders: Cafu (Brazil), Roberto Carlos (Brazil), Sol Campbell (England), Hong Myung-bo (South Korea), Alpay Ozalan (Turkey), Fernando Hierro (Spain), Johan Mjallby (Sweden)

  Midfielders: David Beckham (England), Junichi Inamoto (Japan), Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan), Pape Malick Diop (Senegal), Claudio Reyna (U.S.), Michael Ballack (Germany), Yoo Sang-chul (South Korea), Marc Wilmots (Belgium).

  Forwards: Rivaldo (Brazil), Ronaldo (Brazil), Ronaldinho (Brazil), El Hadji Diouf (Senegal), Ahn Jung-hwan (South Korea), Landon Donovan (U.S.), Raul (Spain), Hasan Sas (Turkey), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Christian Vieri (Italy), Henrik Larsson (Sweden), Michael Owen (England), Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark).

  
  Preliminaries

  The strongest team in South East Asia, Thailand, who Malaysia can never dream of beating nowadays, finished bottom of the last stage of qualification round. Their losses include 0-3 bashing by Iraq at Baghdad and 1-4 at Saudi Arabia.

  Saudi Arabia topped that group, with 5-2-1 record. Iran second (4-3-1). Iran has a last minute turnaround when they were beaten 1-3 at Bahrain. Result: celebration till dawn in Riyadh, and rioting in Tehran, leaving 2 people in a coma. Now that's what I call "Hidup bola, makan bola, minum bola, mati bola!!"

  In Group B, China qualified for 1st time with 6-1-1 record, only loss is meaningless 0-1 at Uzbekistan. Superstars: Fan Zhiyi, Ma Mingyu, Han Haidong. UAE finished second and Uzbekistan 3rd.

  Notable pre-WC friendlies:

  South Korea 0-5 France

  South Korea 0-5 Czech Republic

  Germany 7-0 Kuwait

   

  My pre-WC 1st XI

  1. Jose Luis Chilavert

  2. Roberto Carlos

  3. Fabio Cannavaro

  4. Paolo Maldini

  5. Zinedine Zidane

  6. Juan Sebastian Veron

  7. Francesco Totti/Michael Ballack/Raul Blanco/Luis Enrique

  8. Thierry Henry

  9. Michael Owen

  10. Gabriel Batistuta/Alessandro Del Piero

  11. Luis Figo

• Latest SabahTalk: http://www.e-borneo.com/cgi-bin/wsmbb/wsmbb.cgi

Another SabahTalk: http://www.sabah.tk/ (not as "hot" as the above)

• Badminton: Thomas Cup / Uber Cup 2002 (Guangzhou, China)

www.worldbadminton.net

Notable results in group stage:

South Korea's dream of winning Thomas Cup for 1st time is in deep danger after losing to Denmark 2-3 in 5 hours. Biggest culprit was Lee Hyun Il (1st singles), the recent Japan Open Champion who lost to Kenneth Jonassen, although their supposedly formidable doubles pairs were also to blame. In Hyun Il's words: "I failed to live up to the expectations. I made so many mistakes and did not control my strokes in the match. I was giving away mid-court returns and Kenneth returned it with powerful smashes. My opponent however, played an excellent net game. His drives were sharp."

1. Kenneth Jonassen bt Lee Hyun II 7-5, 7-0, 4-7, 6-8, 7-3 [1-0]

2. Martin Lundgaard Hansen/Jens Eriksen lt Kim Dong Moon/Ha
   Tae Kwon 1-7, 8-6, 7-2, 6-8, 1-7 [1-1]

3. Anders Boesen lt Shon Seung Mo 1-3 (upset!) [1-2]

4. Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen bt Lee Dong Soo/Yoo Yong Sung 7-3, 8-6, 3-7, 7-3 (some newsreport said it was 3-2) [2-2] (60 mins)

5. Peter Rasmussen bt Park Tae Sang 3-0; Peter is new European Champion [3-2]

Indonesia 5-0 Thailand, but Taufik Hidayat (2nd singles, 2nd rubber) nearly lost to 77-th ranked Anupap Thiraratsakul. Was trailing 3-6 in the third game when he staged a remarkable revival to eventually win the match 1-7, 2-7, 8-7, 8-7, 7-0. But the other matches were mere formality; Boonsak Polsana, Pramote Teerawiwatana-Tesana Panvisvas and Khunakorn Sudhisodhi-Patapol Ngernsrisuk all swept aside in straight games, although Hendrawan (3rd singles) might've taken it easy with Jakrapan Thanathi-ratham before winning 3-2.

Malaysia 5-0 Germany, 19-yr old Hafiz Hashim sealed it in less than 30 minutes. Rookie Lee Tsuen Seng then beat veteran Oliver Pongratz to complete rout.

Malaysia 1-4 Indonesia

1. Wong Choong Hann bt Marleve Mainaky 7-1, 7-2, 2-7, 7-5

2. Chan Chong Ming/Lee Wan Wah lt Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto 0-7, 4-7, 4-7

3. Ong Ewe Hock lt Taufik Hidayat 7-2, 2-7, 0-7, 6-8

4. Choong Tan Fook/Chew Choon Eng lt Halim Haryanto and Trikus Haryanto 4-7, 4-7, 5-7

5. Muhammad Hafiz Hashim lt Hendrawan 7-3, 7-8, 8-7, 5-7, 4-7 (57 mins)

China 3-2 Denmark; Li Yongbo furious

1. Xia Xuanze bt Kenneth Jonassen 8-6, 2-7, 7-1, 7-1

2. Zhang Jun-Zhang Wei hardly put up a fight in a 2-7 3-7, 3-7 defeat by Martin Lundgaard Hansen-Jens Ericksen

3. Bao Chunlai, 19 bt Anders Boesen 7-3, 7-2, 7-5

4. Cheng Rui-Wang Wei bore the brunt of Yongbo’s criticisms for the 4-7, 5-7, 7-2, 5-7 defeat by the Danish scratch pair of Jonas Rasmussen-Lars Paaske

5. Lin Dan, 19 bt Peter Rasmussen 7-1, 7-3, 1-7, 7-2 (former world champ, current European champion)

Malaysia meets initial target of qualifying for semis (failed to do so in last tourney), beating Thailand 5-0. Fielded strongest lineup:

1. Wong Choong Hann bt Boonsak Polsana 7-5, 7-1, 7-3

2. Chan Chong Ming/Chew Choon Eng bt  Pramote Teerawiwatana/ Tesana Panvisvas 8-6, 8-6, 7-5 (former SEA Games champions)

3. Ong Ewe Hock bt Anupap Thiraratsakul 7-0, 7-3, 7-3

4. Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah bt Khunakorn Sudhisodhi/Patapol Ngernsrisuk 8-7, 5-7, 8-6, 7-2

5. Roslin Hashim bt  Jakrapan Thanathiratham 7-5, 7-2, 7-4

China 4-1 South Korea

1. Xia Xuanze bt Lee Hyun-il 7-5, 7-1, 7-5

2. Cheng Rui/Wang Wei lt Yoo Yong-sung/Kim Dong Moon 4-7, 4-7, 4-7

3. Lin Dan bt Shon Seung-mo 7-5, 7-2, 7-2

4. Zhang Wei/Chen Qiqiu bt Lee Dong Soo/Ha Tae Kwon 7-3, 4-7, 7-3, 7-1 (crunch tie lasted 45 mins, former world champs wilted under pressure)

5. Luo Yigang bt Jang Young Soo 7-4, 7-4, 7-2

Semifinal:

Indonesia 3-0 Denmark

1. Marleve Mainaky bt Kenneth Jonassen 3-7, 6-8, 7-5, 7-0, 7-2

2. Chandra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto bt Jens Eriksen/Martin  Lundgaard Hansen 7-1, 7-2, 6-8, 7-4

3. Taufik Hidayat bt Anders Boesen 6-8, 3-7, 7-5, 7-3, 7-1 (64 mins); Boesen did a little jig after winning 2nd set, then ran out of steam

Malaysia 3-1 China

1. Wong Choong Hann lt Xia Xuanze 8-6, 6-8, 5-7, 6-8 (67 mins); Xia is world no.1

2. Chan Chong Ming/Chew Choon Eng bt Zhang Jun/Wang Wei 7-4, 7-5, 7-2

3. Mohd Hafiz Hashim bt Bao Chunlai 1-7, 7-4, 8-7, 1-7, 7-5 (64 mins); Bao is world no.2 and reigning world junior champion; "battle of the 19-yr olds"

4. Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah bt Zhang Wei/Chen Qiqiu 5-7, 6-8, 7-1, 7-3, 7-3 (62 mins)

Final:

Malaysia 2-3 Indonesia (their 5th straight win, and 13th title)

Prematch:

Hafiz injured foot in training, so wasn't fielded.

Datuk Nadzmi Mohd Salleh: “I want them to put tiger in their blood and fight without fear. The players are ready and physically fit. It is time for them to put in the extra to win it.”

Indra Gunawan admitted that Indonesia were superior in both the singles and doubles department. “We have only a 45-55 chance of beating them. But if our players show the same fighting spirit when they beat China, we may be able to give the favourites a tough time,” said Indra.

Joo-bong said: “This is our final hurdle. The team spirit is high after beating China. We will be able to win if we are mentally prepared.”

Discounting the recent meeting in the group tie, Malaysia and Indonesia have clashed 12 times in the Finals since 1957. Indonesia have won eight out of the 12 meetings.

Malaysia have met Indonesia only twice in one Finals. In the 1998 Finals in Hong Kong, Malaysia lost 1-4 in the group tie and when they clashed in the final Malaysia lost 2-3. They will certainly not want a repeat of that!

INDONESIANS have been known to close ranks and set aside their differences when they are playing in the Thomas Cup competition. And it is quite evident as well in Guangzhou as their officials and players are displaying a total accord in their appraisals of their chances against Malaysia in today’s final. The common statement coming from almost everyone in the Indonesian camp is: “50-50”, prompting reporters here to wonder if the players had been directed to say the same thing.

Indonesian team manager Christian Hadinata: “We are well-matched. There is no favourite, it is 50-50.” Singles coach Joko Suprianto and players like Taufik Hidayat, Marleve Mainaky, Candra Wijaya and Halim Haryanto are also non-committal. The Indonesians’ performances have not been spectacular so far, but they showed glimpses of their famous fighting spirit and mental resolve in their 3-0 semi-final win over Denmark.

Result:

1. Wong Choong Hann bt Marleve Mainaky 7-5, 7-5, 7-1; great start!

   [Choong Hann and Tsuen Seng jubilate after their win]

    

   Chang Chong Ming/Chew Choon Eng lt Chandra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto 3-7, 4-7, 2-7; our world no.1 blown away in 20 minutes, Indons showed high level in performances and wizardry, we still not up to the mark yet

2. Chang Chong Ming/Chew Choon Eng lt Chandra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto 3-7, 4-7, 2-7; our world no.1 blown away in 20 minutes, Indons showed high level in performances and wizardry, we still not up to the mark yet

3. Lee Tsuen Seng bt Taufik Hidayat 1-7, 7-5, 7-2, 2-7, 7-3; a new hero scoring a great upset in 48 mins! The Malaysian team celebrated as though they had won the Thomas Cup.The 23-year-old Tsuen Seng ran to his teammates, leaving behind his racquets and bag. He was hugged and chaired by his teammates and everyone gave him a big pat on his back.

4. Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah lt Halim Haryanto/Trikus Haryanto 7-8, 8-7, 1-7, 3-7; in 46 minutes. As the match progressed, we proved to be slower than them, made many errors and lacked coordination. “We knew we had a better chance to beat them but we could not break their rhythm. They were certainly much faster,” said Wan Wah. During the match, Tan Fook was obviously frustrated with their below par display and kept pushing his partner to perform better. And it could have added more strain on their combination yesterday.

5. Mohd Roslin Hashim lt Hendrawan 7-8, 2-7, 1-7; outclassed by an in-form opponent in a mere 33 mins. While Wan Wah was regaining his composure after the defeat, Tan Fook was too disappointed and frustrated to say anything. He left the hall immediately after Roslin lost to Hendrawan.

[Roslan is consoled by his conqueror Hendrawan in the decisive match of the Finals.]

Post match:

There was dead silence in the Malaysian camp as Mohd Roslin Hashim left the court weeping. He covered his head with a towel, skipper Ong Ewe Hock, who was hoping to end his fifth and final Thomas Cup in glory, tried to console him. And he cried too. Both slumped on chairs, while the coaches, Indra Gunawan, Park Joo-bong and Misbun Sidek, the officials and the players hung their heads low and stared blankly at the celebrating Indonesians.

Roslin: “Hendrawan was in top form. He was faster and more aggressive. I tried to slow him down and did my best but it did not work. I am sorry for not delivering the winning point for the country."

A dejected Ewe Hock was lost for words when asked to describe his feelings after the emotional loss. “Very disappointed,” was all he had to say.

Despite the defeat, Malaysia can walk tall. They were not expected to reach the final. 

Misbun Sidek: “Hendrawan played like in a training match. He read all of Roslin’s moves. Maybe if he (Roslin) had won the first game, things might have been different.”

Indra Gunawan: “The Indonesians were superior today. They were mentally stronger for the challenge despite the defeat of their key player, Taufik Hidayat." 

Park Joo Bong on doubles: "They could have won it if they had increased the pace of the game and adopted a more aggressive approach. The first pair did not give a good fight and the second pair added pressure on themselves by lifting the shuttle too often. The Indonesians were certainly much better than us today. We are still left behind in standard and the players must realise now that they have to improve further.”

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) patron Datin Seri Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali: "That defeat was disappointing and luck was not on our side. The win over China was an achievement, and qualifying for the final was a bonus."

 In Uber Cup, there were also some upsets in the group matches. Holland beat Denmark 3-2 after trailing 0-2 (Mia Audina lost 0-3 to Camilla Martin but then made amends in the doubles), then Hong Kong beat Indonesia 3-2 (led 2-0 before Indonesia levelled). Must've been due to Wang Chen.

• Soccer: Champions League 2002 (formerly known as the European Cup)

  QF: 

  Bayer Leverkusen 4-3 Liverpool (0-1 A, 4-2 H); Owen injured

  Man Utd 5-2 Deportivo la Coruna (2-0 A, 3-2 H); Beckham breaks foot

  Real Madrid 3-2 Bayern Munich (1-2 A, 2-0 H); defending champs out

  Barcelona 3-2 Panathinaikos (0-1 A, 3-1 H); Enrique double

  SF:

  Real Madrid 3-1 Barcelona (2-0 A, 1-1 H)

  Bayer Leverkusen 3-3 Man Utd (2-2 A, 1-1 H)

   Final:

   May 15: Real Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen

  Star players:

Real Madrid: Zidane, Figo, Raul, Roberto Carlos

Barcelona: Luis Enrique, Saviola, Kluivert

Bayer Leverkusen: Nowotny, Ballack, Ze Roberto, Neuville

Man Utd: Van Nistelrooy, Veron, Keane, Giggs, Beckham

• Malaysian M-League 2002

Badak unofficial fan website: www.sabahrhinos.com - with latest results

Will this year be a change of fortunes for fallen giant Sabah? After almost reaching the pinnacle in 1996 and getting the respect of her rivals, Sabah has fallen, even relegated, but last year became runners-up in Premier B. This year looks good, so far...

0-2 Penang (H), 1st match on 26/1/2002 where Sabah made headlines at the front and back pages of national dailies: PBRS fiasco and Khairul Azman quitting the team after "kena fire" in public by Anifah Aman.

1. 1-2 Penang (H)

2. 1-1 Sarawak (A)

3. 2-0 Negri Sembilan (H)

4. 3-1 KL (A)

5. 1-0 Kelantan (H)

6. 0-0 Perlis (A)

7. 1-0 NS Chempaka (A)

8. 1-4 Pahang (A) - Melnikov destroyed us

9. 0-2 Melaka (A)

10. 1-0 Johor FC (H)

11. 1-1 Terengganu (A)

12. 1-1 Selangor (H)

13. 0-1 Perak (A)

14. 2-2 Perak (H)

15. 2-2 Penang (A)

16. 2-1 Sarawak (H)

17. 3-1 NS (A)

18. 2-1 KL (H)

?-18-8-6-4-25-21-30

Total 26 matches. 

• Winter Olympics 2002

Most glamorous event: women's figure skating. Michelle Kwan again failed to win gold, this time only getting bronze. Gold went to countrywoman Sarah Hughes,16. In last Olympics Kwan got silver, beaten by another compatriot, Tara Lipinski, 15.

Greatest Ice Hockey match in history: semifinals of 1980 Olympics: US young collegians beat mighty Soviets 3-2 (?), US keeper made 39 saves. US went on to win gold.

• Hockey World Cup 2002

Malaysia are hosts. We got off to a bad start, losing 0-3 to Australia. Notable results: 4-2 Cuba, 2-1 England, 2-1 India.

We finished 8th, losing 1-2 to England.

Semifinal: Germany 3-2 South Korea (keywords: classic match, evenly matched, 1st half fast pace, 2nd half even faster pace, Korea's lapse in concentration resulted in winning goal), Australia 4-1 Holland (keywords: brilliant display of attacking hockey, their 1st victory in 4 major semis over the reigning world and Olympic champs).

3&4: Holland 2-1 South Korea.

Final: Germany became world champs for 1st time, beating Australia 2-1. Australia's 1st defeat in the tournament turned out to be their most expensive. Both teams created chances, but the Germans' tight marking paid off. Man of the match : Germany's Florian Kunz, 30, also last year's World Player of the Year.

• Thomas Cup Qualifying Round 2002

Singapore, Malaysia's biggest threat gave away the match, losing 0-5. They saved their energy for their next match against Hong Kong, which they duly won 4-1. Top 2 in group make it to next round.

Malaysia then beat Japan 4-1, but Roslin retired with elbow injury, despite leading 2-1 (7-0, 6-8, 8-7) against Shinya Ohtsuka.

Final: Malaysia bt South Korea 3-0 (Wong Choong Hann bt Lee Hyun-il 7-2, 5-7, 0-7, 7-4, 7-4; Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng bt Lee Dong-soo-Yoo Yong-sung 7-3, 8-7, 4-7, 7-2; Ong Ewe Hock bt Shon Seung-mo 7-5, 7-5, 1-7, 4-7, 7-2.)

Third place play-off: Thailand bt Japan 3-2.

• Pro Heavyweight Boxing

  18/11/2001: Lennox Lewis regained IBF and WBC belts from Hasim "The Rock" Rahman by KOing him in 4th round. Lewis lost titles in April to Rahman by KO in 5th round.

  Post fight quotes:

  Lewis: "This time I am more focused"

  Rahman: "I didn't see it coming"

  Pre fight quotes:

  Lewis: "Any fighter above 230lbs can produce a lucky KO punch"

  Rahman: "I am looking at a knockout"

• Hockey: Junior World Cup 2001

  Malaysia went in with high expectations, but went out with a whimper. We finished 12th! I think the highest we finished was 4th sometime in the 70s.

  Once again, we proved that we don't have what it takes : mental resilience is sorely lacking. The strategy used by New Zealand started the downfall: push us around, make us lose out cool, hence lose our concentration. Lost that one 2-3 after out goal was disallowed.

  India went on to win title, beating Argentina 6-1 in final. In the preliminaries, Argentina beat us 5-0!

• Squash: British Open 2001

  Ong Beng Hee, world no.9 again showed that he's the only Malaysian good enough to be world beaters, reaching the quarterfinals for the 2nd straight year. He was unlucky to lose 2-3 to world no.34 Chris Walker. Beng Hee is top ranked in Asia, and ranked even higher than Ahmed Barada! Whether he can emulate the likes of former Asian legends Jahangir and Jansher Khan remains to be seen.

  Last year he was beaten at the same stage by eventual champion David Evans. This year Evans and world no.1 Jonathon Power lost at an earlier stage.

• Badminton World Championships 2001, Seville, Spain

  Hendrawan,29 upset Peter Gade 15-6, 17-16 in final. Hendrawan only made the final when Taufik Hidayat, his opponent in the semis withdrew in the rubber game due to injury. Roslin Hashim, 25, world no.1, disappointed me by bowing out tamely in the 2nd round. He lost to Tam Kai Chuen (HK) 0-2 who should've been easy meat. In the next round, Kai Chuen was promptly beaten by eventual champ Hendrawan. He also struggled against lowly Gupta of India in the 1st round. So much for jogging in Seville's sweltering heat. Once again, Malaysian sportsmen's lack of mental strength is exposed at the highest level. In fact, Ewe Hock and Choon Hann did better by at least reaching the 3rd round.

  In the doubles, Lee Wan Wah/Choong Tan Fook and Jeremy Gan/Chan Chong Ming reached their target by at least recahing the semis. I was also satisfied with the results where they gave the 2 finalists a good run for their money, losing in close rubbers. In the final, Gunawan/? beat Dong Moon/Tae Kwon (Korea) by an astonishing 15-0, 15-13.

  Other notewhorthy results: red-hot favourite Gong Zhichao, who beat reigning world champion Camilla Martin 11-1, 11-0 in the Sudirman Cup was beaten. Camilla, needless to say, lost her crown.

• Table Tennis World Championships 2001, Osaka, Japan

China too good, winning both men and women's team cups. The only surprise was Sweden's loss 1-3 to Belgium in the semis, with Jorgen Persson losing twice, to Phillippe Saive and Jean-Michel Saive (Jan-Ove Waldner saved more blushes by beating Jean-Michel Saive), and China being extended 3-2 by South Korea in the other semi (Liu Guoliang and World No.1 Wang Liqin rested). Olympic gold medalist Kong Linghui amazingly lost twice in straight sets, first to Kim Taek Soo then to Oh Sang Eun.

Then, Kim Taek Soo ALMOST beating Liu Guozheng in a thrilling decider, 21-16, 22-24, 23-25! 

The final was an anticlimax where China walloped Belgium 3-0 easily.

• Boxing

The biggest upset in boxing history since Tyson's loss to Buster Douglas in 1990: Hasim "The Rock" Rahman KOed Lennox Lewis in the 5th round to take the IBF and WBC belts. 

"Prince" Naseem Hamed suffered his first loss.  

• Soccer: Tiger Cup 2000 (Nov 2000)

Top contenders: Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia

Final:

Thailand vs Indonesia

Semifinal

Thailand proved too good for Malaysia with 2-0 victory, scoring twice in 4 minutes. My observation: we gave them too much space, they defence was impenetrable, we lost possession easily, they had better ball control, and Kiatisuk Senamuang on form. Well, looks like the same old story: we are not good enough. Abd Rahman: time for you to go???

Indonesia also went to final, beating Vietnam 3-2 (golden goal).

Malaysia surprised me by qualifying for the semis! 0-0 Vietnam, 5-0 Laos, 3-2 Cambodia, 1-0 Singapore [defending champ].

Other results of interest: Thailand 4-1 Indonesia

• Boxing: World Title Bout (11 Nov 2000) - WBC & IBF

Lennox Lewis, 35 beat David Tua, 27 in a lopsided, tactical, boring 12-round UD. WBA holder is Evander Holyfield.

• Chess: World Title Match (Nov 2000)

Garry Kasparov, 37 lost his 15-year old world title to Vladimir Kramnik, 25. 16-game matchup, 2 won by Kramnik, the rest draw.

• Soccer: Asia Cup 2000 (Oct 2000)

Top contenders: Saudi Arabia, Japan, Korea, China, Iran, Kuwait

Preliminary matches of interest:  

Japan destroyed Saudi Arabia 4-1. If not for a disastrous own goal, the scoreline would've been very embarrassing! Then destroyed Uzbekistan 8-1.

Undisputed best team in South East Asia, Thailand (won 4th consecutive SEA Games soccer title in 1999) nearly beat Iran, but ended in 1-1 deadlock. Also drew 1-1 with Lebanon, but lost to Iraq 0-2. And I remember that friendly with Brazil. Just shows how wide the gap is. Losing 0-7, with the Thais looking bewildered all the time.

2nd best team in SE Asia, Indonesia drew 0-0 with Kuwait, then crumbled. Lost 0-4 to China first, then 0-3 to Korea.

Just imagine if Malaysia were to play in this tournament, the highest level of football available on the Asian continent. Holding Thailand to a draw would be considered a miracle, and we are having problems handling Indonesia, yet China beat Indonesia 4-0 and South Korea beat Indonesia 3-0 easily.

Quarterfinals

• China 3-1 Qatar comfortably.

• South Korea shocked Iran 2-1. Surging forward 1-0 at 71 minutes with a 35-yard screamer by Karim Bagheri, Iran looked set to win. Then the Koreans did it a la France v Italy in the Euro2000 final, when substitute Lee Dong-gook set up an extra time equalizer before scoring a golden goal himself.

• Japan 4-1 Iraq. Iraq took lead in 3rd minute but Japan proved irresistible.

• Saudi Arabia 3-2 Kuwait. Nawaf Al Temyat's golden goal settled it. Kuwait played their best match of the tournament, but it wasn't good enough to beat the resurgent Saudis.

Semifinals

• Japan 3-2 China (1-1). Japan set-up a repeat of the 1992 Asian Cup final against
  Saudi Arabia, scoring two goals in eight second half minutes to beat China 3-2 in the second semi-final. Trailing to Yang Chen’s strike early in the second half, Japan broke China’s resistance when Akinori Nishizawa and Tomokazu Myojin both found the net in quick succession in a match which saw the lead change hand three times. 

• Saudi Arabia 2-1 South Korea (0-0). Two goals in four minutes from 22-year old striker Talal Al Meshal sent Saudi Arabia through to a record fifth consecutive Asian Cup final. The Al Ahli striker struck in the closing stages of the second half to secure a dramatic 2-1 win over Korea Republic in Beirut’s City Sportive stadium. It was almost 3-0 four minutes from the end, when Sami Al Jaber flicked on Al Temyat’s free-kick and Al Wakad’s header was tipped over the bar.  Lee Dong-gook earned a consolation goal for Korea in the dying minutes, when he forced a header from Choi Sung-yong’s cross over the line at the second attempt.

3rd & 4th

• South Korea 1-0 China. Lee Dong-gook again provided the decisive strike for Korea as they defeated China 1-0 in the third place play-off in Beirut’s City Sportive. Lee moved ahead of Naohiro Takahara and Akinori Nishizawa to become the tournament’s outright leading scorer when he slid home his sixth goal of the Asian Cup in the 77th minute.

Final

• Japan 1-0 Saudi Arabia. Thriller final! Shigeyoshi Mochizuki only got to play in the
  Asian Cup final because of Junichi Inamoto’s suspension, but he popped up after 29 minutes to score the only goal in their 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in a thrilling
  end-to-end match in front of a packed crowd in Beirut’s City Sportive. Mochizuki got on the end of Shunsuke Nakamura’s free-kick to open the scoring after Saudi Arabian striker Hamzah Idris had missed an early penalty.

The AFC's Technical Study Group's Official AFC Asian All Star XI  

Attack

Naohiro Takahara (Japan) & Lee Dong-gook (Korea) - joint-top scorers. 

Midfield

Comprises the Iraq captain and Pohang Steelers player Abbas Obeid Jassim, Hiroshi Nanami of Japan and Jubilo Iwata and Karim Bagheri, the Iranian currently playing in the English Premier League for Charlton Athletic. 

Wing-backs

Nawaf Al Temyat of Al Hilal who has had a superb tournament for Saudi Arabia, and Shunsuke
Nakamura of Japan and Yokohama F. Marinos. 

Stoppers 

Jamal Mubarak of Kuwait and Al Tadamon and Mohammed Al Khilaiwi the rock at the heart of both Al Ittihad's and Saudi Arabia's defences. 

Meanwhile, unsurprisingly, the great Hong Myung-bo of Korea Republic and the J.League side Kashiwa Reysol. 

Goalkeeper

The giant 2.02 metre frame of China's Jiang Jin who plays his club football for Tianjin. 

• Sydney 2000 Olympics

Table Tennis: In the battle between the world's two best techincal and strategic players, Kong Linghui, 24 beat Jan-Ove Waldner, 35 21-16, 21-19, 17-21, 14-21, 21-13 in a thrilling final. On the way, Jan-Ove came back from the brink of defeat to beat 2nd seed Vladimir Samsonov, last set 21-19. Kong beat Jorgen Persson in the other semis 3-1.

Swimming: Peter Van Den Hoogenband stunned  Ian Thorpe in 200m freestyle.

100m: Maurice Greene became fastest human at 9.87, beating Ato Boldon (9.99) and Obadele Thompson. Marion Jones is in a class of her own at 10.75. Nearest rival, Ekaterini Thanou (Greece) at 11 plus. Lion Queen Merlene Ottey 4th.

400m: Michael Johnson attained living legend status with 43.84. Cathy Freeman became sporting icon at 49.11.

• British Open Golf 2000

  Tiger Woods - greatest golfer ever? Even Jack Nicklaus didn't achieve these heights. At 24, captured the Grand Slam of Golf - all 4 major golf tournaments. First ever golfer not to hit the bunkers. 19 under par (67-66-67-69).

• Soccer: European Championships 2000

Euro 2000 All-Star team shortlist: 

The growing abundance of talent is reflected in some notable omissions from the list
of 50 contenders for the MasterCard All-Star team. These include two Turks -
goalkeeper Rustu and forward Arif, Belgian right back Deflandre, French flanker
Lizarazu, Dutch wing back Zenden, Romanian prodigy Mutu and Spain's colossus in
defence, Abelardo. 

Goalkeepers: Barthez (France), Van der Sar (Holland), Toldo (Italy). 

Defenders: Djukic (Yugoslavia), Blanc, Desailly, Thuram (France), Frank de Boer,
Reiziger, Stam (Holland), Cannavaro, Nesta, Maldini (Italy), Costa, Couto, Chivu
(Portugal). 

Midfielders: Zidane, Petit (France), Cocu, Davids (Holland), Stojkovic (Yugoslavia),
Okan (Turkey), Nedved (Czech Rep), Rui Costa, Bento, Conceicao, Figo (Portugal),
Guardiola, Mendieta (Spain), Munteanu (Romania), Beckham (England), Totti,
Albertini (Italy), Ljungberg (Sweden), Mykland (Norway), Wilmots (Belgium),
Hamann (Germany). 

Forwards: Raul (Spain), Kluivert, Bergkamp, Overmars (Holland), Milosevic
(Yugoslavia), Zahovic (Slovenia), Henry, Anelka (France), Hakan Suker (Turkey),
Nuno Gomes (Portugal), Inzaghi, Del Piero (Italy), Smicer (Czech Rep). 

Stylish Portugal beat Turkey 2-0. Even Bull of the Bosphorus Hasan Sukur can't do anything this time.
Italy clinically won 2-0 against Romania. Georghe Hagi shown red card.

Meanwhile, Holland destroys Yugoslavia 6-1. Kluivert snatches a hattrick, propelling him to the top of the goalscorer's chart. The Yugoslavs have some of the best footballers in Europe in Mihaljovic, Milosevic etc but the Oranje raised their game to an incredible level.

France 2-1 Spain but the Spainards could very well have forced extra time if not for star striker Raul shooting over the bar in a last-minute penalty.

This championship is fast turning into one of the best ever. Goals flow and the teams decide to play an attacking, ball-on-ground open game.

England beat Germany for the first time since the 1966 World Cup final. Shearer's header from yet another perfect feed off Beckham's fabled right foot ensured that this won't be his last cap. Not having scored in the last 8 internationals, this would surely be a relief for him. Germany went down fighting but lady luck smiled on England this time, with all of the Germans' efforts either going wide or found an English defender in the way.

In 2 incredible matches, Portugal recovered from 2 goals down to beat England 3-2. Not since 1970 has England surrendered a 2-goal lead. Then, 10-man Yugoslavia went one better by snatching a 3-3 draw against Slovenia after trailing 0-3 for an hour.

Italy squeezes past Turkey (basically Galatasaray) 2-1. Alessandro Del Piero superb.

France outclasses Denmark 3-0. The French looked even better than when they won the World Cup. Zidane sublime as ever. Even Schmeichel can't do anything when the gulf in class is just too great. Just look at the French star-studded teamsheet: Barthez, Lizarazu, Thuram, Zidane, Henry, Djorkaeff. 

Holland beat Czech Rep 1-0 in a nailbiting match, where they traded punches equally. The scoreline does not do justice to the actual match. Holland dominated the 1st half in such a way that harked back to their glory days in the 70s. Then the Czechs struck back with a vengeance in the 2nd, the woodwork saving France on at least 2 occasions.. Holland's teamsheet would strike terror in most team's hearts: Van Der Sar, Stam, F De Boer, R De Boer, Seedorf, Cocu, Davids, Bergkamp, Overmars, Kluivert.  

• European Cup 2000

 Real Madrid wins it for the 8th time, beating Valencia in an all-Spanish final 3-0. 

• Thomas Cup 2000

The dream to win the cup after 8 long years of waiting has been shattered.

Malaysia lost 1-4 to Denmark in the deciding match. Choon Hann simply outclassed by Gade-Christensen. Tan Fook/Wan Wah brought a ray of hope. Ewe Hock losing again, this time to Hoyer-Larsen. The 2nd doubles was a thriller. In patches, I thought I was seeing a level of badminton unseen since the 80's. Kim Hock/Soon Kit wilted and the victorious Danes were esctatic. Earlier, lost 2-3 to South Korea and struggled to beat lowly India 4-1.

Playing under tremendous pressure & expectation of whole nation, the boys dished out generally dismal performances. The debacle of 1996 was repeated where we too failed to qualify for the semis. Now it's back to the drawing board for 2002. Hopefully we can bounce back like we did in 1998.

In the semis, China beat South Korea 3-1, thanks to an upset win by Zhang Wei/Zhang Jun over 1999 World Championship runners-up Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung 15-9, 12-15, 15-9 in 75 minutes. Meanwhile, Indonesia had a tough time against Denmark in the other semis. After world no.2 Hendrawan lost a titanic battle against world champ Peter Gade 12-15, 17-16, 15-11 in 85 minutes I knew it would be a tough night for the Indons. Later, when Jesper Larsen/Jens Eriksen played their hearts out to shock once-invincible Chandra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto in a heart-stopping 8-15, 17-15, 17-16, 73 minute win I thought the Danes might just achieve the impossible. However, Marleve Mainaky saved the day for the Indons with an equally close score against Kenneth Jonassen 15-14, 15-13. Jonassen's facial expression as he failed to return Mainaky's drive to give Indonesia the ticket to the final said it all.
The final was an anticlimax with Indonesia simply too classy for the Chinese. 3-0 and Indonesia brings the cup to Jakarta for the 4th consecutive time. The only highlight was in the first match when Hendrawan was involved in another epic, this time triumphing over All-England champion Xia Xuanze 11-15, 15-7, 15-9 in 84 minutes.

• Formula I 2000

  Michael Schumacher becomes 1st Ferrari driver to win the first 3 GPs in a row. Thanks to a superfast pit stop (>2 secs faster than nearest challenger Mika Hakkinen) he beat Hakkinen by 1.1 secs.

• Badminton: Japan Open 2000 

  Roslin Hashim has a knack for knocking out top-grade opponents but losing steam at the end. Look, he beat Fung Permadi, then world champ Sun Jun, then world no.1 Peter Gade-Christensen 2-1 in the quarters. But as expected, he fell to bogeyman Hendrawan in the semis 1-2.

  Soccer: Asia Cup Qualifying Round 

  As we all expected, Malaysia falls down when it comes to the crunch. In fact when we emerged undefeated in 3 matches at home, I already envisioned us being trampled on the return leg. Rather than switching to a higher gear like the others, we break ours. What are we made of?

  First, losing 2-3 to Taiwan is already bad enough. At this point, I was expecting the team to react like a wounded tiger and hammer North Korea. Instead, what do we get - falling 1-4 to North Korea is the pits! I won't even bother with the match against Thailand on their home soil. We need to win by a 3 goal margin and hope Taiwan hold the Koreans. But us losing by a 3 goal margin is much more likely.

  End result: Thailand edged us 3-2 and North Korea beat Taiwan 1-0 earlier. So even if we beat Thailand 3-0 we're still out. So, balik kampung and Abd Rahman faces an uncertain future as coach.

• All-England Badminton Championship 2000

  Men's singles: The Malaysians showed that their mental strength yet again let them down and showed how ill-prepared they are for the Thomas Cup in May. All bowed out in the 3rd round. Roslin lost in the first to an unknown. In the final, Xia Xuanze beat Taufik Hidayat,18 15-6, 15-13.

  Men's doubles final: Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock reached the 3rd round, losing to world no.1 Chandra Wijaya/Gunawan. The final is an all-Korean affair: Ha Tae-Kwon/Kim Dong-Moon beat Lee Dong-Soo/Yoo Yong-Sung 15-4, 13-15, 17-15.

  For list of past All-England winners (since 1899) click here.

• World and European footballer of the year 1999

  Rivaldo, 27 (real name Vitor Barbosa Ferreira) guided Brazil to the Copa America and Barcelona to the Spanish league title, and was the second Brazilian after Ronaldo in 1997 to receive the award. Manchester United's David Beckham was second. The
  England midfielder was among the leading favourites after his team won the European Cup, the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Intercontinental Cup titles. AC Milan's Andriy Shevchenko of Ukraine was third with 64 points.

  Rivaldo earned 219 points to Beckham's 154. The Brazilian, who was fifth last year in the same poll, takes over from France's Zinedine Zidane, who had his 1999 season marred by a knee injury. None of the three best-placed players of 1998, Zidane,
  Ronaldo or Croatian Davor Suker, are featured among the top 10 this year.

  Rivaldo had already been voted world player of the year by readers of World Soccer magazine. 

   

• World Table Tennis Team Championship 1999

  Men's final: Sweden 3-2 China in 3 hours+

  What a classic final! Sweden's 5th crown, and first since 1993. Jorgen Persson defeated world champion Liu Guoliang 17-21, 21-17, 21-18 in a thrilling deciding game, after the Chinese clawed back from 0-2 down to even things up to 2-2. He also defeated Kong Linghui in another match. The tournament's MVP Jan-Ove Waldner got things up and running by also defeating Liu in the opener. The victory marked triumph of experience over youthful skill. Persson and Walder are both in the mid-30's while Guoliang is 22 and world no.2 Linghui only 23. My only disappointment was world no.1 Vladimir Samsonov (Belarus) failing to find his form in this meet.

  The women's final was a foregone conclusion even before the tournament started. Only Taiwan's Chen Jing had any measure of skill to even challenge the likes of Wang Nan and Li Ju. In the end, the expected battle of the titans between world no.1 Wang Nan and former olympic champ and world no.5 Chen Jing ended in a near-farce as Wang totally destroyed Chen 21-7, 21-11. China 3-1 Taiwan, for their 12th crown in 13 attempts.

• Rugby World Cup 1999

  Selected result website: http://www.rugbyrugby.com

  Final: Australia comprehensively beat France 35-12. Tim Horan (Aussie centre) named MVP of the tournament. France were not allowed to display their flair at running rugby, where each attempt was brought down by ruthless tackling by the world's best defence, which proves that defence is the key to winning rugby's top prize.

  3 & 4th placing: the All Blacks suffered another dent in their pride after going down 18-22 to South Africa, ending the reign of John Hart as coach.

  rugbyrugby.com report:

  "World Cup - South Africa 22 v New Zealand 18 Springboks salvage pride
  CARDIFF, Nov 4 - In almost impossible circumstances for the greatest rivals in the history of rugby, the Springboks and the All Blacks tried as hard as their bruised prides would allow to produce a match worthy of their great history - and just about succeeded.
  A wobbly, uncertain start from both sides reflected the bizarre nature of their third-place play-off between the fiercest rivals in the game but as the match began to unwind an obvious intention to play an open game became clear.

  Andrew Merhtens opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a straightforward penalty but any thoughts that the All Blacks might begin to dominate were dispelled less than 60 seconds later when Springbok fullback Percy Montgomery landed an ugly, unlikely but welcome drop goal which struggled over the crossbar via an upright. Henry Honiball and Merhtens exchanged penalties midway through the first period to level the scores again at 6-6 but one moment of outstanding, individual magic produced South Africa's try of the tournament in the 28th minute. Diminutive winger Breyton Paulse, attacking from deep in his own half, chipped a kick over the heads of the All Black defence and won a stunning sprint for the ball from where he fly-hacked ahead to the verge of the All Black tryline. Just as Christian Cullen appeared to have cleared the danger, he fumbled and Paulse pounced, grabbing the loose ball and plunging over for a stunning score. Honiball converted easily for a 13-6 lead.

  Merhtens landed two more penalties to reduce the deficit although Honiball added a second penalty penalty to keep the Springboks in a four point lead at the break. Merhtens punished two further Springbok indiscretions in the 52nd and 67th minutes of the second period to threaten a comeback but Honiball landed another penalty and Montgomery, amazingly, produced an equally scrappy looking drop goal to round out the scoring.

  As the final minutes ticked down the All Blacks threw everyting into attack, but the Springboks held on for a win that in reality meant little. It might well mean the end of the road for New Zealand coach John Hart though as the knives were already out for him after the loss in the semi-final to the French. Only a big victory over their fiercest rivals could have saved hois job and now he will have to face an angry mob on his arrival in New Zealand. For South Africa it was slight vindication for coach Nick Mallett and he has probably done enough to save his job, but next season's Tri-Nations will be crucial.

  Scorers:
  South Africa - Try: Breyton Paulse, Conversion: Henry Honiball, Penalties: Honiball (3), Drop-goals:
  Percy Montgomery (2)
  New Zealand - Penalties: Andrew Mehrtens (6)"

  Semifinals: In surely the biggest upset in RWC history, France demolished New Zealand 43-31 to advance to the final! Remarkably, the last time they met, France received a 7-54 hiding. France are on course for a double of sorts, after winning the soccer world cup last year.

  Nzrugby.com report:

  "The dream is over: French send All Blacks packing in an historic upset
  1999 Rugby World Cup, Semifinal. 1 November, Twickenham
  Halftime: All Blacks 17-10
  By Paul Moor, TVNZ New Media sports editor.

  New Zealand dreams of World Cup glory have been dashed in the semifinals by a brilliant second half blitz that saw rank outsiders France crush the All Blacks 43-31 in front of a stunned capacity crowd at Twickenham. New Zealand led 17-10 at halftime, but the French came out and just blew them off the park with a totally dominant second spell. Not even two brilliant efforts by Jonah Lomu could save the All Blacks as France stormed back from 10-24 down to put on 33 points in just 31 minutes to stun the rugby world and set up a final showdown with Australia next week.

  The key to the French victory was their ability to put New Zealand under pressure and the raging hot World Cup favourites were unable to respond. They exposed the All Black defence in behind the front line and forced turnovers and mistakes. First-five Christophe Lamaison had a personal haul of 28 points, including a try, four conversions, three penalties and two drop goals that came at crucial times early in the second half. Lamaison's performance was even more special given that he didn't miss a kick
  all day.

  While their backs scored the tries, it was France's forward pack that laid the foundation for the win. They took the All Blacks on in the ruck and mauls and defended like demons close in, never allowing the New Zealanders to get a roll on. None was better than openside flanker Olivier Magne, who was simply the best forward on the park. He rank hard onto the ball, tackled all day and was a constant thorn in the side of the New
  Zealanders in broken play. He also figured prominently in two key pieces of play that sealed the match for his side.

  With the All Blacks clinging to a 24-22 lead, he stole the ball off Jeff Wilson in a maul after the fullback had taken the wrong option from a counterattack and been smothered by the defence. From the ruck, the pass went left and a high bounce from a chip kick found the flying Christophe Dominici who went over to give France a lead they never relinquished.

  Then with 75 minutes gone, Magne then set up his side's final try, swooping on the ball after the All Black backline again broke down. He toed the ball downfield, outpacing Wilson to kick ahead again for flying winger Phillipe Bernart-Salles to hammer the final nail in the coffin. Magne's fellow forwards were also in awesome form. Lock Abdel Benazzi was a colossus in the tight and the loose, Marc Lievremont at blindside was outstanding, while the front row more than held their own at scrum time.

  They also dominated at the lineouts, not only winning their own throws but causing the All Black lineout even more problems. Out wide, the French backs were rarely exposed on defence by the much vaunted New Zealand back three. And while their tackling was
  generally sure - except for Lomu's two tries - their pace and vision exposed the second line of New Zealand tacklers on more than one occasion. As for the New Zealanders, well, Lomu can now add a couple of zeros to whichever of the many contracts he's been offered he decides to sign. But the big fella aside, All Black heroes were few and far between when the heat went on. Lock Norm Maxwell was one. He threw himself into everything with disregard for his body, pulling off more tackles than an international lock should be able to while still putting in the hard yards when he had to. Blindside flanker Reuben Thorne grows in stature and confidence with every outing, while at centre Christian Cullen had a big game on defence, using his pace to save the All Black bacon on a couple of occasions. But perhaps the All Blacks' best ally, in the first half anyway, was referee Jim Fleming who gave the French an absolute caning for the opening 40 minutes with a penalty count of 12-2. Sure he tried to even things up in the second half, but it was a measure of the talent and commitment of both teams that they didn't allow Fleming to spoil the game with his constant shouting and loud blasts on the whistle.
  Even so, he's still likely to be running onto Millennium Stadium for the final - which is more than the All Blacks will be.

  Their next assignment is the meaningless playoff for third against South Africa on Friday morning, while France have a week to recover from their heroics before taking on another Southern Hemisphere giant, Australia, in the last big match of the millennium."

  Rugbyrugby.com report:

  "World Cup - France 43 New Zealand 31 (halftime 10-17) - France cause biggest upset in RWC history.

  LONDON, Oct 31 - France came back from 24-10 down to beat the All Blacks by 43-31, scoring 33 unanswered points, in the World Cup semi-final to clinch a thrilling win - quite possibly one of the greatest wins in the history of the game.
  
  No one gave the French a chance to beat the All Blacks and indeed it looked as if the experts were right as the New Zealanders took a commanding 24-10 lead five minutes into the second half of this epic match, but superb ball control and daring running left the All Blacks reeling.
  
  The French scored an unanswered 19 points in a ten minute spell that pulled them into an unlikely 29-24 lead.
  
  It all started when flyhalf Christophe Lamaison slotted two drop-goals in the space of a minute to get his team back into the match. He then added two penalties and suddenly France were within two points and the All Blacks were looking less and less confident.
  
  A break way try by left wing Chistophe Dominici put the French into a lead they would never surrender and the shook New Zealanders who suddenly became frozen with fear.
  
  The first half began with the French scoring the first points from a penalty by Lamaison in the 3rd minute. The New Zealanders then replied with two penalties by the 18th minute from Andrew Mehrtens before Lamaison scored the first of their four tries after stunning break by Dominici who made 40 metres before being hauled down from behind by Christian Cullen.
  
  The lead was short lived as the All Blacks responded with another penalty and then the first of two tries to left wing Jonah Lomu came in the 24th minute putting the All Blacks into 14-10 lead. Mehrtens added another penalty for a 17-10 halftime lead.
  
  Lomu's second try early in the second half put the New Zealanders 14 points ahead.
  
  France didn't take a step back and through their wonderful forward effort - particularly from lock Abdel Benazzi flank Olivier Magne who were inspirational as they led every drive.
  
  After the Dominici try there were a further two tries for Richard Dourthe and Phillipe Bernat-Salles that sealed the fate of the New Zealanders and ensured that the Tricolors will be at Cardiff on November 6 to face the Wallabies in the World Cup final.
  
  Scorers:
  France - Tries: Christophe Lamaison, Christophe Dominici, Richrd Dourthe, Philippe Bernat-Salles, Conversions: Lamaison (4) Penalties: Lamaison (3), Drop-goals: Lamaison (2).
  New Zealand - Tries: Jonah Lomu (2), Jeff Wilson, Conversions: Andrew Mehrtens (2), Penalties: Mehrtens (4). "

  Other selected results:

  Australia 27-21 South Africa, in the other semifinal. Another epic thriller with the fulltime score tied at 18-18.

  Group match: England went down 16-30 to New Zealand (the All Blacks). Jonah Lomu, 24 again the destroyer. Only 1 try this time though.

  France 28-19 Fiji, Samoa 38-31 Wales.

  The fact that the undisputed kings of Asian rugby, Japan show no signs of being world-beaters makes one wonder: what would happen if Malaysia is in the fray? Currently: 15-64 Wales, 9-43 Samoa.

• Badminton Grand Prix Finals 1999

  Peter Gade-Christensen, 23 won it for Europe since Morten Frost-Hansen last did it in 1984. Gade-Christensen outplayed surprise finalist Marleve Mainaky, 27 15-11, 15-3. Earlier, world champion and world no.1, Sun Jun bowed out in the 1st round.

  Meanwhile, Sigit Budiarto and Tony Gunawan beat Ha Tae Kwon (6' 3")and Kim Dong Moon, the world no.1 and world champs 2-1 in the doubles final.

  Malaysia surprised everybody by making the semis in both the singles (Wong Choon Hann) and doubles (Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock), both losing to the eventual champions.

   

• World Championship Boxing

  14/11/1999: Heavyweight category: Lennox Lewis scored the defining victory of his career by winning a unanimous decision against Evander Holyfield, unifying all 3 major titles (IBF, WBA, WBC). There were boos after the result was announced, with many expecting Holyfield, by far the more aggressive opponent, to get the decision. If the result generated enough controversy we might see a third rematch next year!

  In an exciting but not-in-the-classic-category duel, Lewis appeared to be close to getting knocked out in the 7th, while the same could be said of Holyfield in the 9th.

• Formula 1 1999

  Last leg at Suzuka, Japan: Mika Hakkinen is irrepressible as he won by 5 clear seconds ahead of Schumacher and Irvine. Hakkinen 74 points, Irvine 70. However, there is some consolation for Ferrari as they claimed their 1st manufacturer's championship in 16 years. Ferrari 124 points, McLaren-Mercedes 120.

  Inaugural Malaysian GP at Sepang (2nd last leg): dramatic turn of events - 1st and 2nd finisher, Irvine & Schumacher, both of Ferrari disqualified for having cars 10mm wider than the standard. 3rd placer, Hakkinen got a nice surprise, 1st placing and the World Champ title dropping on his lap. And when we thought all that champagne has gone to waste, the FIA reinstated the original results!

•  

• Mountain Running: Kinabalu Climbathon 1999

  Ian Holmes (UK) made it 3 in a row, but no new record. Mountain king Marcel Matanin (Slovakia) reached the top in 1:41, 7 minutes before anyone else! However he finished 3rd after suffering from a case of "dead legs" 500m before the end. Closest finishes ever, with only 8 seconds separating champ and 3rd place. Guianus Salagan finished 20th in 3:09 (flu 2 days before event). Yusof Simbat, at 7th (2:56) the best Sabahan and Malaysian finisher. Another Sabahan, Madamin Gihun finished 10th. Full results for men and women. I even have the 1998 results for men and women.

• Mountain Running: World Mountain Running Trophy 1999

  Venue: Kinabalu National Park. Marco de Gasperi (Italy) the champ. Defending champion Jonathon Wyatt (NZ) finished 7th. In women's category, Malaysia's hope Yuan Yufang finished 27th.

• Badminton: ABC Championship 1999

  Chen Hong defeats Ong Ewe Hock 15-10, 15-8 in final. Ewe Hock defeated Indra Wijaya and Marleve Mainaky on way to final. In doubles, Soon Kit/Kim Hock lost to Zhang Wei/Jun in quarters. Kim Dong Moon is emerging as the next great doubles specialist.

• Badminton: Singapore Open 1999

  Lone Malaysian singles falls in quarters: Ewe Hock lost to Heryanto Arbi 1-2, who went on to beat Taufik Hidayat 2-1 in final. But Wan Wah & Tan Fook cheered me up by beating bogeymen Ricky & Rexy, and went on to beat Sigit and C. Wijaya 15-7, 14-15, 15-12 in final.

• Pan Pacific Swimming Championship 1999

  Ian Thorpe, 16, possibly the greatest swimmer of all time, breaks 3 world records in 3 days.

• World Athletics Championship 1999

  100m (m) - Michael Greene - USA (9.80) - 2nd fastest time in history; Bruny Surin - Canada (9.84), Dwain Chambers - Britain (9.97). Greene ensured "fastest human" title is his.

  200m (m) - Michael Greene won in 19.91. Possibly didn't do his best due to absence of Ato Boldon and Frank Fredericks. 2nd place went to a Brazilian in 20.00 & 3rd to a 20-year old Nigerian in 20.11.

  100m (w) - Marion Jones (10.70) - 5th fastest time in history. Greatest women's 100m race in hostory - top 6 finished below 11 seconds.

  400m (m) - Michael Johnson, 31 breaks Butch Reynolds' 11-year-old record, clocking 43.18s. Silver medallist (Brazilian) one second behind. Jerome Young finished 4th due to calf strain after 10 m. Johnson went one better than Carl Lewis (total 8 golds) by snatching his 9th gold in  world c'ships in the 4x400 - 2:56++ - best time of the year.

• 20th SEA Games Official website; Badminton: How Malaysia managed to lose easily 0-3 to Indonesia in the team final is very disappointing. Wong Choon Hann's 5-15, 2-15 loss to Taufik Hidayat and Rashid Sidek's 3-set loss to Rony Agustinus is deplorable! Choon Hann also lost in the singles final 1-2 to Taufik, albeit with a more respectable score. Now how many 18-year olds in Malaysia can play badminton like Taufik? That's your challenge boys! You may not like his cockiness, but a boy doing jumping smashes and fancy returns in a final of an international sporting event speakes volumes about his level of confidence.

• Parma celebrate summer with 31-0 victory
  ROME, July 28 (Reuters) - It was a score more suited to a rugby match than a soccer game. UEFA Cup holders Parma warmed up for the Italian season with a 31-0 victory over local side Morgex 31-0 during their summer retreat in the Alps. Croatian forward Mario Stanic scored eight of Parma's goals, new signing Marco Di Vaio weighed in with four while Argentine striker Hernan Crespo hit a hat-trick. Parma's win was the biggest recorded by a Serie A side this year but by no means the only one-sided rout. Fiorentina thrashed a team from the Alpine resort of Bormio 15-0 and beat another from nearby Valtellina 12-0. Venezia won one game 17-0 while newly-promoted Torino have a goal difference of 85-1 from six friendlies played against teams from the Val D'Aosta near the French border. Bari won their opening friendly 14-0 while Cagliari triumphed 12-0 in theirs. Piacenza have hammered village teams 16-1 and 13-0 this month. Big Italian teams have a tradition of retreating to the calm and relative cool of the Alps in July and August. Matches against local sides form an important but not always representative part of their training. Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/m/world/news/reuters/990728/reu-italy.html

• Play chess against world champ Gary Kaparov over the Net

• Rhino forum at egroups.com

• Badminton latest news

• soccernet.com

• Ahmad Sayuthi's heartfelt posting at soc.culture.malaysia: Forgive me for being sentimental but reading about Manchester United's success, South Korea and Japan's exploits etc. inevitably results in comparisons with our local scene. The more matured among us must surely remember those glorious footballing days in the 70s when we were actually on par with South Korea and a bit ahead of Japan. Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore?  These are teams which would be happy to lose by not more than three goals. Oh, those fond memories of the 1972 Olympic qualification round. We beat Japan 3-0 and Korea 1-0 to qualify. And the 1974 Teheran Asian Games when we won the bronze medal. The Merdeka Cup Tournament then also was a big deal. A Malaysia-South Korea final was always eagerly looked forward to and would be the dominant topic everywhere. The post-match analysis would go on for days. There were the sweet as well as the bitter matches. Many of us will still remember the 1972 final when Santokh Singh headed an own goal. Korea went 2-0 before Malaysia pulled one back when defender Soh Chin Aun took on a striker's role. How we willed for an equalizer. Korea even resorted to time-wasting tactics like exaggerating injuries and taking their own sweet time to take freekicks and throw-ins. Yes, they were THAT scared of a Malaysian comeback! Well, South Korea went on to qualify for the World Cup no less and Japan's youth team reached the final of this year's world tournament (BTW, Malaysia "qualified" a few years ago by being hosts). Us? Beating Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore is now regarded as being successful And South Korea now would never even consider sending its first team for a match against us. So much has been written and discussed about what went wrong, ideas on how to improve given, with some implemented but there has been no improvement. We have had the semi-pro and fully pro, a fulltime national team, foreign coaches, players being highly paid etc. without much success. Now, we can only reminisce about the likes of Syed Ahmad, Shaharuddin and Namat Abdullah, Chin Aun, Wong Choon Wah, Mokhtar Dahari and the other giants. You can be sure that anyone chosen to represent Malaysia was the best available for a certain position (though they were usually from the Selangor team), and they wore the national jersey with pride. The current crop of players are so similar in skills (lack of?) that replacing them with others would not result in much difference - better or worse. In short, there are no outstanding and indispensable players. It's true that football is a team game but you always need a few real
  stars available to be successful. Is there any such player available now?

• Badminton World Championship 99: Sun Jun,22 is king of the world. Killed off resurgent Fung Permadi 15-6, 15-13. Dane challenge snuffed out in semis. Hoyer-Larsen lost tamely to Sun Jun, who then angered the home crowd by remarking that matches with the 33-year old are getting "easier and easier". Fung played the match of his life, gambling in the rubber against world no.1 Peter Gade-Christensen 15-11, 1-15, 15-14. Meanwhile, Ong Ewe Hock baffled Malaysians with his inept performance in the first round of the singles competition. Losing 13-15, 3-15 in 45 mins to an unheralded Ukrainian opponent in a tournament of this importance and considering Ewe Hock is uninjured and heads and shoulders above his opponent in terms of skill and experience, this is totally unacceptable! Ewe Hock mumbled something like: "I also don't know what happened". Morten Frost put it more succintly: "he defended too much and his game was in disarray". Rashid, Choon Hann, Hock Kin, Soon Kit & company did much better.

• European Cup Final 99: Man Utd 2-1 Bayern Munich. Bayern outplayed United for more than an hour, with Mario Basler scoring from a freekick in the 6th. Then Sheringham and Solskjaer stunned Beckenbauer ("horrible defeat") with goals when the match was officially over. Alex Ferguson, needless to say, is very proud of this never-say-die performance. And he's 350K pounds richer for winning the treble (that's RM2.1 million).

• Malaysia 0-2 Arsenal. Could've whacked us if they wanted to. The Gunners played at half pace but still too much for us.   2nd goal demonstrates this: Azmin dived the wrong way trying to save Petit's shot from outside penalty box. This is rare, if ever happens! Penalty kick mungkinlah!

• Sudirman cup: China champions again. Newly promoted Malaysia relegated again, losing to Sweden. The thriller match surely must belong to the China-Denmark battle. From almost certain defeat, China bounced back. Highlight is Sun Jun's superb victory over Peter Gade.