RUSSIANS CONQUEST

SPORTS PUZZLE

RUSSIA PRODUCES WORLD'S WOMEN TENNIS CHAMPIONS

The year 2004 in the tennis calendar saw the Russians conquest of world tennis trophies.

In June, Anastasia Myskina captured the French Open championship; then came the low rank Maria Sharapova who shock two times champion Serena Williams in the Wimbledon championship. On Saturday 11th Sept., we saw the US Open championship women's singles final between two Russian dame - 19-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova (9th. Seed) beat 6th seed Elena Dementleva in the US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York.

How is it that Russia who is having a sick economic health being able to produce world champions in so many sports (Gymnastic, wrestling, athletics, swimming, etc)???
Is it that the sportsmen and women in Russia being paid or rewarded richly, or is it that they are so passionate in sports and so determine to win?

In the recent Olympic in Athens, China's unheralded (20-year-old) Xing Huina won the gold medal in the 10,000m final & Liu Xiang became the first man from China to win an Olympic athletics gold medal in Athens after scorching to victory in the men's 110m hurdles with a world record-equalling time of 12.91.

Did the Government of China offers financial reward to their atheletes and sportspersons?

How is it that these countries keep producing world champions and are able to break the Asian taboos in sports such as athletics, tennis, golf, etc which are traditionally considered the American and European strongholds?

South Korean football team managed to enter the semi-final in the World cup, Vijay Singh of Fiji became the World No. 1 in golf, China has the long distance champion in 10,000m and 110m hurdles, and springboard (swimming), etc.

As for Malaysia, we had once qualified for the Olympic 30 years ago, once we were in the semi-finals of World Hockey Championship, many times, we had been world champion and All-England champions in Badminton, including the Thomas cup. Now, our football is in shambles, hockey in hybernation and badminton a bedtime story.

What Happens?

Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said believes the job of elevating the status of Malaysian sport in the world arena is too heavy for the shoulders of just one Ministry. She believes that the damage on Malaysian sport over the decades has become simply too colossal for the Sports Ministry alone to deal with. On Sunday (12th Sept)Azalina called for the setting up of a Cabinet Committee to help turn Malaysian athletes into world-class material, and help breathe life into a dying sports culture. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday gave his nod for the setting up of a Cabinet Committee on sports. The functions of the committee have not been outlined, but according to Azalina, the committee will seriously look into the welfare of the athletes and ways to convince people that sports can become a lucrative career. The proposed sports committee would consist the various ministries such as Sports, Education, Health, Housing and Local Government and Prime Minister's Department (National Unity).

NST reporter talk to former Malaysian All-England Doubles Champion for his views and this is what he had to say:

“I was once asked in a seminar why, as a former great, I didn’t encourage my children to take up sport seriously. I told them that while we served the country unselfishly, we suffered after playing careers were over, and I didn’t want that for my children."

Is that the only reason of the failure? But, our badminton players were rewarded richly over the last decades and we don't see results? In football, FAM created the semi-pro; spents hundreds of millions over the last 10 or more years, and we are struggling to win the SEA Games; We are nowhere in Asian Games and unheard of in the Olympic and World Cup. Hockey, we ....are hybernating, soundly asleep. Golf and tennis, we have the fields and courts only for pleasure time.

Sieh Kok Chi, the OCM secretary had this to say:

"The fault lies within a weak structure, fuelled by a negative mentality, which leads us to believe that money is everything in sport."

Can the sports committe make things better or are we creating another set of officials to mess around with the money allocated for the game? Maybe, Pak Lah is reducing development projects and politicians need to look to sports project for a new set of income.

To recap what Kok Chi said: "The fault lies within a weak structure and a weak management."

More money won't produce champions.

Sports is definitely a lucrative career if you are good enough to beat Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh in golf, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova in Tennis, and achieve the equals of Liu Xiang and Xing Huina in athletes.

But to achieve these feats, we need to have the "Right System" and the "Right People" to manage the system - the people, the money and the machinery in sports; and you won't have them (the right people) as long as the politicans are in control.

We need true professionals to run sports associations, National Sports Council and OCM; people with the right mentality and passion for the game; people who had no personal interest in the sports allocation and people who are willing to sacrifice themselves for results sake, and most of all, people who are not after a Datukship and a political & ministerial career via sports.