US men seek to end Grand Slam misery in 2014 US Open |
- US men seek to end Grand Slam misery in 2014 US Open
- Guardiola wary of second season syndrome at Bayern
- Malaysia to make effort in turning the tide of women leaving workforce
- Liberia president orders curfew over Ebola outbreak
- Simeone: Di Maria Real Madrid’s best player
- So what’s the fuss about?
| US men seek to end Grand Slam misery in 2014 US Open Posted: 19 Aug 2014 06:02 PM PDT
Andy Roddick's 2003 US Open triumph marks the last time an American man hoisted a Grand Slam trophy. For a nation that has produced 51 men's major winners in the Open era — more than twice as many as any other country — it's a baffling lack of success. For America's current number one, 15th-ranked John Isner, it's not something to dwell on as the final Grand Slam of the year approaches. "American tennis right now isn't the best it has been," Isner said in July. "I'm just worried about myself right now and trying to get back into the top 10." Unfortunately, Isner's build-up to the Open hasn't gone as planned. The former world number nine won the title in Atlanta, but won only one match match in Washington, Toronto and Cincinnati combined before heading to Winston-Salem for a last tune-up. Even with a top-10 ranking, and with defending champion Rafael Nadal sidelined by injury, Isner would hardly be a pre-Open favorite lining up against the likes of world number one Novak Djokovic, 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and former Wimbledon winner Andy Murray. While Isner lays claim to a Grand Slam historic footnote — having played the longest match in major history with his marathon first-round win over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 — his best Grand Slam performance was a quarter-final run at the 2011 US Open. He insists that his status as the top-ranked American doesn't press him to try to match the feats of an earlier generation of stars — Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang. "I don't think it puts too much pressure on me," he says. "I was never pegged to be the next number one guy." If he's not, however, then who is? That dubious honor once belonged to Donald Young, who in 2007 was the youngest player to finish the year ranked in the top 100 at 18 years and five months. Young was ranked as high as 38th in the world in 2012, but had fallen to 202nd last year and worked his way back into the top 100 via a detour to the Challenger circuit and is now the second-ranked American at 46th in the world. Steve Johnson has also squeezed into the top 50 as the US Open approaches, at number 49, while 21-year-old Jack Sock has progressed from 100th to start the year to his current 55th. Sock teamed with Vasek Pospisil to win the Wimbledon men's doubles title, but has yet to reach an ATP level final. Assessing the bleak landscape prior to the French Open, Courier told the New York Times that lack of talent was not the problem. "There are plenty of talented players who are not getting the most out of their talent," the US Davis Cup captain said, declining to name names. A lackluster French Open showing, with no American men in the quarter-finals, was followed by a dismal Wimbledon campaign that saw ninth-seeded Isner, the last US man standing, knocked out in the third round. A similarly uninspiring performance would be more keenly felt at Flushing Meadows, where native sons like Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe once set the New York nights alight. Even so, Isner, for one, relishes the challenge on the hardcourts of his homeland. "This is my favorite time of year," he says. — AFP  |
| Guardiola wary of second season syndrome at Bayern Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:52 PM PDT
"Bayern will never sack Pep Guardiola. I can put that in writing today," said Rummenigge of the former Barcelona coach, whose contract at the Allianz Arena runs through to 2016. However, Guardiola, despite his almost impeccable track record, is aware that there is little margin for error at Germany's biggest club. He won the Bundesliga, the German Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup in his first season in Bavaria but his team's defence of the Champions League ended in a semi-final humbling at the hands of Real Madrid. "There are no secrets. If I don't win, then probably another coach comes here next year," he stated. Bayern are expected to win the domestic double for a third year running, but even then Guardiola knows that his team will probably have to win the Champions League for 2014-15 to be deemed a successful season, especially with the final being played in Berlin. But his team's preparations for the defence of their Bundesliga crown, starting at home to Wolfsburg on Friday, have hardly been ideal. The summer has seen Bayern sell Toni Kroos to Real Madrid after negotiations over a new deal stalled, with the club unwilling to bow to the midfielder's wage demands. Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic has gone to Atletico Madrid while veteran Belgian defender Daniel Van Buyten has retired. Uncertainties The signing of last season's Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski from biggest rivals Borussia Dortmund represents an upgrade in attack, but it is unclear what the other new signings will offer. Defensive midfielder Sebastian Rode, signed from Eintracht Frankfurt, is likely only to be a squad player, while it remains to be seen where young Spanish left-back Juan Bernat — described as "extraordinary" by sporting director Matthias Sammer — will play in a Bayern side that could line up with a three-man defence. The other new recruit is Pepe Reina, who arrives from Liverpool to provide back-up in goal for Manuel Neuer. Guardiola continues to experiment with different systems and could be tempted to deploy both Philipp Lahm and David Alaba in midfield in front of three central defenders. However, he has lost one defender, Javi Martinez, until the end of the year after the Spaniard suffered a knee injury in the SuperCup defeat to Borussia Dortmund last week. Now, the coach is hoping to bring in a new face in defence, although he admitted that: "If it's not possible, so be it. We will just keep working with the players we already have." One of those is Holger Badstuber, who played his first competitive game after more than 20 months out injured in last weekend's German Cup first-round win at Preussen Munster. "I'm ready and I'm feeling great. Every training session and match does me the world of good," said the 25-year-old. In midfield, Thiago Alcantara is not expected to return from a knee injury until October while Bastian Schweinsteiger will miss the opening weeks of the season. What Guardiola would love is for Mario Goetze, the scorer of Germany's winning goal in the World Cup final, to produce his top form regularly after flattering to deceive last season. But Goetze and the other seven Bayern first-team regulars who were involved until the final weekend of the World Cup will need time to build up their fitness, and the opening weeks will be vital. "I can see Bayern having a few difficulties to start with until they get all of their World Cup winners properly fit and integrated back into the side," former Bayern and Dortmund coach Ottmar Hitzfeld told bundesliga.com. Bayern, who have always been heavily represented in the Germany squad, have failed to win the title in either of the last two seasons following a World Cup and their rivals will now be hoping for another slip-up. — AFP |
| Malaysia to make effort in turning the tide of women leaving workforce Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:49 PM PDT
The government is collaborating with companies to increase child-care facilities, Rohani Abdul Karim, minister for women, family and community development, said in an interview. The ministry is working with companies including Citigroup Inc. and General Electric Co to raise the female participation rate to 55 per cent by 2015 from 52.4 per cent now, she said. Prime Minister Najib Razak has offered tax incentives to companies that establish nurseries and allow flexible work arrangements to encourage more women to resume their careers. With about two-thirds of women citing family as the main reason for leaving the workforce, alleviating child-care strains will support Najib's efforts to spur economic growth and become a high-income nation by 2020. "We are losing the asset; we have invested very heavily" in their education, Rohani said. "We need these people. We need the brains. We want to utilize all of them." According to data compiled by the World Bank, about 46.8 per cent of Malaysia's women of aged 15 to 64 were employed in 2012, the lowest rate in Southeast Asia. That compares with 78.6 per cent in Vietnam, 70.8 per cent in Thailand, 65.1 per cent in Singapore and 53.4 per cent in Indonesia, the data showed. Economic incentive Malaysia's women accounted for 68 per cent of public university enrolment in the 2013/2014 academic year, according to government figures, underscoring the need to keep them in the workforce. Attaining a higher female participation rate could provide Malaysian with a "growth dividend" of about 0.4 percentage points a year, according to a 2012 World Bank study. Australia is losing A$8 billion (RM23.4 billion) a year from female graduates who don't enter the workforce, Ernst & Young LLP said in a July 2013 report. Most women drop out of the workforce to look after their children due to a lack of child-care facilities, Rohani said in the interview in Kuala Lumpur August 15. About two-thirds of 824 respondents in a survey by Talent Corp Malaysia Bhd. and ACCA MalaysiaSdn. published in March 2013 cited raising a family as the main reason why women quit their jobs. The cost of women leaving work isn't just economic. "If they leave the workforce, they'll be dependent on their husbands for the income," said Lee Hock Guan, senior fellow with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. "So in case there's a breakdown of the marriage, it'll be harder for them to return to the workforce. These are the social consequences." Support gap In a Diversity in the Workplace survey last year of 122 publicly-traded Malaysian companies, only 6 per cent had child— care centres, while less than a fifth provided mothers' rooms. About a third of companies offered some sort of flexible work arrangements, according to the report commissioned by TalentCorp, a government agency tasked with attracting and fostering talent to meet the needs of businesses. Some companies have taken the lead in the country to retain female workers. The Malaysian unit of Citibank opened a child— care centre for employees in 2010. The local units of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and General Electric offer benefits such as flexible working hours or extended maternity leave. Female management About 65 per cent of Citibank's employees in the country are women, with females accounting for about 35 per cent of senior managers compared with the national average of 26 per cent, according to Nikki Grant-Cook, country human resources director for the lender. All employees can negotiate for a two— or three— day work week, she said. "We realize that in order to compete and grow as a successful business, we need the best talent available and our female employees are a critical part of our talent base," Kuala Lumpur-based Grant-Cook said in an e-mail interview. "Citi has a high return rate after maternity leave. Many of our female employees go on to have families." CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., Malaysia's second-biggest bank, has a child-care centre, car parks for pregnant women and breast-feeding rooms for female employees who account for 59 per cent of about 19,000 employees in Malaysia. "We believe that a career break to take care of families or other reasons are legitimate reasons for anyone," said Hamidah Naziadin, group chief people officer at CIMB in Kuala Lumpur. "As such, we should also welcome people back to the market because they have skills, knowledge and experience to contribute to the workplace and economy." Male boards The loss of women in the workplace has led to an imbalance in the workforce, with women holding just 7 per cent of board seats of listed companies, Idris Jala, minister in the prime minister's office, said in July 2013. "We have a lot of talent that is hidden," and it is good news that the government is embarking on more sustainable efforts to bring women back to the workforce, said Kamal Karanth, managing director of Kelly Services Inc. in Malaysia. "Efforts to improve the female labour participation ratio, especially within the 35-44 and 45-years-and-older age groups, will eventually boost the nation's productivity level." — Bloomberg |
| Liberia president orders curfew over Ebola outbreak Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:49 PM PDT
"Commencing Wednesday, August 20 there will be a curfew from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am (2100 to 0600 GMT)," Sirleaf said in a radio address late yesterday. "All entertainment centres are to be closed. All video centres are to be closed at 6:00 pm," she ordered. The new quarantine areas include Monrovia's West Point slum. Liberia's Information Minister Lewis Brown yesterday announced the return of 17 missing Ebola patients, who had fled a medical facility in West Point on Saturday after it was attacked by club-wielding youths. Sirleaf imposed a state of emergency on August 6, but despite increasingly draconian measures the spread of the virus has continued unabated. The UN health agency has counted 2,240 cases of confirmed, probable and suspected Ebola infection in West African nations, making this the deadliest outbreak ever. Liberia has recorded the most Ebola deaths, with the toll standing at 466. "We have been unable to control the spread due to continued denials, cultural burying practices, disregard for the advice of health workers and disrespect for the warnings by the government," Sirleaf bemoaned. Guinea has recorded 394 deaths and Sierra Leone 365. Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, has 15 cases and four fatalities, according to WHO data. — AFP |
| Simeone: Di Maria Real Madrid’s best player Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:45 PM PDT
There are runours that Di Maria will move away from the Spanish capital, given the wealth of attacking options after the arrival of World Cup star James Rodriguez, with Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain reportedly interested. However, Simeone claimed he is even more vital to Real than World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. "In the first-half despite defending close to our area we had three or four chances to score a goal," he said. "The second half was more or less the same, with a little bit better play from Madrid with the introduction of Di Maria. "That was logical because he is the best player they have. It is an important draw and allows us to play a for the trophy at home with a 50-50 chance. "It is my opinion that Di Maria is Madrid's best player for sure. His ability to change games in the middle of the park helps everyone else to play well." Real boss Carlo Ancelotti rebuked Simeone for failing to mention Ronaldo and Bale, who both scored as Real beat Atletico 4-1 after extra time in the Champions League final in Lisbon back in May. "He has forgotten the World Player of the Year and Bale, who scored in Lisbon. He has forgotten many players, but it is true Di Maria is one of many great players we have. "He is a Real Madrid player and I will use him as I think is best." Ronaldo was replaced at half-time due to a minor muscle injury, but Ancelotti is convinced the Portuguese won't be sidelined for any prolonged period of time. "He had a strain after the first-half and he wasn't comfortable. We will evaluate him tomorrow and do all the proper checks, but it doesn't appear anything too serious," said the Italian. Rodriguez had also surprisingly started on the bench, but he made his presence felt after replacing Ronaldo in the second-half as he scored his first goal for Madrid 10 minutes from time to open the scoring. However, Atletico weren't to be denied and Raul Garcia flicked home two minutes from time to give them a vital away goal heading into the return leg at the Vicente Calderon on Friday. — AFP |
| Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:41 PM PDT AUGUST 20 — Ismail: There is so much fuss about Tun Dr Mahathir's criticism of the prime minister. Zulkifli: A lot of noise, yes. Sadly, fuss seems all that is following it. Azman: What do you mean? Zulkifli: Well, among other things the Tun questioned Najib's policies, decisions. He also criticised Najib's silence on a number of hot issues which allowed extreme perspectives to dominate public conversation. What responses have we heard so far? Ismail: I think someone from Umno Youth said we should assess the impact of Najib's decisions in the long-term, something like 10 or more years down the road. Otherwise a lot of people are either talking against open criticism or asking the Tun to give Najib a chance. There was also something about Najib facing more difficult challenges than his predecessors did. Zulkifli: More challenging or not, it's what he signed up for isn't it? A job's a job, if you take it you do it as it needs to be done. Azman: I guess so. Oh, don't forget the Defence Minister, Najib's cousin, highlighted his nuanced manoeuvre in the MH17 disaster as proof of his leadership abilities. Zulkifli: So maybe the leadership ability is there, then. But then again was that what the questions were about? I rather think that on the issue of his silence when it came to hot button issues, the criticism is on Najib's application of his leadership skills ― or the sparseness thereof. Azman: You're right. What use is a leader who does not play the part? Zulkifli: To be fair, the prime minister isn't totally silent on such things. And there had been some positive decisions from Putrajaya under his watch, though depending on whom you ask about it, there had been more negative ones too. Ismail: The good has to be weighed against the bad before we can assess his tenure, in my opinion. I feel it's important that any assessment of his tenure measures each of Najib's actions as prime minister on its own merit before we sum it up as an overall assessment. Zulkifli: That's far from easy. We humans are judgmental creatures. History often clouds our judgment too. Ismail: Be that as it may, it's important that we try to be objective in each new situation, no? Azman: Yes. There's no purely good or bad person or leader in the world, eh? It's always somewhere in between white or black, although ultimately everyone is always closer to one end than the other. But the point is that one misstep shouldn't erase previous commendable actions. Ismail: Exactly. Although I must concede that particular road is a two-way street. Zulkifli: Definitely it is. Just because a politician did something splendid or said something politically correct today doesn't mean people would simply forget a howler from the same person last week. Ismail: Actually you might be surprised at how short memories can be when it comes to politics. Azman: Short memories? Ismail: When Najib pulled off the masterstroke with the MH17 disaster, it felt like all my friends on social media were commending his leadership in one way or another. These are the same people who had been hitting at various issues with his premiership for quite a while before that. Zulkifli: I noticed that too. And I thought it was a good opportunity for Najib to reboot his image as prime minister after disappointing on so many things since he took office. Politics is full of second chances ― there have been politicians who came back from worse, I think. Azman: I see. But in this day and age I'm not sure if a total reboot in that sense is at all possible. Zulkifli: If he had ridden the wave of positivity that followed and engaged other pressing issues at home immediately, he might have negated some of the negative perception on him, at least. But he's not off to a good start down that path though with his mystery trip across Europe. Ismail: Absolutely. I wonder what that trip is all about. Anyway maybe that's just his style, working behind the scenes for a solution rather than making loud noises. That's how he managed his masterstroke on the MH17 disaster after all. Azman: Behind the scenes or not, wouldn't there have been visible results if whatever was attempted worked in terms of the issues Najib was silent on? In any case, style or no style in some roles you not only need to be doing the right things but also be seen doing them. Zulkifli: Well, there are a lot of things that can only be judged objectively in hindsight. Meantime anyone holding positions that require them to be accountable to other people should always take constructive criticism in their stride. Ismail: Can't argue with that. The Tun is entitled to his opinion and other people are entitled to disagree with him. It's time our politicians learn to accept public criticism as part and parcel of the political life. Azman: At the end of the day, public discourses on constructive and important issues, like how Najib can be a better prime minister, is better than endless, futile arguments against extreme right-wingers, isn't it? * This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malay Mail Online | All To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
