Fast FedEx delivery

Federer had just six unforced errors as he clinched a sixth career victory over the 47th-ranked Hanescu.

“It’s the most special thing to be back on Centre Court,” said Federer.  “I still enjoy it out there. It was a pleasure to play and I’m very happy to get the first round out of the way."

“I am not sure how much better I could have played. It was good to get it done quickly as it was cold and it released some of the pressure.”

Federer came into Wimbledon on the back of his first title of 2013 in Halle, that win taking him level with John McEnroe on 77 career titles.

“Halle came at the right time. It shows I am peaking in time for Wimbledon,” said third-seeded Federer who next plays Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine.

But it did not take some time for Wimbledon to create a first upset on the opening day of the tournament. 

Puerto Rican teenager Monica Puig slugged 38 winners and eliminated fifth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy 6-3, 6-2 in the first match on Court 18.

The 19-year-old Puig,  completely outplayed the Italian veteran with her hard-hitting baseline game. and played like a professional tennis player.

Puig squandered five match points before hitting a forehand winner past Errani to close out the match. The Puerto Rican dropped her racket to the turf and covered her face in her hands.

It’s the third time a top women’s seeded player has lost in the first round at Wimbledon since 2001. The others were Martina Hingis in 2000 and Francesca Schiavone in 2010.

Yesterday’s defeat though marked another humbling exit for Errani. Last year, the Italian went an entire set without winning a point in losing 6-0, 6-4 in the third round to Kazakhst­an’s Yaroslava Shvedova. — Agencies

News taken from http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Other-Sport/2013/06/25/Fast-FedEx-delivery.aspx by JC

Fans turn stadium into sea of red and blue

The gates were open at 4pm although the game starts at 8.45pm. The road to the stadium started to jam since 3pm. The capacity of 87,000 people in the stadium were almost filled with people to the brim! Police were even there to help to maintain the crowd order to make sure no injuries will occur.

The fans hung up their state flags and banners to spur on their players and among the eye-catching ones were “Luaskan Kuasa Mu” by JDT fans and “Ayuh Kelate Ku ... Hari Ini ... Kita Mesti Menang!” by Kelantan fans.

The JDT fans stole the show on the stands as they formed the colours of their state flags with red and blue coloured papers and then started waving their scarves in a synchronised manner.

The decibel level went up a few notches when the players took to the pitch for their warm-up sessions.

And the noise hit a crescendo when the starting 11 from both sides marched on to the pitch. After a hearty rendition of the national anthem by songstress Jaclyn Victor, both sets of fans settle down to enjoy the match.

News taken from http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Football/2013/06/30/Fans-turn-stadium-into-sea-of-red-and-blue.aspx by

Close shave for Lee

It was a terrific match between Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) and Zhengming (China). However, the match belongs to Lee Chong Wei.

In his interview, Lee Chong Wei stated “ Zhengming played his best under a lot of pressure. I have to keep in mind to focus and not to be distracted in order to win the game.”

National singles coach Tey Sue Bock admitted that Lee Chong Wei was a little sluggish in the beginning but he managed to own the court.

“ZhengMing is a top player, so its common to see Chong Wei to do slow blocks in returning the shuttle” said Sue Bock.

On the other hand, it was unlucky for the doubles from the Malaysia team as they lost their match to the Indonesian doubles. by JC

News taken from  http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Badminton/2013/06/13/A-close-shave-for-Lee-Chong-Wei-survives-scare-in-Indonesia-Open-first-round.aspx by JC

Malaysia squander three-goal lead to share points with Pakistan

The Malaysians were so dominant in previous match by winning 4-1 (38 minutes lead) But, they failed to close the match with Team Pakistan to snatch the 4-4 draw

National coach Paul Revington was disappointed with the result and feel that the Malaysia Team can do better than this.

“I have to agree that there were two different performances in each half . We made some mistakes in the second half and gave away some soft goals. I have a bunch of disappointed players on my hand and we need to refocus and get back to our best for the match against South Africa tomorrow (today),” said Revington.

It wasn't any surprise for Revington when he listed his best players to face the World No.5 Team Pakistan.

Malaysia fans was in a shock to see the local team surged into a 3-0 lead only 18minutes from the starting time. In the 3rd minute, Mohamed Razie started to score a goal during the penalty corner goal and on the 7th minute he scores again! Mohamed Marhan then scores another goal in the 18th minute with a close range shot!

In the 26 minute, Team Pakistan scored a goal which made the score of 3-1. Three minutes later after the score, Team Malaysia hits one straight behind the net and making the score 4-1.

Mohamed Tousiq scoring from a penalty corner in the 42nd minute for Team Pakistan. This made the team to have a "come back" spirit.

Malaysia had another chance to score in the 50th minute but the shot went wide.

A minute later, the worried Pakistanis replaced their goalkeeper with Imran Butt coming in for off-colour Imran Shah. In the 56th minute, Team Pakistant scores another goal which made the score 4-3 by playing it well without making mistake.

Five minutes later, Team Pakistan finally scored the equaliser with Mohamed Imran scoring with a drag flick off a penalty corner. 

News taken from http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Other-Sport/2013/06/30/Dramatic-collapse-Malaysia-squander-threegoal-lead-to-share-points-with-Pakistan.aspx by JC