Malaysian men and women badminton teams into semis

JAKARTA: Malaysia's men and women's SEA Games badminton teams advanced to the semifinals of the team event after defeating their respective opponents at the Istora Senayan Stadium here.

The women's team, the defending champion, will meet Indonesia in the semifinal while the men will be up against the Filipinos.
The Malaysian women made short work of the Filipinas today defeating them 3-0 to book the meeting with the hosts, who also sent the Vietnamese team packing by the same margin.
Tee Jing Yee and Lydia Cheah had little problems against their opponents with Tee sending Malvinne Ann Venic packing in 21-14, 21-15 while Lydia downed Gelita Castilo in 21-8, 21-10.
Sonia Cheah who played the third singles was stretched to three sets by Bianca Carlos before prevailing in 15-21, 21-16 and 21-12 in 43 minutes.
However, the men got off to a bad start against Vietnam when Darren Liew lost 20-22, 14-21 to Nguyen Tien Minh but they recovered with Lim Khim Wah-Goh Wei Shem, Mohamad Arif Ab Latif and Mak Hee Chun-Ong Soon Hock securing a 3-1 victory to take the team into the semis.
Khim Wah-Wei Shem who played the first doubles defeated Dao Manh Thang-Bui Bang Duc 21-14, 21-8 for Malaysia's first point before Mohamad Arif picked up the second by beating Le Ha Anh 21-8, 21-10.
Malaysia's second doubles pair Mak Hee Chun-Ong Soon Hock put things beyond doubt when they downed Duong Bao Duc-Nguyen Hoang Nam 21-10, 21-14 in 19 minutes for the winning point.
The last time the men won the team gold in badminton was at the Manila Games of 2005. At the last Games in Vientiane two years ago, they had to settle for the silver after losing to Indonesia in the final. BERNAMA

Resurgent Woods grabs the lead Down Under

SYDNEY: Tiger Woods says his confidence is returning as he vaulted to the halfway lead in the Australian Open at The Lakes yesterday in pursuit of his first tournament victory in two years.

It is the first time the former world number one has led after a round since the third round of the Chevron World Challenge last December.

The 14-time major winner transferred his practice form to tournament play as he fired seven birdies in a five-under 67 for a one-shot lead over veteran Australian Peter O’Malley after 36 holes.

Woods, who has not won since the 2009 Australian Masters to send his world ranking tumbling to 58, backed up Thursday’s unblemished opening round of four-under 68 in a sign of a long overdue return to form.

It’s there: Australia’s Adam Scott (left) searching for his ball with caddie Steve Williams from the rough on the 10th hole during the second round of the Australian Open golf tournament in Sydney yesterday. — Reuters

“I’m basically playing the way I have been playing at home, it’s finally come to the golf course in a tournament setting,” Woods said.

“I’ve been hitting like this at home, but it just hasn’t come out at a tournament.

“It’s progression. I’ve been through some changes before and that’s what happened. It takes a little bit of time, but once it starts coming the confidence starts building.”

Woods showed an inkling of the form that once dominated world golf for more than a decade.

“I derive a lot of my confidence from practice. I am getting ample practice time,” he said.

“That is something that I have not done in the last couple of years as I’ve been battling injuries and have not been able to get the amount of reps (repetitions) I am used to.

“That has all changed. I have been healthy enough to get those reps in and playing a ton of golf at home and I’ve been able to get back into that old routine again and it has worked.”

Woods ripped through five birdies in his outward nine holes to seize the outright lead and split two more birdies and two bogeys coming home to finish on nine-under 135.

“I played well today, I could have been lower on what would have been my first nine holes and basically I felt I didn’t miss a shot and even though I shot five under today I felt it could have been eight or nine,” he said.

O’Malley, 46, finished birdie-birdie in his six-under 66 to trail Woods with top-ranked Australian Jason Day another stroke away on seven-under 137.

“I only missed two fairways, I hit 18 greens and hit two par-fives in two, I probably had 32 putts for six-under so that’s pretty good golf,” said O’Malley, who closes his eyes when he short putts to “take away the visual anxiety”.

O’Malley, who will partner Woods in today’s third round, said the last time he played with the former number one he beat him 2 and 1 in the World Match Play in 2002 at Carlsbad, California.

Day, who had five birdies and a bogey playing in the same group as Woods, said he had fun playing with his hero.

“Tiger is playing great. He is hitting the ball very well and he has a lot of momentum going into the next two days,” Day said.

“It was a lot of fun to play with my hero. I have been dreaming about playing with Tiger for a long, long time. I finally got the chance and I am glad I played well too.”

American Bubba Watson was in fourth spot on six-under 138 after a 70, while compatriot Nick Watney (66-73) and Australians Matt Jones (69-70), overnight leader Jarrod Lyle (65-74) and Greg Chalmers (67-72) were tied for fourth on five-under.

Among the high-profile golfers to miss the two-over 146 halfway cut were US President’s Cup team member Matt Kuchar (74-73) and Australians Robert Allenby (75-73) and Stuart Appleby (76-79).

Hunter Mahan withdrew from the tournament yesterday, troubled by shoulder and neck soreness, but said he would be OK to play the US team against the Internationals in next week’s Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne. — AFP

Hamilton completes practice sweep for McLaren

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Lewis Hamilton completed a clean sweep for McLaren with the fastest lap yet in final practice at the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday.
The 2008 world champion, who was also fastest overall on Friday after team mate Jenson Button led the opening session, lapped in one minute 38.976 seconds on a scorching afternoon at Yas Marina.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, his second world title already wrapped up long before his return to the circuit where he became the youngest champion a year ago, was second on the timesheets and 0.427 slower.
Vettel can equal Nigel Mansell's 1992 record of 14 pole positions in a single season later on Saturday but Hamilton looks a good bet to ensure his moustachioed compatriot's milestone remains unbeaten.
The Briton has been outstanding all weekend, determined to end a depressing season on a high with strong results in the final two races to banish talk of controversies, crashes and conflict with Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
However Vettel, who spun and hit the barriers on Friday, can always be counted on to pull something out of the bag when it matters most.
Massa was only seventh fastest, while team mate Fernando Alonso was fifth.
Australian Mark Webber, still chasing his first win of a season dominated by his Red Bull team mate, lapped third quickest with Button fourth.
Italian Jarno Trulli failed to set a time for Team Lotus.

Perodua Myvi 1.5 Extreme and 1.5 SE Officially Launched in Malaysia

by ET on September 15, 2011 at 1:00 pm, filed under Perodua;

The new 2011 Perodua Myvi 1.3 was launched in June 16 with 3 variants: Standard, Premium and Elegance. To further boost the sales of Myvi model, Perodua now launched 2 new variants – the new Myvi SE and Myvi Extreme with 1.5-litre DOHC 16V DVVT engine to all its prospective customers. The new Myvi 1.5 is marketed with the catchphrase “Lagi Power, Lagi Best”.

Despite the fact that Perodua developed the new Myvi 1.5 at the same time as the current Myvi 1.3 model. However, we think that Perodua have done a great job in styling the car and well responded to their customer requirement and feedback in terms of performance.

The new Myvi SE and Myvi Extreme are priced between RM 50,900 and RM 61,700 depending on the specifications. Both variants offer the choice of 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission.

On-the-Road (OTR) price in Peninsular Malaysia

Perodua Myvi 1.5 SE
- Manual – RM50,900 – RM 51,400
- Automatic – RM 53,900 – RM 54,400 (with standard audio headunit)
- Automatic – RM 56,000 – RM 56,500 (with multimedia & navigation system)

Perodua Myvi 1.5 Extreme
- Manual – RM 58,200 – RM 58,700
- Automatic – RM 61,200 – RM 61,700

8644 630xfloat= perodua myvi 1 5 extreme 16 Perodua Myvi 1.5 Extreme and 1.5 SE Officially Launched in Malaysia

The performance of the new Myvi SE and Myvi Extreme have uprated and now fitted with 1.5-litre DOHC 16V DVVT (3SZ-VE) engine. The power plant delivers a maximum power of 76kW (102hp) @ 6,000rpm with a max torque of 136Nm @ 4,400rpm. Likewise, the previous generation of Myvi SE is fitted with the standard 1.3-litre engine.

The new Myvi 1.5 SE and Extreme in manual transmission can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 9.98 seconds, while the auto transmission takes 12.49 seconds. The Myvi 1.5 SE/Extreme manual is considered the fastest Perodua’s vehicle in production.

Based on Perodua Testing Data, the fuel consumption of the New Myvi 1.5-litre manual is tested to deliver 15.9km/litre. While the New Myvi 1.5-litre automatic is tested to deliver 12.9km/litre.

The entire suspension system for both variants have been slightly re-tuned to accommodate the bigger engine for better handling and ride comfort.

8643 630xfloat= perodua myvi 1 5 extreme 15 Perodua Myvi 1.5 Extreme and 1.5 SE Officially Launched in Malaysia

Weigh against the new Myvi 1.5 SE and Extreme, the Myvi 1.5 Extreme comes standard with a more aggressively styled body-kit, multimedia system with navigation (built-in GPS, DVD player, Bluetooth with hands-free function, USB port), semi-bucket seats with leather covers, and tinted windows. In the other hand, the Myvi 1.5 SE only comes with fabric semi-bucket seats, standard SE body-kit, and multimedia system with navigation (for Myvi 1.5 SE Auto only).

8669 630xfloat= perodua myvi 1 5 se 18 Perodua Myvi 1.5 Extreme and 1.5 SE Officially Launched in Malaysia

On the colour variations, the New Myvi 1.5 SE comes in 5 colours (Solid Majestic Yellow, Solid Ivory White, Metallic Mystical Purple, Metallic Ebony Black, and Metallic Glittering Silver). At the same time, the New Myvi 1.5 Extreme only comes in 3 colours (Solid Majestic Yellow, Solid Ivory White, and Metallic Ebony Black).

8658 630xfloat= perodua myvi 1 5 se 07 Perodua Myvi 1.5 Extreme and 1.5 SE Officially Launched in Malaysia

In the safety aspect, both variants are equipped with dual SRS airbags, ABS with EBD and BA system as standard. Moreover, Perodua claims that the new variants also come with a collision-resistant body to better withstand impact as well as have pedestrian protection to reduce the likelihood of serious injury to pedestrians.

All Perodua including the New Myvi 1.5 SE and Myvi 1.5 Extreme come standard with 3-year/100,000km warranty (and optional 2-year/50,000km extended warranty).

Recently, Perodua was awarded with 4-star Malaysian Vehicle Assessment Programme (MyVAP) rating by the Malaysian Insitute of Road Safety (MIROS) for the New Myvi including the 1.3 (Standard, Premium and Elegence) and 1.5 (SE and Extreme).

Photo Gallery: Perodua Myvi 1.5 Media Launch

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