Football: Scolari to lead Chelsea against Malaysia

ENGLISH Premier League club Chelsea will field their best 11 under new manager Luiz Felipe Scolari (pic) against a Malaysian selection at Shah Alam Stadium on July 29.

Proevents International Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Julian Kam however did not want to disclose the Blues squad as they might be signing another player in preparation for the new season which kicks off on Aug 16.

"But I can assure fans, not only in Malaysia but also from Asean that Chelsea will bring their best players and also their new team manager, Scolari," said Kam in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Earlier, Kam announced that Samsung Malaysia is the title sponsor for the Samsung-Chelsea Asian Tour 2008 -- Malaysia. Proevents is the exclusive promoter for the tour.

He said the tour will kick off in Guangzhou, China on July 23 before moving to Macau on July 26. "The team will arrive in Malaysia on July 27 and will have a tight schedule including handling coaching clinics, charitable events and autograph sessions before meeting the Malaysian Selection at 8.45pm at the Shah Alam Stadium." he said.

Kam said tickets for the match, which go on sale today, are priced RM33, RM53, RM83 and RM103 while limited VIP tickets cost RM303 each.

Fans can purchase tickets from TicketPro sales outlets and 33 Adidas outlets nationwide or book online through ticketpro.com.my.

The 2008 Tour marks Chelsea's third trip to Malaysia, the first being the 1999 Tour before taking part in the FA Premier League Asia Cup championship in 2003, together with Birmingham City and Newcastle.

Scolari was the team manager of the Brazil World Cup squad which had a one-week training stint in Kuala Lumpur before winning the 2002 World Cup.

Meanwhile, FA of Malaysia general secretary Lt Jen (Rtd) Datuk Azzudin Ahmad said the national squad would begin centralised training at Wisma FAM on July 5 before leaving for China on July 11 for a friendly with the republic's Olympic squad.

The national squad will return on July 14 to prepare for the showdown against "The Blues".

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Badminton / Indonesia Open: Zakry-Fairuz live dangerously

Lee Tsuen Seng took 37 minutes to beat Kendrick lee 21-12, 22-20.

Zakry-Fairuz, who won the Singapore Open on Sunday, overcame a poor first game to notch a 14-21, 23-21, 21-15, win over South Korea's Cho Gun Woo-Yoo Yeon Seong in 52 minutes to stay in the hunt.

However, Zakry-Fairuz were staring at an early exit after losing the first game 14-21 and trailed 18-17 in the second before clawing their way against the Koreans whom they beat in straight games in the semi-finals of the Singapore Open.

The victory pits Zakry-Fairuz, ranked World No 13, against unseeded Indonesians Muhammad Ahsan-Bona Septano in the last eight today.
ZAKRY Latif and Fairuzizuan Tazari lived dangerously before snatching a quarter-final berth while Beijing Olympics-bound Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui also slugged their way through in the Indonesia Open in Jakarta yesterday.

Pei Tty-Eei Hui made life difficult for themselves before securing a 21-11, 18-21, 21-16 win over Russsia's Valeri Sorokina-Nina Vislova in 56 minutes in the second round. They will meet Indonesians Vita Marissa-Lilyana Natsir today.

Hoon Thien How-Ong Soon Hock, a new combination playing only in their second tournament, were the second national pair to reach the men's doubles quarter-finals after beating fourth seeds Shuichi Sakamoto-Shintaro Ikeda of Japan 25-23, 21-23, 21-19 in 71 minutes.

They will play seventh seeds Mathias Boe-Carsten Morgensen of Denmark, who defeated another Malaysian pair Khoo Chung Chiat-Tan Bin Shen 21-9, 24-21, 21-19, in the last eight.

World Champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia were also forced to work hard by Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng, who are currently the sparring partners to national men's doubles squad, before securing a 21-12, 17-21, 21-16 win.

In the men's singles, Lee Tsuen Seng advanced to the quarter-finals after beating Singapore's Kendrick Lee 21-15, 22-20 in 37 minutes.

The KLRC Bhd shuttler will now meet Indonesia's Simon Santoso, the Singapore Open runner-up, next.

Sairul Amar Ayub, also attached to KLRC Bhd, lost to Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland 20-22 21-17 21-17.

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