Dani Pedrosa wins in rain-hit MotoGP Malaysia

Dani Pedrosa kept his MotoGP championship fight alive with a win in treacherous wet conditions in Malaysia.

Jorge Lorenzo almost crashed out from second position before the race was red flagged on lap 14 of 20 and he now leads the standings by 23 points.

There was a confusing 20-minute delay before the decision was made to abandon the race and award full points.

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Defending champion Casey Stoner took third with Britain's Cal Crutchlow one of a host of riders crashing in Sepang.

Read more: BBC Sport

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Lorenzo beats Dani Pedrosa to pole

World championship leader Jorge Lorenzo beat his main rival Dani Pedrosa to pole position at the Malaysian MotoGP.

Photo: Getty Images

Yamaha's Lorenzo, 28 points clear in the standings, clocked two minutes, 0.344 seconds at the Sepang circuit.

Fellow Spaniard Pedrosa was 0.194 secs behind on board his Repsol Honda, with Lorenzo's team-mate, Italy's Andrea Dovizioso, third fastest.

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Britain's Cal Crutchlow recorded the fifth-best time, behind Australia's Casey Stoner.

Read more about it and the qualifying results at BBC Sport

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Late show saves Gunners against Malaysia 2-1

Arsenal’s Asia Tour started with a late escape as two goals in three minutes by teenagers Thomas Eisfeld and Chuks Aneke beat a Malaysia XI.

Arsenal's first half team really struggled to get to grips with their opponents [Photo: AFP/Getty Images /Daily Mail]

The Gunners had gone behind in first-half stoppage time but former Borussia Dortmund man Eisfeld levelled in the 87th minute, soon after coming on, and England youth Aneke grabbed the winner with the help of a deflection, two minutes later.

Arsene Wenger will not be too troubled by the scrappy nature of the win. This was the first real game of pre-season and he has a young squad with him in Asia.

Read more: Daily Mail

Junior Asia Cup Final: Pak skipper to be contained in final, Says Malaysian Coach

Malaysian coach K. Dharmaraj believes Pakistan skipper Umar Buttha is the livewire of his team and the man Malaysia will have to contain in the Junior Asia Cup final to be held on Sunday.

The Greenshirts, who are three-time champions are gunning for a record fourth title, while the hosts are eyeing their first in what promises to be a compelling showdown at the Bukit Serendit Hockey Stadium, Malaysia.

Dharmaraj said Pakistan showed their full potential when they thrashed South Korea 6-1 in the semi-final on Thursday. He singled out Umar Bhutta as the team’s mainstay as his experience at the senior level makes all the difference.

“Umar can’t be allowed to roam freely or given the space to set up the attacks. But Pakistan can also get the goals through players like Mohamed Dilber and Mohamed Suleiman,” Malaysian daily, Malaysia Star quoted Dharmaraj on Saturday, as saying.

Read details: Pakistan Observer

Pakistan thrash Korea to enter final

Three-time champion Pakistan hockey team whipped South Korea 6-1 in semi-final of the Junior Asia Cup to book its place in the final at the Bukit Serindit Hockey Stadium Malacca, Malaysia, said PHF spokesman on Thursday.

M Irfan gave Pakistan the lead in the 11th minute with his first superb goal for his team before M Dilber added a brace in the 13th and 15th minute to make it 3-0. Ali Shan added a splendid one in the 60th minute while M Suleiman (61st min) and M Tousiq (64th min) completed the rout and steered the green team to impressive 6-1 victory. South Korea’s only goal of the match was scored by Seungho Im in the 46th minute.

In the final, Pakistan will vie with Malaysia for the top slot.

Read more: The Nation

Hockey Junior Asia Cup: India, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea in semi-finals

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 14-0 in the seventh junior men’s Asian Cup Hockey tournament being played at Malacca, Malaysia to set-up semi-final clash with Korea.

M Taufeeq scored five goals while Pakistan team captain M Umar Bhutta also hit a hat-trick to take Pakistan to victory. On Sunday, India recovered from a goal down in a 2-2 draw against Pakistan. Pakistan took the lead twice but India came back with an equalizer.

Pakistan have pipped India to top the pool as Pakistan were needed to defeat Sri Lanka by 12-goal margin and they achieved it in style, winning 14-0, thus avoided Malaysia in the cross over semi-final on Thursday. The second semi-final will be played between India and Malaysia while South Korea will face Pakistan in the other semi-final.

Read details: The Nation

Golf News: Oosthuizen oozes class as he takes lead in Malaysia

Louis Oosthuizen accelerated his remarkable comeback from US Masters heartbreak as he seized control of the rain-interrupted Maybank Malaysian Open yesterday.

The world No. 19, completing his second round after a heavy storm on Friday, fired two birdies on his last six holes for four-under par-68 and a one-shot lead over a field containing four other major-winners.

Oosthuizen lost out to Bubba Watson in a Masters play-off less than a week ago, and he has contended with a 30-hour journey across 12 time zones, plus extreme heat, a tropical storm and traveling with his two young children.

Read more: Taipei Times

ASEAN PARA GAMES: Five gold haul for shuttlers

[ via New Straits Times ] 20 Dec

Malaysia's para-olympic shuttlers ended their campaign in the Asean Para Games at Solo, Indonesia with five gold medals -- one short of their target.

The national squad bagged two gold medals yesterday when the curtains came down on the badminton competition in the Games at the Srintex Arena near here.

Read more: 

Super 12 from next year

[ via New Straits Times ] 16 Dec

THE Super League will be reduced to 12 teams and the Malaysia Cup expanded to 24 sides as the FA of Malaysia (FAM) moved to restructure the domestic competitions  from 2013 to 2016.   

In stating that fewer teams in the top-flight will lead to more competitive and quality matches, FAM competitions committee chairman Datuk Hamidin Amin said the move is necessary to enable Malaysian football to continue its upward swing following the recent successes of various national teams.

Singapore LionsXIII are  excluded from the relegation process -- they will remain in the Super League irrespective of their final position -- under the terms of the agreements between the FAs of Malaysia and Singapore which also see Young Tigers A competing in the S-League.

Read full story for details