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ESPN STAR SPORTS PUNDITS PREDICT ‘GOLD RUSH FOR MALAYSIAN OLYMPIANS
In conjunction with the launch of ESPN STAR Sport’s ‘My Country, My Cheer’ Facebook application
we caught up with the ESPN STAR Sport’s pundits themselves to get their top-picks for the London 2012 Olympic Games
With Spain victorious at the Euro’s and Roger gaining his seventh Wimbledon title, the planet turns its attention to the launch of the world’s biggest sporting event, the London 2012 Olympic Games, which will light up the stage in just over two weeks’ time.
In conjunction with the launch of ESPN STAR Sports’ Facebook application, titled, ‘My Country, My Cheer’, hosted on ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) Facebook page (www.facebook.com/espnstarsports) which enables Malaysians to send support and encouragement wishes to the team, we caught up with the ESS pundits themselves to get their top picks for this year’s 2012 Olympic Games.
The ESS team who will be jetting off to cover the London Olympics comprises veteran sports correspondent Christy Simpson, the bubbly Paula Malai Ali and the energetic Sanjeev Palar, have all logged on to the ESS’ launch of the ‘My Country, My Cheer’ Facebook application on www.facebook.com/espnstarsports and sent their wishes to the Malaysian contingent.
Christy’s message was targeted at his top-pick for honors at the games, track cyclist Azizul Hasni Awang. Speaking about his pick, Christy said, “It’s been a long and slow recovery back to the top for Azizul after his calf was skewered by a splinter 18 months ago. But he is showing signs of returning to the kind of form that saw him win a World Championship silver in 2009. At his best he can give gold medal favourite, Sir Chris Hoy a run for his money. If the stars are aligned and with a bit of luck, Azizul will medal in the 2000 metre keirin in London”.
Paula’s wishes on www.facebook.com/espnstarsports
were to Khairul Anuar, who was still a few weeks shy of his 20th birthday when he produced the shock of the season at a World Cup event in Shanghai in September last year. He was facing Brady Ellison of the USA, who is the Michael Phelps of Archery. The world indoor Champion of 2010 and 2011, and multiple world cup winner was by far the favourite. But Khairul stunned him with 15 high quality arrows. However, Khairul wasn’t finished there – a day later he became the first Malaysian to reach a World Cup final.
“At the end of the day, I am an absolute speed junky, so when it was my turn to pick an athlete and send them my gold medal wish wishes on www.facebook.com/espnstarsports, I naturally chose a ‘speedy’. My hot-pick for medals is Fatepah Mustapa. The 22-year old is part of a trio of London bound Malaysian track cyclists – with Josiah Ng and Azizul Hasni Awang, but while her colleagues have been at the top for years, Fatehah has taken time to mature. Hard work and dedication is what’s gotten this young woman to the Olympics. Her time came when she won the 2012 Asian Cycling Championships in Kuala Lumpur, the last major cycling event before the London Olympics. Expectations were high for the relatively unknown local girl at the time. It’s the biggest win of her career and a clear sign that she was ready for the Olympics,” said Malaysia’s television pocket rocket, Sanjeev Palar.
Visitors to ESPN STAR Sports’ Facebook page are able to navigate to the ‘My Country, My Cheer’ application, where they will land on their country page, which features a visual made up of ‘pixels’. There, they can pick one of the pixels from the visual on which they can post their well-wishes. From there, the pixel will display the user’s Facebook profile picture within the visual itself. Users can also share their cheers on their individual Facebook walls, invite their friends to participate, and also tweet about it.
Not only will the ‘My Country, My Cheer’ application gives supporters the chance to show their support for their athletes and teams, they can also win exclusive ESPN STAR Sports London 2012 prizes for writing the most creative and passionate cheer. Official London 2012 premiums from ESPN STAR Sports include exclusive Games lapel pins, caps, t-shirts and more. Winners will be announced daily and will be notified via email.
The launch of the “My Country, My Cheer” Facebook application is just one of the many digital activities ESPN STAR Sports has lined up in the lead up to the world’s most highly-anticipated event on television. Another key activity includes a dedicated London 2012 Olympic Games page on the ESPN STAR Sports website, www.espnstar.com/london2012, featuring all the top news, videos, TV programme schedules and Games highlights.
In addition, ESPN STAR Sports continues to build up the hype towards the Games by broadcasting top class Olympic Games archive programming, showcasing glittering memorable moments and dramatic stories of Olympics victory from over 30,000 hours of historical footage chronicling the last two decades of the Games
As an official broadcaster of the London 2012 Olympic Games, ESPN STAR Sports, will offer the biggest ever and most extensive broadcast of the Olympic Games with more than 3,600 hours of coverage across 14 channels. This includes round-the-clock coverage on ESPN, STAR Sports, ESPN HD and ESPNEWS during the Games. The coverage will also comprise 10 dedicated high-definition ESPN STAR Sports channels covering the London 2012 Olympic Games with LIVE and first-run coverage.
ESPN STAR Sports secured the exclusive non-standard television rights including cable & satellite television from the International Olympic Committee for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games for 22 countries across the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia. The London 2012 Games will be the biggest sporting event this summer given the immense viewer interest across Asia. The highly anticipated event is expected to receive robust viewership, covering 302 events in 26 sports, and feature over 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries around the world.
So what are you waiting for? Visit www.facebook.com/espnstarsports and cheer on your athletes!
