KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian golf chiefs are threatening to withdraw their endorsement of the U.S. PGA’s first event in Southeast Asia over a clash of dates with an existing Asian Tour event in the country.

The $6 million Asia Pacific Classic, co-sanctioned by the U.S. PGA and Asian Tour, and the Iskandar Johor Open are both scheduled to take place in Malaysia from Oct. 28-31. “In my view, the timing is wrong. There cannot be two big golf tournaments going on in the country at the same time,” Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) president Robin Loh told Tuesday’s Star newspaper.

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KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – CIMB Group have signed on as Title Sponsor for the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, Malaysia, the first ever PGA TOUR sanctioned event in Southeast Asia. This premier golf tournament (which is also sanctioned by the Asian Tour) will be held from the 28 to 31 October 2010 at The MINES Resort & Golf Club.

The tournament will see a top class international field of 40 players competing for a US$6 million prize purse, with US$1 million going to the winner. The tournament will feature the top 25 available players from the PGA TOUR’s final FedEx Cup standings and the top 10 available players from the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit. Five sponsor exemptions will make up the rest of the field, with at least one place reserved for a Malaysian professional. There will be no halfway cut for the event and as such all players will play all four days of golf.

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SINGAPORE – CIMB Bank today gave motor sports a boost when it signed a sponsorship deal with 11-year-old up and coming Motor Sports Go Kart driver Daim Hishammudin Hasan.

Daim, a Singaporean national residing in Malaysia, is one of the region’s most promising junior kart racers. He has been touted as one of Southeast Asia’s leading F1 hopefuls. Daim has been widely reported on in the press and his achievements thus far include winning the 2008 Malaysian Yamaha SL Cup and Asia MicroMax 2009. Daim started karting when he was 8 years old and was racing competitively by the time he was 10.

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LONDON (Reuters) – CNN International will sponsor Lotus F1 in a long-term deal, the new Malaysian-backed Formula One team said on Tuesday.

The agreement will see the news network’s branding on the race cars, drivers’ overalls and all team clothing from this season.

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MILAN (Reuters) – Lotus have named shareholders S.M. Nasarudin and Dato Kamarudin Meranun as deputy team principals, the Formula One team said in a statement on Tuesday.

The pair will work alongside team principal Tony Fernandes.

The Lotus brand is returning to Formula One after a 16-year absence thanks to a Malaysian consortium.

Image: REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad

Kuala Lumpur – The inaugural Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia has been scheduled to take place in Malaysia from 22 – 24 October 2010 at the prestigious Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC).

The Sime Darby Group, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and event promoter IMG today announced that they will, for the first time in Malaysia’s history, bring a full-field LPGA sanctioned event to Malaysia’s shores.

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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s national cycling federation (MNCF) plan to enter a team in International Cycling
Union (UCI) tours from 2011 in a bid to improve the country’s flagging road racers.

“I see the setting up of the continental team as very important for road cyclists because they are lagging far behind track cyclists, who are already world class,” MNCF President Abu Samah Wahab told the national news agency Bernama on
Tuesday.

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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – This year’s Malaysian Grand Prix will start an hour earlier than the 2009 race, which was cut short by a tropical storm with a restart made impossible because of fading evening light at the Sepang circuit.

Last year’s start at 5 pm local time was two hours later than the previous version, a move made to better serve the large television audience for Formula One in Europe.

Organisers and fans were left frustrated when a torrential downpour forced the race to be red-flagged after 32 of the 56 laps with Jenson Button awarded the win with half points.

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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Organisers of the Malaysian MotoGP, Moto2 and 125cc races are to agree a five-year extension to continue hosting the event and will secure a place for a local rider to compete in the championship until 2015.

The deal to be signed with rights holders Dorna, subject to ministry approval, is a further boost for the sport in Malaysia, with the expected announcement of a team from the Southeast Asian country competing in the 125cc class.

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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia is considering bidding for the 2019 Asian Games after twice being rejected for the region’s biggest multi-sports event.

The country’s Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek told local media that Kuala Lumpur also wanted to stage the 2013 International Olympic Committe (IOC) Congress.

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