10/03/2025

SPORTS MONDAY | MAR 10, 2025

31

No party in Orleans Wan Arif-Roy King shot selection backfires in semifinal defeat

RESULTS & STANDINGS

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Brentford 0 Aston Villa 1 (Watkins 49) , Brighton 2 (Van Hecke 41, Pedro 90+8-pen) Fulham 1 (Jimenez 35) , Crystal Palace 1 (Sarr 82) Ipswich 0 , Liverpool 3 (Nunez 51, Salah 55-pen, 88-pen) Southampton 1 (Small bone 45+1), Nottingham Forest 1 (Hudson-Odoi 83) Manchester City 0 , Wolves 1 (Munetsi 40) Everton 1 (Harri son 33). P W D L F A Pts Liverpool 29 21 7 1 69 27 70 Arsenal 27 15 9 3 51 23 54 Nottm Forest 28 15 6 7 45 33 51 Man City 28 14 5 9 53 38 47 Chelsea 27 13 7 7 52 36 46 Brighton 28 12 10 6 46 40 46 Aston Villa 29 12 9 8 41 45 45 Newcastle 27 13 5 9 46 38 44 Bournemouth 27 12 7 8 45 32 43 Fulham 28 11 9 8 41 38 42 Crystal Palace 28 10 9 9 36 33 39 Brentford 28 11 5 12 48 44 38 Tottenham 27 10 3 14 53 39 33 Everton 28 7 12 9 31 35 33 Man Utd 27 9 6 1233 39 33 West Ham 27 9 6 1232 47 33 Wolves 28 6 5 1738 57 23 Ipswich 28 3 8 1726 58 17 Leicester 27 4 5 1825 61 17 Southampton 28 2 3 23 20 68 9 CHAMPIONSHIP: Bristol City 1 Hull 1, Burnley 4 Luton 0, Coventry 3 Stoke 2, Derby 2 Blackburn 1, Plymouth 0 Shef field Wednesday 3, Sheffield United 1 Preston 0, Sunderland 2 Cardiff 1, Swan sea 1 Middlesbrough 0, Watford 1 Mill wall 2, West Brom 1 QPR 0. TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts Leeds 35 22 10 3 72 22 76 Sheff Utd 36 24 6 6 51 27 76 Burnley 36 20 14 2 49 10 74 Sunderland 36 19 11 6 54 33 68 Coventry 36 16 8 12 52 46 56 LA LIGA: Celta Vigo 2 (Mingueza 26, Gonzalez 45+1) Leganes 1 (Rosier 19), Alaves 1 (Sanchez 11) Villarreal 0, Valencia 2 (Lopez 7, Sadiq 58) Valladolid 1 (Latasa 40) , Barcelona vs Osasuna – postponed. TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 26 18 3 5 71 25 57 Atletico 26 16 8 2 43 16 56 Real Madrid 26 16 6 4 55 25 54 A. Bilbao 26 13 9 4 44 23 48 Villarreal 26 12 8 6 48 36 44 SERIE A : Parma 2 (Pallegrino 60, 82) Torino 2 (Elmas 19, Adams 72), Como 1 (Ikone 49) Venezia 1 (Gytkjaer 90+5-pen), Lecce (Krstovic 7, 59) 2 AC Milan 3 (Gallo 68-og, Pulisic 73-pen, 81), Inter Milan 3 (Arnautovic 45+1, Calhanoglu 64, Kyriako poulos 77-og) Monza 2 (Birindelli 32, Balde 44). TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts Inter Milan 28 18 7 3 63 27 61 Napoli 27 17 6 4 43 22 57 Atalanta 27 16 7 4 59 26 55 Juventus 27 13 13 1 45 21 52 Lazio 27 15 5 7 49 35 50 BUNDESLIGA: Freiburg 0 RB Leipzig 0, Bayer Leverkusen 0 Werder Bremen 2, Bayern Munich 2 Bochum 3, Borussia Dortmund 0 Augsburg 1, Wolfsburg 1 St Pauli 1, Holstein Kiel 2 Stuttgart 2. TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts Bayern 25 19 4 2 74 23 61 B. Leverkusen 25 15 8 2 55 30 53 Mainz 25 13 5 7 42 26 44 E. Frankfurt 24 12 6 6 50 37 42 Freiburg 25 12 5 8 34 36 41 LIGUE 1: Rennes 1 Paris Saint-Germain 4, Lille 1 Montpellier 0, Marseille 0 Lens 1. TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts Paris SG 25 20 5 0 70 24 65 Marseille 24 15 4 5 52 29 49 Nice 24 13 7 4 49 28 46 Monaco 25 13 5 7 49 32 44 Lille 25 12 8 5 40 27 44

AFTER enduring a difficult period that started last season, winger Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim finally found his scoring touch and capped a brilliant hattrick to help Selangor FC thrash bottom-placed Kelantan Darul Naim (KDN) FC 7 0 in a 2024/2025 Super League match on Saturday night. The action at the Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium saw Faisal Halim end a 447-day goal drought (last scored against PDRM FC last season), when calmly receiving a pass from the left by skipper Muhammad Safuwan Baharudin and scoring to kick off the Red Giants’ goal fest in the 13th minute. Defender Quentin Cheng doubled Selangor’s tally with a volley from a difficult angle on the right side of the pitch in the 31st minute before creating an opportunity for Faisal Halim, who was a victim of an acid splashing incident last May, to score his second personal goal in the second minute of injury time of the first half. Katsuhito Kinoshi’s move to bring in midfielder Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi in place of import Yohandry Orozco in the second half made an impact as he became the architect for three more goals scored by Selangor. W HAT could have been a perfect plan fell short, as national men’s doubles pair Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King bowed out in the Orleans Masters 2025 semifinals, in France, on Saturday. Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky said that their eagerness to execute the perfect shot ended up costing them, as the unseeded duo fell to China’s top-seeded pair, Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang, 14-21, 13-21, in the Super 300 tournament at Palais des Sports, Orleans. “From the first round to the quarterfinals, I was satisfied with their performance, but the Chinese pair (Wei Keng-Wang Chang) aimed for perfection in every shot. “Wan Arif and Roy King, on the other hand, put too much pressure on themselves, forcing their shots and making too many errors,” he told

Mukhairi Ajmal’s pass opened the door for Harith Haiqal and defender Adam Afkar to score two goals in a short spell, namely 54th and 56th minutes respectively, followed by a pass from the right side that Faisal Halim capitalised to complete his hattrick in the 66th minute. Substitute striker Muhammad Aliff Izwan Yuslan did not waste the opportunity provided when he cleverly sniffed out a pass from Croatian midfielder Nikola Jambor to seal Selangor’s big victory, thus consolidating their position in second place with 46 points while KDN remained mired in the bottom of the table with seven points. Meanwhile, two goals from import striker Kpah Sherman in the 72nd and 78th minutes respectively helped Sri Pahang FC collect three valuable points when they defeated the host PDRM FC 3-1 at the Selayang Municipal Council Stadium. Bernama , when contacted. The defeat dashed their hopes of winning their maiden World Tour title, following their runner up finish in the Spain Masters 2024 in Madrid. Their exit also marked the first time in three years that Malaysia will be without a champion at the Orleans Masters. In 2023, national top mixed doubles pair, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, clinched the title, while Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri secured the men’s doubles crown last year. Despite the disappointing result, Rexy remains hopeful that Wan Arif-Roy King will rebound with a strong performance in their All England debut, as the 2025 edition is set to kick off tomorrow, until March 16. The world No. 18 pair will open their campaign in the world’s oldest badminton tournament, at the Utilita Arena Birmingham,

United Kingdom, against Huang Di-Liu Yang of China. The Malaysians have the upper hand against the Chinese duo in Birmingham, as they had beaten their opponents in their first and only meeting, at the Ruichang China Masters 2023, 21-16, 16-21, 21-14. Based on the All England 2025 draw, Wan Arif Roy King could face Wei Keng-Wang Chang again, if both pairs advance to the second round. “There is nothing to lose in All England. Harap dapat jumpa lagi (Hope we meet again Wei Keng Wang Chang),” Rexy said. Wei Keng-Wang Chang, seeded third in All England 2025, will take on Indonesia’s Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani. – Bernama

Faisal Halim stars for Red Giants

174/25

09/03/2025

5099 1184 8718

4605 2444 5464 8364 9331

6791 9746 7847 6678 4980

3080 6253 0643 3971 6094

9813 6225 7289 0351 5164

RM18,940,272.94

5099 + 1184 1184 + 5099 8718 + 5099

5099 + 8718 1184 + 8718 8718 + 1184

Earlier, Argentina defender Stefano Brundo’s header opened the scoring for the East Coast squad in the 38th minute while the consolation goal of the “The Cops” was contributed by Bruno Suzuki seven minutes after the second half continued. – Bernama

RM244,022.74

3 14212426293236

Selangor FC’s Faisal Halim celebrates after scoring. – BERNAMAPIC

6 10

Perak FC boss rues missed opportunity PERAK FC’S inability to convert chances, driven by urgency and pressure to score, saw them settle for a goalless draw despite their home advantage in the 2024/25 Super League match at the Manjung Municipal Council Stadium on Saturday night.

result, but at least we secured a point. Our focus now is to ensure we continue collecting points in the remaining matches,” he said. Meanwhile, Negeri Sembilan FC head coach K. Nanthakumar was pleased with his team’s performance, as they managed to earn a crucial point in Manjung. “We were under relentless pressure throughout the match, but the players defended exceptionally well, especially Muhamad Aqil, who thwarted numerous attempts from Perak. “He (Muhamad Aqil) was outstanding tonight, delivering a remarkable performance. Even with 10 men, he made several crucial saves, particularly in the second half,” he said. Nanthakumar admitted that his coaching team faces an uphill battle as the season nears its end, with the challenge of securing much needed victories. “It’s a tough task to ensure we finish the league in a good position, but I am committed to doing my best. “We have four matches left, and my goal is to win all of them. My focus is on securing all 12 points,” he added. – Bernama

RM12,242,418.58

Head coach Yusri Che Lah acknowledged that their struggles were further compounded by the outstanding performance of Negeri Sembilan FC goalkeeper Muhamad Aqil Abdul Razak. “I give credit to the opposing goalkeeper, who was exceptional. We had two clear chances in the first half and four in the second, but his saves denied us the win,” he said at a post-match press conference. “My players were under pressure to score, and repeated blocked attempts affected their morale, leading to a lack of sharpness as the game progressed. In the end, we had to settle for just one point,” he added. Despite the missed opportunities, Yusri expressed overall satisfaction with his team’s performance “Yes, many may be disappointed with this

RM123,291.79

9 9 8 4 1 8 99841

98418

9984

8418

998

418

99

18

84

10

All jackpot amounts stated above are for this Draw. Subject to T&Cs of the Scheme. Please visit to www.magnum4d.my for more info. THE BIGGER PLAY IS TO PLAY RESPONSIBLY