15/05/2025

SPORTS THURSDAY | MAY 15, 2025

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Nerves get the better of Tien Ci-Chiew Sien N ATIONAL badminton mixed doubles pair Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien failed to progress beyond the first round of the Thailand Open 2025 on Tuesday, succumbing to Thailand’s Phuwanat Horbanluekit Sapsiree Taerattanachai. the first round had added unnecessary pressure on them.

RESULTS & STANDINGS

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP (Playoff semifinal 2nd leg) : Sunderland 1 Coventry 1 aet – Sunderland win 3-2 on agg. LA LIGA: Real Valladolid 0 Girona 1 (Stuani 80) , Real Sociedad 0 Celta Vigo 1 (Alfon 44) , Sevilla 1 (Pascual 52) Las Palmas 0. P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 35 26 4 5 95 36 82 Real Madrid 35 23 6 6 72 37 75 Atletico 35 20 10 5 60 27 70 Bilbao 35 17 13 5 51 26 64 Villarreal 35 17 10 8 61 47 61 Real Betis 35 16 10 9 53 43 58 Celta Vigo 36 15 7 14 56 54 52 Vallecano 35 12 11 12 37 42 47 Mallorca 35 13 8 14 33 40 47 Osasuna 35 10 15 10 43 51 45 Valencia 35 11 12 12 43 51 45 Sociedad 36 12 7 17 32 42 43 Girona 36 11 8 17 42 53 41 Sevilla 36 10 11 15 40 49 41 Getafe 35 10 9 16 31 34 39 Espanyol 35 10 9 16 38 47 39 Alaves 35 8 11 16 35 47 35 Leganes 35 7 13 15 35 53 34 Las Palmas 36 8 8 2040 58 32 Valladolid 36 4 4 2826 86 16 Note: Top five qualify for Champions League, bottom three RELEGATED. Bonnie eyes golden hattrick at LA28 NATIONAL powerlifting ace Bonnie Bunyau Gustin appears far from satisfied with his current haul of two Paralympic gold medals. The strongman from Sarawak is instead determined to defend his men’s 72kg gold at the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles (LA28), potentially becoming the first Malaysian para-athlete to clinch a historic hattrick of gold medals at the prestigious Games. “I’ve been thinking about winning (Paralympic gold) three times in a row, but I have to be cautious of other competitors and, most importantly, stay in top form,” he said when met after the 2024 National Sports Awards (ASN) ceremony on in Petaling Jaya on Monday. At ASN 2024, the world record holder in the men’s 72kg category was named National Paralympic Sportsman of the Year for the third time, following his wins in 2021 and 2023, thanks to his stellar performance in securing a second consecutive gold at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Meanwhile, he is currently focused on two major

Kai Wun Tee, Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal, Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, Low Han Yee-Ng Eng Cheong, Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong, and Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai. In the absence of world No. 10, Lee Zii Jia and world No. 24, Leong Jun Hao, who are recovering from ankle and hand injuries respectively, Justin will lead the Malaysian men’s singles contingent alongside Ng Tze Yong and Aidil. In the women’s singles, Malaysia’s sole representative, Goh Jin Wei, faces a tough challenge in the first round against the tournament’s top seed, Chen Yu Fei of China. National top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, who are also the tournament’s top seeds, will play Rashmi Ganesh-Sania Sikkandar of India in the opening round. Other Malaysian women’s doubles pairs in action are Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting and Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing. – Bernama

“We were so eager to progress that we ended up putting too much pressure on ourselves. It’s disappointing, but we’ll move on and focus on the next tournament, the Malaysia Masters,” she said. Earlier, in the men’s singles qualifying round, Malaysian shuttlers Justin Hoh and Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin advanced to the round of 32 after defeating their respective opponents. Justin, ranked world No. 45, overcame India’s Ayush Shetty 21-14, 22-20 in 39 minutes, while Aidil triumphed over Japan’s Riku Hatano 21-18, 16-21, 21-17 in 51 minutes. Asian men’s doubles champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are scheduled to face unseeded French pair Julien Maio-William Villeger overnight. Other Malaysian men’s doubles pairs competing in the Thailand Open 2025 include Man Wei Chong

Tien Ci-Chiew Sien lost 17-21, 20-22 to Phuwanat Sapsiree in a closely fought match that lasted 36 minutes. Tien Ci admitted that nerves affected their performance during crucial moments, ultimately costing them the match. “We started quite well and managed to take the lead several times in both the first and second games, despite the strong support for our opponents from the home crowd. However, we became quite nervous, especially in the second game,”Wong told Bernama after the match. Chiew Sien also expressed disappointment, acknowledging that their eagerness to advance past

Sivasangari storms into quarters

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World No. 9 only Malaysian standing at World Championship after Eain Yow’s exit

RM15,990,701.93

5788 + 6941 2026 + 6941 6941 + 2026

5788 + 2026 2026 + 5788 6941 + 5788

N ATIONAL women’s squash ace S. Sivasangari lived up to expectations by cruising into the quarterfinals of the 2024-2025 World Championship in Chicago, the United States. The seventh seed took just 34 minutes to overcome American Amanda Sobhy 3-0 (11-8, 14-12, 11-6) in their third-round clash at the University Club of Chicago early yesterday morning. The duo had already met twice this calendar year prior to yesterday’s meeting with one win apiece, with the last encounter a five-game battle in the final of the Gaynor Cup going the way of Sivasangari. Sobhy came firing out of the blocks from the first game, but Sivsangari worked her way into the game with her positive movement getting her ahead and helping her take the first.

RM193,519.76

“The last two times I’ve played Amanda it’s been 3-2 and I won the last one, but she’s a fighter with what she’s been through and she’s come back much stronger,” Sivasangari said as per psasquashtour.com . “I’m really pleased to be winning in three and that reaction showed how much it means to me as I’ve never been in the quarter finals of the World Championships and I barely make it into the quarter finals of Platinum events. “I’m really pleased and happy with how I performed today.” Sivasangari is scheduled to face home favourite Olivia Weaver in the quarterfinals after the fourth seed ousted Egypt’s Salma Hany 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4) in 47 minutes. Currently ranked world No. 9, Sivasangari remains Malaysia’s sole representative in the tournament following Ng Eain Yow’s third round exit in the men’s competition. Eain Yow was no match for world No. 1 Mostafa Asal of Egypt, going down 0-3 (4-11, 6-11, 7-11) in 56 minutes. The Egyptian had won two of the previous three matches on the PSA Squash Tour with Eain Yow, with their last encounter coming in the opening round of the US Open earlier this season. Mostafa was in control throughout, looking very organised and solid down the backhand side while taking the ball in early as he opened up a comfortable two-game lead against the Malaysian. Mistakes started to creep into Mostafa’s game in the third, as Eain Yow nudged in front but the World No. 1 had too much to outmanoeuvre his opponent, especially down the backhand side to clinch it 11-7. Mostafa will meet former world champion Karim Gawad in the quarterfinals. – Bernama/Agencies

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tournaments this year – the 2025 Beijing World Cup from June 22 to 25, followed by the Cairo 2025 Elite World Championships from Oct 11 to 18.

Former US No. 1 Sobhy was on good form again in the second, but some good variation in Sivasangari’s shots put her back in the driving seat to double her lead. Sivasangari’s quality remained of the highest standard in the third,

RM11,946,211.71

Bonnie Bunyau. – BERNAMAPIC

RM180,279.40

The 25-year-old also shared that the recovery of the shoulder injury he endured while defending his gold in Paris has now reached 80 per cent. Bonnie also expressed pride in being named National Paralympic Sportsman once again at the ASN 2024 and hopes the recognition will fuel his motivation to continue excelling in the sport. – Bernama

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w h i l e keeping the error count low to round off a n impressive s t r a i g h t g a m e s

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triumph.