17/05/2025

SPORTS SATURDAY | MAY 17, 2025

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Crushing win Pearly-Thinaah cruise past Chinese rivals to reach Thailand Open semifinal T HE game plan worked well for Malaysia’s top women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, as they knocked out China’s Chen Qing Chen-Wang Yi Lyu in the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open 2025 at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok yesterday. The world No. 4 pair needed only 34 minutes to beat Qing Chen-Yi Lyu 21-14, 21-11. momentum and discuss with our coaches to prepare for the next game. The main focus is to concentrate on every point and every match we play,” she said. Pearly-Thinaah came close to winning the Indonesia Masters 2025 in January, but succumbed to a narrow defeat in the final against South Korea’s Kim Hye-jeong-Kong Hee-yong, losing 12-21, 21-17, 18-21.

NATIONAL women’s squash ace S. Sivasangari’s journey at the 2024-2025 World Championships came to an end after she lost 1-3 to home favourite Olivia Weaver in the quarterfinals in Chicago, the United States. In the 41-minute encounter at the Lakeshore Sport & Fitness, fourth seed and United States No. 1 Weaver produced a polished display to overcome seventh seed Sivasangari 11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5. Sivasangari, 26, showed glimpses of her best, particularly in the second game, which she drew level, but Weaver raised her intensity and control to seal the win in four. With Sivasangari’s exit, Malaysia no longer has any representation in the tournament after Ng Eain Yow also fell in the men’s third round on May 13. 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 Weaver now faces a major test in the semifinals against seven-time world champion Nour El Sherbini of Egypt. The pair met at the same stage of last year’s tournament when Nour recovered from 2-1 down to prevent Weaver from becoming the first American ever to reach the final. “It never always goes to plan out here,” Weaver said as per psasquashtour.com . “There’s always something unexpected that happens, but we prepared really well for this match. “Siva has been playing incredibly well and she beat me the last time we played in Cincinnati, she’s been in really good form. “I was really pleased with the adjustments I made since last time, and I enjoyed the occasion and being on this court. “She’s incredibly skilful with the racket, you have to keep it away from the middle and try and take away her time. “I tried to find my lines on this courts, which I think I did well, so I’m really pleased. It’s easy to be hard on yourself out here, but I always try to be critical and not judgemental.”– Bernama/ psasquash tour. com Weaver shatters Sivasangari’s hopes LA LIGA: Osasuna 2 (Catena 25, Budimir 82) Atletico Madrid 0, Rayo Vallecano 2 (De Frutos 37, Lejeune 45+6) Real Betis 2 (Hernandez 51, Isco 61-pen) , Espanyol 0 Barcelona 2 (Yamal 53, Lopez 90+5), Getafe 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Guruzeta 76, Vivian 89) . P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 36 27 4 5 97 36 85 Real Madrid 36 24 6 6 74 38 78 Atletico 36 20 10 6 60 29 70 A. Bilbao 36 18 13 5 53 26 67 Villarreal 36 18 10 8 64 47 64 Real Betis 36 16 11 9 55 45 59 Celta Vigo 36 15 7 14 56 54 52 Osasuna 36 11 15 10 45 51 48 R. Vallecano 36 12 12 12 39 44 48 Mallorca 36 13 8 15 34 42 47 Valencia 36 11 12 13 43 52 45 Real 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 36 10 9 17 31 36 39 Espanyol 36 10 9 17 38 49 39 Alaves 36 9 11 16 36 47 38 Leganes 36 7 13 16 35 56 34 Las Palmas 36 8 8 2040 58 32 Real Valladolid36 4 4 28 26 86 16 CHAMPION RELEGATED RESULTS & STANDINGS

but after that, we adjusted the rhythm, and it paid off,” he told Bernama after the match. Aaron-Wooi Yik will next face compatriots Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, who earlier defeated another young Malaysian men’s doubles pair, Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai, 21-11, 21-11, in just 24 minutes. Aaron remarked that it was encouraging to see the juniors performing well and expressed hope for a strong showing in the upcoming match. “It’s a positive sign for the country that the juniors are stepping up. Hopefully, they will continue to give their best tomorrow. We’ll have to play our best game, and may the better pair progress,” he said. Another Malaysian pair, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, fell to Denmark’s William Kryger Boe Christian Faust Kjaer in a hard-fought 46-minute battle, losing 21-15, 19-21, 18-21. In the men’s singles, professional shuttler Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin put up a strong fight against world No. 20 Lu Guang Zu of China but ultimately bowed out. Aidil Sholeh claimed the first game 21-18 but ran out of steam in the second and third, losing 16-21, 14-21, in a match that lasted over an hour. – Bernama

Thinaah said they had discussed extensively with their coaches to prepare for yesterday’s match against the Chinese pair. “We are happy that our game plan worked well today. And yes, the belief is always there that we can go all the way to win the tournament,” she told Bernama after the match. The Malaysians were in total control, needing just 17 minutes to clinch the first game. They again delivered a commanding performance in the second game, leading throughout to seal a 21-11 victory. Pearly-Thinaah will next face the winners of the match between Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara of Japan and Meilysa Trias Puspitasari-Rachel Allessya Rose of Indonesia. Pearly said they are focusing on improving their gameplay rather than preparing specifically for their semifinal opponents. “We want to maintain this positive MALAYSIA continued to prove its dominance over sepak takraw giants Thailand by emerging as the regu champions in the Asian Sepak Takraw Championship 2025 at Titiwangsa Stadium, in KUala Lumpur on Thursday night. The Malaysian trio led by Farhan Adam (feeder), Mohammad Syahir Mohd Rosdi (tekong), and Mohamad Azlan Alias (killer), maintained Malaysia’s status as a traditional rival after dominating much of the game for about an hour, defeating the team from the White Elephant country, 15-12 and 15-9 in the inaugural edition of the tournament. The victory also repeats Malaysia’s success at the 2024 World Cup in the same event where the national squad won the final match against Thailand. In the first set, Malaysia started the match excellently with most of the serves perfectly executed by Mohammad Syahir, forcing Thailand to concede to the strength of the national squad. Thailand led by Yodsawat Uthaijaronsri (feeder), Sittipong Khamchan (tekong), and Varayut Jantarasena (killer) were in desperate need of a win in the second set, thus employing various tactics in the hope of dragging the match to a deciding set, but all their attacks were neutralised by the Malaysian trio, thus confirming a stylish victory. Mohammad Syahir, when met after the match, described the unexpected victory as surprising, and admitted that he was not at his best performance during the early rounds of the team event. “Thank God we won 2-0, but there are still many weaknesses to fix in terms of serve; we hope that with the time we have, we can improve to face Thailand in the team event,” he said.

The Malaysians last won a World Tour title at the Hong Kong Open 2024, where they defeated Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning 21-14, 21-14. Meanwhile in the men’s draw, national men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, advanced to the quarterfinals after edging out Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita on Thursday night. The reigning Asian men’s doubles champions needed just 38 minutes to secure a 21-17, 21-17 straight sets victory against the world-ranked No. 59 Japanese pair. Wooi Yik noted that their performance was significantly better compared to the first round, as they successfully implemented their coaches’ strategies. “Our attacking game plan worked well, and we were quite patient throughout. In the second game, we were a bit in a rush before the interval,

M’sia down Thailand to clinch Asia Cup o clinch Asia Cup

The national team poses with the trophy after defeating Thailand. – BERNAMAPIC

This is the second victory for the national squad in the tournament, having also made history by winning the quadrant event on Monday. In the team event yesterday, Malaysia started with a bang by demolishing Brunei 3-0 in the first match of Group B. The country’s first squad, consisting of Farhan (feeder), Muhammad Haziq Hairul Nizam (tekong), Muhammad Noraizat Mohd Nordin (striker), contributed the country’s first point after winning 15-5, 15-10. The momentum was then continued by the country’s second regu of Aidil Aiman Azwawi (feeder), Muhammad Zulkifli Abd Razak (tekong) and Khairul Aman Mohd Rosdi (striker) when they

won 15-7, 15-8 for the country’s second point. The national third team, Amirul Zazwan Amir (feeder), Muhammad Zarif Marican Ibrahim Marican (tekong), Muhammad Afifuddin Mohd Razali (striker) ensured a 3-0 victory for Malaysia after winning 15-5, 15-3. Commenting on the match, the national sepak takraw team’s head coach, Ahmad Jais Baharun admitted that he was still not satisfied with his men’s performance despite beating Brunei. “I hope that in the second match against Japan tonight we can further improve the players’ performance so that we can give a better performance compared to the first match,”he said. – Bernama

Henry needs time to deliver, says former doubles ace Boon Heong FORMER doubles ace Tan Boon Heong believes that the national men’s doubles shuttlers have improved under new coach Herry Iman Pierngadi and that the Indonesian legend can produce better results going forward. However, he urged fans to give Herry space and time to adapt to the existing training system. feel the pressure too. Then people start asking –‘This coach came, where are the results?’ “These things take time, one to two years. If you expect results in three to six months, that’s difficult,” he told reporters after taking part in the 2025 Tiga Saga Sunlight Cup at Pavilion Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. pressure can affect your game. I’ve gone through that myself,” he said. Meanwhile, former national women’s doubles player Woon Khe Wei believes it is in Pearly and Thinaah’s best interest to remain under the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) despite speculation that the women’s doubles pair may consider turning independent.

Herry, who took over as men’s doubles head coach in February, will be guiding the national squad on his first ‘’home assignment”, the 2025 Malaysia Masters, next week. “He is definitely a good coach, having trained many world and Olympic champions. But when he comes here, perhaps our training style and player combinations are different, so it takes time to gel. “He’s just getting started, and if the players haven’t delivered the expected results, he’ll surely

Boon Heong also opined that the pressure of competing on home soil is one of the main factors making it difficult for Malaysian players to shine in prestigious local tournaments. He said players must be smart in turning that pressure into motivation to go further in competitions. “When playing in Malaysia, you definitely feel more stress. All the players want to give their best. But when you’re too focused on performing, the

“I think it is better to stay in BAM. It has all the facilities. They have a professional trainer to train them. They don’t need to worry about their planning for competitions. “There’s no denying that BAM puts pressure on players to deliver results but being independent has its own pressures too. Sponsors expect you to perform. If you don’t, you lose support,” she said. – Bernama