26/05/2025

SPORTS MONDAY | MAY 26, 2025

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Rosman impressed by Pearly-Thinaah’s focus THE ability of national women’s doubles team Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah to ward off external pressure and remain focused on training and performance is considered a major achievement, as they show maturity as a pillar of the national badminton squad wanned and I think that’s enough for a coach,” he told reporters at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, yesterday. Despite losing in the semifinals of the 2025 Malaysia Masters to the Chinese pair, Jia Yi Fan Zhang Shu Xian, Rosman was still satisfied with Pearly-Thinaah’s performance as they fought until the deciding set before conceding 16-21, 21-15, 14-21 in a 75-minute match.

RESULTS & STANDINGS

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP (Playoff final) : Sheffield United 1 Sunderland 2. GERMAN CUP (Final) : Stuttgart 4 (Woltemade 15, Millot 22, 66, Undav 28) Arminia Bielefeld 2 (Kania 82, Vagnoman 85-og) . FRENCH CUP (Final) : Paris Saint Germain 3 (Barcola 16, 19, Hakimi 43) Reims 0. LA LIGA: Real Madrid 2 (Mbappe 38, 83) Real Sociedad 0, Leganes 3 (Hernandez 24, Diomande 36, Cruz 40) Valladolid 0, Espanyol 2 (Puado 65-pen, Milla 82) Las Palmas 0, Getafe 1 (Mayoral 11) Celta Vigo 2 (Iglesias 25, Aspas 80) , Rayo Valle cano 0 Mallorca 0, Alaves 1 (Vicente 56 pen) Osasuna 1 (Garcia 88) . P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 37 27 4 6 99 39 85 Real Madrid 38 26 6 6 78 38 84 A. Madrid 37 21 10 6 64 30 73 A. Bilbao 37 19 13 5 54 26 70 Villarreal 37 19 10 8 67 49 67 Real Betis 38 16 12 10 57 50 60 Celta Vigo 38 16 7 15 59 57 55 R. Vallecano 38 13 13 12 41 45 52 Osasuna 38 12 16 10 48 52 52 Mallorca 38 13 9 16 35 44 48 R. Sociedad 38 13 7 18 35 46 46 Valencia 38 11 13 14 44 54 46 Getafe 38 11 9 18 34 39 42 Espanyol 38 11 9 18 40 51 42 Alaves 38 10 12 16 38 48 42 Girona 37 11 8 18 44 56 41 Sevilla 37 10 11 16 40 51 41 Leganes 38 9 13 16 39 56 40 Las Palmas 38 8 8 22 40 61 32 R. Valladolid 38 4 4 30 26 90 16 Note: Top five qualify for Champions League, 6th & 7th Europa League, 8th Conference League. SERIE A: Bologna 1 (Orsolini 64) Genoa 3 (Vitinha 17, Venturino 26, 43) , AC Milan 2 (Gabbia 64, Felix 74) Monza 0. P W D L F A Pts Napoli 38 24 10 4 59 27 82 Inter Milan 38 24 9 5 79 35 81 Atalanta 37 22 8 7 76 34 74 Juventus 37 17 16 4 55 33 67 Roma 37 19 9 9 54 35 66 Lazio 37 18 11 8 61 48 65 AC Milan 38 18 9 11 61 43 63 Fiorentina 37 18 8 11 57 39 62 Bologna 38 16 14 8 57 47 62 Como 38 13 10 15 49 52 49 Torino 37 10 14 13 39 43 44 Udinese 37 12 8 17 39 53 44 Genoa 38 10 13 15 37 49 43 Cagliari 38 9 9 20 40 56 36 Verona 37 9 7 21 32 65 34 Parma 37 6 15 16 41 56 33 Lecce 37 7 10 20 26 58 31 Empoli 37 6 13 18 32 57 31 Venizia 37 5 14 18 30 53 29 Monza 38 3 9 26 28 69 18 Note: Top four qualify for Champions League; 5th Europa League; 6th Confer ence League. CHAMPIONS RELEGATED

of last year but has not yet been finalised with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), has not affected their performance on the court. “They are training hard and want to win… that is what is important,” he said. He added that the high commitment shown by the 2025 Thailand Open champions is an important benchmark for the national doubles, with efforts now focused on closing the performance gap between the main pair and other pairs under the national programme. Pearly-Thinaah are next scheduled to play against the Hong Kong pair, Lui Lok Lok-Tsang Hiu Yan, in the first round of the 2025 Singapore Open, which will take place from tomorrow to June 1. – Bernama

Faisal ready to repay faith Women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak said the intense focus was visible throughout the two consecutive weeks of the tournament campaign from the 2025 Thailand Open to the 2025 Malaysia Masters. “I think the most important thing is that they can distinguish external problems from training and performance. “They train hard and want to win, that’s what’s important and I think their desire to win has never

He believes the Chinese pair have an advantage at the net, which is an aspect that will be focused on in training going forward. “(The fatigue of playing back-to-back tournaments) is normal as a top level player. Like I said, they have great desire to win,” he said. According to Rosman, the Pearly-Thinaah contract issue, which reportedly expired at the end

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Winger feels it is time to regain place in national team

N ATIONAL player Faisal Halim (pic) is determined to repay the trust of head coach Peter Cklamovski by helping Harimau Malaya achieve success if given an opportunity to join the squad for upcoming matches. According to Faisal, he is 100% ready and will give his best, acting as a morale booster for the team to play with more spirit and achieve encouraging results. The Selangor FC winger said this is the second call-up from the Australian-born head coach, and he feels it was time for him to regain what he had missed previously. “ Alhamdulillah ... I received another call from coach (Cklamovski) and I am determined to rediscover my previous rhythm of play... in fact, now I am more enthusiastic and want to forget the dark moments that happened. “However, I leave it to the coach... if he (Cklamovski) feels I’m not ready, I have no problem, but as a player, I will give my best,” he told reporters yesterday at a press conference in Johor Bahru for the Tier 1 international friendly against Cape Verde and the second Group F match of the 2026/2027 Asia Cup Qualifiers at the National Stadium. Faisal added that the match on Thursday is also an important one for the squad as preparation to face Vietnam, a team ranked higher than the national team, and demands a better performance.

“That’s just ranking, we will display quality performance on the field later, we will be able to gauge the team’s performance whether we need to improve or if we are ready enough to face Vietnam,” he said. Meanwhile, Cklamovski said he was happy with the training held in Johor Bahru which was divided into three phases and has now entered the second phase with more focus on forming game formations and tactical implementation, this time involving several Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) players. He also said that Endrick Dos Santos seemed less fit and only trained for one day and needed to be rested for a while to undergo the recovery process, while goalkeeper, Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed, reported himself in satisfactory physical condition. “For the presence of legacy players Rodrigo Holgado and Gabriel Palmeiro who first joined the Harimau Malaya training camp in preparation for the match against Vietnam in the third round of Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers, it is still too early to evaluate players who have just undergone training. “For goalkeepers, five players were called up for training but only four people underwent training for the second phase before facing Cape Verde on May 29. “Haziq (Nadzli) will be released for a while to join the Asian All-Stars squad against Manchester United, on Wednesday and will be called back,” he said. – Bernama Malaysia was during their 2009 pre-season tour, beating Malaysia XI twice, 3-2 and 2-0, respectively on July 18 and 20 at the National Stadium. The 13-time EPL champions are also scheduled to travel to Hong Kong as part of their pre-season tour to play against the Hong Kong national team on May 30. Meanwhile, according to the statement, the organisers have informed that ticket sales have been brisk with several categories already sold out. Fans are urged to secure their seats now via the official ticketing platform at www.myticketempire.com/manumy . – Bernama

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Aguero out to make M’sia proud against Red Devils HARIMAU MALAYA naturalised striker Sergio Aguero has described his selection for the Asean All-Stars squad as a significant milestone in his football career ahead of their clash against English giants Manchester United in the Maybank Challenge Cup on Wednesday. from this region, is truly a dream come true. “What makes it even more special is the chance to represent Malaysia at this stage, carrying the flag in front of our home fans means everything to me,”.

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The match against United is set to take place at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. Besides Aguero, four other national players selected are Terengganu FC defender Muhammad Azam Azmi Murad, Penang FC winger Muhammad Adib Abdul Ra’op, Perak FC goalkeeper Muhammad Haziq Nazdli and Kuala Lumpur City FC defender Declan Lambert. The last time The Red Devils played in

The Sri Pahang FC forward said the opportunity to represent Malaysia on such a prominent stage, even in an exhibition match, is a great honour and a proud moment for him. “It’s an incredible honour to be selected for such a historic match,” said the 31-year-old Argentine-born in a statement. “Playing against one of the biggest clubs in the world, alongside some of the best players

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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