23/06/2025

SPORTS MONDAY | JUNE 23, 2025

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Rachel falls short again NATIONAL squash player Rachel Arnold’s strug gle to end Malaysia’s decade-long drought as the women’s champion of the Asian Individual Squash Championship, continued when she lost to Hong Kong’s Ho Tze Lok in the final of the 23rd edition at the Sarawak Squash Centre in Petra Jaya on Saturday. The world 19th-ranked player had to accept the superiority of her opponent after losing 4-11, 12-10, 4-11, 0-11 in a 36-minute match. The Kuala Lumpur-born player put up a tre mendous fight in the second set but failed to curb the continuous pressure of the Hong Kong player who appeared more consistent and sharp in her shots. “I am a bit disappointed with my perform ance in the final … I admit the pressure was quite

RESULTS & STANDINGS

CLUB WORLD CUP Group E: Inter Milan 2 (Martinez 78, Carboni 90+2) Urawa Red Diamonds 1 (Watanabe 11), River Plate 0 Monterrey 0. P W D L F A Pts River Plate 2 1 1 0 3 1 4 Inter Milan 2 1 1 0 3 2 4 Monterrey 2 0 2 0 1 1 2 Urawa Reds 2 0 0 2 2 5 0 Group F: Borussia Dortmund 4 (Nmecha 16, Guirassy 34, Bellingham 45, Mudau 59-og) Mamelodi Sundowns 3 (Ribeiro 11, Rayners 62, Mothiba 90), Fluminense 4 (Arias 27, Nonato 66, Freytes 83, Keno 90+2) Ulsan HD 2 (Lee Jin-hyun 37, Um Won-sang 45-3). P W D L F A Pts Fluminense 2 1 1 0 4 2 4 Dortmund 2 1 1 0 4 3 4 Sundowns 2 1 0 1 4 4 3 Ulsan HD 2 0 0 2 2 5 0 ELIMINATED Kiwis thrash Pakistan to clinch Nations Cup DEFENDING champions New Zealand retained their crown in style after over powering Pakistan 6-2 in the final of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup 2024-25 at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday. The Black Sticks stamped their author ity from the get-go, scoring the first in the sixth minute through Scott Cosslett’s pen alty corner strike. Sam Hiha doubled the lead with a field goal in the 15th minute before Dylan Thomas and Sean Findlay added two more in quick succession in the 17th and 18th minutes, to stun the Green Shirts. Scott Boyde then added the fifth for New Zealand in the 27th minute before Pakistan managed to pull one back after the break through Zikriya Hayat’s field goal in the 36th minute. Scott Cosslett scored the sixth goal for New Zealand in the 58th minute before Sufyan Khan added another for Pakistan a minute after. New Zealand coach Greg Nicol said he was pleased with the efforts of his men, who played with aggression and didn’t give Pakistan any easy chance. “The guys are quick learners. Like when we come together, we learn very quickly. And we’ve got good at that. “And so that’s helped us prepare with out having that many test matches under our belt,” he said after the final. Meanwhile, France clinched third place after edging South Korea 3-2 in a penalty shootout following a thrilling 3-3 draw in regulation time. – Bernama

Even her maiden Asian title is still elusive, Rachel is deter mined to continue to stay in the hunt for gold in the next edition. “My goal is still to get the title, eventu ally … I am aiming towards getting a bet ter ranking in the PSA (Professional Squash Association). I think of breaking into the top 10 in the end, that is my main goal,” she said. – Bernama though

high and I feel I was unable to adapt to the

court condi tions today. “She (Ho) played really well today. She was putting me under a lot of pressure. Every time she did that, I would just sort of go for it. “Now I think maybe I should have just stayed calm in those situations,” said the 29-year-old player, who also admitted that the hot weather was a big challenge throughout the match.

Rachel Arnold. – BERNAMAPIC

RTG initiative gets thumbs up

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Former player lauds efforts to provide proper training venues for pro shuttlers

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F ORMER national mixed dou bles player, Goh Liu Ying (pic) described the initia tive of the Road to Gold (RTG) Committee to help pro fessional badminton players with more conducive training facilities as an appropriate and important move. Liu Ying, who has previously

Hannah Yeoh said the RTG Committee would help professional badminton players get more conducive train ing venues as most of them are currently training in public courts. “I hope we can help find

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more suitable and private train ing locations for professional athletes (badminton players),” Yeoh said after opening the Asean Persons With Disabilities in Sports Conference 2025. “As it stands, they’ve been training in places like shopping malls where the public can watch them. I believe RTG Programme coordinator Datuk Stuart Ramalingam will coordinate the necessary sup port,” she said. Yeoh also said efforts will also be made to help professional players find quality sparring partners to boost their performance. At the same time, Liu Ying said that additional support services such as physiotherapy provided by RTG also help professional players maintain their performance despite having to endure a tight schedule to the point of having to play in three to four tournaments a month. Regarding the Kidslympic Malaysia 2025, the co-founder of the children’s sports games is tar geting the participation of 5,000 participants from all over the country who will gather and compete at the Merdeka Stadium from Oct 10-12. She said that among the types of sports offered in the Kidslympic Malaysia 2025 are athletics, gymnastics, volleyball and basketball. – Bernama “The young players need to learn. We cannot afford to make mistakes where we’re leading 1-0 and thus we paid the price. “But it’s okay, the good thing is every player’s commitment on the pitch was good. Only thing we need to improve is our marking in defence,” he told reporters after the match. The 62-year-old said the team is progressing under a two-year development plan, though recent results show there’s more work ahead. “These are young players. They’re improving, but need experience and support to mature,” he said, adding that more exposure to high-level tournaments is key. – Bernama

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played professionally, said the main challenges faced by players who are not in the national squad are the lack of basic facilities and com plete support services. “I can confirm that as an independent player, the facilities used are not as good as those enjoyed by players in the national team. “Even before qualifying for the (Tokyo 2020) Olympic Games, we sought help from the National Sports Council and the National Sports Institute because we needed not only a private training venue, but also a complete support team,” she told reporters after the launch of the Kidslympic Malaysia 2025 in Kuala Lumpur yes terday. Liu Ying and her partner Chan Peng Soon pre viously created history by becoming the country’s first mixed doubles to win a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Despite leaving the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in 2018, they still managed to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games, which was their last appearance at the world’s biggest sport ing event. On Saturday, Youth and Sports Minister teams displayed a balanced style of play before the Speedy Tigers took the lead in the 20th min ute through a penalty corner conversion by defender Syed Mohammad Syafiq Syed Cholan. Wales pulled level in the 42nd minute through a penalty corner by Rhys Bradshaw. Gareth Furlong, however, proved to be Malaysia’s thorn in the side when he scored the winning goal with just 10 minutes remaining in the match. Sarjit said his players’ performance was still far from satisfactory, citing a lack of speed and missed chances to kill off the game at the right moment.

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Sarjit ready to quit if Speedy Tigers miss out NATIONAL men’s hockey head coach Sarjit Singh is ready to step down if Malaysia fails to qualify for the 2026 Hockey World Cup next August.

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Sarjit, who took over in 2023, said the team is in transition with a new generation of players and asked fans and stakeholders for patience and sup port. “If we don’t qualify, I will step down. No need to blame the players. I’ll take full responsibility,” he said during a press conference at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday after Malaysia lost to Wales 2-1 to finish sixth in the 2025 FIH Hockey Nations Cup. In the fifth-sixth classification match, both

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