17/07/2025

SPORTS THURSDAY | JULY 17, 2025

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Fu Cern all fired up for WUG 2025 NATIONAL taekwondo exponent Fu Cern Put Thai is all fired up to fulfil the taekwondo camp’s mission of bringing home a medal at the 2025 World University Games (WUG) in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany. the venue and training here, I feel even more pumped and ready to compete. The atmosphere is very different from events like the SEA Games, and this is my first time competing on the world stage.

Squad to keep team spirit flying THE national badminton squad is all geared up for its medal-hunting mission at the 2025 World University Games (WUG) in Rhine-Ruhr here. Men’s singles player Jacky Kok Jing Hong said the close relationship among the players that has been open at Sporthalle, this Friday. “All the teammates are ready to go and we are spending a lot of time together, everywhere. We have been building this camaraderie from the central training camp. I think this is something very good for future team events. “If we can bring out the Westenergie

happy. The competition will definitely be intense, but I’ll give my best to win,” said Fu Cern, who also won bronze at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia. The taekwondo events officially begin today. National coach Syed Taufiq Syed Abdul Hamid said the taekwondo camp is targeting at least one medal, regardless of colour. The team also features 2023 SEA Games gold medallist Muhammad Syafiq Zuber and rising poomsae star Yow Mei Yee, and he is not ruling out surprises. The last time Malaysia won a taekwondo medal at the WUG was at the 2019 edition in Naples, Italy, when the men’s kyorugi team grabbed bronze to give the national contingent their sole medal. – Bernama

“We’ve been preparing for quite a while. Before coming here, we underwent a two-week centralised training camp in Thailand, which has made me more ready for competition,” said the Universiti Malaya student yesterday. Fu Cern, who won gold at the 2024 Malaysia Games in Sarawak, will kick off his campaign in the 58kg kyorugi category this Sunday (July 20) and expects tough competition, especially from South Korean and Thai athletes. “My target here is to reach the podium; any medal would make me

The silver medallist at the 2024 Asean University Games, who is making his WUG debut, said his main goal is simply to reach the podium, although fully aware of the stiff competition from top university athletes from around the world. The Pasir Mas, Kelantan-born athlete said he is feeling more motivated after training at the competition venue in Messe Essen. “This is my first time here, and I’m really excited and motivated. After seeing

established since the previous central training camp is one of the main strengths of the team. The University of Malaya (UM) student said that the harmonious atmosphere and high team spirit among the players would give them an advantage, especially in the mixed team event that will

best in the game, anything can happen, especially since the competition point format is only 15 points. We just have to do our best and support each other,” he said when met by Bernama at an official training session. – Bernama

Early exit for world No. 2

THE national football squad has decided to withdraw from participating in the 2025 Central Asian Football Association (Cafa) Nations Cup which will be held from Aug 29 to Sept 8. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) in a statement announced that the decision was made following the change in match dates falling outside the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) international window, posing challenges in terms of logistics, player availability, and overall squad preparation. “The last-minute change of date poses a challenge to the national squad in all aspects, as clubs are not obliged to release their players. “This situation directly affects our efforts to form the best squad for the tournament, especially when some of our key players are playing in major leagues such as Spain, Argentina, Colombia and Japan,” FAM said in a statement yesterday. Meanwhile, Harimau Malaya head coach Peter Cklamovski described the decision to withdraw from participating in the Cafa Nations Cup as the right one and the Harimau Malaya squad will focus fully on the training camp ahead of the important matches against Laos and Nepal in Oct and Nov. “We have players who are playing in the world’s leading leagues such as Spain, Argentina, Colombia and Japan. “To get them to Tajikistan in such a short time and ensure they are ready to per form at the highest level is unrealistic in this window,” he said. The Harimau Malaya squad is sched uled to meet Laos for a Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Laos on Oct 9 before hosting Laos in the country on Oct 14. The national squad will then fly to Nepal for another Group stage match on Nov 18. – Bernama Harimau Malaya withdraw from Nations Cup

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Aaron (left) & Wooi Yik. – BERNAMAPIC

F ORMER men’s doubles world champi ons Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik suffered a shock opening round exit at the Japan Open 2025 in Tokyo yesterday. The world No. 2 pair fell 15-21, 15-21 in 30 minutes to professional pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi in the Super 750 tournament held at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. It was sweet revenge for Yew Sin-Ee Yi, who finally broke their three-match losing streak against the reigning Badminton Asia Championships champions in style. The unseeded pair will next battle Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith in the second round after the Americans beat Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura 15-21, 22-20, 21-19. In another all-Malaysian showdown, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun took 42 minutes to subdue Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, 30-28, 21-12. Next, the sixth-seeds will meet Chinese pair, Huang Di-Liu Yang, who ousted Thailand’s Kittinupong Kedren- Dechapol Puavaranukroh, 21-19, 21-16. Meanwhile, national top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah kicked off their campaign in convincing fashion by dispatching Bulgaria’s Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva 21-16, 21-14. The third seeds are set to meet Taiwanese pair Hsieh Pei Chan-Hung En-Tzu next, after they eliminated Americans Francesca Corbett Jennie Gai 21-18, 21-14. Earlier, national mixed doubles pair Goh

Soon Huat-Shevon Lai convincingly beat Ruttanapak Oupthong-Jhenicha Sudjaipraparat of Thailand 21-15, 21-10 in just 30 minutes. They will meet Denmark’s Mads Vestergaard-Christine Busch in the second round today. Another Malaysian pair, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, started their campaign on a positive note by defeating Canada’s Kevin Lee Josephine Wu 21-15, 21-19 in 29 minutes. Tang Jie-Ee Wei will meet either Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Pasaribu who defeated China’s Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui 21-17, 21-17 in the second round. Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin also advanced to the second round after a hard-fought victory over the United States’ Presley Smith-Jennie Gain, winning 21-19, 12-21, 21-16. Pang Ron-Su Yin are expected to face an uphill task in the next round, where they will meet second seeds Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin of China. However, it was a different outcome for professional pair Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien, who were defeated by Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami-Sayaka Hobara 21-9, 21-8. – Bernama ... but five Malaysian pairs through to second round of Japan Open

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Istaf says service circle only a foot placement marker for server THE service circle in sepak takraw is meant solely as a marker indicating where the server’s foot should be placed during a serve, said International Sepaktakraw Federation (Istaf) Secretary-General, Datuk Abdul Halim Kader. He said this is among the proposed new rules on the service circle to allow the server ( tekong ) to lift the non-kicking foot during a serve, as there is no offence committed in doing so. “A tekong can also use the non-kicking foot together with the kicking foot while serving — there is no offence in this,” he said in a statement. Abdul Halim also stated that Istaf should focus on how players prepare before and during a service, and that no movement should be deemed an infringement as long as it doesn’t constitute an actual fault. He added that the tekong should be free to perform the service in any manner they prefer, as there are now no longer any violations during the serve in a match. The statement also highlighted that, in the 30 years since Istaf’s founding, issues surrounding the service circle and servers have frequently been raised in tournaments, with team managers and coaches often blaming referees – ultimately making players the victims. “This must stop for the sake of sepak takraw’s future – free from all controversy,” he said. – Bernama

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