22/07/2025

SPORTS TUESDAY | JULY 22, 2025

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Muhammad Azeem all fired up

IT was a day of double wins all round at the fourth qualifying round of the Allianz Junior Badminton Championship (AJBC) 2025 held in Kuching, Sarawak recently, with all winners of the Girls’ and Boys’ U-15 and U-13 Singles coming out tops in their respective Doubles events as well. Brenda Jong from Chung Hua Middle School No. 1 defeated Qiez Nur Marsyiella of SMK Hajjah Laila Taib Asajaya Sarawak to win the Girls’ U-15 Singles. Brenda then partnered school mate Eunice Chong Yu Qian in the doubles to beat Aizalea Izzara of SMK Three Rivers and Maria Alexa SHORTS China deny M’sia semis spot DEFENDING champions China denied Malaysia a place in the last four with a commanding 110-64 win in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Badminton Asia Junior Championships (BAJC) mixed team event in Solo, Indonesia yesterday. Malaysia began the last eight tie in style at the Manahan Indoor Stadium when men’s singles shuttler Lim Boon Le defeated Xiao Gao Bo 11-9. But that was as good as it got for Malaysia, as China went on to win the rest of the matches. This year’s BAJC features a new format where each team plays 10 matches – two each in men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Each match is played up to 11 points, with the first team to reach a total of 110 points declared the winner. Malaysia had earlier confirmed their quarterfinal spot by emerging as Group B runners-up, where they defeated Macau (110-59), Myanmar 110-52 and Singapore 110-58 before going down to group winners Indonesia 92-110. Malaysia have won the BAJC title twice - in the 2007 and 2009 editions. S’gor gets help from Royal Club THE Klang Royal Club (KRC) is ready to collaborate with any party, especially the state government, in sharing its sports expertise and infrastructure for the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Selangor next year. KRC vice-president Serjeet Singh said the club’s experience in producing many Olympic-level and national athletes, along with its world-class sports facilities, could serve as a reference in terms of coaching, event organisation and athlete participation. “We (KRC) have a lineup of highly experienced coaches in hockey, squash, cricket and swimming, some of whom have Olympic-level credentials. We are fully prepared to offer our experience or advice if needed for Sukma 2026. “Our facilities meet international tournament standards, with the most recent addition being pickleball. These can certainly be used for training or as supplementary venues,” he told Bernama recently. He said the club has a wealth of talent to offer, not only in terms of sports management and coaching but also in nurturing new talent across various sporting disciplines. He added that although the club is now 125 years old, it continues to keep pace with modern developments in sports science, equipment and facilities, all of which are maintained to meet current standards and international tournament specifications. “This offer is not limited to the state government. We would also be happy to assist any private entity or other state authorities that require sporting guidance from us,” he said.

THE national athletics squad, led by sprint ace Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi, will begin their challenge in the 2025 Rhine-Ruhr World University Games in Lohrheidestadion, Bochum, today. Muhammad Azeem, who is also the national 100m) record holder with a time of 10.09 seconds (s), will be in action in the first round of his pet event in the evening. The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist will have Aliff Iman Mohd Fahimi for company. At the same time, Umar Osman, who holds the national 400m record of 46.09s, and Muhammad Aidil Azhar Azrul Hisyam will take

presented the national contingent with the first medal in Berlin on Friday. Meanwhile, the national contingent ended Day Four of the WUG 2025 much earlier after the taekwondo exponents and swimmers fell in the preliminary rounds. Fu Cern Put Thai, Malaysia’s sole taekwondo exponent lost 0-2 to Enes Kaplan of Turkiye in the men’s 58kg kyorugi even while swimmers Lim Yin Chuen and Arvin Shaun Singh Chahal both failed to qualify for the semifinal of the men’s 100m freestyle after Arvin finished fifth with a time of 50.05s and Yin Chuen only

part in the men’s 400m event. Muhammad Fakrul Afizul Nasir, the national 400m hurdles record holder with a time of 51.26s, is also slated to compete. In the women’s category, Azreen Nabila Alias and Nur Afrina Batrisyia Momahad Rizal will be hoping to do their best in the 100m event, while Nurul Aliah Maisarah Nor Azmi and Chelsea Cassiopea Evalli Bopulas will battle it out in the first round of the 400m event. Swimming and taekwondo, which enter the fifth day of competition today, are still awaiting their medals after swimmer Khiew Hoe Yean

managing seventh place with at time of 50.28s in Heat 7. Arwin’s time of 50.05 s is his new personal best, erasing his previous time of 50.13s. So far, the Malaysian team has only one silver medal, courtesy of Khiew Hoe Yean in the men’s 400m freestyle, but both swimming and taekwondo still may offer up medals as competition will carry on till Wednesday. As of press time, the United States still lead the medal chart with 10 gold, eight silver and 14 bronze, followed by China (8-10-3), South Korea (7-4-11) and hosts Germany (6-3-7). The WUG 2025 ends on Friday. – Bernama

Rexy Mainaky (left) with Thinaah Muralitharan (centre), and Pearly Tan. – BERNAMAPIC

Rexy rues final outcome final outcome Doubles coach points to combination of reasons for Pearly-Thinaah defeat N ATIONAL DOUBLES coaching director Rexy Mainaky has identified the reasons for women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah’s below-par performance en route to losing in the final of the 2025 Japan Open in Tokyo on Sunday. the final against the Chinese hotshots, said Rexy. The Indonesian doubles expert said Sheng Shu-Tan Ning did not rush to score their points, built their momentum patiently and stuck to their well-structured game plan before striking at the right moments to put pressure on the Malaysians. “It wasn’t the game we wanted to play. We’ll learn from this, refocus and prepare for next week,” she said. Yesterday’s result also marked Pearly Thinaah’s ninth defeat in 12 meetings against the Paris 2024 Olympic Games silver medallists. Runners-up Pearly-Thinaah pocketed

Pearly-Thinaah stumbled in their bid to become the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to land the Japan Open title when they went down 21-15, 21-14 to world No. 1 and defending champions Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning of China at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. And from Rexy’s observations, it was a combination of the Malaysian pair failing to hit the heights and the Chinese pair getting their tactics spot-on. Rexy said the way Pearly-Thinaah played in the final was the complete opposite of how they performed against Japan’s Nami Matsuyama Chiharu Shida in the semifinals on Saturday. The Malaysians defeated Matsuyama-Shida 21-13, 21-11 with a near-perfect game to break their hoodoo against the home favourites, who had previously beaten them in 13 out of 14 encounters. It was, however, a different case altogether in Patrus from SMK Dato Permaisuri for the title. The victory was particularly joyous for Brenda, who qualified for the AJBC Grand Finals last year but did not attend as she had to sit for exams. “It was not a very difficult decision to make then as education is far more important, but it was still painful. “So for this year, I’m really glad to have the chance to play in the Grand Finals again and this time, I will not miss it,” said the 15-year-old, who debuted in the AJBC two years ago but lost in the first round of both the Girls’ U-13 Singles and Doubles. In the Boys’U-15 Singles category, Athan Yang

US$33,250 (RM140,000) while champions Sheng Shu-Tan Ning walked away with US$70,300 (RM298,000). World No. 3 Pearly-Thinaah equalled the achievement of compatriots Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui, who also finished as runners-up in the 2008 edition. Pearly-Thinaah, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champions, have had a good season so far, winning the Thailand Open title in May and finishing second at the Indonesia Masters in January. Pearly-Thinaah will now shift their focus to the China Open 2025, where the third seeds are slated to meet teammates Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting in the first round at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou. The China Open will be from today until Sunday. – Bernama Meanwhile, Danice Tchin from SJK Chung Hua No. 1 won the Boys’ U-13 Singles title, defeating Muhammad Afiq Zarif Mazelan of SMK Petra Jaya. In the Boys’ U-13 Doubles category, Danice and partner Caleb Voon from SMK Green Road came out tops following a win over Ezra Liau from SJKC Chung Hua Miri and Lau Jin Yang from SMK Chung Hua Miri. A total of 318 players took part in this qualifying round, the fourth of 10 rounds which will culminate in the year-end Grand Finals which will take place in Kuala Lumpur from Nov 5 – 9.

“They dragged Pearly and Thinaah away from the net and controlled the front of the net, making it very uncomfortable for the Malaysian girls. “We must give the Chinese pair credit, they played really well, especially Tan Ning,” he told Bernama when contacted yesterday. Sunday’s final began on level terms, with both pairs locked at 6-6. However, Sheng Shu Tan Ning soon took control, ramping up the pressure to pull ahead 19-10 before closing out the first game 21-15. Sheng Shu-Tan Ning picked up right where they left off in the second game, storming to a 4 0 lead and stretching it to 14-7 before winning at 21-14 to retain the title in 45 minutes. Thinaah said they crumbled under the pressure from Sheng Shu-Tan Ning. of Chung Hua Middle School No. 4 emerged victorious over Eric Lau from SMK Subis. Athan also teamed up with Darrick Ong from SMK Kuching High to win the Boys’U-15 Doubles over Louis Liu and Wyn Ong, both from SMK Kuching High. Rosella Tania from SMK Dato Permaisuri celebrated a double win as well, beating Samantha Kong of SJKC Tung Hua in the finals of the Girls’ U-13 Singles and clinching the doubles title as well with Lydia Lau from SMK Subis after defeating Jenelle Chee of SJK(C) Chung Hua Pujut and Raisha Adelia Binti Rezza of SK Samarahan Estate.

Wins all round at junior badminton championship