29/07/2025

SPORTS TUESDAY | JULY 29, 2025

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Malaysia fall short at 2025 WUG Making the final an achievement itself but podium finish still elusive

No compromise on safety THE Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) will not compromise on the safety of the national contingent following the tense situation between Cambodia and Thailand, which is hosting the 2025 SEA Games. OCM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said that although the situation is worrying, he is confident a solution can be reached before the biennial Games begin in December. “Firstly, we are a little concerned about the Thailand-Cambodia conflict. However, we hope a solution will be found by the time the SEA Games are held.“So far, there has been no decision from the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) and what we need to do is stay calm because we also know that Malaysia, as the Asean chair, the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) is striving to assist in resolving this crisis,” he said. Mohamad Norza said that with only a few more months left before the SEA Games are held in Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkla from Dec 9-20, the national athletes are continuing to train as usual, while the athlete selection process is also being carried out as scheduled. … as Thailand tightens security THAILAND, the host of the 2025 SEA Games, has given its assurance that security will be tightened to ensure the smooth running of the Muay Thai event in Songkhla, located in the southern region of the country, despite ongoing political tensions with Cambodia. Malaysian Muaythai Association president Datuk Muhammad Shahnaz Azmi said this was conveyed to the association in a recent meeting with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) after Cambodia informed that it would send a full team to the biennial games this December. “We have a clear stance … politics should not be brought into sports. Political issues between countries and sporting events are entirely separate. “As far as we’ve been informed, Cambodia will be sending a full team, and Thailand has no objections to the participation of Cambodian fighters. “The LOC has reminded both sides, no political chanting from Thailand, no political chanting from Cambodia. Sport is sport. Both team managers and coaches agree, and there has been no issue so far,” he told reporters. WUG 2025 officially drew its curtain with a closing ceremony that took place in a class of its own at the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord in Duisburg yesterday. Japan emerged as the overall champion with 34 gold, 21 silver and 24 bronze medals, followed by China (30-27-17) and the United States in third place (28-27- 29) while neighbouring country Thailand (2,4,4). – Bernama BRIEFS CDM believes contingent capable of better results THE national contingent to the Rhine-Ruhr World University Games (WUG) 2025 can be considered unlucky after failing to achieve the target of seven medals regardless of colour. Malaysia’s chief de mission (CDM) to WUG 2025, Datuk Associate Prof Dr Mohd Hafiz Yusoff said at least three or four medals slipped out of the country’s grip at the last minute. According to him, the fighting spirit shown by the athletes clearly proves their great desire to win, but several aspects need to be improved in preparation for the upcoming WUG edition. “For me, four medals were very close, for example the mixed team event and several individual events in badminton. But I can see that the athletes emotionally and mentally really want to win medals. “But for me, there may be areas in terms of technical and tactical aspects and their mental strength that we must improve for a world-class tournament like this,” he said. Commenting further, Mohd Hafiz admitted that the presence of many Olympic-level athletes, especially in athletics events, posed a big challenge to the national camp. “For me, Azeem (Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi) has shown a very good performance, but the presence of top international athletes posed a major competition to us,” he said. Meanwhile, he said a post-mortem would be held to streamline preparations for the 2026 Asean University Games (AUG) in Kuala Lumpur.

I F reaching the finals feels like a relief, then hopes of winning a medal may very well hinge on luck itself! This, however, is by no means intended to belittle the efforts of Malaysian athletes at the 2025 Rhine-Ruhr World University Games, which concluded early yesterday morning Malaysian time. Throughout the two weeks of the biennial Games, the 64 Malaysian athletes gave their everything to compete against some of the world’s best to return home with a modest haul of one silver medal in swimming and one bronze medal in badminton. Swimmer Khiew Hoe Yean delivered the silver in the men’s 400-metre (m) freestyle event while shuttler Wong Ling Ching grabbed the bronze in women’s singles. Hoe Yean’s silver medal ended a 34-year drought for Malaysia in swimming at the WUG after Jeffrey Ong’s silver in the men’s 1,500m freestyle at the 1991 edition in Sheffield, England. In addition to the two medals, two new national records were also set at the WUG –

finals for the first time. All said and done, the two-medal haul still falls well short of the original seven-medal target set for the national contingent, who took part in six of the 19 sports at this year’s edition. However, the dedication, passion and effort shown by all the athletes in this edition deserve to be appreciated and celebrated, especially as they faced great challenges on the international stage. Overall, the national athletes showed encouraging competitiveness and, despite returning home with a modest haul of one silver and one bronze, the performances revealed great potential within the country’s young talent. The WUG 2025 ended with a grand closing ceremony at Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord in Duisburg. Japan emerged as overall champions with a haul of 34 golds, 21 silvers and 24 bronzes, followed by China (30-27-17) and the United States (28-27- 29), while neighbours Thailand had a 2-4-4 haul. – Bernama

both in swimming – namely through the men’s 400m freestyle event and men’s 4x200m freestyle relay quartet of Hoe Yean, Arvin Shaun Singh Chahal, Lim Yin Chuen and Tan Khai Xin. Several other national athletes also delivered personal milestones, including Arvin Shaun, who clocked a personal best in the men’s 100m freestyle; while in athletics, woman triple jumper Nurul Ashikin Abas, the men’s 4x100m and women’s 4x400m quartets recorded their season’s best. More encouragingly, six Malaysians made it to the finals, with four in athletics, including Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi, who finished fourth in the men’s blue riband sprint. As the flag bearer, high hopes were placed on Muhammad Azeem, and the 21-year-old WUG debutant proved that he deserved to be in the final of the Games, though it also showed him that he still has a lot to learn and improve on in his quest for a podium finish. The national women’s recurve archery team also deserves a special mention after the trio made history by qualifying for the semi

National swimmer Khiew Hoe Yean (fifth from left) poses for a photo upon arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. – BERNAMAPIC

Players lack confidence in King’s Cup final loss

‘Wrong strategy led to duo’s China Open final defeat’

NATIONAL men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik lost in the final of the 2025 China Open Badminton Championships yesterday because they adopted the wrong strategy. This is the opinion of national men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi after watching Aaron-Wooi Yik go down 15-21, 14-21 to Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the Super 1000 tournament at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou. Herry believes that their early strategic errors opened the door for their opponents to dominate from the outset. “We need to admit that Fajar-Muhammad Shohibul had a better game plan. We, on the other hand, used the wrong strategy in the first game and were left trailing in their wake. “Their ‘no-lift’ play (driving

the shuttle flat and at pace) was extremely good in the first game. Their attacking quality, especially in the first game, was excellent … they hardly made any mistakes,” he said when contacted by Bernama . Herry also admitted that the strong draught at the venue may have affected Aaron-Wooi Yik’s momentum in the final. The defeat marks a worrying trend for Aaron-Wooi Yik, the 2022 world champions and two-time Olympic bronze medallists who have now lost six consecutive Super 1000 finals, inluding the All England (2019, 2024); Thailand Open (2020); China Open (2023); and Indonesia Open (2023). For their win yesterday, Fajar-Muhammad Shohibul took home US$148,000 (RM625k), while runners-up Aaron-Wooi Yik pocketed US$70,000 (RM296k). – Bernama

NATIONAL sepak takraw head coach Ahmad Jais Baharun has expressed disappointment at his players’lacklustre performance en route to losing to Thailand in the Thai King’s Cup men’s team regu final yesterday. He said that his men, who are capable of playing much better, lacked confidence in themselves, and this led to their defeat. “Personally, the players did not perform up to expectations in the final… they did not capitalise on their chances when they went ahead, and that allowed our opponents to catch up and put us under pressure. “That is what we need to work on ahead of the SEA Games at the end of this year,” he said when contacted by Bernama yesterday. Yesterday, the national side lost 2-0 to arch-rivals Thailand in the team regu final of the 2025 Thai King’s Cup at the Central Hatyai shopping centre in Songkhla.

The defeat means Malaysia’s 34-year wait for victory in the team regu event continues, with their last win recorded the 1991 SEA Games in Manila. Ahmad Jais, however, is not about to press the panic button as he has only had a short time to prepare the players for the Thai King’s Cup. With a few more months to go to the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand, he plans to use the time left to draw up a more effective strategy so that his men can be competitive at the biennial Games. “For the Thai King’s Cup, we only had a week to whip the team into shape. However, I don’t want to use that as an excuse or reason for our lacklustre performance. “Insha-Allah , we will conduct a post-mortem in preparation for the SEA Games in Thailand,” he said. – Bernama