16/08/2025

SPORTS SATURDAY | AUG 16, 2025

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Muay Thai fight club built on unity, discipline WHE N Ahmad Fadzillah first started teaching his son Muay Thai on a sepak takraw court seven years ago, even he could not have fathomed how things would evolve so quickly that he now trains exponents from various ethnic backgrounds, including foreigners, in a gymnasium. What inspires him is that they all train side-by-side in a multi-racial setting in the gym, where they are instilled with life values and bound by the shared love of Muay Thai. Taring Muay Thai Fight Club founder and head coach Ahmad said it all began without fanfare when several kids joined them when he was coaching his son, Danish, in Sungai Buloh seven years ago. “Some parents came up and asked if I could train their kids. Week after week, more and more joined us. Most of them were from underprivileged backgrounds, but that didn’t matter. “Suddenly, I realised that I had this responsibility to help change their lives… all without a fee. But parents and friends chipped in to provide transport and for joining tournaments,” he told during Bernama TV ’s The Nation talk show titled Jiwa Merdeka: Unity through Muay Thai . Coach Add, as he is better known, was later offered to conduct classes in a Community Development Department (Kemas) kindergarten, before he opened his own Muay Thai gymnasium in Petaling Jaya two years ago. A former Muay Thai exponent himself, the 43-year old said the club is all about family and discipline, where racial or religious labels disappear. “We make it clear from day one, there’s no race, no religion here, only teammates. We train together, suffer together, and lift each other. “Skill win fights, but values win life. If you’re angry or bad-tempered, you burn out fast, so I show them that patience and focus last longer in the ring and life,” he said. He said his club is proof of how sports can bridge divides, turning strangers into teammates and teammates into family. – Bernama Tudor Pro out to dominate LTdL slopes THE ProTeam, Tudor Pro Cycling Team, is looking for more sting when it bets on the prowess of new sprint specialist Alberto Dainese to dominate the steep slopes in the Le Tour de Langkawi 2025 (LTdL 2025) from Sept 28 to Oct 5. LTdL 2025 chief operating officer, Emir Abdul Jalal said Dainese comes with the reputation as winner of two stages in the Giro d’Italia 2022 and 2023, as well as one stage in the Vuelta a Espana 2023 following the absence of Arvid de Kleijn who collected four stage wins in the last two editions of LTdL. “De Kleijn has his own fans in the LTdL since winning two stages in 2023 and the Sprint King jersey, but despite repeating his two stage wins last year, he failed to defend the Sprint King jersey which was snatched by Matteo Malucelli. “Perhaps for that reason, Tudor sent Dainese, who has a greater reputation and more experience on the Grand Tour stage, even though this will be Dainese’s first appearance in the LTdL, which admittedly has its own challenges of racing in more extreme weather,” he said in a statement today. Other riders on Tudor’s preliminary list are Robin Froideraux, Mika Heming, Mathys Rondel, Roland Thalmann and Yannis Voisard. The 2025 LTdL, which crosses 12 states in the Peninsula with a total distance of 1,243.5km, will be participated by 22 teams this year, involving three WorldTeam teams, eight ProTeam teams, 10 Continental teams (Continental) and the Malaysian national team. It will start in Langkawi Island on Sept 28 (first stage) for 96.5km followed by the second stage from Padang Besar, Perlis to Kepala Batas, Penang (170.1km); the third stage from Gerik, Perak to Pasir Puteh, Kelantan (198.2km). The fourth stage is from Kuala Terengganu to Kemaman (140.8km) followed by the fifth stage from Temerloh to Bukit Fraser, Pahang (133.7km); the sixth stage from Shah Alam, Selangor to Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan (123.4km); the seventh stage from Melaka to Medini, Johor (214.6km) and the eighth stage from Tangkak, Johor to Kuala Lumpur (180.5km). – Bernama

Rosman preparing Pearly-Thinaah for all possible challenges D ESPITE the national women’s dou bles team, Pearly Tan-M Thinaah receiving what was considered an easy draw at the 2025 Badminton World Championships in Paris, France, women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak refused to dwell too much on the matter. Instead, he stressed that the main focus is to ensure that his players are always ready to face every match at the prestigious tournament. “My stance is still the same, that we don’t want to think too far ahead. We don’t want to focus on who our opponents will be. “What we need to do is to prepare the players for the tournament, which is to make sure they are really ready and focused on match day,” he told reporters when met after the national team’s training session in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Earlier at the draw ceremony held on Wednesday, Pearly-Thinaah received an easy draw and should face no problems advancing to the semifinals. The second seeds received a bye in the first round and is expected to face the world’s 14th ranked pair, Lanny Tria Mayasari-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti of Indonesia in the quarterfinals, with a record of meetings in favour of the national pair. Meanwhile, when asked about the Ready for anything

Thinaah Muralitharan (left) and Pearly Tan. – BERNAMAPIC

wrestling Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Asia-Pacific (Apac) Wrestling founder Ayez Shaukat Fonseka Mohd Farid, better known as Shaukat, said the event would be attended by WWE Independent Development (WWE ID) scouts, who will assess the potential of more than 10 local wrestlers as they battle it out in the ring. “It’s not easy for a brand from a small country like Malaysia to be recognised and given the opportunity to work with such a huge company like WWE. This is our chance to prove that talent from Malaysia is world-class and capable of producing future WWE superstars. Tickets for Slamfest 2025, priced from RM130 to RM560, are available via Ticket2U while the event will also be streamed live on CloudJoi and Shaukat’s TikTok for RM35. All documentation in order ALL Super League clubs have successfully submitted budget and pre-season documents for the 2025-2026 season, in line with the Malaysian Football League’s (MFL) Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. Chairman of the independent First Instance Body (FIB), Sheikh Mohd Nasir Sheikh Mohd Sharif, said the documents comprised the budget, sponsors’ letters of agreement, as well as the list of players, officials and club staff with details of salaries and contributions to agencies such as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) and the Social Security Organisation (Socso). “FIB is responsible for reviewing and assessing the documents submitted to ensure that clubs adhere to sustainable financial management principles in line with MFL’s FFP criteria. The submissions allow MFL to determine the total budget to be used for salary and contribution payments based on the salary cap of 80%t,” he said in a statement yesterday. For the record in the 2023 edition, Wei Chong-Kai Wun ended the competition in the third round after losing to the Chinese pair, Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang 21-16, 14-21, 21-17. – Bernama giant World are now more prepared and hope to do better by aiming to bring home a medal for Malaysia. “If you compare the last two years, this year’s performance has improved a bit. Although not much, it is better than 2023. “So hopefully we can do our better than before,” he told reporters at the Badminton Academy Malaysia yesterday. Meanwhile, Wei Chong, when asked about his draw with Kai Wun in the tournament, admitted that being placed as a seeded pair gave them a slight advantage as they a bye in the first round. However, he said that did not mean they could be complacent given that there are several great names they will have to fight if they want to progress.

women’s doubles’ preparations ahead of the World Championship, Rosman said that all the planning done with the coaching staff was going perfectly. In fact, he also informed that there were no injuries suffered by the national women’s doubles involved at the tournament. Apart from Pearly-Thinaah, Malaysia will also be represented by Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing in the women’s doubles event where both pairs from the country received a bye in the first round. For the record, Malaysia has yet to win a medal in the women’s doubles event at the World Championships. In related news, national men’s doubles player, Man Wei Chong admitted that he and his partner Tee Kai Wun are in better physical condition to participate in this year’s World Badminton Championships. He said compared to the inaugural edition he participated in two years ago, he feels they

BRIEFS

Brandi Chastain (right) and Maren McCrary during the Kaki Bangku Soccer Clinic 2.0. – BERNAMAPIC

No shame in defeat MALAYSIA’S Women’s U-20 team should view their 16-0 defeat to Japan in the recent Asian Qualifier as a valuable lesson and not be discouraged by the result, says former United States (US) women’s football legend Brandi Chastain. The two-time Fifa Women’s World Cup champion said the defeat should not be seen as a failure, but as an opportunity to learn from facing one of the world’s top teams. “It’s important for these young players to understand that playing at the highest level is not easy especially against a country that has historically been a part of women’s football, and also they have won world championships, and have been in the Olympic Games. For me

there is nothing to feel like they’ve not succeeded. The fact that they are still as a team is very important,” she saida when met at the Kaki Bangku Soccer Clinic 2.0 at Sekolah Taman Putra Perdana recently. US women’s football coach Maren McCrary echoed Brandi’s views, urging Malaysian players to remain persistent and resilient in the sport. Slamfest 2025 to boost wrestling talent MALAYSIA’S premier professional wrestling event, Slamfest 2025, set to take place on Aug 30 at Stadium Juara, Bukit Kiara, is expected to serve as a platform for local talents to catch the attention of global