19/08/2025

SPORTS TUESDAY | AUG 19, 2025

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Armed with experience Spanish ProTeam Burgos look to LTdL know-how for success T WO former experienced riders will be the key weapons for Spanish ProTeam Burgos-Burpellet BH in the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2025, scheduled to take place from Sept 28 to Oct 5. least three titles in the eight-stage race. “This time Burgos’ strength lies in the climbing stages, and with four climbers, it will be exciting to see their tactics each day, particularly with Kudus, Sainbayar and Aparicio on the hilly routes,” he said.

RESULTS

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Nottingham Forest 3 (Wood 5, 45+2, Ndoye 42) Brentford 1 (Thiago 78-pen) , Chelsea 0 Crystal Palace 0, Manchester United 0 Arsenal 1 (Calafiori 13) . LA LIGA Celta Vigo 0 Getafe 2 (Liso 47, Uche 72) , Athletic Bilbao 3 (N. Williams 36-pen, Sannadi 43, Navarro 81) Sevilla 2 (Lukebakio 60, Agoume 72) , Espanyol 2 (Rubio 73, Milla 84) Atletico Madrid 1 (Alvarez 37) . FRENCH LIGUE 1 Brest Lille 3, Angers 1 Paris FC 0, Auxerre 1 Lorient 0, Metz 0 Strasbourg 1, Nantes 0 Paris Saint-Germain 1. TITLE challengers Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal all made winning starts but in contrasting fashion on the first weekend of the Premier League season. Defending champions Liverpool needed late drama to beat Bournemouth on an emotional night at Anfield, City cruised to a 4-0 win at Wolves, while Arsenal fought a rearguard action to hold on to a 1-0 victory at Manchester United. Here’s a looks at three talking points from the opening round of fixtures. LIVERPOOL LACK BALANCE A new-look Liverpool attack already looks an upgrade on the one that fired Arne Slot’s men to the title with four games to spare last season, but an array of attacking weapons has come at a cost. Hugo Ekitike scored and provided an assist for Cody Gakpo on his Premier League debut. But the Reds needed two late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah to see off the Cherries after blowing a 2-0 lead. The second of Antoine Semenyo’s double for Bournemouth will ring particular alarm bells for Slot as the Ghanaian was able to gallop unchallenged from just outside his own box before firing past Alisson Becker. More reinforcements at both ends of the pitch look set to follow as Liverpool pursue Newcastle striker Alexander Isak and Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi. However, Slot must find the formula to prevent his side being wide open on the counter-attack as a worrying trend from pre-season and the Community Shield continued into competitive action. REIJNDERS STEPS INTO DE BRUYNE VOID City are looking to bounce back from a campaign to forget that brought their run of four consecutive titles to an end. Pep Guardiola’s squad has been refreshed after finishing a distant third last season. Their new recruits impressed at Molineux. Tijjani Reijnders stepped into the void left by Kevin De Bruyne’s departure with a role in all of City’s opening three goals. The Dutch midfielder’s quick feet opened up the Wolves defence for Erling Haaland’s opener. Reijnders, a £46.5 million (RM269m) signing from AC Milan, then slotted in his first goal for the club before teeing up Haaland’s second. “We knew he is a top signing for the coming years for City,” said Guardiola. “Lovely guy and has made an impact from day one.” DIFFERENT DISPLAY, SAME RESULT FOR DEVILS Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said the context of his side’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal was “completely different” to the Red Devils torrid 2024/25 season, even if the scoreline told a familiar story. Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and substitute Benjamin Sesko made their debuts but failed to find a way past the Gunners’ disciplined defence. The game was decided by a tale of the two goalkeepers. United stand-in stopper Altay Bayindir was at fault for the only goal, scored by Riccardo Calafiori. At the other end, David Raya stood strong to prevent Mbeumo and Cunha making scoring starts to their United career. Arsenal’s defensive display may have delivered an important three points in their quest to win a first league title in 22 years. – AFP PREMIER LEAGUE THREE TALKING POINTS

booster for the Panthers in both the Super League campaign and the return leg at the City Stadium, Penang. “ Alhamdulillah for this victory… although I am happy, there are still many aspects that need to be improved for the next match and I hope this win will be a booster for the players to face upcoming challenges. “Usually when playing away, the home team will try to press in the opening minutes … we struggled in the first 15 minutes, but after getting the first goal, the players’ confidence grew and we managed to control the match,” he said after the game. The first half saw a balanced contest with both teams exchanging attacks, but Wenzel Halls’s 41st-minute strike was disallowed after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review confirmed a foul. In the second half, Penang finally broke the deadlock when Wenzel-Halls scored in the 48th minute, before the import striker struck again in the 82nd minute to seal a 2-0 victory for his team. Meanwhile, Melaka FC head coach K. Devan admitted that his side’s failure to capitalise on opportunities and two costly mistakes were the main reasons for the home defeat. He said Melaka started well in the first half, creating several chances, but failing to convert them disrupted their rhythm. “In the first half we played better than the opponents, but when chances are not taken, it has a huge impact … Penang FC’s first goal came from us losing possession in our own half,” he said. – Bernama Sainbayar, 31, also a respected climber, rode with TSG for three years (2021-2023) and finished ninth overall in the 2022 edi tion, achieving numerous victories across Asia before joining Burgos last year as Mongolia’s national champion. LTdL 2025 will cover 12 states across Peninsular Malaysia with a total distance of 1,243.5 kilometres, featuring 22 teams including three WorldTeams, eight ProTeams, 10 Continental outfits and one Malaysian national team. The race will kick off in Langkawi with a 96.5km stage, followed by Padang Besar– Kepala Batas (170.1km), Gerik–Pasir Puteh (198.2km), Kuala Terengganu–Kemaman (140.8km), Temerloh–Fraser’s Hill (133.7km), Shah Alam–Port Dickson (123.4km), Melaka–Medini (214.6km) and Tangkak–Kuala Lumpur (180.5km). – Bernama record of 6,830 points in tricks. Indonesia’s Muhammad Zahidi Putu grabbed the spotlight in the men’s jump with a brilliant 39.9m effort to snatch gold ahead of Aiden (32.3m) and his brother Adam (28.6m). Meanwhile, Malaysia’s upcoming sensation, 13-year-old Aydan Saisi won gold in the boys’ U-14 wakeboard final with 20 points, edging out five Indonesian rivals. “I was so excited when my dad told me I won the gold medal again. I won it for the third straight year! This is a great achievement for me,” said the youngest of five siblings. Aydan, who also trains under 13-time world champion Julia Rick, had finished fifth in the same event at the Asian Championships in Bangkok. – Bernama

“With all their experience and knowledge of the routes, coupled with the unpredict able weather in this country, Burgos are seen to have their own strengths throughout the eight days of competition,” he added. Kudus, 31, who donned the TSG jersey last year, rose to prominence after joining MTN-Qhubeka in 2014, finishing second overall in the LTdL that year. During his four years with Qhubeka, his talent earned him spots with WorldTeams Astana (2019-2021) and EF Education (2022 2023), where he competed in the Giro d’Italia (twice), Tour de France (once) and Vuelta a Espana (six times).

In a statement today, the team, making their fourth consecutive appearance, announced their line-up featuring two for mer Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) riders, Merhawi Kudus and Jambaljamts Sainbayar, alongside last year’s King of the Mountains polka dot jersey winner, Mario Aparicio Munoz. The other three riders are David Martin, Georgios Bonglas and Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego, all of whom have previously com peted in the LTdL. LTdL25 Chief Operating Officer, Emir Abdul Jalal said based on the list of six rid ers, the team is expected to be chasing at

Wenzel-Halls at the double for Panthers

TWO goals from import striker Dylan Wenzel-Halls ensured Penang FC carried an important advantage after defeating Melaka FC 2-0 in the first leg of the FA Cup Round of

16 at the Hang Jebat Stadium, Krubong, Melaka on Sunday night. Penang FC head coach Wan Rohaimi Wan Ismail said the victory served as a morale

Penang’s Dylan Wenzel Halls (centre) in action against Melaka yesterday. – BERNAMAPIC

Aaliyah dominates Ski & Wake Championships MALAYSIAN athletes had a strong showing overall on the final day of the 2025 Malaysia Ski & Wake Championships at the Waterfront Sports Complex in Precinct 6, Putrajaya on Sunday and as expected national queen, Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah dominated the women’s open category, sweeping all four events – slalom, tricks, jump and overall. Ranked world No. 7 inthe jump, she cleared a distance of 42.6m and scored 7,320 points in tricks, leaving her only challenger, Indonesia’s Ni Ika Dewi Ambarawati to settle for silver in all three events. grant initiative. Aaliyah, who also pocketed RM4,000 in prize money, will leave for Recetto, Italy this week for the IWWF World Open Water Ski Championships. “It’s been a fun and exciting adventure for me in this championship. Everything that I did was to prepare for the World Open championships in Italy. “I will take a short break before going to Italy. It is going to be very competitive at the world level event and my focus will be at 100%,” she said, who also recently won four gold medals and broke the Asian jump record three times at the Asian Championships in Bangkok. Aaliyah’s stunning victory was witnessed by Youth and Sports Ministry deputy secretary-general Chan Hon Jin, who later presented the Malaysian Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (MWWF) RM145,000 under the ministry’s matching In the men’s open, Aaliyah’s siblings also impressed, with Aiden clinching gold in slalom and tricks, setting a new national