23/08/2025

SPORTS SATURDAY | AUG 23, 2025

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Flying start T HE national men’s 4x100m quartet produced a scintillating run to clinch Malaysia’s fifth gold medal for a memo rable opening day of the athletics com petition at the 2025 Southeast Asian (SEA) Deaf Games at the Student Sports Training Centre in Ragunan, South Jakarta, yesterday. The quartet of Muhammad Zamir Azman, Muhammad Shahrul Azmeer Azman,

RESULTS

M’sia grab five gold medals on opening day of 2025 SEA Deaf Games

EUROPA LEAGUE PLAYOFFS (SELECTED) : Malmo FF 3 Sigma Olomouc 0, S, Panathi naikos 2 Samsunspor 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv 3 Dynamo Kyiv 1, Slovan Bratislava 0 Young Boys 1, Lech Poznan 1 Genk 5, Aberdeen 2 FCSB 2, Lincoln Red Imps 0 Sporting Braga 4. CONFERENCE LEAGUE (QUALIFICA TION/SELECTED) : Rosenborg 2 Mainz 05 1, BK Haecken 7 CFR Cluj 2, Anderlecht 1 AEK Athens 1, Levski Sofia 0 AZ Alkmaar 2, Neman Grodno 0 Rayo Vallecano 1, Polissya Zhytomyr 0 Fiorentina 3, Shakhtar Donetsk 1 Servette 1, Sparta Prague 2 Riga FC 0, Strasbourg 0 Broendby IF 0, Lausanne 1 Besiktas 1, Crystal Palace 1 Fredrikstad 0, Hibernian 1 Legia Warszawa 2.

of 18, but this is my first career gold medal. My parents have always prayed for me, and finally today that moment of victory has arrived,” he told reporters here. The 20-year-old athlete said the three of them, who began training together seven months ago, are now targeting participation in the Deaflympics Tokyo 2025 this November in the same event. National sprinter Nur Andrina clocked 13.06s to beat teammate Steffy Stacy Lakim (13.63s) to the women’s 100m crown. Indonesia’s Selly Dwi Juniarti took bronze with a time of 13.88s. Nur Andrina also dedicated her victory to her parents and the Malaysian Deaf Sports Association, saying they have been her pillar of support. “Last night I couldn’t sleep thinking whether I would be able to do it, but by this morning all the fear had disappeared. Instead, the desire to win gold grew stronger. Alhamdullilah , everything went smoothly,” she said. Nur Andrina will now focus on chasing her second personal gold in the 200m event today. – Bernama

“All the teams have trained diligently, and we want to continue to do our best for the country. “We want to continue focusing on setting better times and new records. Deaf people are the same as normal athletes. “We gave it our everything today, and we will try to do the same again in the 200m and 4x400m events tomorrow.” The athletics squad will continue their gold quest in five more events tomorrow – men’s 1,500m, men’s 200m, women’s 200m, men’s long jump and men’s 4x400m. Muhammad Zamir clinched gold ahead of twin brothers Hazrul Shah and Muhammad Zumar, who finished second and third respectively. His time broke the championship record of 11.12s, set by fellow Malaysian Nur Shahdan Muhamad at the inaugural games in Kuala Lumpur in 2022. “I immediately performed a prostration of gratitude because I was extremely thankful to win the gold medal. My heartfelt thanks go to my family for all their support and to everyone involved,” Muhammad Zamir said. “I started running competitively at the age

Qurratu’Ain strikes bronze MALAYSIA kicked off the 22nd Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championships campaign with a bronze medal, courtesy of national junior kegler Qurratu’Ain Izdihar Mohd Pozi in the girl’s singles event at the Sunway Mega Lanes, Sunway Pyramid, Petaling Jaya, yeterday. Fresh from her impressive five-gold feat at the U-18 Asian Junior Bowling Championships in Doha, Qatar, recently, the 17-year-old, knocked down 1,293 pinfalls behind the gold medalist from Singapore, Hazel Tan Wei Ning (1,328 pinfalls) while Paek Ye Dam of South Korea took silver (1,297 pinfalls). Meanwhile, Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee placed fifth with 1,286 pinfalls followed by Adania Mohd Redzwan who came in sixth (1,283 pinfalls) while Nurul Anis Nabila Mohd Nizam took seventh spot (1,277 pinfalls). In the boy’s singles, none of the national junior keglers shone as all four of them missed out on a podium finish. Munoz on cloud nine JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM (JDT) head coach Xisco Munoz praised his players for delivering an impressive performance after defeating Lion City Sailors (LCS) 3-1 in their opening Group B match of the Asean Club Championship at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri on Thursday night. He said the Southern Tigers managed to control the match, especially in the first half, noting that the players capitalised on their chances to secure all three points in front of their home supporters. “The players gave an amazing performance in the first 45 minutes to control the game. We scored a goal and created important chances. tournament,” he said yesterday at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur “Let them focus on their game. They need to adapt quickly to the court conditions in Paris and translate what they have been doing in training in the matches,” added Rexy. “They have already endured all the hard training and stress, so now is the time to play with freedom and confidence.” Rexy also expressed satisfaction that several Malaysian men’s doubles pairs were named as seeded players for the championship, noting that it helps ease the burden on the country’s top pair, Muhammad Zumar Azman and Hazrul Shah Hamri clocked 44.36s to seal gold No. 5 for the national athletics squad. Their victory came after some sterling individual track performances that yielded four gold medals from Azlan Kuste (men’s 800m, 2:03.97s); Muhammad Shahrul Azmeer (men’s 400m, 50.44s); Muhammad Zamir (men’s 100m, 11.06s); and Nur Andrina Zainuddin (women’s 100m, 13.06s). Athletics team captain Muhammad Shahrul, 29, said their success proved that Malaysian deaf athletes are on par with their able-bodied counterparts. “Today has been a fruitful day because we clinched five gold medals for the national athletics squad,” he told reporters in Jakarta yesterday. SHORTS

Final teams confirmed for World Corporate Golf Challenge

BADMINTON Academy Malaysia (BAM) Doubles Coaching director Rexy Mainaky is optimistic that the national doubles pairs will not return empty handed from the 2025 Badminton World Championships scheduled to be held in Paris, France, from Aug 25 to 31. Rexy said the current doubles squad, featuring carefully selected players, is considered one of the strongest ever fielded by the Malaysian contingent for the prestigious tournament. However, he stressed that the coaching staff do not want to place unnecessary pressure on the players, fearing it could affect their performance. “We don’t want to put pressure on our strong candidates. Instead, we want them to enjoy the The champion team will go on to represent Malaysia at the WCGC World Final 2025, to be held at the Dongzhuang Beach Golf Club in Shanghai, China, from Oct 19 to 23. THE World Corporate Golf Challenge (WCGC) Malaysia came down to the wire with the staging of the fourth and final qualifying round on Thursday. A full field of 120 corporate golfers made their way to the pristine Templer Park Country Club in Rawang, enjoying a fantastic day of friendly competition and business networking in pleasant conditions, along with much fun and fellowship. With the last five berths at September’s national final on stake, a pulsating contest ensued until the final putts dropped, with the top five pairings all returning the maximum allowable combined score of 42 Stableford points. There was loud applause during the prize presentation ceremony when tournament regulars Anushka Gayan and Lee Robert of Leonian Malaysia were announced as the champions. The pair, who led Malaysia gallantly to a third-place finish at the WCGC World Final in China last year, will start as hot favourites at the national final. Second place went to the pair of Khairul Sarbany and Ridzuan Ja’afar of Kaizen Sdn Bhd while the Sinar KMH pairing of Shuhairi Abd Aziz and Mohd Haeriman Nassim came in third. The partnership of Afzaruddin and Noradyman Md Sulaiman from Les Copaque Production placed fourth,. The battle for fifth spot came down to two teams with Dipankar Mitra and Abhishek Singh of Simbiotik Technologies Sdn Bhd edging Mohd Shahir Shaarani and Mohd Munir Mohd Noor from Megahtech Venture on countback. The 20 successful teams from the four preliminary legs will advance to the national final, which will be contested at the Kota Permai Golf & Country Club on Sept 25.

JDT’s Arif Aiman (left) in action with Lion City Sailors FC’s Diogo Costa (right). – BERNAMAPIC

Brandao Figueredo and one from Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi. The opening victory puts the 11-time consecutive Super League champions at the top of Group B with three points, level with Cambodia’s Svay Rieng who edged Myanmar’s Shan United 1-0 in another fixture. JDT will face Bangkok United in their second group match at the same venue on Sept 25. Izzuddin, Sze Fei and Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King. In related news, mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei were told to turn their struggling partnership around as they head to the World Championships. Rexy stressed that the personal differences between Tang Jie and Ee Wei, the world No. 4 pair, was nothing new. “They are not young kids anymore. Everyone at BAM has done what we can to encourage and support them,“ said Rexy. “Now it’s time to leave it to them because they know themselves best. They know what they’re lacking, and they also know why they’ve come close to achieving their goals only to fall short.” – Bernama/Agencies

“All I can say today is congratulations to the players for delivering a very good performance with what they had,” he said during a post match press conference. He added that the victory was the result of teamwork and commitment on the pitch, while reminding the players to maintain the same standard in the coming matches. JDT’s victory was secured through two goals, including a penalty, from Joao Vitor

Rexy optimistic of success in Paris

former world champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik. “In the last edition, all eyes were on Aaron Wooi Yik, even though Nur Izzuddin Mohd Rumsani-Goh Sze Fei and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun were also competing. “But this time, Izzuddin-Sze Fei and Wei Chong-Kai Wun have significantly improved their game, which in turn reduces the pressure on Aaron-Wooi Yik,” he said. For the record, in this edition, Malaysia has four representatives in the men’s doubles event, namely, Aaron-Wooi Yik, Wei Chong-Kai Wun, Nur