09/09/2025

SPORTS TUESDAY | SEPT 9, 2025

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Umar gets wild card entry for world meet

RESULTS

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS EUROPE

NATIONAL 400m runner Umar Osman has been confirmed as the country’s wild card entry at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, which will take place in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21. Malaysia Athletics president Datuk Karim Ibrahim, in a statement yesterday, said Umar was selected based on his outstanding achievements throughout 2025, which included consistent performances, success at both national and international levels, and his strong potential to shine on the world stage. According to him, one of Umar’s best achievements this year was clocking 46.25

has also shown good form recently, winning a stage in the Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine and finishing third in Stage 1 of Coppi Bartali. Delbove, 25, also won a stage in the Tour of Rwanda, while Jausseaume, 27, finished second in Stage 4 of this year’s Vuelta a Andalucia. Mitchell, 23, won the Tour Nivernais Morvan, while Mancerou, 22, who joined TotalEnergies on August 1, is expected to act as a domestique. Unibet, meanwhile, has a roster of riders who are all strong climbers. Adrien Maire, 24, won Stage 4 of the Tour of Hellas on his way to a third-place overall finish, in addi tion to placing second in the Tour du Doubs and ninth overall in the Tour of Turkiye. Former UKYO, Bardiani and Kern Pharma rider Giovanni Carboni, 30, is another key rider for Unibet after being crowned King of the Mountains in this year’s Tour of Hellas. Another experienced rider who has com peted with EF Education and Uno-X, Odd Christian Eiking, 30, finished third overall in the Tour of Sibiu. The team’s three other GC contenders are Cedric Bakke Christophersen, 23; Owen Geleijn, 24; and British rider Zeb Kyffin, 27. – National Sports Council They’re back! TotalEnergies, Unibet return to Le Tour de Langkawi after long lay-off Team TotalEnergies making a comeback to LTdL25. The runner(s)-up will receive an exemption into The Open Qualifying Series while the top three finishers will receive an exemption into The 131st Amateur Championship. With 42 countries confirmed to participate, the tournament is once again expected to pro duce world stars such as Hideki Matsuyama and Cameron Smith. Malaysia is now eyeing the opportunity to create its first history in Dubai. – Bernama/Agencies earned higher qualification points, he will be focusing fully on preparations for major championships in 2026, particularly prestig ious events such as the Commonwealth Games. As for women’s 400m runner Shereen Samson Vallabouy, he said she will be focus ing on the SEA Games, scheduled to take place this December in Bangkok. The last time Malaysia appeared at the World Championships was through Azeem’s participation in the Budapest 2023 edition, but the young runner was unable to qualify for the semifinals. – Bernama

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Championships in Gumi, Korea, last May. “As no Malaysian athlete managed to qualify on merit for the 2025 World Athletics Championships, the wild card slot has been awarded to Umar. “Malaysia Athletics is confident Umar’s participation will inspire all Malaysians, while also igniting the fighting spirit of national ath letes on the world stage,” he said. Umar holds the national record in the 400m with a time of 46.09s. Karim said that although national sprint ace Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi had

THE leading Malaysian golfer on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) Anson Yeo will spearhead the country’s seven-man challenge at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai from Oct. 23-26. Yeo, who is currently ranked 240th in WAGR will be joined by Zia Iqmal Abdul Rashid, Hariz Hezri, Maverick Chua, Farez Azihan, Joshua Lim and Zubair Firdaus during the tournament held at the Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course. “I’m really excited for my first Asia-Pacific WITH just two months to go, Saudi Arabia is set to welcome athletes, officials and fans from across the Islamic world for the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 from Nov 7 to 21. Chairman of the supreme organising committee, Prince Fahad Jalawi, said they were honoured to host 57 contin gents that will compete in 23 sporting events at world-class venues across Riyadh. “This Games showcases our commit ment to unity in the Islamic world and provides the best platform for athletes to compete, connect and inspire future generations,” he said in a statement yesterday. Among the events featured are handball, swimming, ath letics, taekwondo and volleyball, while camel racing and e sports are set to make their debut in the sixth edition of the Games. Since its inception in 2005, Turkiye has dominated the medal tally with 237 gold medals, followed by Iran with 118 and Azerbaijan with 114, while Malaysia has made its mark among the top 10 with 33 gold medals. Group A: Germany 3 (Gnabry 7, Amiri 69, Wirtz 72) Northern Ireland 1 (Price 34) , Luxembourg 0 Slovakia 1 (Rigo 90) . Group E: Georgia 3 (Kvaratskhelia 30, Gagnidze 44, Mikautadze 65) Bulgaria 0, Turkey 0 Spain 6 (Pedri 6, 62, Merino 22, 45+1, 57, Torres 53) . Group G: Lithuania 2 (Gineitis 36, Girdvainis 43) Nether lands 3 (Depay 11, 63, Quinten Timber 33) , Poland 3 (Cash 27, Lewandowski 45+2, Kaminski 54) Finland 1 (Kaellman 88) . Group J: North Macedonia 5 (Buechel 15-og, Bardhi 52, Churlinov 56, Kjamili 82, Stankovski 90) Liechtenstein 0, Belgium 6 (De Bruyne 42, 84, Doku 44, 60, Raskin 51, Meunier 87) Kazakhstan 0. AFRICA Group I: Central African Republic 0 Comoros 2. NATIONAL hockey coach Sarjit Singh is satisfied with his players’ performance after Malaysia clinched third place in the 2025 Men’s Hockey Asia Cup. Although the Speedy Tigers did not meet their target to reach the final, he said the team showed steady progress throughout the tourna ment. “We scored 33 goals and conceded 11, averaging 4.7 goals per match. Our player, Mohamad Akhimullah Anuar Esook, also emerged as the top scorer with 12 goals. I think the boys are improving, but we need to get better and bet ter. At the moment, we are on the right track,” he said in a video shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) yesterday. Sarjit also expressed pride in his team for preserving Malaysia’s world ranking at 12th after defeating China 4-1 in the third-place playoff at Bihar University Hockey Stadium in India. He added that the ranking would give Malaysia an advantage in the World Cup Qualifiers next year. Five golds from wushu THE national wushu team secured its fifth gold medal on the final day of the 17th World Wushu Championship in Brasilia, Brazil, on Sunday. The gold was delivered by the women’s trio of Tan Cheong Min, Lee Jia Rong and Pang Pui Yee in the duilian event after scoring 9.630 points. Italy took silver with 9.623 points, while Hong Kong claimed bronze with 9.613 points. Meanwhile, the men’s trio of Clement Ting Su Wei, Si Shin Peng and Bryan Ti Kai Jie won bronze in the duilian event with 9.613 points. Gold in the men’s event went to Macau with 9.620 points, while Hong Kong settled for silver despite posting the same score, after being edged on degree of difficulty. Overall, Malaysia concluded the championship with a total of five golds, one silver and two bronze medals. Saudi Arabia ready to play host BRIEFS Sarjit satisfied with third spot

T WO PROTEAM (PT) teams from France, Team TotalEnergies and Unibet Tietema Rockets, are set to return to the eight-stage Le Tour de Langkawi 2025 (LTdL25) which kickoff on Sept 28. Their participation marks their first return to Asia’s premier tour after a long lay off. TotalEnergies is the new name for the team formerly known as Bonjour, Bouygues Telecom, Bbox-Bouygues and Europcar, which were regular fixtures in the LTdL in the early part of the last decade. The team later changed its sponsor to Direct Energies, which took over the team in 2016 and was registered as a ProTeam in 2020. Unibet Tietema Rockets previously com peted in LTdL 2007 under the name Unibet.com. T he sponsors withdrew temporarily from sponsoring a professional cycling team due to issues surrounding gambling companies in sports before being revived in 2023. The return of these two teams to the LTdL25 stage has garnered significant atten tion, especially since their rider lists suggest they are focused on competing for the indi vidual and team general classifications (GC). LTdL25 Chief Operating Officer (COO),

Emir Abdul Jalal, stated that with a roster full of climbers and one-day race specialists rather than renowned sprinters, TotalEnergies and Unibet’s focus will be on the decisive stages that include climbing routes, such as Gerik-Pasir Puteh, Temerloh Bukit Frasers and the final stage featuring the hilly roads of Bukit Antu and Ampang Look Out. “We are confident that these two French teams will showcase their own unique strategies, especially since their riders are rich with experience competing throughout Europe,” Emir said in a statement yesterday. TotalEnergies, which has accumulated 8 wins and 35 podium finishes this year, is fielding four climbing specialists namely Joris Delbove, Alan Jousseume, Nicola Mancerou and British rider Adam Mitchell. Lorenzo Manzin and Jason Tesson will play their role as sprinters. Manzin, 31, a former rider for the WorldTeam Française des Jeux (FdJ), is con sidered as experienced sprinter, having com peted in four Grand Tours and two classic races. His best result was a second-place finish at 2017 Vuelta a Espana, in addition to two third-place finishes in this year’s Tour of Rwanda. Tesson, 27, who has 9 professional wins,

Yeo leads challenge at Dubai golf championship

including four wins this year. Also stealing the spotlight are the debuts of three young players – Maverick, Joshua and Farez – who are looking to take advantage of the opportunity to play against the Asia-Pacific amateur stars. The champion will receive an invitation to the 2026 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, United States and an exemption into The 154th Open in Royal Birkdale, Merseyside, England.

Amateur. It’s a great opportunity to test myself against the top players. “Knowing that the winner gets to play in two of the biggest major championships in golf will push me to give my best. Just having the chance to play in this event already feels very special,” he said in a statement yesterday. “Playing in the Masters and The Open is every golfer’s dream. This opportunity is a great motivation for me to work harder,” said the 19 year-old player who has collected 10 titles