10/09/2025

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | SEPT 10, 2025

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Cklamovski lauds Harimau Malaya Australian coach all praise for players after 1-0 win over Palestine

RESULTS

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS EUROPE

THE Malaysian women’s national hockey team’s dream of advancing to the “Super 4s” round of the 2025 Women’s Asia Cup Hockey Championship in Hangzhou, China, has been crushed after a 0-5 thrashing by three-time champions South Korea in their final Group A match on Monday. The match at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium saw seasoned campaigner Cheon Eunbi play a pivotal role, scoring two field goals Group B: Switzerland 3 (Elvedi 18, Embolo 33, Ndoye 38) Slovenia 0, Kosovo 2 (Rexhbecaj 26, Muriqi 42) Sweden 0. Group C: Greece 0 Denmark 3 (Dams gaard 32, Christensen 62, Hojlund 81) , Belarus 0 Scotland 2 (Adams 43, Volkov 65-og) . Group I: Israel 4 (Locatelli 16-og, Dor Peretz 52, 89, Bastoni 87-og) Italy 5 (Kean 40, 54, Politano 58, Raspadori 81, Tonali 90+1) . Group L: Gibraltar 0 Faroe Islands 1 (Agnarsson 68) , Croatia 4 (Jakic 35, Kramaric 51, Kuc 85-og, Perisic 90+2) Montenegro 0. AFRICA Group A: Guinea-Bissau 2 Djibouti 0. Group D: Libya 2 Eswatini 0. Group E: Zambia 0 Morocco 2. Group G: Mozambique 2 Botswana 0, Uganda 2 Somalia 0, Guinea 0 Algeria 0. Group H: Equatorial Guinea 0 Tunisia 1, Malawi 2 Liberia 2. Group I: Madagascar 3 Chad 1, Ghana 1 Mali 0. CONCACAF: El Salvador 1 Suriname 2, Panama 1 Guatemala 1. Foreign participation for pickleball C’ship THE 2025 Perak Open Pickleball Championship, which will be held on Sept 13 and 14 at the Pickleball Fun Club (PFC), Ipoh, is expected to attract foreign participation by offering a total cash prize of RM40,000. Tourism Perak chairman Datuk Mohamad Kamil Shafie said that currently more than 200 participants have confirmed their participation, including those from foreign countries such as China and Singapore. “This national-scale tournament is organised by Perfect Sports Pickleball Club in collaboration with Pickleball Fun Club Ipoh and supported by Tourism Perak, making it the biggest pickleball event ever organised in Perak. “Any participant interested in this tournament can contact PFC ( Facebook , Instagram ) and the closing date for entries is Sept 11,” he said when met at a press conference in Ipoh yesterday. Mohamad Kamil said the tournament featured three main categories, namely new players, amateurs and open, involving six sub-categories including men’s doubles, mixed doubles and men’s singles aged 19 and above. “Apart from offering rewards, tournaments like this open up space for new talents to be showcased at the national level, including the possibility of representing Perak at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in the future,” he said. In addition, he said the efforts put in place through organising this tournament were also to open up space for Perak to become one of the states famous for sports tourism. – Bernama

H ARIMAU MALAYA head coach Peter Cklamovski expressed his pride in the team after Monday night’s 1-0 win over Palestine at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, Johor. The Australian coach said the players showed discipline, strong mentality and commitment despite facing a short turnaround during this international window. “The first half was excellent, the first 60 minutes were very good. In the last 20 minutes, we had to defend strongly, and the players did that. I’m very proud we kept a clean sheet and got the victory,” he told a press conference after the match. “I believe in all Malaysian players. We made seven changes from the last game, plus six substitutions during the match, which can disrupt rhythm, but the players stayed committed. “We beat Palestine, a very good side who qualified for the Asian Cup and are ranked in the world’s top 100. Credit to the players.”

team ranked among the top 100 in the world, in a Tier 1 international match. The only goal of the match was scored by striker Joao Figueiredo, who found the net for the third consecutive time with Harimau Malaya after converting a low cross from Quentin Cheng on the right as early as the third minute. Meanwhile, Palestine head coach Ehab Abu Jazar admitted that the absence of several key players was one of the factors in his team’s loss against Malaysia. Despite the defeat, Jazar congratulated Malaysia on the victory and praised their overall progress. “Of course, it affects us. But at the same time, it was a chance for us to see new players and those who did not play in the last matches. “However, congratulations to the Malaysian team. We knew it was not going to be an easy match because Malaysia is a developed and strong team,” he said. – Bernama

The coach also stressed that Harimau Malaya focus on team mentality rather than individuals, highlighting that two victories against Singapore and Palestine in quick succession were a positive outcome. “A great goal in the opening stage of the game is a goal from a training move that we do and a goal by design. “It was the game that we expected, and within that, we knew what we needed to execute to get the victory as a team. “We don’t focus on one player, we focus on the team. Like I said, I just want to give all the credit to the players and I’m happy with all of the players,” he added. He further added that Harimau Malaya will now shift focus to preparing for the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, with emphasis on passing accuracy, set pieces and maintaining consistency ahead of October. Malaysia secured a 1-0 victory over Palestine, a

Golfers ready to take on world’s best

FAM denies receiving 2022 WC tickets THE Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has denied allega tions that it received complimen tary tickets from the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) to watch the 2022 World Cup matches in Qatar. FAM secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman said the claim made by a veteran journalist in a recent article on a local news portal is unfounded. “I would like to emphasise that there were no free tickets from Fifa. FAM did not receive any com plimentary tickets for the 2022 World Cup matches, despite being a member association of Fifa. “So, if there are allegations from certain parties claiming that FAM received free tickets from Fifa, that is completely untrue,” he said in a statement yesterday. Noor Azman clarified that every Fifa member association, including FAM, was allocated a ticket purchase quota for the 2022 World Cup matches. However, he said FAM purchased only 92 tick ets from a maximum allocation of 290. “As stated in Fifa’s letter dated June 17, 2022, the ticket allocation was intended for purchase by members of the Executive Committee, FAM affiliates, spon sors and related stakeholders.” He added that FAM has never sold World Cup tickets to Malaysian football fans and sup porters, including for the 2022 World Cup edition. – Bernama

WHEN the Maybank Championship returns to Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (KLGCC) this October, five homegrown talents will stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s finest golfers. In the spirit of the upcoming Malaysia Day on Sept 16th, Mirabel Ting, Ashley Lau, Kelly Tan, Liyana Durisic, and Genevieve Ling will embody the national pride as they carry Malaysia’s hopes into the US$3 million (RM12.6m) LPGA showpiece, the richest ladies’ golf tournament in the region. Much attention will be on newly turned professional Mirabel Ting, a prodigious talent whose rise has made global headlines. Last year, she stunned the world class field as the lone amateur with an impressive tied-12th finish. Ting’s amateur accolades are unparalleled: ranked World Amateur No. 2 before she joined the paid ranks in July, the first Malaysian to be ranked No. 1 on the US National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division One circuit, and the first player from the Asia-Pacific region to receive the prestigious Annika Award, the ulti mate recognition in NCAA women’s golf. Joining Ting is Malaysia’s No. 1 ranked golfer and 2024 Olympian Ashley Lau, a familiar face who has consistently delivered standout per formances since the inception of the Maybank Championship, highlighted by a T22 finish in 2024. Lau will return with more competi tive fire after a recent run of strong outings in the region and on the LPGA’s developmental circuit, the

Mirabel Ting (left) and Ashley Lau.

golfer against the cream of the LPGA Tour. Completing the Malaysian line-up is Genevieve Ling, who will enter this year’s Maybank Championship fresh from valuable international exposure in Asia and Australia. With strong performances on the 2025 TLPGA Tour and 2025 WPGA Tour of Australasia, highlighted by a T2 fin ish at the WPG Ladies Open in Chinese Taipei, Ling is primed to translate this overseas experience into hometown success. From Oct 30 to Nov 2, all eyes will be on KLGCC where Malaysia’s best golfers will proudly fly the Jalur Gemilang , challenging global titans and showcasing the power of Asean sporting excellence.

Epson Tour, aiming to delight the home crowd once again with her all round skills and focused determina tion. Two-time Olympian and former national No. 1 Kelly Tan will bring sea soned poise and unparalleled experi ence to the Malaysian challenge. Tan earned her LPGA card in 2014 and has a career-best LPGA Tour finish of run ner-up at the 2022 and 2023 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. Liyana Durisic made her profes sional debut at last year’s Maybank Championship Asean Qualifier, mak ing it to the top-five to earn her place on one of golf’s biggest stages. She will return to KLGCC with renewed determination, eager to measure her growth as a professional

South Korea crush Speedy Tigress’ Asia Cup dream

Malaysia began their campaign this time with a disappointing start, suffering an 0-8 defeat to China last weeky, before bouncing back to demolish Taiwan 11-1 yesterday. Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim’s squad will continue their challenge in the classification stage for fifth to eighth place starting today. The national squad’s best achievement was securing third place in the inaugural edition in 1985 in Seoul. – Bernama

The result leaves the Speedy Tigress in third place with three points, thus failing to qualify as one of the top two teams from Group A to compete in the “Super 4s”. South Korea now tops Group A after accumulating six points and boasting a superior goal difference (14) compared to hosts China (11), who share the same points in second place. Taiwan occupies the bottom position with no points.

within three minutes, in the 27th and 30th minutes respectively, to help her team secure a slot in the “Super 4s” round. Earlier, the team coached by Kim Yoon, opened the scoring with a penalty corner goal by Kim Eunji in the 12th minute while Jeong Dabin also scored from a similar situation in the 39th minute, before Cho Hyejin netted a field goal to complete their dominant victory two minutes before the match ended.