18/09/2025

SPORTS THURSDAY | SEPT 18, 2025

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Teams adopt new strategy for LTdL25

A NEW team from China, Chengdu DYC Cycling Team and a familiar face from the Philippines, 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike, are both adopting new strategies for the 29th edition of the Le Tour de Langkawi 2025 (LTdL25), which runs from Sept 28 to Oct 5. Chengdu DYC, which is making its first appearance here after being repre sented by Hengxiang and Li Ning Star, will field only one local rider and five foreigners from Russia, Belarus and Venezuela. The 7-Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Continental Team, which previously consisted of six Filipino-born riders, has now included three riders from Australia and France to lead their charge at this year’s edition. This is a significant change, as both teams are aiming to compete with the more elite WorldTeams and ProTeams who were also participating in the race.

RESULTS & STANDINGS

W ORLD mixed dou bles champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei lived up to expectations by advancing to the second round of the China Masters yesterday. In the match held at Shenzhen Arena, the world No. 3 pair, playing for the first time since winning the World Championships in Paris last month, had no trouble defeating United States pair Chen Zhi Yi– Francesca Corbett in straight sets 21-12, 21-14 in just 31 minutes. “Today’s match I felt okay because we’ve played in China a few times. We just need to keep up our momentum,” Tang Jie said in an audio clip shared by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Awaiting Tang Jie-Ee Wei in the second round today are CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (League phase, Matchday 1) : PSV Eindhoven 1 (Van Bommel 90) Union Saint-Gilloise 3 (David 9-pen, El Hadj 39, Mac Allister 81) , Athletic Bilbao 0 Arsenal 2 (Martinelli 72, Trossard 87) , Benfica 2 (Barrenechea 6, Pavlidis 16) Qarabag 3 (Andrade 30, Duran 48, Kashchuk 86) , Juventus 4 (Yildiz 64, Vlahovic 68, 90+4, Kelly 90+6) Borussia Dortmund 4 (Adeyemi 52, Nmecha 65, Couto 74, Bensebaini 86 pen) , Real Madrid 2 (Mbappe 29-pen, 81-pen) Marseille 1 (Weah 22) , Totten ham 1 (Junior 4-og) Villarreal 0. CARABAO CUP (3rd round ) : Sheffield Wednesday 0 Grimsby Town 1, Brentford 1 Aston Villa 1 (Brentford win 4-2 on pen) , Crystal Palace 1 Mill wall 1 (Palace win 4-2 on pen) .

viously fielded all-Filipino riders but this time has added two Australian riders – Luke Burns and Zachary Marriage, and one French rider, Edouard Bonnefoix. The 21-year-old Marriage is expected to play a key role for stage wins. The rider, who previously rode for Israel Premier Tech and Bridgelane, has had a consistent year – finished second at the GP de Cotonou, second in the Young Rider classification at Volta a Portugal and second in a stage at the Santos Tour Down Under. “Whether this approach of includ ing non-Asian riders will give Chengdu DYC and 7-Eleven Cliqq the results they are hoping for, we will all get to see when the race begins,” said Emir. – National Sports Council

fourth overall in the team classification at PLTdL24,” he said in a statement yes terday. Chengdu DYC’s lineup includes three Russian riders, Petr Rikunov, Timofei Ivanov and Andrei Stepanov, along with Belarusian Yauhan Sobal and Venezuelan Roniel Campos. The sole Chinese-born rider in the team is Li Chaoyi. Among the six riders, 28-year-old sprinter Rikunov, who previously rode for Gazprom Rusvelo, has an excellent record, including a stage win at the Tour of Qinghai Lake this year, as well as second-place finishes in a stage at both the Trans-Himalaya and Tour of Hainan. The same approach has been adopted by 7-Eleven Cliqq, which pre

Chief Operating Officer of LTdL25 Emir Abdul Jalal said, this new approach by the Continental teams is a step toward providing a more mean ingful challenge to the top European teams. “Many realise that Continental teams, which mostly rely on local riders, have been less competitive when fac ing WorldTeam or ProTeam riders at LTdL over the past few years. “For example, Japan’s JCL Team UKYO, which achieved a commendable result last year, did so with the help of three Italian riders, Matteo Malucelli, Giovanni Carboni and Thomas Pesenti. “They also helped Manabu Ishibashi become the Best Asian Rider and the Best Asian Team, in addition to finishing

No problem for world champs Tang Jie-Ee Wei cruise into second round but Zii Jia pulls up lame in China

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and lost 21-23.

match against Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi. Zii Jia retired from the match when he was trailing 6-14 in the third game. The 27-year-old started well when he took the first game 21-17 and even had an opportunity to wrap up the match in straight sets when he led 20-19 in the second game but could not take his chances

Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping of China 21-18, 21-13. Meanwhile, men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia suffered a huge blow after he was forced to retire during his first round

Zii Jia seemed to have picked up an injury and struggled with his movement as the third game progressed and was forced to call it quits. It was another setback for the Paris Olympics bronze medallist, who was only playing in his third tournament since returning from an ankle injury.

RM13,256,446.54

2853 + 5763 9523 + 5763 5763 + 9523

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Zii Jia also suffered first-round exits in the W o r l d Championships in Paris and Hong Kong Open in Kowloon. Also failing to advance to the second round were national men’s doubles pair, Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi, who lost to the Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Chirag Shetty 22-24, 13 21. – Bernama

RM588,347.36

Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah– Felisha Pasaribu, who advanced after beating Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa Natsu Saito 23-21, 21-17. For the record, in last

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year’s edition, Tang Jie Ee Wei ended their campaign in the semifinals after losing to former world number one mixed doubles pair

World mixed doubles champions Chen Tang

Jie-Toh Ee Wei. – BERNAMAPIC

RM10,498,472.13

JDT go down to Burinam in Champions League JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM (JDT) let slip a one goal lead to lose 2-1 to Buriram United of Thailand in the opening match of their 2025/2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite (ACLE) campaign on Tuesday night. be in an offside position when he scored. JDT finally broke the deadlock in the 28th minute when Antonio Glauder grabbed a rebound in the penalty box from a Jon Irrazabal corner kick to give the Southern Tigers a 1-0 lead at half-time. “We prepared well to face Buriram but it was definitely not a good day for JDT. Yes, we were a bit disappointed after losing the first match of the ACLE competition,” said Figueiredo after the match.

RM189,702.43

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32363

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“Anyway, we need to bounce back quickly because the journey is still long and there are many more matches to come. Any weaknesses in this action will be fixed immediately. “Luck was not on my side in this match... this defeat will not break our spirit because we remain united as a team. “For the next match, we will re-evaluate our performance and the coaching staff will definitely identify any weaknesses,“ he said.

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In the second half, the home team came back to equalise through Suphanat Mueanta in the 50th minute. The goal raised the spirit of the Thunder Castle squad as theytook the lead in the 54th minute through Robert Zulj. JDT almost equalised in the 81st minute, but Figueiredo’s header was saved by Buriram goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, ensuring a 2-1 victory for the home team.

The match, held at Chang Arena, Buriram, saw JDT start fiercely when they put the ball in the back of the net within 24 seconds through Joao Figueiredo, but the goal was disallowed after a video assistant referee (VAR) ruled a handball in the build-up to the Southern Tigers’ attack. Buriram also suffered the same fate when VAR disallowed Guilherme Bessoli’s goal in the eighth minute after the player was found to

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