07/12/2025

SPORTS 15 theSun on Sunday DEC 7, 2025

Golden mission for Speedy Tigers

MALAYSIA will field a senior squad with the mission to defend the men’s field hockey championship at the 2025 SEA Games in Chonburi, Thailand from Dec 11 to 19. The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) in a statement announced that the national squad is now on the best track to expand their dominance at the biennial stage when they have previously collected 17 gold medals since their first participation in Kuala Lumpur in 1971 to the last edition in Cambodia in 2023. Meanwhile, the national squad has only ever finished as runner-up once at the 1973 SEA Games in Singapore. “The event, which will be held at the National Sports University, Chonburi, will bring together five countries involving

among Asean countries is growing tougher and there are no easy opponents even though Malaysia has a much better ranking. “Asean is now full of teams that want to challenge Malaysia. We respect all opponents. “Our focus is not on thinking about who is not our match, but on ensuring that we play to our own standards and bring home the gold medal,” he said. Sarjit insisted that the SEA Games are an important part of our preparations for the World Cup qualifiers and that it will be used to sharpen set-pieces, transitions, and game management to ensure that Malaysia achieves the best momentum when facing bigger challenges after this. – Bernama

group stage action will be against the hosts, Thailand on Dec 16. The semifinal action is scheduled to take place on Dec 18 with the first-placed team facing the fourth-placed team while the group runners-up will face the third-placed team, with the winners meeting in the final on Dec 19. Meanwhile, Speedy Tigers head coach Sarjit Singh said that of the 18 players brought, only 15 players played in the recent Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Tournament. Sarjit also stressed that competition

Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore with a group play competition format before the top four teams advance to the semifinals,” according to a statement yesterday. Based on the current rankings, Malaysia, ranked 13th in the world is the top seed, far ahead of Myanmar (69), Thailand (72), Indonesia (75) and Singapore (81). Speedy Tigers will begin their challenge against Myanmar on Dec 12 before facing Indonesia the next day followed by a clash against Singapore on Dec 15, while the final

Disappointed Turtles

Terengganu, Kuching draw at SSMZA

TERENGGANU FC (TFC) and Kuching City FC shared a point each after battling out a 1-1 draw in a Super League match at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium (SSMZA) in Kuala Nerus, Terengganu on Friday night. Petrus Shitembi put visitors Kuching City 1-0 ahead in the 44th minute before Engku Muhammad Nur Shakir Engku Yacob turned supersub by netting the equaliser in stoppage time, much to the relief of the more than 1,000 home fans. There was drama aplenty towards the end of the match when two players were sent off for fighting, with Kuching City’s Filemon Anyie and Muhammad Safwan Mazlan the culprits. Terengganu head coach Badrul Afzan Razali said he was disappointed because the team’s mission to earn three full points was not achieved. The 49-year-old coach said that the players’ mistake in giving too much space to the opponents in the first half of the match was the reason why the Turtles failed to check their opponents. In addition, Badrul Afzan said that the players also lost focus and failed to show good quality of play, thus affecting TFC’s position in the top five of the Super League.

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06/12/2025

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RM12,121,099.13

Terengganu FC’s Ubaidullah Shamsul (centre) in action against Kuching City FC in the Super League

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match on Friday. – BERNAMAPIC

RM210,329.52

“We came to Terengganu

Meanwhile, Kuching FC coach Aidil Sharin Sahak said he was satisfied to bring home a point from the away game. According to him, his men gave their best performance to ensure that KCFC did not return empty-handed despite facing a strong team like the Turtles. “They (the players) gave their best and maximum. But of course TFC are not easy opponents.

“I am quite disappointed because we failed to earn three points at home. In the first half, the players did not have the ‘urgency’ to attack and score goals. “To the point that I had to get angry and remind the players that we needed three points to ensure a position in the top five of the league. “Overall, all the players played below their true potential,” he said after the match.

to get a point.

“Thank God we managed to steal that point and will focus on improving the team’s performance for the next match,” he said. The result sees Kuching City occupying third spot in the 13-team Super League standings with 21 points from 10 matches, while TFC are fifth with 15 points, also from 10 matches. – Bernama

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Malaysia to host 2027 SEA Games with 38 sports MALAYSIA has chosen to host the 2027 SEA Games from Sept 18-29, involving four main clusters – Sarawak, Penang, Johor and Kuala Lumpur – and will feature 38 sports, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh. Committee and 14th Asean Para Games 2027 meeting in Purtajaya on Friday. “The dates were also fixed to ensure there is no clash of dates with the National Day (Aug 31), Malaysia Day (Sept 16) or any other major celebrations,” she added.

RM11,085,394.38

badminton, cycling (National Velodrome, Nilai), volleyball, netball, equestrian, hockey, karate, fencing, ice skating, athletics, pencak silat, sailing (National Sailing Centre, Langkawi), rugby and water skiing. Yeoh added that the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and the Malaysia SEA Games Organising Committee (MASOC) will present the 38-sport proposal to the SEAGC in Bangkok on Monday. Meanwhile, the 14th Asean Para Games will be held from Oct 17-23, 2027, in Kuala Lumpur, involving 18 sports – swimming, badminton, cycling, boccia, wheelchair basketball, CP (cerebral palsy) football, VI (vision impairment) football, chess, goalball, judo, wheelchair fencing, archery, shooting, athletics, table tennis, powerlifting, wheelchair tennis and bowling. – Bernama

RM100,000.00

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Yeoh said that Sarawak will be the main cluster and site of the opening ceremony, with 17 sports contested there, namely aquatics, weightlifting, basketball, bowling, lawn bowls, e-Sports, gymnastics, golf, cricket, archery, shooting, muay, petanque, squash, taekwondo, tennis and wushu. The Penang cluster will have six sports – sepak takraw, snooker and billiards, judo, boxing, table tennis and floorball, while the Johor cluster only has football. The Kuala Lumpur cluster, meanwhile, will host the 2027 Malaysia SEA Games closing ceremony and 14 sports –

She said the selection of sports to be contested was made in accordance with the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) stipulations, the suitability of the existing venues and additional considerations, such as the list of core sports, the Road to Gold (RTG) programme and the Podium Programme. “The dates were actually chosen because that’s the holiday season for universities. That period is also not yet the start of the monsoon season, so we can be assured of good weather for outdoor sports,” Yeoh told a media conference after the 34th SEA Games Organising

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