15/12/2025

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MONDAY | DEC 15, 2025

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ARNE SLOT said there was “no issue to resolve” after Mohamed Salah returned for Liverpool’s 2-0 win against Brighton yester day – a week after he took aim at the club in a fiery interview. Hugo Ekitike scored at Anfield after 46 seconds and Salah, brought off the substi tutes’ bench in the first half, set up the Frenchman’s second goal after the break. Salah, 33, last week accused the faltering Premier League champions of throwing him “under the bus”after he was left on the bench for the 3-3 draw at Leeds – the third match in a row that he had not started. The Egyptian also said he had no relation ship with Liverpool manager Slot when he spoke to reporters after the match at Elland Road. He was omitted from the midweek Champions League trip to Inter Milan, which Liverpool won 1-0, and was the subject of intense scrutiny in the build-up to yesterday’s home game. Slot said at the pre-match press confer ence that he would speak to the forward later in the day, adding: “I have no reasons (for) not wanting him to stay.” Speaking to reporters after the win against Brighton, the Dutchman said there was “no issue to resolve” with Salah, whose corner was headed home by Ekitike in the 60th minute. “For me he’s now the same as any other player,“ he said. “You talk to your players if you’re unhappy with things, but there’s noth ing for me to talk about after what happened against Leeds, after the game.” Slot confirmed the winger was left out of the squad for the fixture in Italy due to his interview but defended his own approach. “The question is always, and everybody has a different opinion about that, should he be (left out) once, twice, three times, four times, four months, 12 years? “Every manager makes different decisions in that, but he wasn’t involved in the game against Milan and I spoke to him yesterday. “And I think, as I usually never say any thing about (what) we talk about, I’m not going to make an exception now, but I think actions speak louder than what has been said. “He was in the squad again and when I had to make my first substitutions, I brought him in. And he performed as I think every fan, including me, would like him to perform today.” Salah now has 277 goal involvements for Liverpool in the Premier League -- 188 goals and 89 assists -- a new record by a player for a single club in the competition, overtaking Wayne Rooney’s mark for Manchester United. A smiling Salah was asked by reporters for a comment after the match but turned them down. “Oh God, two weeks in a row? No,” he said. Slot laughed off a question about whether the match could have been Salah’s last for the club. He wasn’t the only player who walked around the pitch thanking the fans, because the fans deserved a thank you from us,” he said. He added: “Mo is going to go to the Afcan now, I hope he’s going to do very well, and in the meantime we have to play here without him, with not that many players available at the moment.” – AFP ‘No Mo issue to resolve’

Malaysia’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah with their gold medal after defeating Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Meilysa Trias Puspitasari 21-16, 19-21, 21-17 at Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus. – BERNAMAPIC

Finally! Team regu, Pearly-Thinaah end Malaysia’s long wait for gold at SEA Games

M ALAYSIA’S LONG wait to end the drought in the team regu sepak takraw championship finally materialised when the national squad defeated arch-rivals Thailand 2-1 in the final of the 2025 SEA Games while top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah dug deep to clinch gold in the women’s doubles. The sepak takraw action, which took place at Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium, saw Ahmad Jais Baharun’s men successfully end the dominance of the Gajah Putih, which had been Malaysia’s main obstacle in the event for the past three decades. The success thus ended a 34-year wait to lift the team regu championship, which was last won at the 1991 SEA Games in Manila. The national trio of Haziq Hairul Nizam, Muhammad Noraizat Mohd Nordin and Amirul Zazwan Amir started off on a sour note when they lost 9-15, 15 11, 13-15 to Thailand’s first regu, Pornthep Tinbangbon, Varayut Jantarasena and

the top seeds made a strong start, racing to an 11-6 lead before a lapse in momentum saw them trail 15-16 after the interval but Pearly-Thinaah steadied themselves in time to clinch the opening set 21-16. The 2025 World Championships run ners-up looked poised to wrap things up when they surged to a 7-0 lead in the sec ond set, but a series of costly errors allowed the fourth-seeded duo to claw back and force a decider with a 21-19 win. The final set was a nerve-racking affair, with both pairs locked at 10-10 before the Indonesians edged ahead 16-13 but that proved the turning point as Pearly Thinaah rallied superbly, regaining the lead at 18-17 before sealing the match 21 17 when Pearly’s powerful smash forced an error from Febriana. The victory ended Malaysia’s decade long wait for women’s doubles gold at the SEA Games, last won by Amelia Alicia Anscelly-Soong Fie Cho at the 2015 edition in Singapore. It was Pearly-Thinaah’s first SEA Games gold on debut. – Bernama

Marukin Phanmakon in the opening match. However, the country’s main team con sisting of Mohammad Syahir Rosdi, Mohamad Azlan Alias and Farhan Adam charged back to revive Malaysia’s chances after recording a 17-14, 15-13 victory in the second match to level the score. In the deciding game, the combination of Muhammad Zulkifli Abd Razak, Muhammad Afifuddin Mohd Razali and Aidil Aiman Azwawi kept Malaysia’s hopes by winning the first set in 15-13. The entry of Zarif Marican Ibrahim Marican at the end of the match also played an important role before Malaysia confirmed a straight set victory with 15-11. In Pathum Thani, Pearly and Thinaah dug deep in an 86-minute marathon to down Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari to end a 10-year wait for gold in the women’s dou bles. In the final at Gymnasium 4, Thammasat University Rangsit Campus,

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