18/01/2026

theSun on Sunday JAN 18, 2026

SPORTS 15

BADMINTON Association of Malaysia (BAM) will field a line-up of young players to compete in the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) to be held in Qingdao, China from Feb 3 to 8. BAM, through a post on X , announced that singles player Justin Hoh and national men’s doubles, Wan Muhammad Arif Shaharuddin Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King will be the main stays for the Malaysian camp at the biennial tournament. Meanwhile, BAM has also listed Aidil Sholeh Sadikin, Eogene Ewe and Kong Wei Xiang for the men’s singles event. Apart from Wan Muhammad Arif Roy King, the men’s doubles challenge will be taken on by Choong Hon Jian Muhammad Haikal Nazri and Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing. Meanwhile, the women’s squad will be lined up with K. Letshanaa, Wong Ling Ching, Siti Zulaikha Azmi and Oo Shan Zi for the women’s singles event. The women’s doubles will be led by the pairing of Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting, Chong Jie Yu-Vanessa Ng and Cheng Sui Hui-Tan Zhing Yi. Time to blossom

SHORTS

RESULTS & STANDINGS

BAM to field young players in Asia Team Championships

FAM TAKES OVER NFDP TECHNICAL ROLE The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is now taking over the technical role in the implementation of the National Football Development Programme (NFDP). The National Sports Council (NSC) said in a statement that the move was taken to further strengthen the national football talent development ecosystem by ensuring a more struc tured, integrated and high-impact approach. NSC announced that this takeover involves entirely technical aspects, in line with FAM’s expertise and man date as the national football govern ing body. “Among the main responsibilities car ried out by FAM include athlete train ing, tournament participation, and coaching management at all levels of NFDP implementation. “This is in line with the proposal of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) which made an assessment of the development programme as a result of the request from the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS),” according to NSC. At the same time, NSC announced that it will continue to play an impor tant role in managing aspects of ath lete management and support. The responsibilities include admini stration, facility and financial man agement, competition management, athlete welfare and education, dor mitory and nutrition management, medical services and sports science, in addition to the implementation of the comprehensive athlete develop ment programme. According to NSC, this clear division of roles between FAM and NSC aims to ensure that NFDP is implemented more effectively and professionally, in line with international football development standards, while also ensuring the welfare and compre hensive development of the coun try’s young athletes. STEAL SHOW Japan’s Kenshi Yada cruised to a massive 11-shot victory in the boys’ overall category at the Sport Excel International Junior Golf C’ships, which ended at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Shah Alam on Friday. Yada produced a consistent perform ance to card rounds of 70-69-66 for a three-day total of 11-under 205, leav ing Malaysia’s Liew Connor Axel Kai to settle for second spot with a three round total of even-par 216 (72-73-71). Japan’s Daichi Hayashi also carded a 216 (72-72-72) total but finished third on countback. In the girls’ overall category, the Philippines made it a 1-2 finish after Brittany Pauline Tamayo (76-73-73) and Lisa Angeles Sarines (71-77-74) both carded three-round totals of 6 over 222, with Britanny triumphing on countback. Malaysia’s Nur Batrisyia Balqis (75-75 74) was third with an 8-over 224 total. Meanwhile, the Philippines emerged champions in the team category with a three-day total of 655, with Thailand (658) and Malaysia (661) finishing sec ond and third, respectively. The three-day meet, which began on Wednesday, featured 112 young golf ers from 11 countries teeing off in the nine-to-21 age-group categories for boys and girls. YADA, PAULINE TAMAYO

LA LIGA: Espanyol 0 Girona 2 (Vanat 45+3, 90+3) . P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 19 16 1 2 53 20 49 RealMadrid 19 14 3 2 41 17 45 Villarreal 18 13 2 3 37 17 41 Atleti 19 11 5 3 34 17 38 Espanyol 20 10 4 6 23 22 34 Real Betis 19 7 8 4 31 25 29 SERIE A: Pisa 1 (Durosinmi 87) Atalanta 1 (Krstovic 83) . P W D L F A Pts Inter Milan 20 15 1 4 43 17 46 AC Milan 20 12 7 1 33 16 43 Napoli 20 12 4 4 30 17 40 Juventus 20 11 6 3 32 16 39 Roma 20 13 0 7 24 12 39 Como 20 9 7 4 28 16 34 BUNDESLIGA: Werder Bremen 3 Eintracht Frankfurt 3. FRENCH LIGUE 1: Monaco 1 orient 3, Paris Saint-Germain 3 Lille 0. CHAMPIONSHIP: West Bromwich Albion 2 Middlesbrough 3.

National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky said BAM will field the country’s top pairings such as Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah for the All England Championships in March. “At least we can see which young players are ready to join the national team to compete in the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup in Horsens, Denmark in April,” he told Bernama yesterday. The national men’s squad has been drawn in Group D with Indonesia and Myanmar, with Indonesia expected to be the toughest challenge in the early stages. As for the women’s competition, the squad is in Group W with China and with only two teams in the group, the national squad is guaranteed to advance to the knockout stage and will not meet China in the quarterfinals. Malaysia emerged BATC champion in 2022 in Shah Alam and emerged runner-up in the last edition in 2024, also in Shah Alam, while the women’s team’s best achievement was reaching the semifinals in 2020 and 2022. – Bernama Pearly-Thinaah crash out in India

313/26

17/01/2026

0043 1474 1913

8916 1524 7620 2573 0666

0752 4968 9587 6606 7913

3960 3035 3078 8719 5784

5511 5904 1854 9293 3559

RM4,906,504.71

0043 + 1474 1474 + 0043 1913 + 0043

0043 + 1913 1474 + 1913 1913 + 1474

RM132,300.08

National women’s doubles player Pearly Tan in action during the women’s doubles semifinal match against the Japanese pair at the 2026 India Open in New Delhi yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

leaking unforced errors that allowed the Japanese duo to dictate the pace en route to a 21–16 first game. The second game quickly slipped away. A 0–5 start put the Malaysians under immediate pressure, and the situation worsened when Pearly required treatment for an ankle issue with the score at 9–1. Her movement was visibly com promised from that moment, forcing Thinaah to shoulder much of the work load. Even she needed treatment on her palm later in the game at 6–16, underscoring a physically taxing after noon for the pair. Despite their efforts to stay com petitive, Fukushima–Matsumoto closed out the match 21–13 with com posed rallies and steadier serving. The defeat also saw Pearly-Thinaah repeat last year’s achievement of also being stranded in the semifinals. Pearly-Thinaah will next play in the Indonesian Masters at Istora Senayan, Jakarta from Tuesday with a clash with US pair, Francesca Corbett-Jennie Gai in the first round. – Bernama

NATIONAL women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were stopped in the 2026 India Open semifinals by Japanese pair Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto yesterday. The match at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex saw Fukushima-Matsumoto beat Pearly-Thinaah 21-16, 21-13 in 46 minutes, thus preventing the second seeds of the tournament from advanc ing to the final. Thinaah said Fukushima and Matsumoto’s agility managed to weaken their defence which made the opponents’ attacks more effective. “I think in this match, the opponents really put pressure on us through their attacks. This is something we need to pay attention to and be more vigilant, especially when the opponent plays at a faster tempo. “At that time, we need to be more sensitive in defence, as well as being more aggressive and bolder in the game,” she told BWF after the end of the match. Pearly–Thinaah, the world No. 2 pair, struggled to generate rhythm,

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20 29

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RM177,870.94

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37413

4374

7413

437

413

43

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74

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