27/01/2026

SPORTS TUESDAY | JAN 27, 2026

31

Mixed feelings for Pearly ‘We hope to face them in the future’ N ATIONAL top women’s doubles shuttler Pearly Tan admitted to having mixed feelings after she and her partner, M. Thinaah clinched their first title of the In the meantime, national mixed doubles head coach Nova Widianto expressed his delight in guiding reigning world champions Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, who made history by becoming the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to capture the Indonesia Masters title.

RESULTS & STANDINGS ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcas tle 0 Aston Villa 2 (Buendia 19, Watkins 88) , Brentford 0 Forest 2 (Jesus 12, Awoniyi 79) , Crystal Palace 1 (Richards 88) Chelsea 3 (Estevao 34, Pedro 50, Fernandez 64-pen) , Arsenal 2 (Martinez 29-og, Merino 84) Manchester United 3 (Mbeumo 37, Dorgu 50, Cunha 87) . P W D L F A Pts Arsenal 23 15 5 3 42 17 50 Man City 23 14 4 5 47 21 46 Aston Villa 23 14 4 5 35 25 46 Man Utd 23 10 8 5 41 34 38 Chelsea 23 10 7 6 39 25 37 Liverpool 23 10 6 7 35 32 36 Fulham 23 10 4 9 32 32 34 Brentford 23 10 3 10 35 32 33 Newcastle 23 9 6 8 32 29 33 Sunderland 23 8 9 6 24 26 33 Everton 22 9 5 8 24 25 32 Brighton 23 7 9 7 33 31 30 Bournemouth 23 7 9 7 38 43 30 Tottenham 23 7 7 9 33 31 28 Crystal Palace 23 7 7 9 24 28 28 Leeds 22 6 7 9 30 37 25 Nottm Forest 23 7 4 12 23 34 25 West Ham 23 5 5 13 27 45 20 Burnley 23 3 6 14 25 44 15 Wolves 23 1 5 17 15 43 8 CHAMPIONSHIP: Portsmouth 1 South ampton 1. Top 6 P W D L F A Pts Coventry 28 17 7 4 61 31 58 M’brough 29 16 7 6 46 29 55 Ipswich 28 14 8 6 48 27 50 Hull 28 15 5 8 47 40 50 Millwall 29 14 7 8 36 35 49 Wrexham 29 11 11 7 43 37 44 LA LIGA: Atletico Madrid 3 (Sorloth 22, Lopez 75-og, Almada 87) Mallorca 0, Barcelona 3 (Olmo 52, Raphinha 57, Yamal 73) Real Oviedo 0, Real Socie dad 3 (Oyarzabal 17, 75, Mendez 90+6 pen) Celta Vigo 1 (Iglesias 72) , Alaves 2 (Vicente 3, Martinez 47) Real Betis 1 (Abde 90+5) . Top 6 P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 21 17 1 3 57 22 52 Real Madrid 21 16 3 2 45 17 51 Atleti 21 13 5 3 38 17 44 Villarreal 20 13 2 5 37 21 41 Espanyol 21 10 4 7 25 25 34 Real Betis 21 8 8 5 34 27 32 SERIE A: Atalanta 4 (Scamacca 15-pen, De Roon 24, Raspadori 73, Krstovic 90+3) Parma 0, Genoa 3 (Malinovskyi 62, Ekuban 78, Messias 90+1) Bologna 2 (Ferguson 35, Otoa 47-og) , Juventus 3 (David 22, Yildiz 77, Kostic 86) Napoli 0, Roma 1 (Pellegrini 74-pen) AC Milan 1 (De Winter 62) , Sassuolo 1 (Fadera 3) Cremonese 0. Top 6 P W D L F A Pts Inter Milan 22 17 1 4 50 19 52 AC Milan 22 13 8 1 35 17 47 Roma 22 14 1 7 27 13 43 Napoli 22 13 4 5 31 20 43 Juventus 22 12 6 4 35 17 42 Como 22 11 7 4 37 16 40 BUNDESLIGA: Freiburg 2 Cologne 1, Borussia Moenchengladbach 0 Stutt gart 3. Top 6 P W D L F A Pts Bayern 19 16 2 1 72 16 50 Dortmund 19 12 6 1 38 17 42 Hoffenheim 18 11 3 4 38 22 36 Stuttgart 19 11 3 5 36 26 36 RB Leipzig 18 11 2 5 36 24 35 Leverkusen 18 10 2 6 35 25 32 FRENCH LIGUE 1: Nantes 1 Nice 4, Brest 0 Toulouse 2, Metz 2 Lyon 5, Paris FC 0 Angers 0, Lille 1 Strasbourg 4. Top 6 P W D L F A Pts Paris SG 19 14 3 2 41 15 45 Lens 19 14 1 4 33 16 43 Marseille 19 12 2 5 44 20 38 Lyon 19 11 3 5 32 20 36 Lille 19 10 2 7 34 29 32 Rennes 19 8 7 4 30 27 31

M’sian badminton legend Tan Yee Khan passes away THE Malaysian badminton fraternity is in mourning following the passing of former national shuttler Datuk Tan Yee Khan yes terday. He was 85. This was confirmed by Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) deputy president I Datuk V. Subramaniam, who described Tan, who was part of the national men’s team that captured the 1967 Thomas Cup in Jakarta, as a big loss to the country’s badminton fraternity. “On behalf of BAM, I would like to con vey my deepest condolences to his family. We have lost a great legend, who was one of the country’s badminton mainstays in the early 1960s,” he told Bernama when contacted. Subramaniam said Tan’s achievements and dedication to the sport set the tone for inspiring future generations to shine on the world stage. Apart from the 1967 Thomas Cup vic tory, Tan also formed one of the most dominant men’s doubles partnerships of the 1960s alongside the late Datuk Ng Boon Bee. Together, they won two gold medals at the Asian Games (1962 and 1966), two All England titles (1965 and 1966), an Asian C’ships title in 1965, three SEA Games gold medals (1961, 1965 and 1967), as well as five Malaysia Open titles (1963, 1964, 1965, 1967 and 1968). – Bernama

season at the Indonesia Masters 2026 following a walkover win in the final in Jakarta on Sunday. Pearly shared that she and Thinaah were look ing forward to competing against the newly formed Japanese duo, Arisa Igarashi and Miyu Takahashi, at Istora Senayan, especially after see ing how well their opponents had performed throughout the Super 500 tournament. “But things happened and I wish our opponent a speedy recovery. We hope to face them in the future,” she told Bernama . The top seeds were awarded the title before both pairs even stepped onto the court, as it was reported that Takahashi was unable to play due to a fever. With this result, Pearly and Thinaah became the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to secure the title in the tournament in 15 years, since Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei last won it in 2011. This also marked the current world No. 2 pair’s first title of the season after competing in three tournaments so far. Although Pearly-Thinaah have begun to build momentum this season, national doubles coach ing director Rexy Mainaky believes the pair still needs to further strengthen their physical condi tioning ahead of the All England 2026 in Birmingham from March 3 to 8.

Nova hopes the world No. 4 duo will maintain their momentum and achieve strong results at the All England 2026. The third seeds Tang Jie-Ee Wei sealed their first title this season after a brilliant comeback, defeating Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje 15-21, 21-17, 21-11 in 57 minutes. Professional men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei Nur Izzuddin Rumsani then capped off a memora ble day for Malaysia by securing the country’s third title with a straight-sets victory over homesters Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin, 21-19, 21-13. This marked their first title in over a year for the world No. 9 duo and fourth seeds, with their last victory at the India Open 2025 in January last year. In an Instagram post, Nur Izzuddin praised the team behind their resurgence, crediting their sin cerity and support for helping the pair regain their form. “Thank you to the team for your sincerity and honesty in helping us get back to the top. No mat ter what others say, we remain steady,” he wrote. Each doubles champion earned US$39,500 (RM158,000) while the runners-up received US$19,000 (RM76,00). – Bernama

Bring it on, says NSFC coach Mohd Nizam

NEGERI SEMBILAN FC (NSFC) are looking for revenge when they take on Selangor FC in the quarterfinals of the 2025/2026 Malaysia Cup. NSFC head coach Mohd Nidzam Jamil said the meeting is seen as the perfect opportunity for his side to spring a surprise after losing to Selangor at the quarterfinal stage of the FA Cup previously.

after the second-leg Round of 16 match against Immigration FC (IFC) at Stadium Tuanku Abdul Rahman Paroi in Seremban on Sunday night. “Facing one of the best teams in Malaysia is a challenge we welcome. In the Malaysia Cup, sometimes there is a certain magic,” he added. NSFC won 1-0 through Luqman Hakim Shamsuddin’s goal, ensuring they advanced to the Malaysia Cup last eight on a 1-0 aggregate. The two teams played to a goalless draw in the first leg at Stadium Batu Kawan previously. Mohd Nidzam admitted that NSFC will be the underdogs against Selangor, but said this is not viewed as a weakness and instead serves as motivation for the players. Commenting on last night’s match, he praised IFC, coached by Yusri Che Lah, for giving his team a good fight. Yusri, meanwhile, said his team gave a gritty display to challenge NSFC throughout the match. In the other Malaysia Cup second leg match on Sunday, Kuala Lumpur (KL) City FC beat Perak 3-0 to advance on a 3-2 aggregate. The City Boys had an uphill task of overcoming a 0-2 first leg loss, but managed to score two goals – Safawi Rasid (54’) and a freekick by Paulo Josue in the 90th to level the aggregate and take the match into extra-time. Import player Nicolao Dumitru then rose to the occasion to score KL’s much-needed goal near the end of the first half of extra-time and set up a quarterfinal meeting against Terengganu. – Bernama

“The storyline is very good because in the FA Cup quarterfinals, we lost to Selangor (at home) and won (away), but the aggregate did not favour us. “So it is something positive for our team to meet the same opponents again in the Malaysia Cup quarterfinals, and we will try our best,”he said

Negeri Sembilan’s An Sangsu (centre) challenges Imigresen FC players during the Malaysia Cup match at Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium, Paroi on Sunday. – BERNAMAPIC

Sivasangari stands tall in Tournament of Champions NATIONAL top squash player S. Sivasangari kept Malaysia’s hopes alive at the Tournament of Champions 2026 after producing a gritty comeback to reach the quarterfinals in New York. The fifth seed overturned a two Sivasangari in round one 12 months ago, charged into a 2-0 lead in front of her home crowd – and was one game away from reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in three years. and even in the third I was down. I tried to fight each point and try not to give it up easily. “I tried to hang in there and even if I lost the match I wanted to try and fight as much as I can, stay on that court as long as I can and I think by doing that I managed to sneak the third.

it better. I’m happy to be through.” The Kedah-born player will next take on fourth seed Olivia Weaver, who swept past fellow American Marina Stefanoni 11-2, 11-2, 11-3. In the men’s draw, Ng Eain Yow bowed out after England’s eighth seed Marwan El Shorbagy proved too strong for the Malaysian. Despite winning the opening two games, Eain Yow lost the next three 9-11, 6-11, 7-11 in their 81-minute battle. – Bernama/Agencies

But those hopes were dashed by the Malaysian as the momentum swung in Sivasangari’s favour, with the World No. 6 dominating the rallies and finding her range. “I feel proud with how I fought today,” Sivasangari said via psasquashtour.com . “I was 2-0 down

game deficit to shut the door for homester Amanda Sobhy, winning 6 11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-4 in a thrilling 55-minute second-round clash at Grand Central Station yesterday. Sobhy, who last got the better of

“Even the fourth was close and even if I was leading it was close. I know Amanda is feeling it as I’m feeling it too and I was trying to hide