01/04/2026

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | APR 1, 2026

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Go big or go home Ze Zeng battled through pain, intense training for 2025 SEA Games gold

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES St. Kitts and Nevis 2 Solomon Islands 4, Gabon 2 Trinidad and Tobago 2 (Gabon win 5-4 on pen) , Indonesia 0 Bulgaria 1, Grenada 0 Kenya 3, Uzbeki stan 0 Venezuela 0 (Uzbekistan win 5-4 on pen) , Azerbaijan 1 Sierra Leone 1 (Azerbaijan win 10-9 on pen) , Cyprus 3 Moldova 2, Rwanda 2 Estonia 0, Germany 2 Ghana 1, Guyana 3 Belize 1. RESULTS TOUCHLINES REAL MADRID will look to sign Chelsea’s 25-year-old Argentina mid fielder Enzo Fernandez or Crystal Palace’s 22-year-old England mid fielder Adam Wharton if they fail to acquire Spain midfielder Rodri, 29, from Manchester City this year. It will take a bid of about £50m (RM267m) from Madrid to tempt City into selling their star player. JUVENTUS are keeping an eye on Manchester United’s Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte during the international break and might move for the 24-year old this summer. NEWCASTLE have been given a boost in their bid to keep hold of Italy mid fielder Sandro Tonali this summer with Serie A clubs unlikely to be able to afford the 25-year-old. NEWCASTLE have agreed a deal in prin ciple to sign Independiente del Valle’s 16-year-old Ecuadorian winger Johan Martinez. MAN CITY’S 31-year-old Netherlands defender Nathan Ake might be eye ing a move back to former club Chelsea. MAN UNITED and Arsenal are among clubs keen on signing Barcelona’s 26 year-old Spain forward Ferran Torres this summer. CHELSEA and Liverpool are leading the race to sign 22-year-old Senegal midfielder Lamine Camara from Monaco. BOLOGNA are eyeing a summer move for Nottingham Forest’s 25-year-old Italy striker Lorenzo Lucca, who is loan from Napoli until the end of the season. NEWCASTLE’S contract talks have stalled with England defender Tino Livramento, opening the door for a summer exit for the 23-year-old. LIVERPOOL will face strong competi tion from Bayern Munich for the signing of Maxence Lacroix from Crystal Palace. Aston Villa and Chelsea are also monitor ing the 25-year-old French defender. BARCELONA’S top transfer target this summer is Atletico Madrid’s 26-year old Argentina forward Julian Alvarez. BAYERN MUNICH honorary president Uli Hoeness is wary of the Saudi Pro League trying to tempt England striker Harry Kane as the German club continue talks with the 32-year-old over a new deal beyond summer 2027. PORTUGAL midfielder Bernardo Silva, 31, has told Manchester City that he will be leaving the club when his contract runs out in the summer. LIVERPOOL and Newcastle United are interested in Portuguese club Sporting’s 28-year-old Colombia striker Luis Suarez.

Ű BY ZIKRY MARZUKI zikry@thesundaily.com

chose not to undergo a medical check-up in order to keep up with his intensive training and busy schedule. His sacrifice proved worthwhile, as the Selangor-born athlete improved his performance and went on to capture gold at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand. The 22-year-old’s total of 157.22 points was enough to secure victory, finishing ahead of Thailand’s Aaron Kulvatunyou (silver) and the Philippines’ Paolo Barromeo (bronze). It was a major boost for Ze Zeng’s career, inspir ing him to set bigger goals – most notably qualifying for the 2030 Winter Olympics in France. The 22-year-old said his sacrifice has also proven meaningful, as it earned him opportunities to compete in more international tournaments, allowing him to learn and gain valuable experience. “I think one of my biggest achievements was to compete in the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Beijing, China, last January because skaters from Asia, America, Japan and Mexico came and competed together. “The Winter University Games also attracted a lot of very good skaters because most Olympians also compete in university-level competitions. So, I think it was very good experience, I learned a lot from them,” he added. Ze Zeng will now turn his focus to the Thailand Open Figure Skating Trophy in Bangkok, scheduled for May 1 to 4.

Ze Zeng previously trained in the United States for a month to prepare for the ISU Skate to Milano figure skating qualifier held in Beijing in September last year. Although the pain felt like “needles poking,” he

N ATIONAL ice skater Fang Ze Zeng admit ted he must endure pain to achieve per fection and consistency in his perform ances. The 2025 SEA Games gold medallist in the men’s singles event said the pain stemmed from intense training sessions in the United States in 2023. “During that time, I tried to improve certain jumping techniques, which is the technical part (of the performance). But, I think I overtrained and suffered an injury to my groin. “The jumps I tried to practice used mostly my left leg and I think it caused a micro tear. But, I just got through the pain and continue to train even though it was very hard and hurt a lot,” he told theSun .

National ice skater and 2025 SEA Games gold medalist Fang Ze Zeng. –

AMIRUL SYAFIQ/ THESUNPIC

Sabah target 40 gold medals at Sukma

Sawda smashes Asian Jr mark NATIONAL junior track cyclist Sawda Hasbullah redeemed herself in style by clinching the gold medal in the women’s junior 1km time trial at the 2026 Asian Cycling Championships (ACC) in Tagaytay, the Philippines, on Monday.

side Nur Umairah Qhaisara Zulfikha Razak and Davia Evriel Eriana Azif in the women’s junior sprint team event. Earlier Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri missed out on a medal in the women’s individual sprint after fin ishing fourth. The 23-year-old rider was defeated 2-0 by China’s Wang Lijuan in the bronze medal playoff at the Tagaytay City Velodrome. Lijuan clocked 11.235s in the first race before once again outpac ing Nurul Izzah in the second race with a time of 11.071s to secure the bronze medal. The gold medal was won by another Chinese rider, Yuan Liying, who defeated Japan’s Mina Sato in the final. – Bernama

SABAH are targeting 40 gold medals at the 22nd Malaysia Games (Sukma) to be held in Selangor in August. State Youth Development, Sports Advancement and Creative Economy Minister Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan said that with the state con tingent having started preparations early this year, he is confident they can improve on the state’s best achievement of 33 gold medals at the previous edition of the Games. “This time, with the commitment of the Sabah State Sports Council, the athletes and sports associations, we are confident we can meet the 40 gold target (at Sukma 2026),” he told reporters in Kota Linabalu yesterday.

He said the target is to help improve Sabah athletes’ perform ances so they will be more competi tive at the Games. He added that the Sabah Sukma management team have also given a detailed briefing regarding the train ing plans and the athletes’ prepara tions, with the priority now being to ensure they are at the highest fitness levels. Nizam also emphasised that it was important for the athletes to be highly disciplined and committed during the training period. A total of 474 events from 37 sports will be contested at Sukma 2026 from Aug 15-24. – Bernama

Sawda not only successfully defended the title she won last year at the National Velodrome in Nilai, but also rewrote her own Asian jun ior record with a time of one minute and 09.604 seconds (s). Her previ ous Asian junior mark of 1:10.818s. South Korea’s Lee Hyun Ji took the silver medal with a time of 1:10.640s, while India’s S Thabitha settled for bronze in 1:12.613s. Sawda failed to defend her gold medal in the sprint event. Sawda also bagged a bronze medal along

Labuan karate team shines at international championships THE Labuan karate team produced an impressive performance at the Universal Shotokan Karate Union (USKU) 24th kata team event. Martina Anne Jipaun, Hazimah Jamil and Syarulniza Abdul Jamil then added a second gold medal with a superb showing in the women’s senior kumite team event.

of Mohamad Aqib Aimar Mohamad Affendi in the boys’ U-10 kata category. Labuan Karate Association president Renshi Aswadee Taba hailed the exponents for their outstanding achievement. “This achievement reflects the exponents’ dedication, discipline and fighting spirit. Competing in Japan and bringing home medals is a proud moment for Labuan. It proves that our exponents are on par with international competitors,” he said. – Bernama

International Open Karate Championships in Takanabe, Miyazaki, Japan, to bring home two gold, two silver and four bronze medals. The Labuan exponents battled gamely during the March 27-29 championships, with Syarulniza Abdul Jamil, Nur Aleesya Dayana Asmadie and Nur Ariesya Dayana Asmadie delivering the first gold in the women’s senior

Syarulniza and Nur Aleesya also did well in the individual senior and junior (Under-15) events, respectively. While Syarulniza bagged a silver in kumite and a bronze in kata, Nur Aleesya clinched silver in kata and bronze in kumite. Labuan’s fourth bronze medal came courtesy