05/04/2026

theSun on Sunday APR 5, 2026

SPORTS 15

Champs brace for battle Malaysian duo Aaron-Wooi Yik ready for tough Ningbo challenge

RESULTS & STANDINGS

He said the appointment of a new FAM leadership can pave the way to improving existing weaknesses, thereby ensuring efforts to uplift the national football team’s dignity can be realised. “FAM will be appointing new executive councillors, and I hope it will pave the way for us to work on improving whatever weak nesses there are together. “I’ve never given up on the development of Malaysian football, and I hope we can restore its glory years,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama . FAM are reportedly set to hold their elec tions either in August or September to form a new leadership following the collective and voluntary resignation of all the executive members for the 2025-2029 term with imme DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) delivered a com manding performance to thrash Kuala Lumpur City FC 4-0 in the first leg of the Malaysia Cup 2025/2026 semifinal at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras on Friday night. The Southern Tigers needed just five minutes to open the scoring through prolific striker Bergson Gustavo Silveira Da Silva, putting the hosts under early pressure. JDT continued to dominate pro ceedings with well-structured attacking play and nearly added a second goal about 15 minutes later, but Bergson’s attempt from a Corbin Ong move went narrowly wide. The sustained pressure paid off in the 31st minute when Ager Aketxe Barrutia calmly fired home with his left foot to double the visitors’ lead. Kuala Lumpur City FC attempted to respond towards the end of the first half through captain Paulo Josue, but his effort missed the tar get, allowing JDT to take a comfort able 2-0 lead into the break. In the second half, JDT’s domi ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP: Middlesbrough 1 Millwall 2, Birmingham 0 Blackburn 1, Charlton Athletic 1 Bristol City 2, Leicester City 2 Preston North End 2, Norwich 1 Portsmouth 1, Oxford United 1 Hull City 1, Queens Park Rangers 2 Watford 1, Sheffield United 3 Swansea 3, Stoke City 2 Sheffield Wednesday 0, West Bromwich Albion 2 Wrexham 2, Coventry 3 Derby 2. TOP 4 P W D L F A Pts Coventry 40 25 8 7 84 42 83 Millwall 40 21 9 10 55 45 72 Boro 40 20 11 9 60 39 71 Ipswich 38 19 12 7 67 39 69 LA LIGA: Rayo Vallecano 1 (Nteka 74) Elche 0. TOP 4 P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 29 24 1 4 78 28 73 Real Madrid 29 22 3 4 63 26 69 Villarreal 29 18 4 7 54 34 58 Atleti 29 17 6 6 49 28 57 FRENCH LIGUE 1: Paris SG 3 (Dembele 23, 33, Ramos 90+2) Toulouse 1 (Nicolaisen 27) . TOP 4 P W D L F A Pts Paris SG 27 20 3 4 61 23 63 Lens 27 19 2 6 54 24 59 Marseille 27 15 4 8 54 35 49 Lyon 27 14 5 8 41 29 47

Ű BY ZIKRY MARZUKI zikry@thesundaily.com

must be shared across the squad. The Indonesia-born coach stressed that the pressure should not fall solely on senior stars, including the nation’s world No. 2 men’s doubles pair. Commenting on national doubles coaching director Rexy’s reminder not to rely solely on established stars, Chia described it as a positive message for the entire squad heading into the tourna ment. “We can see that our draw for the competition is not that easy for us. In the first round, some will met Olympics medalist along with top 10 men’s double. “So, I think it is not easy for us. But, like I said, we will do our best on this,” he added. Malaysia will also be represented in the men’s doubles by Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, as well as Arif Abdul Latif-Yap Roy King.

Asian Championships title after defeating China’s pair Chen Boyang and Liu Yi 21– 19, 21–17 in the final. This year, however, they face a tough path after being handed a tricky opening round clash against world No. 12 pair Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi Lin of Taiwan. Other potential threats in their half include Indonesia’s world No. 4 pair Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and Japan’s world No. 8 duo Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi. Despite strong performances in 2026, the duo have yet to secure a title this sea son, finishing as runners-up at the Malaysia Open in January and the All England Open Badminton C’ships in March.Rexy Mainaky recently empha sised that the responsibility of delivering results at the 2026 Asian Championships

NATIONAL badminton player Aaron Chia believes he and his partner, Soh Wooi Yik, are ready for the 2026 Asian C’ships in Ningbo from April 7 to 12. The 29-year-old shuttler admitted that their status as defending champions comes with added pressure, but said their solid preparation has helped them stay focused and confident. “Our preparation has been good and we are on the right track on our training path for about three weeks. We are leav ing (for China) this weekend. “I think the pressure is always there but it’s kind of a new challenge for us to defend our title and we will do our best,” he told the media at the Sunway Velocity Mall, Kuala Lumpur on Friday. The world No. 2 duo clinched the 2025

JDT hit City Boys for four

nance showed no signs of easing as they added a third goal in the 59th minute, with Bergson setting up Oscar Arribas Pasero to score and further tighten the visitors’ grip. The hosts’ attempts to reduce the deficit proved futile, including a long-range effort by Muhammad Safawi Rashid in the 71st minute that went off target. JDT nearly compounded KL City’s misery in the 77th minute through Ignacio Mendez Navia Fernandez, but the goal was ruled out following a VAR review for a foul in the build up. Ager Aketxe capped a fine per formance with his second goal of the night in the 84th minute from a Bergson assist, sealing a compre hensive 4-0 victory for the Southern Tigers. Meanwhile, another semifinal match will see Kuching City FC travel to the Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) Stadium to face Selangor FC today. The second leg between KL City and JDT will take place on Tuesday. – Bernama

349/26

04/04/2026

2575 4182 7158

1370 1151 4738 2505 5880

9365 9237 1759 0484 0609

0481 1380 2614 2219 2778

7238 4332 0272 6998 2669

RM5,709,414.42

2575 + 7158 4182 + 7158 7158 + 4182

2575 + 4182 4182 + 2575 7158 + 2575

RM266,312.77

Bergson da Silva (left) celebrates after scoring for JDT during the first leg of the Malaysia Cup 2025/26 semifinal at Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium yesterday. – BERNAMAPIC

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KBS hopeful new FAM leadership will bring change YOUTH and Sports Minister Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari hopes the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) can form a new leadership capable of bringing positive changes to the country’s football landscape. diate effect in January. Meanwhile, Mohammed Taufiq remains confident that the country’s football has a bright future, although its image has taken a slight beating internationally due to certain issues.

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Last month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially upheld the appeal of the seven players against the punishment imposed by Fifa over the falsification of natu ralisation and eligibility documents,. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) found that FAM had breached Article 56 of the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code for fielding ineligible players in two Asian Cup 2027 qualifying matches against Nepal and Vietnam. As such, the national football team was docked points by the AFC, which dashed Malaysia’s hopes of featuring in the Asian Cup Finals on merit for the second consecu tive time. The Harimau Malaya squad, under the guidance of head coach Peter Cklamovski, concluded their Group F fixtures in the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers in second place with nine points, while Vietnam advanced to the finals as group champions with 18 points. – Bernama

RM11,329,442.26

He said public perception could not be fully controlled, but that proactive steps were important to restore the national team’s glory years through comprehensive reforms, especially in terms of governance. “What is more important is how we want to move forward to restore the national team’s glory years. Surely, good governance is extremely crucial, supported by a strong system and encouragement through existing programmes,” he said. He also stressed the public’s belief that the country’s football development must be restored, especially at the grassroots level, starting with programmes such as the National Football Development Programme (NFDP).

RM227,922.08

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