30/04/2026

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THURSDAY | APR 30, 2026

Malaysian Paper

Malaysia Uber Cup team ready to face great wall of China ALL PLAYERS in the national women’s badmin ton squad are prepared to face a challenging test against defending champions China in the quar terfinals of the 2026 Uber Cup at Forum Horsens today. China or any other team, we still want to fight - that is what’s most important,” he told Bernama immediately after the knockout stage draw yes terday. Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan, and the nation’s top women’s singles player, K. Letshanaa (No. 33).

Only the top two teams from each group qualify for the quarterfinals. This marks the first time in 16 years that Malaysia has reached the quarterfinals, having previously qualified only three times in 2004, 2008, and 2010. The national squad opened their Group B campaign by defeating Turkiye 3-2, followed by a 5-0 sweep of South Africa, which confirmed their slot in the quarterfinals. The 2026 Uber Cup competition, which began on April 24, is set to conclude on May 3. – Bernama

Zi Yu-Noraqilah could serve as the country’s secret weapon following their impressive per formance so far, which included upsetting world No. 7 pair Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi 21-17, 12 21, 21-19 during the national team’s 1-4 loss to six-time champions Japan in their final Group B match last Monday. Malaysia advanced to the quarterfinals as the runners-up of Group B, while China entered as the winners of Group A.

On paper, China holds the advantage in every aspect, boasting a lineup of world-class stars including world No. 2 Wang Zhi Yi, Chen Yu Fei (No. 4), and Han Yue (No. 5), as well as the world No. 1 doubles pair Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning. Malaysia, competing without key player Pearly Tan due to a recent back injury, is led by her partner M. Thinaah while others include the young doubles pair ranked 143rd in the world,

Team manager Datuk Chong Juong Chain believes the players fielded will fight with all their might to provide fierce competition against the most successful team in Uber Cup history, which holds 16 titles. “What I can say at this moment is that our players are in ‘ready mode’ and ready to fight. Regardless of who the opponent is, whether it’s

Nine-goal thriller Kane believes Bayern ‘could have killed the game off’ despite Champions League defeat to PSG H ARRY KANE says that Bayern Munich could have “killed the game off” despite losing 5-4 yesterday to Paris the second leg he added: “More. Even more. We’re at home, we’ll have 75,000 people in that stadium.

“We don’t just want noise we want mass, a weight in the stadium and we’ll need it. Then it’s a place where anything can happen. It’s not a ground that is shy of successful moments for this team.” Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique admitted his team will likely need to score several more goals away to Bayern Munich next week to be sure of reaching another Champions League final after yesterday’s remark able match. “I just asked my staff how many goals they thought we would need next week and we all think we will need to score at least three,” said the Spaniard, who masterminded PSG’s 5 0 triumph over Inter Milan in last sea son’s final. That allowed them to win the Champions League for the first time in their history and next week’s semifinal second leg will be their first visit to the Allianz Arena since then. “Bayern will of course be in their stadium and will be even stronger with their fans behind them but going back there will bring back beautiful memo ries for us. We want to have the same mentality and will go out to try to win the game.” Yesterday’s thriller was the highest scoring semifinal match in the modern Champions League era – you have to go back to 1960 to find the last game as prolific at this stage of the European Cup. That was a 6-3 win for Eintracht Frankfurt away to Rangers, before the Germans lost 7-3 in the final to Alfredo di Stefano’s Real Madrid. “The intensity of the game through out was exceptional,” said Luis Enrique. “We won it and we are very pleased, but at 5-2 we thought we could have had a better result. “We desverved to win, but we also deserved to draw and lose!” – The Independent/AFP

Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane reacts after Dayot Upamecano (left) scores their third goal during the Champions League semifinal, 1st leg against Paris St Germain at Parc des Princes yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Saint-Germain in the first leg of their blockbuster Champions League semifi nal tie. Kane scored the first of nine goals when he converted an early penalty for Bayern but the reigning champions responded through Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Joao Neves to take the lead. Michael Olise equalised but a con troversial penalty was awarded to PSG for handball and Ousmane Dembele sent the hosts into the half-time break 3-2 ahead. PSG increased that deficit to 5-2 but goals from Dayot Upamecano and Luis Diaz ensured that Bayern only trail by one ahead of the second leg in Germany next week. The encounter was a thrilling affair of attacking football with “the best play ers in the world going at it” said Kane. Speaking to Amazon Prime Video after the match, the striker said: “I think you saw two high-level teams out there today especially in the attacking play and the transition. The speed and the intensity in the 1vs1 battles. Two of the top teams going toe-to-toe. “Overall, when we look at the goals – a set pice goal with a penalty is a little harsh if I’m honest but we had moments where we could have killed the game earlier on. “We take a lot of pride in the fact that we got back to 5-4 because away from home being 5-2 down can be a really tough place to be but we fought and we clawed and we’re back in the tie.” Kane also brushed off a question about neither team being able to defend and claimed that there was “amazing defending” throughout the match but the “best attackers” won the day. “Even though there were nine goals scored I think there was amazing defending throughout the game,” Kane added.

seen a lot of good defending today, intense, duels, it’s just that the margins are so little. “You only have two ways so the first one is to go full or the second one is to retreat fully. The in-between doesn’t work against that level of players and the in-between doesn’t work against our level of players.” When asked what he would like from his team at the Allianz Arena in

“Us being at home with our crowd behind us at the Allianz Arena we hope that can push us over the line.” Meanwhile, Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany wants to see more of the same threats from his team when the teams meet again in a week’s time. He was asked if the defensive issues were a problem and replied: “I would say what do you want? I think you’ve

“You’ve got the best players in the world going at it, the best attackers, the best defenders and of course some times the attackers are going to come out on top and show their quality like both teams did today. “I know there were nine goals today but it’s essentially 1-0 and it’s a tough away game (for PSG). We go there with nothing to lose and we’ve just got to bring the same intensity.

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