21/05/2026

SPORTS THURSDAY | MAY 21, 2026

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Early exits at Malaysia Masters Rosman concedes quality of national women’s doubles still below target

World No. 2 pair lock in major targets MALAYSIA’S top men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik have identified the 2026 Asian Games in Japan as one of their key priorities this year. Besides the Asian Games, Aaron said they would also focus fully on two other major tournaments – the 2026 World Championships in New Delhi and the 2026 World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China. “It’s already almost June, and next year Olympic qualification begins. At our age now, our focus is more on major tournaments. We may not have many titles, but we do have some. “Right now, our focus is only on major tournaments. Whatever happens, we will definitely give our best and not take things lightly,” he said when met at the 2026 Malaysia Masters at Unifi Arena in Bukit Jalil. The duo made history in 2022 by becoming Malaysia’s first badminton players to win the World Championships title in Tokyo. They have also secured two Olympic bronze medals, the 2025 Asian Badminton Championships title and four World Tour crowns. On Tuesday, they advanced to the second round of the Malaysia Masters after fighting back to defeat Singapore’s Wesley Koh and Kubo Junsuke 19-21, 21-10, 21-12 in 45 minutes. The Super 500 tournament, which began yesterday and runs until May 24. – Bernama

RESULTS & STANDINGS

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Bourne mouth 1 (Kroupi 39) Manchester City 1 (Haaland 90+5), Chelsea 2 (Fernandez 18, Santos 67) Tottenham 1 (Richarlison 74). P W D L F A Pts Arsenal 37 25 7 5 69 26 82 Man City 37 23 9 5 76 33 78 Man Utd 37 19 11 7 66 50 68 Aston Villa 37 18 8 11 54 48 62 Liverpool 37 17 8 12 62 52 59 Bournemouth 37 13 17 7 57 53 56 Brighton 37 14 11 12 52 43 53 Chelsea 37 14 10 13 57 50 52 Brentford 37 14 10 13 54 51 52 Sunderland 37 13 12 12 40 47 51 Newcastle 37 14 7 16 53 53 49 Everton 37 13 10 14 47 49 49 Fulham 37 14 7 16 45 51 49 Leeds 37 11 14 12 49 53 47 Crystal Palace 37 11 12 14 40 49 45 Nottm Forest 37 11 10 16 47 50 43 Tottenham 37 9 11 17 47 57 38 West Ham 37 9 9 1943 65 36 Burnley 37 4 9 2437 74 21 Wolves 37 3 10 24 26 67 19 NOTE: Top five qualify for Champions League; bottom three relegated CHAMPIONS RELEGATED Chelsea to face JDT in historic pre-season clash PREMIER LEAGUE giants Chelsea FC will return to Malaysia for the first time in 13 years when they take on reigning Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim FC in a high-profile pre-season friendly at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium this August. The match, scheduled for Tuesday (Aug 11), with kickoff at 8pm, will mark the final stop of Chelsea’s Asia-Pacific pre-season tour ahead of the start of the new Premier League campaign on Aug 22. The clash is expected to generate sig nificant excitement among football fans, with the encounter bringing together one of England’s biggest clubs and Malaysia’s most dominant domestic side in recent years. Chelsea’s visit forms part of a five stop regional tour that includes two matches in Sydney, Australia, as well as fixtures in Hong Kong and Jakarta, before concluding in Malaysia. Chelsea previously played in Malaysia several times between 2003 and 2013, including appearances in Kuala Lumpur during the Premier League Asia Cup and exhibition matches against Malaysian select teams. However, this will be the club’s first ever match outside Kuala Lumpur and their first appearance at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri. Opened in 2020, Sultan Ibrahim Stadium has become one of Southeast Asia’s most recognisable football venues and serves as the home ground of JDT, also known as the Southern Tigers. The encounter presents a rare oppor tunity for local fans to witness top-level European football while offering JDT another chance to test themselves against elite international opposition. Ticket prices for the match range from RM154 to RM1,254. Supporters club members will have access to a pre-sale beginning at 10am today, while tickets for the general public will go on sale at noon tomorrow. The fixture is expected to draw a strong crowd, with the 40,000-capacity stadium likely to host one of the region’s biggest football events of the year. Ű BY ASHWIN KUMAR ashwin@thesundaily.com

T HE quality of the national women’s dou bles is still far from satisfactory following the absence of a Malaysian representative in the second round of the 2026 Perodua Malaysia Masters at the Unifi Arena in Bukit Jalil. National women’s doubles head coach Rosman Razak said the level of play of his charges, especially the main hope and seventh seed Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting and the young pair Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan, is not yet on par with their opponents. “Although they are our first pair (Xin Yee Carmen), their level is actually still far and they are still in the process of trial and error including coping with match pressure. “The process has ups and downs but it does not mean that players should continue to accept defeat. Every day they face different problems and that is very important for their progress at a young age and to reach the next level,” he told reporters after the first round of the Malaysia Masters 2026 yesterday. Xin Yee-Carmen, who are also the seventh seeds, lost to Hsieh Yi En-Teng Chun Hsun 15-21, 20-22 of Taiwan. Meanwhile, Rosman admitted that the Chinese pair Bao Li Jing-Cao Zi Han, 18-21, 12-21 were more dominant than Zi Yu-Noraqilah in yes terday’s first round match. “They are trying to play at their current level but I think we need to increase their intensity and skill level because they have not reached a high level yet,” he said. Noraqilah admitted they lost focus in the sec ond game after trailing 0-11, making it difficult for them to mount a comeback and forced the deci

der against the newly-crowned Thailand Open champions. “China’s pair is quite good and they have more power of course than us. We haven’t reached the level of the duo who just won the Thailand Open last week. So, we need to improve,” she told reporters when they met in the mixed zone. Two other national pairs, namely Cheng Su Hui-Tan Zhing Hui and Chong Jie Yu-Vanessa Ng, were also shown the way out by their respective opponents in the early rounds of the Super-level tournament 500. Su Hui-Zhing Hui lost to fourth seeds from Japan Arisa Igarashi-Chiharu Shida 8-21, 12-21 while Jie Yu-Vanessa succumbed to the Taiwanese pair of Chen Yan Fei-Sun Liang Ching, 16-21, 17-21. The national camp previously received a major blow when the country’s No. 1 women’s doubles Pearly Tan-M Thinaah withdrew from the Malaysia Masters. Last Monday, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) via a post on Facebook announced the decision was made following Pearly’s injury. Rosman in a separate statement said it was still too early to allow Pearly to return to the court, although her recovery showed positive progress. – Bernama

370/26

20/05/2026

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M’sia crush India in WC opener

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Malaysia’s Noraizat Nordin (left) in action against India at the 2026 Sepak Takraw World Cup at Stadium Titiwangsa yesterday. – BERNAMAPIC

RM10,501,257.34

MALAYSIA kept their hopes to qualify for the team regu quarterfinals alive when they beat India 3-0 in their Group B opening match at the 2026 Sepak Takraw World Cup at Titiwangsa Stadium yesterday. The first regu of Zuleffendi Sumari (apit kiri), Muhammad Haziq Hairul Nizam (tekong) and Muhammad Noraizat Mohd Nordin (perejam) won the first point with a 15-10, 15-10 victory, while the second regu of Mohammad Syahir Mohd Rosdi, Mohamad Azlan Alias and Farhan Adam won 15-10, 15-12. Muhammad Zulkifli Abd Razak, Muhammad Afifuddin Mohd Razali and Aidil Aiman Azwawi then secured Malaysia’s win with their 15-3, 15 5 victory.

The Malaysian team will face Myanmar tomorrow night to determine who wins Group B, with only the top two teams of each group qualifying for the quarterfinals. National sepak takraw team manager Datuk Abu Jimi Samat reminded the team not to underestimate the Myanmar players as they were capable of putting up a stiff challenge based on previous meetings, besides having been strong opponents against Thailand. “Our observations based on previous match records show that it isn’t a tough situation for the national team. But due to how Myanmar’s record of being tough competitors, we can’t underestimate them,” he said when met after the match. – Bernama

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