11/06/2026

SPORTS THURSDAY | JUNE 11, 2026

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Ladies to the fore Down Under

KBS reviewing Aaron Wooi Yik’s status in RTG THE Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) will review the implications of splitting up national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, which might affect their standing in the Road to Gold (RTG) pro gramme. Youth and Sports Minister Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari said the RTG committee will study the affect of restructuring involving athletes in the pro gramme in detail before any decision is made. “The most important thing is the athlete them selves, their capabilities and performance. RTG is based on the athlete, so when restructuring hap pens, it will be discussed at the RTG committee level. “We will update the developments after the dis cussion is carried out by the committee,” he told reporters in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday He also said that Aaron-Wooi Yik’s status as the world No. 2 men’s pair is also a factor that needs to be considered. “So, we need to review the restructuring at the RTG as the programme is based on the athlete’s capabilities and ranking,” he said. On Saturday, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz confirmed that they would split up the pairing of Aaron-Wooi Yik and Tee Kai Wun Man Wei Chong as part of long term plans to strengthen the national men’s doubles ahead of the Olympic qualifiers next year. Cops, Real Warriors fined for PDRM FC and the Kelantan Real Warriors (TRW FC) have each been fined RM10,000 after failing to submit complete documents for the fifth “In-Season” Financial Fair Play (FFP) submission of the 2025-2026 Malaysian Football League (MFL) season. Sheikh Mohd Nasir Sheikh Mohd Sharif, chairman of the MFL FFP First Instance Body (FIB), said that this failure constitutes a vio lation of Article 11 of the 2025-2026 Season FFP Regulations. He added that both clubs were also found to have salary arrears for employees, as well as outstanding payments to relevant government agencies as of last April. “Both clubs have been given a 14-day period to complete the submission of the outstanding documents and to provide proof of payment or a settlement plan regarding the arrears,“ he said in a state ment yesterday. The decision was made after the MFL FFP FIB committee assessed the financial com pliance level of the Malaysian League clubs during the Fifth “In-Season” Documentation Submission Summary Meeting. Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohd Nasir said that Kuala Lumpur City FC also has employee salary arrears and outstanding payments to relevant government agencies. He stated that KL City will be monitored more closely and has been given 14 days to submit proof of payment or a settlement plan for the arrears accumulated up to April. On the other hand, six clubs – Johor Darul Ta’zim FC, Selangor FC, Penang FC, Kuching FC, DPMM FC and Immigration FC – were found to have fully met the MFL FFP requirements with zero salary arrears or out standing payments to relevant government agencies. Sabah FC, Melaka FC, Negeri Sembilan Fc and Terengganu FC do not have any employee salary arrears, but they still have outstanding payments due to government agencies. Sheikh Mohd Nasir mentioned that an official reminder will be sent to these four clubs to ensure the arrears are settled within the stipulated timeframe. – Bernama incomplete documents

MALAYSIAN shuttlers experienced a mixed bag of dramatic upsets and dominant victories yes terday at the Australian Open at the Quaycentre in Sydney. The day’s most stunning triumph came from the unheralded women’s doubles teenage pair, Low Zi Yu and Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan. The world No. 84 duo pulled off a massive giant-killing act by ousting Taiwan’s world No. 8 and second seeds, Hsieh Pei Shan and Hung En Tzu. Showing incredible composure, the Malaysian prodigies held their nerve in a 70-min ute thriller to secure a 21-19, 13-21, 21-19 victory. In the men’s singles, rising star Justin Hoh kept Malaysia’s singles hopes alive by booking a

ing double duty– produced a spectacular, near flawless performance to dismantle Germany’s Calvin Devereux and Desiree Toeffer 21-1, 21-3. In stark contrast, former champion Lee Zii Jia’s campaign ended abruptly in the opening round. After battling through two qualifying matches on Tuesday, the physically fatigued world No. 64 fell to Taiwan’s world No. 34 Lee Chia Hao 13-21, 22-24 in 46 minutes. This marks Zii Jia’s fourth first-round exit in eight tournaments since his January competitive return. – Agencies

place in the last 16. The world No. 47 fought through a grueling, hour-long three-game battle to overcome India’s Kiran George 21-19, 14-21, 21-15. Justin faces a tough second-round match tomorrow against Ireland’s world No. 24, Nhat Nguyen. The mixed doubles department also deliv ered flawless results. Hoo Pang Ron and Lai Pei Jing safely progressed with a comfortable 21-17, 21-14 win over Australian home favorites Michael Owen and Gronya Somerville. Meanwhile, Loo Bing Kun and Noraqilah – pull

All Others (22.0%)

Brazil (4.7%)

Netherlands (5.6%)

Spain (14.2%)

Argentina (8.2%)

Portugal (8.9%)

France (12.4%)

Germany (11.3%)

England (12.4%)

Paul the Octopus and the probability of the 2026 World Cup winner (inset).

Move over Paul the Octopus Machine learning algorithm makes prediction based on data, expert knowledge and statistical models

I N times past, when we wanted to know which team would win the World Cup, we had to turn to seers with crystal balls, use divination via tea leaves, or hope for Paul the Octopus to tell us what would happen. But modern data science can provide a bet ter alternative – a machine learning algorithm to predict the most likely course of the tourna ment. The algorithm proceeds in two steps. In the first, sophisticated statistical models and expert insight from bookmakers and transfer markets are combined to determine the strengths of all teams and their players. In the second step, a machine learning algorithm decides how to best combine the strength estimates with other information about the teams. This produced a probabilistic forecast for each possible match in the tournament. It can be thought of as a pair of loaded dice: Instead of having the numbers 1 to 6 with equal prob abilities, these loaded dice have different prob abilities for the number of goals for either team. For example, according to the forecast, Mexico has a die rolling 1.9 goals on average in the opening match, whereas opponent South Africa has an average of only 0.7. But this does not mean that Mexico will surely win. Rather, a win for Mexico is the most likely outcome with 65% probability. A draw is less likely (21%), and a win for South Africa is the least likely outcome (14%). Using different pairs of loaded dice, the result of each match in the World Cup can be simulated.

tional bookmakers, reflecting their expert opinions about the upcoming tournament. Third, ratings of the individual players are produced based on their contributions to goals at the club and national levels. And finally, the current quality and future potential of the players is reflected in their expected market values. These are available from the Transfermarkt website that uses a wis dom-of-the crowd approach to estimate the unknown real-market values. These four variables are combined with a broad range of further relevant inputs reflect ing the current states of the different teams and the countries they come from. This includes team-specific details, such as their Fifa rank and the number of players in the semifinals of this year’s Champions League. Also factored in are country-specific socioeco nomic factors, such as GDP per capita. The algorithm has been trained on all matches played at major football tournaments since World Cup 2006. It thus links a team’s strength, market value and other factors to the number of goals scored in matches at World Cups. This is the informa tion that loads the dice for the simulations. The bottom line is forecasts are about prob abilities. The programme will not predict the winner with 100% certainty – but it might do better than an eight-limbed mollusk. – The Independent

Taking into account the official tournament draw and all Fifa rules, including the possibility of overtime and penalty shootouts, the simula tion was run 100,000 times to determine the tournament’s most likely course. The results show that Spain is the favorite for the title with a winning probability of 14.5%, closely followed by England and France, each at 12.4%, and Germany at 11.2%. Due to the expanded tournament – this World Cup has 48 teams and five rounds in the knockout stage – this group of favorites is tightly packed. Portugal and Argentina also have good chances to win the title, at 8.9% and 8.2%, respectively. For its part, the United States has a good chance of reaching the Round of 32: 78%. This is the highest in their group, which has three other teams. In the knockout stage, however, when every match is do or die, the probabilities of the US team “surviving” go down relatively quickly. The probability for a home victory in the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19 is 1%. The machine’s learning algorithm and subsequent simulations are fueled by data, expert knowledge and statistical models. First, all national matches over the past eight years are the basis for a “retrospective” estimate of the teams’ strengths. Second, a “prospective” strength estimate is obtained from quoted odds of various interna