04/07/2026

SPORTS SATURDAY | JULY 4, 2026

31

2026 WORLD CUP

SHORTS Iskandar challenges Letshanaa, Ling Ching to step up N ATIO N AL women’s singles head coach Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin wants his two leading players, K. Letshanaa and Wong Ling Ching, to shift their mentality from merely chasing ranking points to being more courageous in challenging the world’s top players moving forward. Iskandar said the challenge he has set for world No. 28 Letshanaa and world No. 36 Ling Ching should be embraced starting with the 2026 Japan Open and 2026 China Open as part of long-term preparations towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games (LA 2028). “Players need to have the character of national women’s singles players, so they must be more brave and then challenge foreign players,” he told reporters yesterday after a training session in Kuala Lumpur. “With confidence, I think they have already proven before that they can play well. They need to be hungrier, because if they only go to collect points, it is useless as well.” The Japan Open (Super 750) is scheduled from July 14-19, followed by the China Open (Super 1000) from July 21-26, while the LA 2028 qualifica tion campaign runs from May 3, 2027 to April 30, 2028. Acknowledging that changing mentality takes time, Iskandar hopes his players will remain on track to consistently challenge higher-ranked opponents. “Sometimes their game plan can drop off; for me, they need to be more consistent in trying to challenge top 10 or top 20 players,” he said. Iskandar also said Letshanaa and Ling Ching’s participation in the 2026 World Championships, scheduled from Aug 17-23 in New Delhi, will be part of preparations for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from Sept 19 to Oct 4. Meanwhile, Ling Ching admitted she is not set ting specific targets for the Japan Open, instead focusing on improving her performance, executing her game plan and regaining confidence after her form was affected by injury. The 22-year-old has previously suffered several injuries, including hip and back issues during a train ing camp ahead of the 2026 Uber Cup in Horsens, Denmark, last April. The Miri-born player also said the level of com petition in Super 750 tournaments is much higher, and she is still adapting her playing style to com pete more consistently at the highest level. Asian podium benchmark for SEA Games THE National Sports Council (NSC) is targeting 70% of national athletes to achieve podium finishes at the Asian level by end of this year in a bid to gauge the country’s prospects of emerging as overall champions in the 2027 SEA Games, which Malaysia will host. Its director-general, Jefri Ngadirin, said the NSC is conducting monthly monitoring of athletes’ per formances, with a review by the Performance Evaluation and Audit Committee scheduled for November to assess Malaysia’s readiness as host of the 34th edition of the biennial Games. “If we are able to track the athletes’ progress through December and achieve the 70% (phase one) target, we have the potential to aim even higher. “Under phase two, we expect 90% of our ath letes to get podium finishes or rank among the top three in Asia,” he told a press conference after a sports sponsorship engagement session with national sports associations (NSAs) in Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, Jefri said 28 sports, including teqball, padel, bodybuilding and kabbadi, have sub miited appeals to be included in the 2027 SEA Games, scheduled to be held across four clusters – Sarawak, Penang, Johor and Kuala Lumpur. He said the outcome of the appeals, including those submitted by other National Olympic Committees (NOCs), is expected to be announced at the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) meeting in Petaling Jaya on July 16. In a separate development, Jefri said Malaysia’s medal target for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, to be held from July 23 to Aug 2, will be announced by chef de mission Datuk Awalan Abdul Aziz during the national contingent’s flag handover ceremony on July 16.

MATCHSCHEDULE & RESULTS

Round of 32

Round of 32

Round of 16

MATCH 73

MATCH 82

JUNE 29

3AM

JULY 2

4AM

MATCH 90

JULY 5

1AM

South Africa Canada

Belgium Senegal

0 1

3 2

Morocco

Canada

AET

MATCH 76 JUNE 30 Brazil Japan

MATCH 81

1AM

JULY 2

8AM

MATCH 89

JULY 5

5AM

USA Bosnia

2 1

2 0

France

Paraguay

4.30AM MATCH 74

MATCH 84

JUNE 30

JULY 3

3AM

MATCH 91

JULY 6

4AM

Germany Paraguay win 4-3 on penalties win 3-2 on penalties Netherlands Morocco MATCH 75

Spain Austria

1 1

3 0

Norway

Brazil

AET

MATCH 83

JUNE 30

9AM

JULY 3

7AM

MATCH 92

JULY 6

8AM

Portugal Croatia

1 1

2 1

England

Mexico

AET

MATCH 78

MATCH 85

JULY 1

1AM

JULY 3

11AM

MATCH 93

JULY 7

3AM

Ivory Coast Norway

Switzerland Algeria

2 0

1 2

Spain

Portugal

MATCH 88

MATCH 77

JULY 4

2AM

JULY 1

5AM

MATCH 94

JULY 7

8AM

Australia Egypt

France Sweden

3 0

Belgium

United States

MATCH 86

MATCH 79

JULY 4

6AM

JULY 1

9AM

MATCH 95

JULY 8

12MN

Argentina Cape Verde

Mexico Ecuador

2 0

M88 Winner

M86 Winner

MATCH 87

JULY 4

9.30AM

MATCH 80

JULY 2

12MN

MATCH 96

JULY 8

4AM

Colombia Ghana

England DR Congo

2 1

M87 Winner

Switzerland

Quarterfinal

MATCH 99

MATCH 100

MATCH 97

MATCH 98

JULY 12

5AM

JULY 12

9AM

JULY 10

4AM

JULY 11

3AM

M91 Winner M92 Winner

M95 Winner M96 Winner

M89 Winner M90 Winner

M93 Winner M94 Winner

MATCH 101

MATCH 102

JULY 15

3AM

Semi f inal JULY 16

3AM

M97 Winner M98 Winner

M99 Winner M100 Winner

JULY 3AM 20

Playoff for third place

JULY 19

5AM

M101 Winner M101 Winner

M101 Loser

M102 Loser

NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY STADIUM

FINAL