30/08/2026

theSun on Sunday AUG 30, 2026

SPORTS 15

BAM confirms top pair’s reunion after Asian Games

RESULTS

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Crystal Palace 1 (Donnarumma 56-og) Manchester City 4 (Haaland 17, 84, Cherki 54, 59) . CHAMPIONSHIP: Wrexham 1 Birmingham City 2. LA LIGA: Racing Santander 3 (Zabiri 15, 21, 36) Elche 2 (Sangare 78, Nino 79) . SERIE A: AC Milan 2 (Ramos 69, Halhal 89-og) Venezia 0. BUNDESLIGA: Bayern Munich 5 (Upamecano 21, Olise 55, Vagnoman 57 og, Pavlovic 82, Diaz 90+2) Stuttgart 1 (Vagnoman 52). FRENCH LIGUE 1: Lille 2 (Haraldsson 21, Bakwa 84) Paris Saint-Germain 2 (Vitinha 90+1, Marquinhos 90+5) . SHORTS LCW CUP EYES GLOBAL STEP The Lee Chong Wei Badminton Championship Cup is targeting to organise one local and one interna tional tournament next year. Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei is also chair man of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) performance committee, said this year’s organi sation is aimed at providing early exposure to international competi tion atmosphere for young players so that they will not be clumsy when stepping up to a higher level in the future. “Maybe next year I will target one local and one junior interna tional tournament. As this is my first year, I am learning from this tourna ment as well,” he said yesterday. He said that the planning for the tourna ment has been going on since a year ago with close coordination with BAM to ensure that it does not clash with the existing tournament calendar in addition to taking advan tage of the school holidays. The nine-day tournament involves U13, 15 and 17 age categories with a total cash prize of RM100,000, with the U17 male and female singles cham pions taking home RM5,000 each. HAIER CUP HITS NEW MILESTONE The Haier Cup 2026 badminton tournament concluded successfully after attracting more than 2,500 badminton enthusiasts from across the country for its fourth edition recently. In a statement yesterday, Haier Electrical Appliances (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd said the tourna ment achieved a new milestone by expanding its tour to Sabah for the first time, while also introducing an Open Category in Selangor to fur ther broaden the sport’s reach. The keenly contested tournament saw champions from five states – Sabah, Sarawak, Johor, Penang and Selangor – take home a share of the total RM90,000 cash prize pool, along with exclusive Haier products and Maxx sponsorship prizes. Haier Malaysia managing director Sun Menghao said the tournament not only brought the badminton com munity together, but also helped generate greater interest in the sport among Malaysians regardless of age or skill level. He said Haier Malaysia aims to explore new states and communities in future editions to give more badminton enthusiasts the opportunity to hone their skills and challenge themselves.

THE National Sports Council (NSC) has described as irresponsible claims that it disregarded the plans of national track cycling ace Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (pic) or failed to appreciate his contributions and services over the years. In a statement yesterday, the NSC said it had always stood firmly behind “The Pocket Rocketman” and all plans he had made, particularly those concerning his preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games (LA28). NSC said this position had been con veyed to the athlete since questions over the matter arose before and after the recent Glasgow Commonwealth Games through a series of meetings involving NSC director-general Jefri Ngadirin and several other senior NSC officials with the athlete. “In fact, the NSC held discussions with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation on July 7 to discuss the Olympic Pathway involving national cyclists, including the need for Mohd Azizulhasni, as the main rider, to accumu late the qualifying points he had men tioned. “Youth and Sports Minister Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari, who is also chairman of the NSC Board of Management, had also asked Mohd Azizulhasni about his preparations and plans during the welcoming ceremony for the Malaysian contingent returning from the Commonwealth Games, and has con tinuously kept abreast of developments involving him and strongly supported all decisions and assistance for him,” it said. The statement also said Mohd Azizulhasni had informed the NSC that he had begun planning for the 2028 Olympic Games but had yet to finalise his plans during a meeting with Road to Gold Programme head Akmal Ahmad Zainuddin, Podium Programme head Halif Asro Ramzi Sulaiman and National Sports Institute Sports Science Division head Mohd Izham Mohamad on Aug 13. Sports Council refutes claims it disregarded Azizulhasni’s LA28 plans BADMINTON Association of Malaysia (BAM) performance committee chairman Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei confirmed that the country’s top doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik will return to team up again after the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games from Sept 19 to Oct 4. Lee said the decision was reached as a result of a “heart-to-heart” discussion between him, the coaching staff and the players on Saturday, which saw the pair committed to continuing their struggle together to face upcoming tournaments including the 2028 Olympic Games target. However, for the Asian Games, Chia will take on the challenge with Tee Kai Wun while Soh is not on the list of players for Aichi Nagoya after the coaching staff decided to try No snub, says NSC

Commenting on the players’ aggrieved feelings who claimed they were not brought to discuss the temporary split, Lee explained that he had resolved the misunderstanding in the meeting. “I told Wooi Yik and Aaron, it’s okay. Now we close this chapter. They said they want to to go to the 2028 Olympic. Okay, you want to be on the same page, you want to go, okay,” he said. Meanwhile, Lee also expressed his feelings about the challenges of shouldering the responsibility as chairman of the performance committee, which often faces various contro versies and harsh criticism on social media. He admitted that the position he currently holds is not an easy task, especially when there are those who compare his personal achievements with the status of the players under his supervision now. He insisted that all decisions made were in the interest of the country and BAM, not based on personal interests or dislike for any particu lar player. He also reminded players to always remember the services of those who have helped them from the early stages until they succeeded to the current level. – Bernama

a “scratch pair” strategy. Lee explained that the decision to select players for the Asian Games was made based on the recommendation of the coaches who wanted the best condition and performance to chase medals in the quadrennial tournament. “At that time, the coach said he wanted a scratch pair, right? He wanted to try to see who would be the best partner. That’s the coach, give me the name, okay, we just sub mit. We have to choose the best condition, the best players go to the Asian Games. Because I’ve said the Asian Games is every four years. “I told Rexy after this Asian Games, they (Aaron-Wooi Yik) will be back as partners until 2028. But don’t just go halfway, there’s a prob lem we can’t change,” he told reporters at Juara Stadium, Bukit Kiara, yesterday.

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The NSC said Mohd Azizulhasni had raised several key elements he required at the meeting, with the council express ing its agreement to all his requests and several additional requests, while the minutes of the meeting were shared with the NSC and Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) top management. The meeting also further strengthened support for Mohd Azizulhasni, with the proposed provision of grants to him to continue as in previous practice, while the NSC agreed that all participation in major competitions, such as the Asian Cycling Championships and World Cycling Championships, would be funded by the NSC as a team. “The minister also immediately brought up the matter of the plans and requirements to continue providing full support to Mohd Azizulhasni at the NSC Board of Management meeting on Aug 13, and received the agreement of all NSC board members at the same meeting. “Subsequently, an email was sent to Mohd Azizulhasni on Aug 27 to enable the outcome of the discussions to be finalised. The purpose was for Mohd Azizulhasni to submit a complete programme plan together with estimated expenditure to secure the NSC allocation,” it said. “Once we receive Datuk Azizulhasni’s response, the NSC will then be able to carry out the necessary steps and proc esses to secure the allocation for Datuk Azizulhasni throughout the qualification campaign, in accordance with the plan presented under the Olympic Pathway previously,” it said. Mohd Azizulhasni on Saturday issued a nine-page statement detailing the qualifi cation process for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, while also explaining his position on the future of his career. He said the statement was to address the questions that had been on his mind, as well as to seek clear answers from KBS and the NSC regarding his position in Malaysia’s mission to LA28. – Bernama

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