20/10/2026

SPORTS TUESDAY | OCT 20, 2026

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Record breaking ride Zuhairie set a new Games mark in qualifying before clinching the C5 time-trial title in Shizuoka

Jijoe left frustrated after Shanghai setback

NATIONAL track cycling ace Datuk Azizulhasni Awang has attributed his keirin quarterfinal exit at the 2026 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Shanghai, China, to two incidents in which he was forced wide by a Polish rider. The Pocket Rocketman said the first incident occurred as he acceler ated after entering the first turn, but he managed to continue riding. However, the same rider then forced him wide again, this time more forcefully, at the third turn, significantly disrupting his momen tum and speed and left him finishing last in the quarterfinal. “Had those two incidents not occurred, espe cially the second one, I am confident I could have sped ahead and quali fied for the next round. Malaysia’s Gagandeep Aphtar Singh (left) and China’s Kai Li (right) in action at Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor. Junior Tigers hit the ground running

Velodrome. “Like I said before, the challenge at this year’s Shanghai World Championships was to main tain peak strength and fitness after a long and demanding season. “Of course, my performance and preparation for this world meet were not the best compared with competi tors from other countries. “Nevertheless, overall, I achieved my main objective in Shanghai, which was to secure as many qualify ing points as possible for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (LA28),” he said. He also hoped that Malaysians would continue to give him their full support and follow the team’s jour ney over the next two seasons as they strive to qualify for the Olympics. – Bernama

“However, such incidents are part and parcel of keirin racing. Anything can happen when six cyclists are competing at the same time. I take full responsibility for my perform ance,” he said in a post on his Facebook page yesterday. Commenting on the individual sprint event, Azizulhasni said he managed to surpass his personal tar get of finishing among the top 10 in qualifying after clocking 9.564 sec onds (s) to be placed eighth out of the 33 riders who qualified for the world meet. He said although he managed to defeat Colombia’s David Ortego in the opening round, he was unable to overcome Britain’s Harry Ledingham-Horn in their second round race at the Shanghai

N ATIONAL para track cyclist Zuhairie Ahmad Tarmizi presented Malaysia with its first gold medal of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games with a blistering ride to victory in the men’s 1,000-metre time trial event yesterday. In the final at the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka, Japan, Zuhairi clocked 1 minute 05.361 seconds (s) to clinch the gold medal in the C5 (physical impairment) category. Thailand’s Jaturong Niwanti (1:07.206s) took silver while Indonesia’s Sufyan Saori (1:08.166s) settled for bronze. What makes Zuhairie’s triumph even more impressive was that he had earlier shattered the Games record in the qualifying round. He clocked an impressive 1:04.882s to erase the previous mark of 1:07.311s set by China’s Lai Shanzhang at the 2022 edition in Hangzhou, China. Youth and Sports Minister Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari was left in awe by the success of Zuhairie in delivering Malaysia’s first gold medal in Shizuoka. ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Bourne mouth 2 (Tavernier 6, Evanilson 48) Sunderland 0, Brighton 5 (Canvot 4-og, Gomez 7, Ayari 10, Kostoulas 49, Hinshel wood 84) Crystal Palace 0, Leeds 1 (Calvert-Lewin 51) Manchester United 1 (Mbeumo 35) , Nottingham Forest 0 Arsenal 1 (Madueke 80) . P W D L F A Pts Man City 7 7 0 0 19 7 21 Arsenal 7 6 0 1 11 5 18 Brighton 7 5 1 1 23 5 16 Chelsea 7 4 1 2 17 13 13 Liverpool 7 3 3 1 9 8 12 Brentford 7 2 4 1 13 8 10 Leeds 7 2 4 1 9 6 10 Everton 7 2 4 1 8 7 10 Hull 7 2 3 2 8 7 9 Ipswich 7 3 0 4 11 15 9 Newcastle 7 2 2 3 10 14 8 Aston Villa 7 2 2 3 7 11 8 Man United 7 1 4 2 10 10 7 Crystal Palace 7 2 1 4 9 17 7 Bournemouth 7 1 3 3 9 13 6 Coventry 6 2 0 4 5 11 6 Fulham 7 1 2 4 7 10 5 Notts Forest 7 1 2 4 5 9 5 Sunderland 7 1 1 5 6 14 4 Tottenham 6 0 3 3 3 9 3 SPANISH LA LIGA: Osasuna 2 (Budi mir 9-pen, Osambela 88) Racing Santander 0, Celta Vigo 2 (Jutlga 53, Rodriguez 71) Alaves 1 (Novoa 87) , Malaga 2 (Nino 54, Martinez 66) Real Sociedad 5 (Kubo 3, Oskarsson 26, Oyarzabal 59, 67, Guedes 73) , Real Madrid 4 (Guler 30, Mbappe 37, 63 pen, Diomande 82) Sevilla 1 (Bueno 80) . RESULTS & STANDINGS

“Our hero delivers the first gold medal in the men’s 1,000m time trial C4-5 event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games. “Thank you for your fighting spirit and unwavering determination. “The whole country is proud of you,” he said in a post on Instagram yesterday. Dr Mohammed Taufiq also uploaded a photograph of himself celebrating Zuhairie’s triumph, hav ing watched the cyclist compete at the venue. Today’s victory also allowed Zuhairie to make amends for his dis appointment at finishing with a silver after losing to Niwanti at the 2025 Asean Para Games in Thailand. The 36-year-old Zuhairie had ear lier shattered the Games record in the qualifying round. He clocked an impressive 1:04.882s to erase the previous mark of 1:07.311s set by China’s Lai Shanzhang at the 2022 edition in Hangzhou, China. The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, which officially opened on Monday and will run until Oct 24. – Bernama 9 5 1 3 17 17 16 SERIE A: Udinese 0 Lecce 3 (Gaspar 11, N’Dri 33, Siebert 86) , Fiorentina 1 (Pongracic 42) Como 3 (Liberali 32, Paz 36, Douvikas 56) , AC Milan 3 (Ramos 24-pen, Rabiot 43, Gila 57) Atalanta 2 (Gaetano 66, Krstovic 81) , Juventus 0 Lazio 3 (Provstgaard 37, Isaksen 66, Dele-Bashiru 89) . TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts Inter Milan 7 6 1 0 21 9 19 Lazio 7 6 1 0 14 4 19 Roma 7 5 2 0 16 3 17 AC Milan 7 4 3 0 14 7 15 Como 7 4 2 1 12 7 14 BUNDESLIGA: Moenchengladbach 1 (Mohya 49) Hoffenheim 2 (Conte 11, Prass 54) Leverkusen 2 (Maza 19, Schick 76) Freiburg 1 (Scherhant 14) . TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts B. Munich 6 4 2 0 22 5 14 Dortmund 6 4 2 0 11 4 14 Freiburg 6 4 1 1 15 6 13 Leverkusen 6 4 1 1 16 9 13 Mainz 6 3 1 2 14 10 10 FRENCH LIGUE 1: Angers 2 Marseille 5, Havre 1 Auxerre 3, Lorient 1 Monaco 0, Paris FC 4 Rennes 3, Lyon 2 Nice 1. TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts Lyon 7 4 2 1 13 5 14 Paris SG 7 4 2 1 14 9 14 Paris FC 7 4 2 1 12 7 14 Lille 7 4 2 1 10 5 14 Monaco 7 4 2 1 10 6 14 TOP 5 P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 9 9 0 0 39 9 9 7 1 1 19 8 9 7 0 2 23 9 27 22 21 Atletico Real Madrid Real Betis 9 6 1 2 16 14 19 Sociedad

Ű BY P. CHANDRA SAGARAN

victory in the 57th minute after finishing a through pass. However, coach Nor Saiful Zaini was unhappy with his players’ finishing, saying they had squandered three or four chances in the second and third quarters. “I am not happy when the players missed three and four chances in the second and third quarters. We need to overcome this in the upcoming matches. Safwan would be replaced by another player to take the strokes. “He missed a stroke on the second quarter and the player also failed to score from the spot against Pakistan in the Junior Asia Cup last month,” he added. Malaysia will face Japan tomorrow and must be wary of their opponents, who enjoyed an emphatic 8-1 victory over Canada.

HOSTS Malaysia made a winning start to the 14th Sultan of Johor International Under-21 Hockey Tournament, beating China 3-0 in their opening match at Taman Daya Hockey Stadium on Sunday. China, who had earlier lost 8-3 to Pakistan, fell behind in the fifth minute when Nabil Yusof converted a penalty corner to give the Young Tigers an early boost. Malaysia had a chance to extend their lead in the 16th minute, but Safwan Salihe’s penalty stroke was saved by China goalkeeper Zhang Zhiyuan. Nabil made amends for the missed opportunity by scoring his second goal from another penalty corner in the 28th minute. Aferull Syah Ahmad Azuan Syahrill sealed the 3-0

SHORTS

secure a 3-2 victory for the hosts. Meanwhile, in Terengganu, Johor Darul Ta’zim further solidified their position as Super League leaders by defeating Terengganu FC 3-0 in a match at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium (SSMZA). A bittersweet final bow NATIONAL women’s doubles shuttler Teoh Mei Xing is happy to have had the opportunity to bring the curtain down on her badminton career on home soil, despite missing out on a winning farewell at the Malaysia Super 100 in Iskandar Puteri, Johor. In a recent Instagram post, she expressed gratitude for being able to play her final tournament in Malaysia, where she partnered Tan Zhi Yang. The pair lost 12-21, 21-17, 21-15 to South Korea’s Jin Sung Ik-Lee Seung-hee in the first round at the Indoor Arena, EduCity Sports Complex on Wednesday. “I am grateful that my last dance is

in Malaysia but I am a bit disappointed that I didn’t get a title before I end my badminton career. “But it’s not a big deal. I am not a player who won a lot of major championships, but I have no regrets about the effort I put into my badminton career,” she said. Mei Xing, who announced her retirement from competitive badminton after more than a decade in the sport, also expressed her heartfelt appreciation to those who had supported her throughout her career, particularly during the difficult periods. “I just want to say thank you to everyone who supported me and always stood by my side even though I had a lot of low periods, I am so lucky to have you guys,” she said. Mei Xing’s most successful partnership was with Anna Cheong, with whom she reached a career high world ranking of No. 17 and won the the Czech Open in 2021 and the Super 300 Syed Modi International in 2022.

DPMM’s great escape DPMM FC came from behind to defeat Kuching City FC 3-2 in a Super League match at Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium on Sunday. The hosts opened the scoring through Dalberto Luan Belo in the sixth minute, but Dylan Wenzel-Halls equalised for Kuching City with a freekick in the 28th minute, leaving the score at 1-1 heading into halftime. In the second half, Wenzel-Halls found the net again in the 48th minute, putting the visitors ahead 2 1. However, the visitors were reduced to 10 men after captain Petrus Shitembi was shown a second yellow card in the 61st minute. DPMM capitalised on their numerical advantage, with Azwan Ali Rahman equalising in the 64th minute, before Dalberto scored the winning goal two minutes later to