Latest news with #SeaGames
New Straits Times
15 hours ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Karateka Shahmalarani finally strikes gold
KUALA LUMPUR: The colours kept getting better for karateka C. Shahmalarani. This time it is gold. The Malaysian ended her gold drought at the Southeast Asian Karate Federation (SEAKF) championships by coming out tops in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei on Thursday. This is also a timely boost for her Sea Games challenge in Thailand in December. Shahmalarani, who won a bronze and a silver in previous SEAKF editions, captured the women's below 50kg kumite gold medal after defeating Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Thu 5-0 in the final. The 26-year-old from Selangor said she is glad to finally finish top of the podium while the tournament in Brunei has enabled the national team to check out their potential Sea Games rivals. Shahmalarani said though she has been consistently performing well — including winning a silver at the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan, last month — she still needs to keep improving. "I'm quite happy to have finally won a gold medal at the SEAKF but I'm not 100 per cent satisfied with my performance. "My semi-final against Thailand's Chanyanut Chippensuk was much harder than the final. "This sport is quite subjective and the winning margins can be very close and there's no guarantee that you always beat the same opponents. I lost to the Thai fighter before in the SEAKF, I beat her this time, but she could beat me if we meet again. "I have reached the half way mark of the year with good results, the Sea Games is our remaining major assignment. We will head to China for a training camp next." Malaysia ended their campaign in Brunei with four golds in the senior category. H. Sureeya Shankar won the men's below 60kg kumite gold, trouncing Cambodia's Ly Kouy Ha 10-0 in the final. S. Thevendran beat Thailand's Ingloy Natthakrit 5-3 in the men's below 55kg final. The men's kumite team gold was won by the squad of Sureeya, Thevendran, M. Pavithiran, S. Geerijaieswaran Pillai and V. Logen who beat Vietnam in the final. Malaysia also bagged three bronzes, through Lovelly Anne (women's individual kata), McRoyce Donovan (men's below 75kg kumite) and the men's team kata trio of Luqman Syah Ahmad Jasman Syah, Aiqal Asmadie and Haznil Henry.
New Straits Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Veteran Pandelela gets rookie partner for World Championships
KUALA LUMPUR: The new combination of veteran diver Pandelela Rinong and Sea Games champion Lee Yiat Qing will carry Malaysia's hopes in the women's 10m synchronised platform at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore from July 11-Aug 3. Two-time Olympic medallist Pandelela seems to have made a full recovery from a tricep muscle injury at the World Cup in Canada in April. Malaysia Aquatics (MAS) diving technical director Yeoh Ken Nee said they expect the Podium Programme athletes to reach the finals and the back-up athletes to gain experience and build momentum for the Thailand Sea Games in December. "Our hopes were on Pandelela before and now too in the 10m synchronised platform. She will be having a new partner who is a first timer competing in the World Championships. Yiat Qing has won gold in the Sea Games, they are our hopes," said Ken Nee in a press conference at the National Aquatic Centre today. "We want at least a big tournament (World Championships) for them to feel the pressure. So when they go to Sea Games, at least the level and pressure is slightly lower." Malaysia will also be sending five male divers to the world meet, with the target of reaching at least the final in every event. Enrique Harold Maccartney and Elvis Priestly will compete in the men's 10m platform synchro while Syafiq Puteh will feature in the springboard events. Two young divers, Nurqayyum Nazmi Nazim and Yong Rui Jie, have also been named for the springboard events, though the final selection for the 1m and 3m events has yet to be confirmed. Meanwhile MAS announced that its president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, deputy president Marilyn Chua, vice president Anthony Ang Kang Keam and assistant secretary Nurul Huda Abdullah, have retained their posts unopposed ahead of the national association's AGM on June 28.
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
NSC expecting to send up to 700 athletes to Thailand Sea Games
KUALA LUMPUR: The National Sports Council is expecting to come up with a shortlist of athletes to be registered for the Thailand Sea Games by September. NSC director-general Jefri Ngadirin said preparations for the games are well underway for athletes under NSC's full-time programme. The biennial games will be held across Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla on Dec 9-20. "We recently had a Sea Games preparation coordination meeting together with the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and the National Sports Institute," said Jefri yesterday (June 17). "We presented our preparation programme for our athletes, involving 43 sports (under NSC), while NSI also presented the support services they intend to prepare for the games. "We are currently in the process of identifying athletes for the registration long list and hope to have a shortlist by September. "There will be 50 sports contested in Thailand and we will be competing in 48 of them. We expect to send between 600 to 700 athletes to the games. "We have also requested that OCM appoints a chef de mission and deputy chef de mission as well as team managers soon so we can coordinate our preparations at the national sports association level." By comparison, Malaysia sent 677 athletes to compete at the 2023 Phnom Penh Games, 584 at Hanoi 2021 (held in 2022 due to Covid-19) and 773 at Manila 2019. Jefri added that efforts have been made over the past two years to "transform" sports that had underperformed at previous editions of the Sea Games, such as swimming. "We have done a lot of transformation in swimming. This includes the appointment of a technical director as well as new foreign coaches for the senior and backup squads," said Jefri. Malaysian swimming has suffered slow but steady decline at the Sea Games level for over a decade now. The swimming squad has not been able to win more than one gold medal at the last two editions of the games.
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Bunga Raya sevens Sea Games squad wary of hosts Thailand
SEMENYIH: The men's national rugby sevens squad are on a mission to recapture the Sea Games gold medal in Bangkok in December but standing in their way will be a determined Thailand national side. Malaysia Rugby (MR) vice president Azmir Zanul Abdin said Thailand have spent the last two years preparing to win the gold on home soil and will be dangerous. "Our goal is to at least reach the final, this (target) is the same as it has been in previous editions," said Azmir today (June 18). "The tournament is expected to be tough this year. I think in previous years Thailand was not too serious about the competition. "But it is different as they are the hosts this time and they have been preparing for this over the last two years. "They are looking strong and have an advantage (on home ground) but that does not mean it is impossible for us to win gold. "Whether we can win gold or not depends on how well we can prepare ourselves from now until the games. "We will be competing in a number of test matches in the run up to the games and that will give us a good idea of our level." The Bunga Raya squad won the rugby sevens gold for the first time during the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Sea Games but settled for silver after finishing runners-up to hosts Philippines during the 2019 Hanoi edition. Rugby sevens has not been included at the Sea Games since then and is only making its comeback in Bangkok this December. Azmir was speaking after the sponsorship signing ceremony between Agym Nutrition Sdn Bhd and MR in Semenyih today. The two parties have signed a one-year contract with an option to extend up to three years which is potentially valued at RM1 million over three years. Under the agreement, Agym Nutrition, a homegrown Malaysian brand, will sponsor key nutritional supplements including whey protein, bulking supplements, branched chain amino acids and creatine, among others, to MR's competitive teams in both sevens and 15s formats.
New Straits Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Martyn, Esther claim Sea Triathlon titles, eye Sea Games next
KUALA LUMPUR: National triathletes Martyn Lim and Esther Joy rose to the occasion with commanding victories in the elite Sprint races at the Southeast Asia (Sea) Triathlon Federation Championships, held as part of the Perak Multisport Festival in Lumut on Saturday. Martyn, who finished fifth overall and was the fastest Malaysian last year, went one better this time by clocking 1:03:57s to clinch the men's title, which featured a 750m swim, 20km bike, and 5km run. He held off compatriot and former Sea Games silver medallist Rikigoro Shinozuka (1:05:25), with Singapore's Rusell Lee (1:06:10) completing the podium. "I didn't come in with big expectations — just focused on going hard in the swim and seeing who came up with me on the bike," said Martyn. "I think I had a pretty good swim by managing to latch onto some feet, which made it quite comfortable. The bike felt really good — the speed was there — and on the run I was out there alone but able to hold a strong pace and finish well." Martyn credited his familiarity with the course as an advantage, having raced here in the past few editions. "That definitely gave me an edge. I knew when to attack, when to hold back, and when to start pushing for the finish," he added. With the championships serving as the final selection race for the Sea Games, Martyn is hopeful his performance sealed the deal. In the women's race, Esther crossed the line in 1:10:25 to finish well ahead of Singaporeans Lim Wan Ting (1:12:48) and Regine Goh (1:15:07), marking a step up from her runner-up finish last year. "This was a good win — not necessarily for how fast I went, but for how I executed it," said Esther. "I really challenged myself, especially in the swim and bike. It wasn't about outright speed today — it was about racing smart, and I'm quite proud of that." Fresh off her win at the national championships in Putrajaya, Esther is also vying for a Sea Games return. "I'm not too sure what the coaches will decide, but based on the results, I hope I get in." Esther, who made her debut at the 2021 Sea Games in Hanoi just six months into competitive triathlon, brings an unlikely background to the sport. "I actually come from wushu," she revealed. "I was in the national team for Nanquan discipline for a half years before COVID-19 struck. I was losing interest after a while as we could not train and there wasn't any competition. "I eventually picked up triathlon. Interestingly, I never cycled before triathlon, but the leg strength from wushu helped a lot, especially on the bike. "Power wasn't the issue — it was just learning the skills." RESULTS *Malaysia unless stated Men's elite sprint: 1. Martyn Lim 1:03:57s, 2. Rikigoro Shinozuka 1:05:25, 3. Rusell Lee (SGP) 1:06:10. Women's elite Sprint: 1. Esther Joy Chen 1:10:25. 2. Lim Wan Ting (SGP) 1:12:48. 3. Regine Goh (SGP) 1:15:07. Men's Olympic distance: 1. Khairil Azhar 2:16:10, 2. Timotius Justin 2:27:27, 3. Mohd Azmir Abdullah Sani 2:32:02. Women's Olympic distance: 1. Serena Yang 2:49:08. 2. Chang Wei Ying 2:56:50, 3. Nursya Jusoh 3:05:44. Men's 113: 1. Hakim Che Sharuji 4:33:08, 2. Muhamad Rabani Hashim 4:46:51, 3. Thong Wing Yew 4:56:17. Women's 113: 1. Wong Ee Va 5:02:57, 2. Nuur Syafyka Shafie 5:37:07, 3. Mimi Ruslan 5:43:18.
