Zii Jia and Co face huge Thailand hurdle

MALAYSIAN shuttlers will be out to avoid a Thai wipeout in the early rounds of the Asian Games. Almost all the representatives - Ng Tze Yong, Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles), Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women’s doubles) and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (mixed doubles) will be facing opponents from Thailand...

Pandelela in tears after ending 13-year wait for second individual medal

THE tears just flowed – immediately after the competition, during the interview and then on the podium. After a 13-year-wait, Pandelela Rinong finally won a second Asian Games individual medal in her pet event – the women’s 10m platform individual. And the joy she felt – in her fourth and probably final Asian Games outing – was...

Hopes high on top pair Aaron-Wooi Yik to fight for medal despite tough draw

THEY have a proven record in major events and this will still make men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik as Malaysia’s best bets for a medal in the Asian Games although they have a testing draw in the individual events starting today at the Binjiang Gymnasium today. Aaron-Wooi Yik, the world No. 5, will play...

Badminton: Sze Fei-Izzuddin clinch Kaohsiung Masters title

PETALING JAYA: National men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani clinched their second title of the year after triumphing in the Kaohsiung Masters badminton tournament on Sunday (Oct 1). The world No. 29 Sze Fei-Izzuddin stunned the home pair and world No. 19 Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan 21-14, 21-10 in the men’s doubles final match at...

19-Year-Old Japanese Volleyball Player Serves Up Good Looks And Wins Fans At The Asian Games

Keiho Takahashi, whose dad is Iranian and mum, Japanese, is also an undergraduate at the prestigious Hosei University in Tokyo. At the 19th Asian Games currently happening in Hangzhou, the cheers at the volleyball courts have been deafening. And we suspect that part of the cheers were reserved for a certain good-looking spiker for the Japanese men’s volleyball...

Time and patience needed to lift standard of shuttlers

THERE’s no magic wand to be waved to transform the standard of Malaysian men’s singles shuttlers. It will take a lot of hard work. Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) secretary Datuk Kenny Goh acknowledges that the men’s singles department is struggling but promised that work has already started to add depth in coaching and training. On Thursday,...

Mohd Azeem qualifies for Asian Games 100m semi-finals

HANGZHOU: National sprinting sensation Mohd Azeem Fahmi qualified for the semi-final of the Asian Games 100m race at the Hangzhou Olympic Stadium on Friday (Sept 29). The 19-year-old Auburn University athlete finished first in Heat Three with a time of 10.27s. In his 100m heat three, Mohd Azeem Fahmi faced Iranian Hassan Taftian, who has been playing...

Shuttlers lose to China in World Junior Championships mixed team semi-finals

PETALING JAYA: The shuttlers settled for bronze in the World Junior Championships mixed team event after going down 0-3 to China in the semi-finals in Spokane, the United States on Friday (Sept 29). In the opening match, mixed doubles pair Low Han Chen-Chan Wen Tse lost out 11-21, 16-21 to Liao Pinyi-Zhang Jiahan. Eogene Ewe tried to...

Japanese women’s team gold defence left shaky after Yamaguchi’s withdrawal

JAPAN’s bid to defend the women’s team gold in the Asian Games was dealt a cruel blow after top singles shuttler Akane Yamaguchi was struck down by injury. World No. 2 Yamaguchi was forced to withdraw from her match against Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying in the quarter-finals between the two countries with the scores at 14-21, 7-5...