Run in Australian Open will set Aaron-Kang in good stead for gold bid at Asian Junior Championships

PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing have a good opportunity to gain valuable experience before the Asian Junior Championships when they compete in the Australian Open starting today in Sydney. Aaron-Khai Xing, who are Malaysia’s best bet to win gold in the Asian junior meet from June 28-July 7 in Yogyakarta will be...

Pearly-Thinaah fall in the first round

PETALING JAYA: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah suffered a blow ahead of the World Championships from Aug 21-27 in Copenhagen after crashing out in the first round of the Australian Open. The duo went down fighting 20-22, 21-17, 17-21 to China’s world No. 6 Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu in the women’s doubles event at Quaycentre in Sydney yesterday. Pearly-Thinaah held...

New Zealand ends most Covid-19 restrictions as pandemic worry eases

New Zealand scrapped mask wearing rules and vaccine mandates on Monday (Sept 12), bringing an end to some of the toughest Covid-19 pandemic rules in the world about two years after they were put in place. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a weekly news conference that it was time to safely turn the page on...

Australia floods worsen as thousands more Sydney residents evacuate

Torrential rains kept battering Australia's east coast on Tuesday (July 5), intensifying the flood crisis in Sydney as thousands more residents were ordered to leave their homes after rivers swiftly rose past danger levels. About 50,000 residents in New South Wales, most in Sydney's western suburbs, have been told to either evacuate or warned they might...

Australia extends mask mandate for Sydney as virus cluster grows

Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), on Tuesday (June 22) reported its biggest increase in new locally acquired Covid-19 cases in nearly a week, raising prospects of more tough restrictions in the country's largest city, Sydney. Ten new locally acquired cases were reported in NSW on Tuesday, as officials fight to contain a latest...

Asia battles second wave of coronavirus with fresh lockdowns

Countries around Asia are confronting a second wave of coronavirus infections and are clamping down again to try to contain the disease, with Australia recording a record daily rise in cases and Vietnam locking down the city of Danang. In China, infections not involving people returning from overseas hit the highest number since early March, with...