Malaysian squash looks beyond 2028 Olympics after grant boost
The tradition continues through S. Sivasangari, the women's world No. 7, and men's world No. 12, Ng Eain Yow. Aifa Azman and Aira Azman are ranked world No. 42 and 21, respectively. All four are in the government's Road to Gold programme for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Another player, Rachel Arnold, is ranked No. 19.
SRAM is now looking beyond 2028 and aims to double or even triple its grassroots base. This follows its selection as one of eight sports chosen by the Youth and Sports Ministry to receive part of an RM20 million grant. The grant is aimed at enhancing training and development for Olympic medal prospects.
Besides squash, the other sports are athletics, archery, badminton, cycling, diving, swimming, and taekwondo.
'We have development plans for the elite and back-up players, but we can now ramp up the development of the grassroots thanks to the government grant,' said SRAM advisor, Major (rtd) S. Maniam.
He was previously SRAM's director of coaching.
'For 2028, we have already identified the players who will lead our Olympic Games challenge. But we must not rest on our laurels.
'We must look at the 2032 and 2036 Olympic cycles. Now is the time for us to intensify our talent search.'
Maniam, who was at the helm when David, Ong, and Azlan came through the ranks, said SRAM hopes to help the state associations by getting more involved in their development.
'With this extra funding, we can help by giving them extra funds, more assistance with coaching, and access to facilities,' said Maniam.
'We are looking at doubling or tripling the number of players at the base. If the base is large, the growth will improve, and we will have a wider pool of players.
'We hope to have young players – aged 13-15 – start producing results in the country and the region. We hope to see them shine in the next four years.'
Separately, Maniam said he hopes the national elite players can resume training at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, by the middle of the year.
The National Squash Centre, built for the 1998 Commonwealth Games, was closed in October 2023 for renovations.
Since then, the national players have been training at the National Sports Council Squash Centre in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
23 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Athing Mu-Nikolayev eager for return to Hayward Field for 50th Prefontaine Classic
Athing Mu-Nikolayev hasn't raced an 800m in nearly a year, but is ready to run at the 50th Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field and on a track where she has authored so much history already at age 23. 'The lead up to this has been really great for me,' she said Thursday. 'I've definitely been in a good spot mentally. It's obviously not the most convenient for it to be my first 800m (since last July 19) in this really fast race, but I think I've kind of gotten over that point and just recognized that, hey, we are 1,000 percent really great where we're at with training. This is a great field. This is an opportunity for me.' Mu-Nikolayev will line up Saturday along with reigning world champion Mary Moraa of Kenya and Olympic silver medalist Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, among others, at Pre (NBC and Peacock, 4-6 p.m. ET). Already at the new Hayward Field, Mu-Nikolayev has broken the NCAA 400m record (49.57, 2021), made her first Olympic team in a personal-best time (2021, en route to Tokyo Olympic 800m gold), won a world title (2022) and broken the American record in the 800m (1:54.97, 2023). She was the youngest U.S. woman to win individual Olympic track and field gold (age 19) since Wyomia Tyus in the 100m at the 1964 Tokyo Games. She is the youngest woman in history to own Olympic and world titles in an individual track and field event. Her Hayward magic wasn't there in 2024, however. She tore a hamstring about six weeks before the Olympic Trials. Then in the trials final in Eugene, Mu-Nikolayev and Raevyn Rogers' legs appeared to make contact about 200 meters into the race. Mu-Nikolayev fell. She got up and finished ninth. Her Olympic title defense was over before she could board a plane to Paris. She still went to the French capital with her training group and was a few miles away from Stade de France when the Olympic women's 800m final took place, according to the Southern California News Group. 'It was very hard,' said her coach, Bobby Kersee, according to the report. 'My philosophy of coaching is to put her right back in it, right away. And she tolerated me as a coach. It was tough for me, and it was tough for her.' A month after the Games, Mu-Nikolayev announced that she and Yegor Nikolayev were engaged. They got married this past March. Then she returned to competition with low-key races in April (using a 5000m as a 3000m workout) and May (1500m wins in 4:21 and 4:10). So Saturday will be Mu-Nikolayev's first time in a top-level meet since the Olympic Trials. She called it 'a really anticipated race,' but one that she's stressing over with results-based goals. 'Getting back to kind of the basics of what has made me one of the best 800m runners,' she said. 'Just feeling that on Saturday, I think, is the most important thing rather than hitting a specific time.' Nick Zaccardi,
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Global and GB stars set for Eugene Diamond League
Armand Duplantis, Julien Alfred and Matthew Hudson-Smith are among the stars competing at the Eugene Diamond League [Getty Images] The 2025 Eugene Diamond League meeting boasts one of the best fields this year with 17 individual champions from the Paris Olympics and 14 world record holders in action. Five events feature all three medallists from the Paris Olympics, including the women's 100m, which sees St Lucia's Olympic champion Julien Alfred take on American duo Sha'Carri Richardson and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. Advertisement Among the world record holders in Oregon are Sweden's Armand Duplantis, who set a new high of 6.28m in the men's pole vault in Stockholm last month, and Kenya's three-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon. You can watch all the Diamond League, also known as Prefontaine Classic, action unfold on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app from 21:00-23:00 BST. Which British stars are competing? Matthew Hudson-Smith won individual and relay medals at the Paris Olympics [Getty Images] In the men's 100m, Britain's 60m world indoor champion Jeremiah Azu and British record holder Zharnel Hughes go up against Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, who with 9.75 seconds has the fastest time in the world this year, and American Trayvon Bromell. Advertisement Great Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith, who won silver in France last summer, and Charlie Dobson take on Olympic champion Quincy Hall and Olympic bronze medallist Muzala Samukonga in the men's 400m. Britain's Olympic bronze medallist Georgia Hunter-Bell faces the challenge of Kenyan great Faith Kipyegon and Australian star Jessica Hull in the women's 1500m. GB's world indoor champion Amber Anning is up against two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the women's flat 400m. Other British athletes in action include Dina Asher-Smith, Neil Gourley and Jake Wightman, but Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, whose return from a hamstring injury was delayed by a setback in April, and Josh Kerr are not competing. Advertisement What time are the key events in Eugene? 21:12 BST - men's 100m featuring Jeremiah Azu and Zharnel Hughes 21:43 BST - men's 400m featuring Matt Hudson-Smith and Charlie Dobson 21:51 BST - women's 400m featuring Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Amber Anning 21:58 BST - women's 1500m featuring Faith Kipyegon and Georgia Hunter-Bell 22:25 BST - men's 200m featuring Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek 22:34 BST - women's 800m featuring Mary Moraa and Athing Mu-Nikolayev 22:44 BST - women's 100m featuring Julien Alfred, Sha'Carri Richardson, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Dina Asher-Smith Advertisement 22:50 BST - Bowerman Mile featuring Cole Hocker, Neil Gourley and Jake Wightman What's coming up this Diamond League season? After stops in Eugene and Monaco, the series visits the UK for the sold-out London Diamond League on 19 July. Injury permitting, Hodgkinson is expected to compete at the event where last summer she improved her British record to one minute 54.61 seconds. London is also set to host the latest chapter in the 1500m rivalry between world champion Josh Kerr and Norwegian rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Olympic and world 100m champion Noah Lyles, world 400m hurdles champion Femke Bol and British pole vaulter Molly Caudery are also on the entry lists, as the world's top athletes build towards their shot at World Championship glory in Japan in September. Advertisement What is on the line in the Diamond League? Athletes compete for points in 32 disciplines in a bid to qualify for the Diamond League Finals in Zurich in August. That takes place just over a fortnight before the start of the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. All Diamond League events will be shown on the BBC, which has agreed a deal to broadcast the competition for the next five years. The Diamond League has increased its prize money to the highest level in its history, with a total prize pot of $9.24m (£6.95m) on offer across the series. That includes $500,000 (£375,000) at each of the 14 series meetings, and $2.2m (£1.7m) at the Diamond League final. Advertisement How does the Diamond League work? Athletes will compete for points at the 14 regular series meetings which started in April and run through to August. Points are awarded on a scale from eight for first place to one for eighth place. After the 14th meeting in Brussels, the top six ranked athletes in the field events, the top eight in track events from 100m up to 800m, and the top 10 in the distances from 1500m upwards qualify for the final. The two-day finals are a winner-takes-all competition to be crowned Diamond League champion in each event. Diamond League calendar 2025 26 April - Xiamen, China 03 May - Keqiao, China 16 May - Doha, Qatar 25 May - Rabat, Morocco 06 June - Rome, Italy 12 June - Oslo, Norway 15 June - Stockholm, Sweden 20 June - Paris, France 05 July - Eugene, USA 11 July - Monaco 19 July - London, England 16 August - Silesia, Poland 20 August - Lausanne, Switzerland 22 August - Brussels, Belgium 27-28 August - Zurich, Switzerland
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Thompson expects 'fireworks' in next clash with Lyles
Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson is in red-hot form heading into the Diamond League athletics meeting in Eugene, Oregon (Jewel SAMAD) Jamaican Kishane Thompson is looking forward to "fireworks" when he next faces American Noah Lyles in a rematch of the Paris Olympics 100 meter final -- whenever that showdown materializes. Lyles edged Thompson by just .005sec in the 100m final in Paris 11 months ago and they haven't faced each other since. Advertisement Thompson, in red-hot form ahead of Saturday's Eugene Diamond League meeting -- in which Lyles isn't entered -- said he's "most definitely" eager to take on the American again. "I'm a very competitive person," Thompson said. "I might not show it, but when it comes to competing with a phenomenal person, I think he's a phenomenal athlete, great rival. "So, yeah, of course, when he's ready to step back on the track and we meet it's going to be fireworks for sure." It remains to be seen whether they will meet before the World Championships, which will be held in Tokyo September 13-21. Advertisement Lyles has yet to race a 100m or 200m this season, but 23-year-old Thompson is riding high after winning the 100m at the Jamaican national athletics trials in a blistering 9.75sec on June 27. "I'm really grateful for that race," he said. "So far we're just working on the execution, bit by bit trying to put everything together. "For early season it's just trying to find that sweet spot, how it feels to compete at a high level while doing he best execution out there as possible. "Also getting that competition vibe going and just enjoying myself." Thompson's career-best time made him the sixth-fastest performer in history. Advertisement Only Justin Gatlin (9.74), Asafa Powell (9.72), Yohan Blake (9.69) Tyson Gay (9.69) and world record-holder Bolt (9.58) have gone faster. "I think I'm aware subconsciously," he said of climbing a list topped by sprinters he calls "the gods of their time". "But I don't let it overshadow anything that I've got to think about." rg/bb/st
