Latest news with #WUG
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Hoe Yean clocks season's best at World Championships
KUALA LUMPUR: Swimmer Khiew Hoe Yean bounced back strong after battling jet lag on the opening day but injuries hampered other senior Malaysian athletes at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore today (July 28). Hoe Yean clocked a season's best one minute and 48.10 seconds to place 31st overall from 59 swimmers in the men's 200 metre freestyle preliminaries, bettering the 1:48.68s he clocked at the World University Games in Berlin earlier this month. The time, however, was not enough to see him make the top-16 cut for the semi-finals at the OCBC Aquatics Centre. Welson Sim's 1:47.36s from 2017 remains the Malaysian national record in the event. A travel-fatigued Hoe Yean, who arrived in Singapore from Berlin late on Saturday, placed 28th in the 400m freestyle preliminaries yesterday on 3:51.11s which was some way off the 3:47.38s (national record) he clocked en route to silver at WUG. Phee Jinq En opted to sit out the women's 100m breaststroke event today due to a hip issue. She is scheduled to compete in the 50m breaststroke on Sunday (Aug 2). Malaysia Aquatics secretary-general Andy Low said: "She has a slight injury but is preparing for her favourite 50m (breastrstroke) event later this week," said Andy when contacted today. In diving, Nurqayyum Nazim-Yong Rui Jie settled for 21st from 26 pairs in the men's 3m springboard synchronised preliminaries. The duo's routines scored 44.40, 42.00, 57.60, 66.96, 56.10 and 35.70 for a 302.76 total. Only the top-eight pairs made the cut for the final. Luck was not on Pandelela Rinong-Lee Yiat Qing's side in the women's 10m platform synchronised as they were forced to withdraw after scoring 43.80 and 43.20 in the first two dives due to an injury sustained by Pandelela. It is understood that Pandelela had tweaked her shoulder and withdrew as a precautionary measure. The 32-year-old is scheduled to compete in the 10m platform individual event on Wednesday. Pandelela, Yiat Qing, Elvis Clement and Enrique Harold had competed in the mixed 3m and 10m team event on Saturday, finishing 16th from 21 teams. Hoe Yean will next compete in the men's 800m freestyle while Andrew Goh will see action in the men's 50m breaststroke tomorrow. Elvis-Enrique will take to the pool for the men's 10m platform synchronised event tomorrow.
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Malaysian athletes show promise at WUG despite missing target
ESSEN: Malaysia wrapped up their campaign at the Rhine-Ruhr World University Games (WUG) in Germany with just two medals — a silver in swimming and a bronze in badminton. Khiew Hoe Yean ended a 34-year wait for Malaysia in the pool by bagging silver in the men's 400m freestyle, while Wong Ling Ching delivered bronze in the women's singles badminton event. Hoe Yean's silver was the country's first swimming medal at the WUG or Universiade since Jeffrey Ong's silver in the men's 1,500m freestyle at the 1991 Sheffield Games. Malaysia sent a 64-strong contingent to compete in six of the 19 sports contested at this year's edition, held across Duisburg and surrounding cities. The modest two-medal haul fell well short of the seven-medal target. Still, there were encouraging signs, particularly in the pool. Hoe Yean not only won silver but also helped set a new national record in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay alongside Arvin Shaun Singh Chahal, Lim Yin Chuen, and Tan Khai Xin. Hoe Yean also broke the national mark in his individual 400m race. Arvin Shaun posted a personal best in the men's 100m freestyle, while in athletics, Nurul Ashikin Abas (women's triple jump), the men's 4x100m, and women's 4x400m relay teams all recorded season-best times. Six Malaysians made it to the finals in their events, four of them in athletics. Among them was Azeem Fahmi, who finished fourth in the men's 100m final. The 21-year-old flag bearer and debutant showed his potential in the blue riband event but also learned how narrow the margins are at the top. The women's recurve archery team also made history by reaching the semi-finals for the first time. Despite missing the medal target, the effort, hunger and composure shown by Malaysia's young athletes against world-class opposition were widely praised. The experience gained is expected to serve them well as they build toward bigger international competitions. The Games ended with a vibrant closing ceremony at Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord. Japan topped the overall medal table with 34 golds, followed by China (30) and the United States (28). The next edition of the WUG will be hosted by Chungcheong, South Korea, in 2027. - BERNAMA
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
WUG 2025: Chief de Mission believes contingent capable of better results
ESSEN (Germany): The national contingent to the Rhine-Ruhr World University Games (WUG) 2025 here can be considered unlucky after failing to achieve the target of seven medals regardless of colour. Malaysia's Chief de Mission (CDM) to WUG 2025, Datuk Associate Professor Dr Mohd Hafiz Yusoff said at least three or four medals slipped out of the country's grip at the last minute, including the mixed team badminton event as well as several individual competitions apart from the women's recurve archery team. According to him, the fighting spirit shown by the athletes clearly proves their great desire to win, but several aspects need to be improved in preparation for the upcoming WUG edition. "For me, four medals were very close, for example the mixed team event and several individual events in badminton. But I can see that the athletes emotionally and mentally really want to win medals. "But for me, there may be areas in terms of technical and tactical aspects and their mental strength that we must improve for a world-class tournament like this," he said when met by reporters, here. Commenting further, Mohd Hafiz admitted that the presence of many Olympic-level athletes, especially in athletics events, posed a big challenge to the national camp. "For me, Azeem (Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi) has shown a very good performance, but the presence of top international athletes posed a major competition to us," he said. Meanwhile, he said a post-mortem would be held to streamline preparations for the 2026 Asean University Games (AUG) in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia ended the challenge here with a silver medal through the swimming champion Khiew Hoe Yean in the men's 400-metre (m) freestyle and a bronze by badminton camp through Wong Ling Ching in the women's singles. WUG 2025 officially drew its curtain with a closing ceremony that took place in a class of its own at the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord in Duisburg, early this morning Malaysia time. Japan emerged as the overall champion with 34 gold, 21 silver and 24 bronze, followed by China (30-27-17) and the United States in third place (28-27- 29), neighbouring country Thailand (2,4,4). The next WUG Games will be held in Chungcheong, South Korea in 2027. — BERNAMA
The Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
WUG 2025: Malaysia's 4x100m men's finish last in final
BOCHUM: A risky move by the national men's 4x100 metre (m) quartet did not work out after finishing last in the final of the Rhine-Ruhr World University Games (WUG) 2025 at Lohrheidestadion here, tonight Malaysia time. In the highlight race, which was also the closing event of athletics competition, the national quartet made a change in strategy by bringing in Mohamad Raimi Mustaffa Kamal to team up with Pengiran Aidil Auf Hajam, Mohammad Thaqif Mohammad Hisham and Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi. However, the strategy did not give the expected result after they recorded a time of 40.19 seconds (s), which was slower than the 39.83s recorded in the first round early this morning Malaysia time. For the record, in the national quartet's tactical move, Aliff Iman Mohd Fahimi was to compete in the first round while Mohamad Raimi would be fielded in the final. 'This is one of the tactics we have discussed that will involve some risks, at least to receive the baton at the end of the zone because we know that's the only way how we want to utilise and maximise the ability of each runner. 'So we took the risk but luck was not on our side but we did our best, we have nothing to regret because today we have proven that we are one of the best in the world, we qualified for the final, I'm proud of this team,' said Muhammad Azeem when met after the race. South Korea won gold with a time of 38.50s while the South African selection quartet had to settle for silver (38.80s) and India took home bronze (38.89s). Meanwhile, the national women's 4x400m quartet of Mandy Goh Li, Nurul Aliah Maisarah Nor Azmi, Chelsea Cassiopea Evali Bopulas and Hizillawanty Jamain finished the final in seventh place with a time of 3 minutes 54.88s, thus erasing the season's best of 3:55.21s set in the first round, yesterday. The gold medal went to the home quartet after being the fastest to cross the finish line with a time of 3:29.68s while Poland won silver (3:30.21s) and Canada bronze (3:34.16s). In the women's pole vault final, Nurul Ashikin Abas finished last with a height of 12.70 m. WUG 2025 which began on July 16 ended today with a closing ceremony scheduled to take place at the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord in Duisburg, early this morning Malaysia time. Overall, the Malaysian contingent collected one silver and one bronze each contributed by swimming champions Khiew Hoe Yean and women's badminton singles Wong Ling Ching. Japan emerged as the overall champion after collecting 34 gold, 21 silver and 24 bronze, followed by China in second place (30,27,17) and the United States in third place (28,27,29) - BERNAMA
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
World University Games: Ankita bags women's 3000m steeplechase silver, men's 4x100m relay team takes bronze
Steeplechaser Ankita Dhyani came up with a blistering run to clinch silver in the gruelling 3000m event with a personal-best time of 9:31.99 seconds, while the men's 4x100m relay quartet bagged a bronze as Indian athletes ended their campaign in the World University Games on Sunday (July 27, 2025). The trio of Munita Prajapati, Mansi Negi, and Sejal Singh finished third to take the bronze in women's 20km team racewalk on the concluding day. India ended their campaign with two gold, five silver and five bronze in the showpiece event. On a day when several Indian athletes were in contention in track events, but could bag only two medals, 23-year-old Ankita, a second-year social sciences student, shaved nearly seven seconds from her personal best time of 9:39.00 seconds to finish a few milliseconds behind Finland's Ilona Maaria Mononen, who timed 9:31.86. Adia Budde of Germany took the bronze, clocking 9:33.34 seconds. On Friday, Ankita had topped Heat 1 by clocking 9:54.79 seconds and secured her place in the final. It was a massive 22-second improvement, which propelled Ankita to second place in the competitive race. Ankita remained in the top-five through most of the race and came up with a breathtaking sprint in the final 300 metres to almost catch up with the German before missing the gold by just 0.13 seconds. The men's 4x100m relay team, comprising Lalu Prasad Bhoi, Animesh Kujur, Manikanta Hoblidhar and Mrutyam Jayaram, clocked 38.89 seconds to take the bronze. South Korea took the gold in 38.50 seconds, while South Africa (38.80) bagged the silver. The Indian women's 4x400m relay team came up with a season's best time of 3:35.08 seconds, but it was not good enough for a medal, as the quartet of Anakha Bijukumar, Devyaniba Zala, Rashdeep Kaur and Rupal finished fifth, clocking 3:35.08 seconds. The German team, despite a poor reaction time, won the gold with a time of 3:29.68 seconds. The Indian men's 4x400m relay quartet of Vishal Kayalvizhi, Aswin Lakshmanan, Jerome Jayaseelan Panimaya and Balakrishna finished fifth, clocking 3: Poland won the gold with a time of 3:03.64. Indian race walkers had a dismal showing, with none of them finishing in the top-10 in the men's and women's sections, though a few came up with personal or season best timings. However, the trio of Munita, Mansi, and Sejal finished third to take the bronze in women's 20km team racewalk. Sejal came up with a personal best of 1:35:21 seconds to finish 15th, with the gold going to Australia's Elizabeth McMillen in a WUG record time of 1:28:18 seconds. Munita (1:39:33) was 18th, Mansi (1:41:12) was 20th, Shalini (1:48:07) 23rd, and Mahima (1:55.49) 25th. In men's 20km racewalk, Rahul clocked a season's best 1:26:34 seconds but finished 20th in the men's 20km race walk final with the gold going to Andrea Cosi of Italy with a World University Games record of 1:19:48 seconds. Gaurav Kumar (1:28:44) was 25th, Sachin Singh Bohra (1:32:03) 28th and Sanjay Kumar (1:46:21) finished last among 31 competitors. Pole vaulter Dev Kumar Meena (5.35m) settled for a fifth-place finish in the final with the gold going to Simen Guttormsen (5.75m) of Norway. India's medal winners: Gold - Parneet Kaur/Kushal Dalal (mixed team compound archery), Sahil Jadhav (men's compound archery). Silver - Parneet Kaur (women's compound archery), Kushal Dalal/Sahil Jadhav/Hritik Sharma (men's team compound archery), Praveen Chithravel (men's triple jump), Seema (women's 5000m), Ankita Dhyani (women's 3000m steeplechase). Bronze - Badminton mixed team, Vaishnavi Adkar (women's singles tennis), Parneet Kaur/Avneet Kaur/Madhura Dhamangaonkar (women's compound team archery), Sejal Singh, Munita Prajapati, Mansi Negi (women's 20km racewalk team), men's 4x100m relay.
