Category: Sports

KUALA LUMPUR, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) Racing Team celebrated its first 2024 Asian Road Racing Championship win when team racer Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah took the chequered flag at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China today.

The 30-year-old recorded a time of 20 minutes 24.461 seconds (s) in the Asia Superbike 1000cc category, 0.754 s ahead of second placed Andi Farid Izdihar of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Astemo and Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman from TKKR BMW Racing Team in third place (+2.388 s).

JDT’s first title comes during its debut in the ARRC this year, following Hafizh Syahrin’s second place finish during the first race at Chang International Circuit in Thailand last month.

Hafizh Syahrin, riding his Ducati Panigale V4R, will continue competing in tomorrow’s second round races.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah, Queen of Malaysia, graced the opening race of the GT World Challenge Asia series today at the Sepang International Circuit.

Her Majesty’s attendance was to witness the participation of her youngest son, Tunku Putera Johor Tunku Abu Bakar Sultan Ibrahim, representing the JMR Triple Eight team.

This was shared through a post on Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar’s official Facebook page tonight.

Together with his teammate Jordan Love, Tunku Abu Bakar finished the race in 7th position in the Pro-Am category and 10th overall among 33 other cars.

Also in attendance were Tunku Temenggong Johor Tunku Idris Iskandar Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Panglima Johor Tunku Abdul Rahman Sultan Ibrahim, Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim and her husband Datuk Dennis Muhammad Abdullah.

The second race will take place tomorrow at 11.30 am and will be broadcast live on the GT World channel on YouTube.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUCHING, Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) bantamweight champion Daeloniel McDelon Bong is expecting a tough fight to wrestle the World Boxing Confederation (WBC) Asia Super Bantamweight title from Yutthichai Wannawong this May 11.

The Indoor Stadium here where the bout will take place might be considered as a home turf, but for the 25-year-old Sarawakian pugilist nicknamed Kilat Boy, his Thai rival also had his advantages that need to be dealt cautiously.

‘He (Wannawong) has more experience and he is physically taller than me but with my team, we have been working on the tactics to deal with him. It’s going to be close,’ he told reporters after undergoing a sparring session here today.

The upcoming bout will be the eleventh for McDelon since turning professional in 2016 and he has secured the service of Filipino pro boxing trainer Reynaldo Inocian for the upcoming match.

Inocian, 56, was a member of the training team for former world boxing champion, Manny Pacquiao and since arriving here last week, Mcdelon
said Inocian had put him through gruelling training sessions that had made him more prepared for the fight.

‘After five days of training with him (Inocian), I could feel my stamina, my fitness and my tactics had improved but I know I could improve further with the available days I have before the fight,’ he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SEPANG, Tunku Putera Johor, Tunku Abu Bakar Sultan Ibrahim alongside his partner Jordan Love, secured only a 10th place finish in the first race of the GT World Challenge Asia at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) here today.

Racing on a wet track after heavy rain, Tunku Abu Bakar and Love, representing Triple Eight Johor Motorsports Racing (JMR) team, clocked a time of one hour and two minutes and 42 seconds after 26 laps using a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO.

Commenting on today’s race, Tunku Abu Bakar said the changing weather conditions posed some challenges for him.

“The conditions were tricky today, especially as the track was drying through out my stint.

“Having to adapt to conditions that are changing is always difficult. We are focused on the long game, and I will try at my best capability to get a strong result,” he said.

First place was claimed by the FAW Audi Sport Asia Racing Team led by Franky Cheng Congfu and his partner Adderly Fong (1:01.54s) after 26 laps, leaving the VSR team (1:01:56.621s
) with Ye Bian and Edoardo Liberati in second place.

Third place was won by the Origine Motorsport team (1:01:58.877s) with drivers Yuan Bo and Ye Leo Hongli.

In the first qualifying round, the Triple Eight JMR team qualified fifth with a time of 2:04.355s, while in the second qualifying round, they were in seventh position with a time of 2:03.28s to advance to the main race.

Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofiah, Queen of Malaysia, witnessed her son, Tunku Abu Bakar, compete in the prestigious race.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia clinched another spot in the World Squash Championships in May when two national women’s squash players disposed of their Hong Kong opponents to check into the final of the Asia Zone Qualifiers.

In today’s semi-finals of the Asian Zone Qualifiers at the Jalan Duta Squash Centre here, rising star K. Sehveetrraa outlasted seventh-seeded Toby Tse 11-2, 11-8, 11-6 in 23 minutes while Chan Yi Wen booked her place in the title showdown by stunning top seed Cheng Nga Ching 11-5, 11-1, 11-8.

Sehveetrraa, 19, was delighted to have reached the final after recovering from a hamstring injury.

‘I am proud of what I have achieved so far. I’ve worked hard for this tournament.

‘This is my first tournament since returning to action after my (hamstring) injury and I am happy to have reached the final. For tomorrow’s game, I will give it my best shot again,’ she said in a statement issued by the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM).

Twenty-four-year-old Yi Wen was also satisfied with her p
erformance and vowed to stick with her game plan for the final.

National men’s squash player Ng Eain Yow and three women players – S. Sivasangari, Aira Azman and Aifa Azman – had earlier confirmed their places for the May 9-17 World Squash Championships to be held in Cairo, Egypt.

Meanwhile, national men’s ace Addeen Idrakie Bakhtiar took one step closer to realising his dream of playing in the World Championships for the first time after 12 years when he disposed of Hong Kong’s Tan Ming Hong 7-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-6 in the semi-finals in 69 minutes.

Addeen Idrakie is set to face top seed Ryunosuke Tsukue in the final after the Japanese player downed Malaysia’s Bryan Tze in the other semi-final.

‘Tomorrow (in the final), it will be 50-50 between me and him (Tsukue) because he is also a good player. Although I lost to him in the previous match, this is Malaysia… I will have the support of my family and fans, so that will be an advantage.

‘More importantly, I need to stay focused and play better than today,
‘ said Addeen Idrakie.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

HULU SELANGOR, The Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) is committed to strengthening the oversight of National Sports Associations (NSAs), as instructed during the Cabinet meeting to ensure their adherence to good governance principles, announced Minister Hannah Yeoh.

“We want to strengthen the monitoring of these sports associations because there isn’t much funding available for sports, so sponsorships are very valuable. Every contribution made to sports development must be utilised effectively.

“If we want continued confidence in public or private contributions towards sports associations, good governance must exist, and we must have the crucial monitoring and enforcement powers,” she emphasised.

She was speaking to reporters at the Community Football Clinic with the Orang Asli in Kuala Kubu Bharu, at the Orang Asli Village in Pertak today.

She noted that the ministry will engage in discussions with the Sports Commissioner regarding this issue, as well as explore amendments to existing Acts to empower i
t further, moving beyond relying solely on reports for certain matters.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PETALING JAYA, The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) is set to appoint four additional assistant coaches to assist national hockey squad head coach Sarjit Singh in managing the junior team.

Its president, Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said that the decision to select the four assistant coaches will be made by Sarjit together with the coaching committee and is expected to be announced by early May.

“I have informed Sarjit that there are no specific coaches for the junior team, and he will also be tasked with monitoring the team.

“At present, we have four coaches, including Sarjit, for the senior team, and we will also add four more assistant coaches for the junior team,” he said to reporters at the launch of the TNB-QNET Selangor Hockey League here today.

Subahan added that the selection of these coaches is aimed at shaping a new-faced Young Tigers squad and to guide them ahead of the Junior World Cup later this year.

At present, Sarjit is being assisted by Mohamad Sukri as an assistant coach along with Az
rul Effendy as well as goalkeeper coach is S. Kumar.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency