KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — The year 2025 witnessed various dramas as well as the ups and downs in the sports arena of the country, but the success of the national badminton mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei in lifting the title at the 2025 World Championships in Paris, in August was a meaningful feather in the country’s cap this season.
The victory over China's pair, Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin in the final, saw Tang Jie-Ee Wei made history by becoming the first national mixed doubles to achieve success on the world stage, in addition to becoming the second representative to win the championship after the country's leading men's doubles, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik’s victory in the 2022 edition in Tokyo.
It was even sweeter when the success came after they had gone through the ordeal of temporarily separating in March following a disagreement, but the decision to reconnect last June proved to be a wise decision because it not only cleared up their relationship, but was the main catalyst that brought the pair to the top of the world in Paris.
Besides Tang Jie-Ee Wei, another history was also created in Paris when the country's number one women's doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah emerged as runners-up after conceding to the power of China's top doubles Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning, thus becoming the first women shuttlers of the country to go the furthest in the World Championships.
Pearly-Thinaah also displayed consistent action throughout this year by bringing home three titles, namely the Thailand Open, Arctic Open and Japan Masters, as well as emerging as runners-up at the Indonesia Masters, Indonesia Open and Japan Open.
The presence of Herry Iman Pierngadi, a high-profile coach from Indonesia as the head coach of the country's men's doubles since February has created an impact on Malaysian pairs, including helping Aaron-Wooi Yik win three titles, namely the Asian Championship, Thailand Open and Singapore Open, as well as runners-up at China Open and Arctic Open.
Also known as the ‘Fire Dragon’, Herry was also effective in guiding Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun to win the Malaysia Masters title on home soil, which was also the first success for a Malaysian pair since Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah last achieved it in 2013.
Unlike the encouraging achievements of the national doubles, both men's and women's singles representatives had a dismal season this year with no titles to show.
A back injury suffered by the national professional men's singles player Lee Zii Jia forced him to miss many tournaments including not defending the Thailand Open and Australian Open titles.
Unlike Herry, the appointment of Danish coach Kenneth Jonassen, who once trained world champion Viktor Axelsen, as the national singles coaching director has yet to create magic, especially in improving the performance of Leong Jun Hao, who currently holds the status of the number one men's singles player in the national squad.
It was a disappointing season,as Jun Hao was eliminated early 18 times and only managed to advance to the quarter-finals twice, throughout this year.
Moving on to athletics, the performance of national sprint champion Muhammad Azeem Fahmi has also been quite flat despite receiving the services of a world-class coach and high-quality training partners while continuing his studies at Auburn University, United States.
Muhammad Azeem who has yet to break his own national men's 100-meter (m) record of 10.09 seconds (s) at the World Youth Athletics Championships in Cali, Colombia, in 2022, only managed to record the best time of 10.20s this year.
Although Malaysia Athletics (MA) gave national men's 400m champion Umar Osman a wildcard ticket to the 2025 World Championships in Japan in September, the 22-year-old failed to repay that trust when he finished last in the third heat with a time of 46.43s, far from his national record of 46.09s at the 2023 World University Games in China.
Despite the absence of national diving queens Datuk Pandelela Rinong and Nur Dhabitah Sabri, the national diving squad managed to bring home five silver and one bronze from the 2025 Asian Aquatics Championships in Ahmedabad, India, but they failed to win any medals at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
In swimming, Khiew Hoe Yean shone by winning the men's 400m freestyle bronze with a time of 3 minutes 52.69s and helped the 4x200m freestyle quartet bring home another bronze medal after recording 7:23.43s in Ahmedabad.
Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom's energetic cycling propelled him to become the country's most prominent track cyclist this year after winning his first keirin gold in the International Cycling Union (UCI) Nations Cup in Konya, Turkey, in March.
Sepak takraw also brought smiles to the nation after emerging champion of the quadrant event by defeating Japan 15-8, 15-11 and the regu event by defeating traditional foes Thailand, 15-12, 15-9, at the inaugural edition of the 2025 Asian Cup Sepak Takraw Championship at Titiwangsa Stadium, here, in May.
However, Malaysia's hopes of achieving a hat-trick this time for the team event were dashed after they lost to their traditional rivals, Thailand, 0-2, in the final.
Meanwhile, the lawn bowling squad shone with Malaysia's advantage as the host when they emerged as the overall champions of the 2025 World Cup by winning one gold medal and three bronze medals, beating superpowers such as Australia, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.
Emma Firyana Saroji emerged as a national heroine by winning the women's singles title when she denied the fierce opposition of England's bowler, Kathrine Rednall.
In other developments, the dispute between national badminton champion Cheah Liek Hou and the Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPM) regarding the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games victory incentive stole the spotlight for the national sports arena.
The 38-year-old player claimed that MPM failed to pay the RM60,000 cash incentive promised after winning the gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, and expressed his disappointment on social media.
The payment issue led to an open dispute until MPM considered legal action and suspension against the athlete before Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh came forward to confirm that no suspension would be imposed because Liek Hou's claim was not a disciplinary violation, but rather related to an outstanding sponsorship promise.
However, the controversy did not affect the performance of the two-time SU5 (physical disability) men's singles gold medalist who managed to maintain his status as the world's number one player with five titles this year.
Apart from the athletes' performance, the country's sports arena also saw changes in the top leadership of sports associations, including Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz who was appointed as the 13th president of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) last May, replacing Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria.
Although no longer holding the number one seat of BAM, Mohamad Norza continued to be entrusted with leading the Olympic Council of Malaysia for the third consecutive term since 2018 by winning unopposed the presidency for the term 2025-2029 while Datuk Karim Ibrahim was re-appointed as the president of MA for the term 2025-2028 after holding the position from 2014-2019.
After going through a disappointing episode at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia with a collection of 34 gold medals, 45 silver and 97 bronze, the Malaysian contingent rebounded with a much more convincing performance at the 2025 Thailand SEA Games when it collected 57 gold medals, 57 silver and 117 bronze medals, to end the campaign with a total of 231 medals, through the games held from Dec 9 to 20.
The figure not only surpassed the previously set target of 200 medals, but also created new history as the country's highest overall medal haul at the SEA Games held outside Kuala Lumpur, surpassing the record of 216 medals recorded at the 2007 edition in Korat, Thailand.
In fact, the achievement of 57 gold medals in Thailand is the best for Malaysia in six years after collecting 55 gold medals at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, thus giving a positive boost to Malaysia which is eyeing the opportunity to emerge as the overall champion at the 2027 edition as hosts. — Bernama
